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Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Edible Front Yard in Books
Sep 8, 2017
A gorgeous book about growing edibles while maintaining a beautiful appearance
I would definitely give this book the full five stars. It’s filled with gorgeous, full-color, glossy photographs that really show off the concepts illustrated in the book. Soler describes both some common vegetables (corn and beans, for example) as well as some things I didn’t even know were edible, like daylilies and nasturtiums! She includes a lot of unusual edibles, like artichokes and bananas, the latter of which I can’t grow outside here in Maryland. She lives in LA, though, and I completely understand how it must be complicated to write a book applicable to the entire United States!
Her chapters range from “Curb Appeal” – WHY should we care what our yard looks like, and what actually looks good? – to “The New Front Yard Plant Palette” which is all about classic edibles that also look great. Another chapter is about helper plants – plants that aren’t necessarily edible (though some of them are), but that serve other purposes in the garden, such as pest repellant or predatory bug attractants. Both of these chapters list a TON of plants, with short descriptions about why they’re on the list, how to take care of them, and what to use them for. EXTREMELY useful.
Soler has her own blog – The Germinatrix – but unfortunately it doesn’t look like it’s been updated since 2012. Her Twitter seems to have died about the same time, and her Facebook hasn’t seen a post since early 2013. I’m still hoping to find her presence online, as I love her writing style and would love to find more of her work.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
Her chapters range from “Curb Appeal” – WHY should we care what our yard looks like, and what actually looks good? – to “The New Front Yard Plant Palette” which is all about classic edibles that also look great. Another chapter is about helper plants – plants that aren’t necessarily edible (though some of them are), but that serve other purposes in the garden, such as pest repellant or predatory bug attractants. Both of these chapters list a TON of plants, with short descriptions about why they’re on the list, how to take care of them, and what to use them for. EXTREMELY useful.
Soler has her own blog – The Germinatrix – but unfortunately it doesn’t look like it’s been updated since 2012. Her Twitter seems to have died about the same time, and her Facebook hasn’t seen a post since early 2013. I’m still hoping to find her presence online, as I love her writing style and would love to find more of her work.
You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
MaryAnn (14 KP) rated An Hour Unspent (Shadows Over England, #3) in Books
Mar 5, 2019
Once London’s top thief, Barclay Pearce has turned his back on his life of crime and now uses his skills for a nation at war. But not until he rescues a clockmaker’s daughter from a mugging does he begin to wonder what his future might hold.
Evelina Manning has constantly fought for independence but she certainly never meant for it to inspire her fiancé to end the engagement and enlist in the army. When the intriguing man who saved her returns to the Manning residence to study clockwork repair with her father, she can’t help being interested. But she soon learns that nothing with Barclay Pearce is as simple as it seems.
As 1915 England plunges ever deeper into war, the work of an ingenious clockmaker may give England an unbeatable military edge—and Germany realizes it as well. Evelina’s father soon finds his whole family in danger—and it may just take a reformed thief to steal the time they need to escape it.
My Thoughts: This is an intriguing and entertaining book. From the first chapter to the last, it has the reader completely enamored. This is the third book in the series and if the reader like myself hasn't read the first two, they will be able to read along easily. The setting takes place during the first world war and grabs the readers attention from the first page. The characters are fun, witty and down to earth.
I believe that this book is to teach us what family really is and to appreciate and to hold on tight and love our famililies. It's a book about serving others and putting family first.
I believe that readers will truly enjoy this novel, especially those who love historical fiction.
Evelina Manning has constantly fought for independence but she certainly never meant for it to inspire her fiancé to end the engagement and enlist in the army. When the intriguing man who saved her returns to the Manning residence to study clockwork repair with her father, she can’t help being interested. But she soon learns that nothing with Barclay Pearce is as simple as it seems.
As 1915 England plunges ever deeper into war, the work of an ingenious clockmaker may give England an unbeatable military edge—and Germany realizes it as well. Evelina’s father soon finds his whole family in danger—and it may just take a reformed thief to steal the time they need to escape it.
My Thoughts: This is an intriguing and entertaining book. From the first chapter to the last, it has the reader completely enamored. This is the third book in the series and if the reader like myself hasn't read the first two, they will be able to read along easily. The setting takes place during the first world war and grabs the readers attention from the first page. The characters are fun, witty and down to earth.
I believe that this book is to teach us what family really is and to appreciate and to hold on tight and love our famililies. It's a book about serving others and putting family first.
I believe that readers will truly enjoy this novel, especially those who love historical fiction.
Whatchareadin (174 KP) rated The Widow in Books
Apr 9, 2019
Little Bella has gone missing from her front yard. Her mother took her eyes away for only a few minutes. Over the next four years, the police will go over every aspect of the case, trying to figure out who took Bella and why.
Jean Taylor, the wife of Glenn Taylor, who was suspected of taking Bella, has a natural interest in the case from the start. She and her husband are not able to have children and she can't see how a mother could take her eyes off such a precious thing for even a moment. But did Jean know that Glenn had taken Bella? Was she a part of the plan from the start?
After her husband is acquitted and then dies from being hit by a bus, Jeanne has to make a decision about what she is going to do with the rest of her life. Will she tell the authorities what she knows, or will she keep the secret forever. Told from the perspective of Jean, The Widow; The Detective; The Reporter and one chapter by the Husband.
This book dives into the world of pedophilia and lets you know there are a lot of sick people out there. Listening to this book, I got confused on the dates and had to think hard about what was going on and when. I think that would have been easier if I was reading the book. Overall, I was intrigued by the story and I had to know what was going to happen, if they were going to find Bella, if Jean had something to do with it, and if they were going to catch the culprit.
If you have children this book will make you hug them tighter each night.
Jean Taylor, the wife of Glenn Taylor, who was suspected of taking Bella, has a natural interest in the case from the start. She and her husband are not able to have children and she can't see how a mother could take her eyes off such a precious thing for even a moment. But did Jean know that Glenn had taken Bella? Was she a part of the plan from the start?
After her husband is acquitted and then dies from being hit by a bus, Jeanne has to make a decision about what she is going to do with the rest of her life. Will she tell the authorities what she knows, or will she keep the secret forever. Told from the perspective of Jean, The Widow; The Detective; The Reporter and one chapter by the Husband.
This book dives into the world of pedophilia and lets you know there are a lot of sick people out there. Listening to this book, I got confused on the dates and had to think hard about what was going on and when. I think that would have been easier if I was reading the book. Overall, I was intrigued by the story and I had to know what was going to happen, if they were going to find Bella, if Jean had something to do with it, and if they were going to catch the culprit.
If you have children this book will make you hug them tighter each night.
ClareR (5879 KP) rated The Quiet at the End of the World in Books
May 29, 2019
A gentle end to humankind.
Another YA book, where I don’t honestly know why it has been labelled YA. Perhaps unless there’s rampant sex and violence in a book, only children will want to read it. Except I’m 45 (for now!). I love a bit of sex and violence as much as the next Science Fiction/ Fantasy reader, but I also acknowledge that a book can be a damn good read without those things - and this IS a damn good read.
It’s a ‘soft apocalypse’. A drift into the end of human kind. An exploration into what it is to be human, and ultimately: would the earth be better off without us on it? We all know the answer to that really, don’t we?
Lowrie and Shen are the two youngest and last born humans on Earth. A seemingly harmless virus rendered the entire human race infertile, although some already fertilised embryos remained. Lowrie and Shen are the last two babies born from those embryos. And there has been no cure discovered for the virus.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a refreshingly gentle take on apocalypse - no one is killed, no cannibalism, there are no murderous dictators. In fact everyone gets along and works together as a community.
There are some great characters other than the main ones: Mitch, the lifeguard robot who communicates using flashing colours is one in particular. I loved the records of Lowrie and Shen’s found objects at the start of each chapter as well. A real mix of the ancient (to the reader as well) and the modern (to the reader alone!).
A very thought provoking read in these times of climate crisis, and told in a way that makes it accessible to both young and old.
It’s a ‘soft apocalypse’. A drift into the end of human kind. An exploration into what it is to be human, and ultimately: would the earth be better off without us on it? We all know the answer to that really, don’t we?
Lowrie and Shen are the two youngest and last born humans on Earth. A seemingly harmless virus rendered the entire human race infertile, although some already fertilised embryos remained. Lowrie and Shen are the last two babies born from those embryos. And there has been no cure discovered for the virus.
I really enjoyed this book. It was a refreshingly gentle take on apocalypse - no one is killed, no cannibalism, there are no murderous dictators. In fact everyone gets along and works together as a community.
There are some great characters other than the main ones: Mitch, the lifeguard robot who communicates using flashing colours is one in particular. I loved the records of Lowrie and Shen’s found objects at the start of each chapter as well. A real mix of the ancient (to the reader as well) and the modern (to the reader alone!).
A very thought provoking read in these times of climate crisis, and told in a way that makes it accessible to both young and old.
Eleanor (1463 KP) rated Now You See Her in Books
Jun 14, 2019
An ability to suspend belief required for this thriller.
My first James Patterson read or as it was an audiobook - listen (yes I live under a rock) and I was really hoping to love it (my parents have passed on a load of books by him so I have a pile to read)
Nina Bloom is a successful New York lawyer and mother but she has only been Nina for 18 years and she would happily forget the life she had before that. Unfortunately events conspire to make Nina have to face her difficult past head on.
Unfortunately the level of craziness in events was too steep for me to get over. I really need a book to play by the rules of the universe it operates in and this just seemed to be one mad capped thing after another. I can deal with the odd coincidence or strange behaviour to try and move the plot along but I felt this needed the suspense of the readers belief to an extent I can't manage. It wasn't helped by a protagonist I felt personally no sympathy for.
It was certainly a fast paced book and if you are happy to go along for the ride I can imagine this being satisfying. I unfortunately found myself just stopping and going "really?" far to much.
Minor issue that I think affected the audio version was the number of chapters in the book meant the narrator going "Chapter x" every few minutes spoiling the flow. I think it had like 120 chapters which for a book I think is around 360 pages seems excessive, probably less jarring if you are reading rather than listening. The breaks just seemed to be in some odd spots as well.
Might give a written Patterson a try and see if I get along better with that.
Nina Bloom is a successful New York lawyer and mother but she has only been Nina for 18 years and she would happily forget the life she had before that. Unfortunately events conspire to make Nina have to face her difficult past head on.
Unfortunately the level of craziness in events was too steep for me to get over. I really need a book to play by the rules of the universe it operates in and this just seemed to be one mad capped thing after another. I can deal with the odd coincidence or strange behaviour to try and move the plot along but I felt this needed the suspense of the readers belief to an extent I can't manage. It wasn't helped by a protagonist I felt personally no sympathy for.
It was certainly a fast paced book and if you are happy to go along for the ride I can imagine this being satisfying. I unfortunately found myself just stopping and going "really?" far to much.
Minor issue that I think affected the audio version was the number of chapters in the book meant the narrator going "Chapter x" every few minutes spoiling the flow. I think it had like 120 chapters which for a book I think is around 360 pages seems excessive, probably less jarring if you are reading rather than listening. The breaks just seemed to be in some odd spots as well.
Might give a written Patterson a try and see if I get along better with that.
Deborah (162 KP) rated The Wife Trap (The Trap Trilogy, #2) in Books
Dec 21, 2018
Oh dear. Not the greatest example of the genre I have ever read it has to be said. The Wife Trap is the middle book of a trilogy by this author; the first books seems to have dealt with the courtship of the twin sister of the 'heroine' of this novel, seemingly involving deception and machinations. You could read this book without having read the first one, but of course you don't know exactly what has gone on beforehand and why exactly Jeanette has been banished to stay with cousins in Ireland.
The hero of this book was called Darragh O'Brien. My problem with that was that I got an image of Darra O'Brien (chap who presents Mock The Week etc.) in my head, and I'm guessing that wasn't quite what the author had in mind! Obviously the character wasn't strongly enough written to dislodge said, disconcerting, image!
That though is a minor quibble when compared to my big issue with this book; the so-called heroine. Jeanette is shallow, vain, silly, selfish, self-centred, childish and utterly unlikeable! I can't for the life of me understand what the hero sees in her, except that she is apparently beautiful and quite good at painting... She seems to think she 'deserves' anything she happens to fancy and is willing to stamp her foot and pout until she gets her way. She thinks it quite reasonable to disrupt everyone else so she can have a lie-in (after refusing to abandon her 'town hours' and go to bed earlier!) If it were me, I would have left her stuck in the carriage in the mud in the first chapter and rescued the servants from her!
The hero of this book was called Darragh O'Brien. My problem with that was that I got an image of Darra O'Brien (chap who presents Mock The Week etc.) in my head, and I'm guessing that wasn't quite what the author had in mind! Obviously the character wasn't strongly enough written to dislodge said, disconcerting, image!
That though is a minor quibble when compared to my big issue with this book; the so-called heroine. Jeanette is shallow, vain, silly, selfish, self-centred, childish and utterly unlikeable! I can't for the life of me understand what the hero sees in her, except that she is apparently beautiful and quite good at painting... She seems to think she 'deserves' anything she happens to fancy and is willing to stamp her foot and pout until she gets her way. She thinks it quite reasonable to disrupt everyone else so she can have a lie-in (after refusing to abandon her 'town hours' and go to bed earlier!) If it were me, I would have left her stuck in the carriage in the mud in the first chapter and rescued the servants from her!
James Koppert (2698 KP) rated Arctic Zoo in Books
Oct 28, 2019
Challenging the world
Even with a good book, 456 pages can start to drag. With Arctic Zoo however, I wanted to continue on Julius and Georgia's story. This is brilliantly paced read with a "one more chapter before bed" level of intrigue on every page to keep you up far too late every night. The story follows Georgia, and relatively unextrordinary English schoolgirl who has lost her sister who becomes the face of the protest counter culture community, and celebrity, completely by accident, who with no choice, is drawn further into that world, and Julius, the son of very rich Nigerian political elite, who is guy and ousted from the family. Both these teenagers stories interweave intermittently and both are engaging on their own. The thing is I really liked Julius and I really liked Georgia and I wanted so much for each of them to succeed despite all the things thrown against them. Whats also brilliant s this book has a lot to say without it ever forcing anything down your throat and doesn't shy away from throwing up hypocrisies either. Muchamore is an absolute master writer who has managed to create an engaging novel that any adult or teenager will enjoy without ever feeling like the pages have been dumbed down to reach a general audience. Yes it was 456 pages long at at the end I said, "ohh, its finished" feeling disappointed rather than the sense of achievement I normally get when completing a book, just because I wanted to stay with these characters in this book and be with them for more of their journeys. But that is what a great artist does, leaves them wanting more, Muchamore.
AA
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