Books Read Last Week

1)  All Things Bright and Beautiful by James Herriot / A / ****
This book shares the adventures of a Yorkshire vet in the 1930's.  Each chapter is self-contained so the book reads like a series of short-stories.  The little vignettes are well written, interesting, and thoughtful.  This is my second time reading this book and I enjoyed it as much as the first. 
2) Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu and Erin McGuire / YA / ***
Favorite line:  “She'd read once that if you ran into a bear in the woods you should avoid eye contact and you shouldn't run away, but all she knew about wolves is that you should never tell them how to find your grandmother's house.”
I was really conflicted about this book. I know this is dumb but I really could sense that this book COULD have been great.  Sometimes when you are reading you get this sense of, "Wow... this story is timeless..." because it has a perfect mix of imagery, character development, story line, and deep emotion.  This story came soooooo close to me but didn't quite make it... but I swear I could feel that sense of greatness hovering nearby trying to break through. 
The story was based on The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson. I am not familiar with this story at all.  The main character and heroine, Hazel, is struggling with her changing relationship with her best friend Jack.  Both she and Jack have experienced emotional upheaval in the past year as Hazel's parents have divorced and Jack's mother has "checked-out" to depression. They were inseparable, but then out of the blue he won’t even speak to her.  When Jack suddenly disappears, Hazel sets out to find him, because even if he doesn’t want to be found, a friend doesn’t give up on you, even if you’ve given up on yourself.  In the second part of the story, Hazel sets out on a true fairy tale adventure to find her friend.  I didn't enjoy this part of the story as much.  I wanted the conclusion of the adventure to tie into how they were going to face their real life challenges. 
E2 read this out loud to E3 and they both really enjoyed it.