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Some Lucky Woman
Some Lucky Woman
Carmen DeSousa | 2016 | Romance
9
7.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
discovering what you enjoy (0 more)
Where did I find this book: I picked this book out from Bookbub based on its synopsis. I’m in this odd time after college where I relate to these stories of being unsure of the next steps to take in life.

How it’s written: It’s told in first person by Jana. She tells the tale of losing her husband, becoming a book reviewer and a book writer, and finding what makes her truly happy in life. It’s light, fun, and to the point with 360 pages and a very easy nature to it that makes it hard to put the book down.

What I like about the book: I loved that not everything happened for her in a month. There are credible time lapses between events instead of a whirlwind of change all at once. I really liked that she doesn’t wallow in self-pity for long. Jana moves on from her ex and looks for things that bring her joy. She does things for herself and doesn’t care about what others think…except Adrian.

Final Thoughts: This book was amazing! Truly entertaining read from beginning to end. Jana’s story from getting a divorce to finding herself is empowering and intriguing.

Honestly I probably should have posted this book as my first book review. I already had the idea of posting book reviews but this book was a huge catalyst for me. It helped me realize that I just needed to start. It didn’t have to be perfect and I didn’t have to have it all figured out. I just needed to get things started and I could change things up later if I wanted to.
So if you’re in a part of your life where you feel like you need a change, you want to try something new, you need to do something for yourself, I would suggest reading this book.
  
Of Fire and Stars (Of Fire and Stars #1)
Of Fire and Stars (Of Fire and Stars #1)
Audrey Coulthurst | 2016 | LGBTQ+, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
7
8.0 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
Having read the prequel to this book already, I can see why a lot of people complained about the lack of worldbuilding. Even though the prequel is based in a neighboring country, there's a lot in this book that I understood based on events in Inkmistress. I definitely recommend reading that one first.

That said, I enjoyed this book a lot. I think Inkmistress is better, but that happens often with new authors. I think the sequel, Of Ice and Shadows, due out this summer, will probably be even better, and should bring the events of the previous two books together.

Like Inkmistress, bisexuality seems to be absolutely normal in Denna's country, with Denna not expressing a preference, Mare having had male and female lovers, and one of Denna's ladies having a female lover. (There is a brief mention of a gay couple as well.) I do wish nonbinary people would make an appearance, but it's something, at least.

There are a lot of twists and turns to the plot in this book, so while Inkmistress was fairly straightforward, this one took me by surprise multiple times. It also makes it much harder to talk about the plot without giving anything away!

I wish we'd discovered more about the King's council - several members of it seemed to have ulterior motives but we never got to see what those were. If we knew their motivations, some things might make a lot more sense and be a lot more satisfying.

Read Inkmistress. If you like the world, go ahead and read this book, because the events of this will be necessary to understand the third book, which takes us back to the country featured in Inkmistress. And I want to know more about that country!

You can read all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com
  
Somewhat funny (0 more)
Farcical (2 more)
Political and history based
Name dropping
Disappointing.
I really really really thought this was going to be a good book, a funny book, an adventurous book and I tried so hard to enjoy this... but it was so utterly boring and I really can't understand what the hype was about.
Some of the present day parts in it were admittedly funny... SOME. However, the majority of the book was about his past which involved too many very unlikely events and coincidences, too much name dropping of historical leaders and politics and wars and bla bla bla... If you want to learn about European history and gain some knowledge on some historical leaders and events then sure read this book, but I personally didn't pick this book up expecting to be in a history lesson. It got so unrealistic it wasn't even the slightest bit funny anymore, I just wanted it to end ? I can't say I'll put myself through watching the apparent 'major motion picture'.
  
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Sarah (7800 KP) rated Insomnia in Books

Jun 17, 2020  
Insomnia
Insomnia
Stephen King | 2011 | Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy
7
8.7 (25 Ratings)
Book Rating
Reading this would be a great cure to insomnia...
This book has been on my shelf for quite some time. Mainly because it's a beast of a read - a huge 650 page hardback book - and I've not had the inclination to read. As my pile of unread books is dwindling drastically, I finally decided to give it a go and overall I was pleasantly surprised.

My biggest surprise when reading the first few chapters was the realisation that this book isn't what the Christopher Nolan film Insomnia was based on. I cant even tell you why I thought this in the first place 😕 Once I got over this, I really got into the book or at least the first few hundred pages. As always with King, the book is very well written with a likeable protagonist and well developed secondary characters. The problem is that the story is maybe a little convoluted and isn't helped by the sheer length of it all. 200 pages in I was wondering how this could be dragged out for 650 pages and whilst it never gets as tedious as you'd imagine, this is definitely longer than it needed to be. Whilst the plot is typical King, it gets a little confusing and 'out there' even for him and I think he could've simplified this a little. Because of this I could only read up to 100 pages at a time as it made me feel rather sleepy - a perfect cure for insomnia I'm sure.

By the end of the book I did come to at least enjoy this story more than I thought I would, and even shed a tear or two. This definitely isn't a book for casual readers though and not one of King's best. But if you're looking for a door stop sized challenge, you could do much worse than this!
  
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Ross (3284 KP) Jun 17, 2020

I'm sure your shelf breathed a sigh of relief!

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Smashbomb (4687 KP) created a post in Smashbomb Council

Jan 20, 2020  
SMASHBOMB IN-DEVELOPMENT

Hey Influencers, we thought we'd give you all a quick Monday update!

Currently in development on Smashbomb:

Related Items - You'll be able to link any item to another regardless of category, for example, the book that was made into the film, the podcast based on the video game, maybe even sequels, prequels and anything in between.

Last Activity - A little bar next to usernames that lets you know the last time another user had any activity on Smashbomb - so you'll be able to refine your follow list perfectly!

We are always open to feedback and ideas so feel free to comment and let us know what you want to see next :)

The Smashbomb Team