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Lou Grande (148 KP) rated Rape Van in Books
Jun 9, 2018
It's what you think
Contains spoilers, click to show
THE VAN (RAPE VAN? I'm unsure what the title of this book officially is) is about a group of idiots who get into a car crash, get picked up by a group of serial killers, who get picked up by another group of serial killers. Even the book points out how ridiculous this premise is, so I'm inclined to give it a pass. Miller has a solid, no-frills kind of style that appeals to me, and he's never short on the gore. Of the extreme horror authors that are swarming Amazon, he's probably my favorite because he's the least pretentious (Matt Shaw, looking at you) and unflinching.
THE VAN is a quick read--a bit of junk food for your brain. You probably won't remember it a few days after you read it. One thing I wish authors would stop doing is letting the bad guy win and acting like the audience should be shocked. Some authors can pull that off as social commentary or whatever, but if you're churning these out month after month on Amazon, you probably can't. There's nothing wrong with writing something just for entertainment. Not everything needs to have a message.
THE VAN is a quick read--a bit of junk food for your brain. You probably won't remember it a few days after you read it. One thing I wish authors would stop doing is letting the bad guy win and acting like the audience should be shocked. Some authors can pull that off as social commentary or whatever, but if you're churning these out month after month on Amazon, you probably can't. There's nothing wrong with writing something just for entertainment. Not everything needs to have a message.
Feminist Ryan Gosling: Feminist Theory (as Imagined) from Your Favorite Sensitive Movie Dude
Book
What started as a silly way for blogger Danielle Henderson and her classmates to keep track of the...
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2322 KP) rated The Real Macaw (Meg Langslow, #13) in Books
Mar 9, 2018
With four month old twins, Meg is finding life unpredictable and crazy. And that's before her father and grandfather show up with a bunch of animals rescued from the local shelter. When their "get away" driver is found killed, Meg keeps finding more information that leads to some shocking discoveries. I found the plot of this book very interesting, and I can't wait to see how it plays out in further volumes. The usual cast of characters are present, but they don't provide the laughs they used to. They are still amusing, and fun to be around, which will keep fans of the series happy.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/06/book-review-real-macaw-by-donna-andrews.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2013/06/book-review-real-macaw-by-donna-andrews.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Kissing Tolstoy
9.5
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Proceeds for the month of release go to hurricane relief efforts. What do you do when you...
Dork Diaries: TV Star
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Nikki Maxwell, Queen of the Dorks, is back in the seventh book of the blockbuster Dork Diaries...
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Kiss Quotient in Books
Dec 25, 2018
This was one of three books I got through Book of the Month this month - the other two were The Book of Essie and When Katie Met Cassidy. I'm reviewing this today instead of another Pride Month read because today is Autistic Pride Day! The Kiss Quotient both stars and is written by a woman on the autistic spectrum, so I thought today would be a fitting day to tell you about it!
So The Kiss Quotient is basically a gender-swapped Pretty Woman, as Hoang mentions in the Author's Note. Our heroine, Stella Lane, books an escort to teach her about sex. Stella is thirty years old, has only had sex a couple of times, never enjoyed it, and is worried about not being good at it and therefore not being able to get or keep a boyfriend. She's an incredibly successful econometrician, or someone who uses data and statistics to model and predict economic trends, in her case predicting what people will want to buy from clients. (She's the kind of person responsible for those "Amazon started marketing baby products to me before I even knew I was pregnant!" incidents.) So she has more money than she knows what to do with, and offers Michael, an escort, $50,000 a month to teach her about sex and relationships.
Because this is a romance, we know what's going to happen here. They fall in love with each other, but are sure that for the other one it's just a business arrangement.
I was NOT expecting this book to be as explicit as it is! I think because it is a Book of the Month, I wasn't expecting the standard trope of romance book with hot sex scenes. But that's what I got! I can't say I'm unhappy with that - god knows I like my guilty pleasure romance smut - but it was definitely unexpected. I'm not sure why it surprised me. The book's premise is all about Stella wanting to learn about sex; if that wasn't conducted on screen we'd lose a third of the book!
A sequel has already been announced, and it's about the other autistic character in the book, the hero's best friend's little brother, Khai, who we only see in one scene. Who I'd also like to know more about is the best friend, Quan! So I'm holding out hope for a third book.
One last thing that I found important - in the Author's Note, Hoang mentions her daughter was diagnosed with AS, and in reading about Autism, she realized she is also on the spectrum. This is something I've seen in three different books now. It's so common for women, especially, to go undiagnosed. They might be better at modelling allistic (non-autistic) behavior, or their special interests might be more "acceptable" to allistics, or sometimes they just get looked at as introverts when they're young instead of getting the help they might need. This is starting to change, as researchers and doctors are realizing Autism presents differently in women. But it seems autistic adult women are often discovering they're autistic through a diagnosis of their children. I found that interesting.
I did really enjoy this book. I think it's a great debut novel, and a great romance. I really like the recent trend of more diversity in lead characters in romance novels. Bring on the people of color! More disabled main characters! There's got to be a romance somewhere with a deaf heroine, right? More alternative sexualities and relationship structures! Everyone, everywhere, wants to be loved, and I want to read about it. The thing is, I'm sure these books exist, but they don't get the kind of publicity they need for people to know about them. We have to actually go looking for them. I feel like I've been better about that recently, but it's definitely a place where the publication industry could improve.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
So The Kiss Quotient is basically a gender-swapped Pretty Woman, as Hoang mentions in the Author's Note. Our heroine, Stella Lane, books an escort to teach her about sex. Stella is thirty years old, has only had sex a couple of times, never enjoyed it, and is worried about not being good at it and therefore not being able to get or keep a boyfriend. She's an incredibly successful econometrician, or someone who uses data and statistics to model and predict economic trends, in her case predicting what people will want to buy from clients. (She's the kind of person responsible for those "Amazon started marketing baby products to me before I even knew I was pregnant!" incidents.) So she has more money than she knows what to do with, and offers Michael, an escort, $50,000 a month to teach her about sex and relationships.
Because this is a romance, we know what's going to happen here. They fall in love with each other, but are sure that for the other one it's just a business arrangement.
I was NOT expecting this book to be as explicit as it is! I think because it is a Book of the Month, I wasn't expecting the standard trope of romance book with hot sex scenes. But that's what I got! I can't say I'm unhappy with that - god knows I like my guilty pleasure romance smut - but it was definitely unexpected. I'm not sure why it surprised me. The book's premise is all about Stella wanting to learn about sex; if that wasn't conducted on screen we'd lose a third of the book!
A sequel has already been announced, and it's about the other autistic character in the book, the hero's best friend's little brother, Khai, who we only see in one scene. Who I'd also like to know more about is the best friend, Quan! So I'm holding out hope for a third book.
One last thing that I found important - in the Author's Note, Hoang mentions her daughter was diagnosed with AS, and in reading about Autism, she realized she is also on the spectrum. This is something I've seen in three different books now. It's so common for women, especially, to go undiagnosed. They might be better at modelling allistic (non-autistic) behavior, or their special interests might be more "acceptable" to allistics, or sometimes they just get looked at as introverts when they're young instead of getting the help they might need. This is starting to change, as researchers and doctors are realizing Autism presents differently in women. But it seems autistic adult women are often discovering they're autistic through a diagnosis of their children. I found that interesting.
I did really enjoy this book. I think it's a great debut novel, and a great romance. I really like the recent trend of more diversity in lead characters in romance novels. Bring on the people of color! More disabled main characters! There's got to be a romance somewhere with a deaf heroine, right? More alternative sexualities and relationship structures! Everyone, everywhere, wants to be loved, and I want to read about it. The thing is, I'm sure these books exist, but they don't get the kind of publicity they need for people to know about them. We have to actually go looking for them. I feel like I've been better about that recently, but it's definitely a place where the publication industry could improve.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated Backyard Harvest in Books
Sep 8, 2017
An indispensable guide for the beginning gardener
Backyard Harvest is set up by months, which makes for a unique and absolutely essential (to me, a beginner) book. In every month, it tells you what you should be eating (provided you had planted it previously!), what you should be planting, what you should be pruning or transplanting or otherwise working on, and usually a few pages on a seasonal-appropriate subject. (A section on apples and apple trees in November, for example.) The layout is gorgeous, the instructions are easy to understand, and I feel like after a few years of following this book I’ll be eating from my garden every month of the year with ease.
For January, for example, if I had these things planted, harvested, or stored from last year, I should be eating pickles, stored root veggies, newly lifted Salsify, forced Belgian Endive, and winter radishes, among other tasty-looking things. I should be sowing (indoors, to transplant after the last frost) early-season leeks, summer onions, lettuce, broad beans, cut-and-come-again greens, and early peas and radishes. For tending, I should be amending my soil, keeping an eye on my stored fruits and veggies for signs of rot, pruning some of my fruit trees, and picking up fallen leaves from hardy winter brassicas so they don’t cause rot at the base of the plants. The feature for the month is building a seedbed, both raised and non. In January I should be harvesting celeriac, early broccoli, the aforementioned Belgian Endive, and spring greens. Another feature for the month is sprouting seeds for use in salads. Each of these categories gets its own two-page spread, the monthly features occasionally getting four or more.
It’s a lovely, really useful book, and one I HAD to own after getting it from the library. It will be getting heavy use in the coming months, I’m sure!
Whittingham has written or co-written three other books – Vegetable Gardening and Grow Vegetables before this book, and Simple Steps to Success: Fruit and Vegetables in Pots after. The latter appears to be a combination of the first two in a new format, but I could be wrong. So I’m not sure I’d recommend any of those three – I haven’t read them – but Backyard Harvest is awesome!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
For January, for example, if I had these things planted, harvested, or stored from last year, I should be eating pickles, stored root veggies, newly lifted Salsify, forced Belgian Endive, and winter radishes, among other tasty-looking things. I should be sowing (indoors, to transplant after the last frost) early-season leeks, summer onions, lettuce, broad beans, cut-and-come-again greens, and early peas and radishes. For tending, I should be amending my soil, keeping an eye on my stored fruits and veggies for signs of rot, pruning some of my fruit trees, and picking up fallen leaves from hardy winter brassicas so they don’t cause rot at the base of the plants. The feature for the month is building a seedbed, both raised and non. In January I should be harvesting celeriac, early broccoli, the aforementioned Belgian Endive, and spring greens. Another feature for the month is sprouting seeds for use in salads. Each of these categories gets its own two-page spread, the monthly features occasionally getting four or more.
It’s a lovely, really useful book, and one I HAD to own after getting it from the library. It will be getting heavy use in the coming months, I’m sure!
Whittingham has written or co-written three other books – Vegetable Gardening and Grow Vegetables before this book, and Simple Steps to Success: Fruit and Vegetables in Pots after. The latter appears to be a combination of the first two in a new format, but I could be wrong. So I’m not sure I’d recommend any of those three – I haven’t read them – but Backyard Harvest is awesome!
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Consequences (Consequences, #1) in Books
Jan 6, 2021
DNF @ 20%.
I'm finally giving it up. I put it on hold about a month ago and had a go at reading more of it last night and within three kindle pages, I'd exited the book again.
I had no idea what the hell was happening in this friggin book! She wakes up in a strange house, black and blue, scared of the guy who did this to her and within the first fifth of the book she's willingly sleeping with him and giving him BJ's? I didn't get it at all!
I know it's not a dark romance, which is a pity because apart from the black and blue thing, it would have been right up my street. It was far too psychological for my liking and I just didn't understand it. AT ALL!
Really not for me.
I'm finally giving it up. I put it on hold about a month ago and had a go at reading more of it last night and within three kindle pages, I'd exited the book again.
I had no idea what the hell was happening in this friggin book! She wakes up in a strange house, black and blue, scared of the guy who did this to her and within the first fifth of the book she's willingly sleeping with him and giving him BJ's? I didn't get it at all!
I know it's not a dark romance, which is a pity because apart from the black and blue thing, it would have been right up my street. It was far too psychological for my liking and I just didn't understand it. AT ALL!
Really not for me.
RavenclawPrincess913 (253 KP) rated Teardrop (Teardrop Trilogy, #1) in Books
May 26, 2019
Forgot to post this last month
I chose to read this book because it's by my favorite author. I ended up loving it and it's now one of my favorite series. If you loved her book Fallen you will love this one as well. The book begins slowly as Fallen does but if you keep reading you will not regret it.
Spoilers below
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.
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Growing up Eureka's mother told her to never cry and she ended up dying in a freak accident at the start of the book. This left Eureka puzzled and alone in the world until the boy who saved her in the accident came along who is named Ander. Her mother left her three inheritance a locket, thunderstone and book which end up making better sense later in the story. When Eureka, her best friend Brooks, her sister and brother go to the beach one day something weird happens to Brooks after the strange wave which leads to him acting weird which later on in the book Eureka discovers her best friend has been processed by someone from the sunken island of Atlantis. The person who processed him Eureka will end up having to go head to head with in the next book. She also discovered there's something special in her bloodline about tears. If you'd like to know more read the book.
Spoilers below
.
.
.
Growing up Eureka's mother told her to never cry and she ended up dying in a freak accident at the start of the book. This left Eureka puzzled and alone in the world until the boy who saved her in the accident came along who is named Ander. Her mother left her three inheritance a locket, thunderstone and book which end up making better sense later in the story. When Eureka, her best friend Brooks, her sister and brother go to the beach one day something weird happens to Brooks after the strange wave which leads to him acting weird which later on in the book Eureka discovers her best friend has been processed by someone from the sunken island of Atlantis. The person who processed him Eureka will end up having to go head to head with in the next book. She also discovered there's something special in her bloodline about tears. If you'd like to know more read the book.
