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Suswatibasu (1701 KP) rated Florida in Books
Jan 17, 2018
Wonderful short stories, despite disjointed flow
For those who are unfamiliar of the landscape and society of Florida, Lauren Groff's collection of stories is enticing and varied. Ranging from the usual depictions of alligators, to the atypical descriptions of those who just want to get away, Groff attempts to show the various characters found in the sweltering heat and stormy climes of southern USA.
I particularly enjoyed the story of the mother who takes her two young sons to France to escape the tropical summers and her restless life. It is detailed and you get a sense of her edginess throughout, worried that something may happen to her children or to have an unpleasant encounter with their overbearing landlord.
My only gripe would be that because each story is not clearly signposted, the flow of the stories become confusing and it takes a minute to realise you've begun a whole new chapter. It is a bit jarring, so shorter stories became completely unmemorable as a result. However, it is a pleasant read overall, I enjoyed her writing style.
I particularly enjoyed the story of the mother who takes her two young sons to France to escape the tropical summers and her restless life. It is detailed and you get a sense of her edginess throughout, worried that something may happen to her children or to have an unpleasant encounter with their overbearing landlord.
My only gripe would be that because each story is not clearly signposted, the flow of the stories become confusing and it takes a minute to realise you've begun a whole new chapter. It is a bit jarring, so shorter stories became completely unmemorable as a result. However, it is a pleasant read overall, I enjoyed her writing style.
Lindsay (1717 KP) rated The Sky Throne in Books
Feb 8, 2018 (Updated Apr 9, 2019)
Chris Ledbetter is a new author to me. His storytelling is nice and well written. I enjoyed his book “The Sky Throne” a fantasy and mythology book. It tells a story about a young Zeus and somewhat of how he comes to be a Geek God.
Will Zeus and his classmates find out what they are to do? The adventures they take are thrilling. Don is short for “Poseidon”. Is this book to tell the story of ancient Greek or is it more geared towards Modern? You will have to read the book to find out for yourself and decide. Though the story of young Zeus is about ancient Greek and becoming Greek God.
Hyperion coming to Create after young Zeus pulls enough pranks to get himself and his best friend expelled from Crete Lower Prep. Will he learn his lesson or will he continue with the pranks? Once his best friend is killed and his mother injured he is sent to Mount Olympus Preparatory Academia. He sent to Mount Olympus Preparatory Academia he as one question “Who is his real Mother”?
Will Zeus and his classmates find out what they are to do? The adventures they take are thrilling. Don is short for “Poseidon”. Is this book to tell the story of ancient Greek or is it more geared towards Modern? You will have to read the book to find out for yourself and decide. Though the story of young Zeus is about ancient Greek and becoming Greek God.
Hyperion coming to Create after young Zeus pulls enough pranks to get himself and his best friend expelled from Crete Lower Prep. Will he learn his lesson or will he continue with the pranks? Once his best friend is killed and his mother injured he is sent to Mount Olympus Preparatory Academia. He sent to Mount Olympus Preparatory Academia he as one question “Who is his real Mother”?
Lindsay (1717 KP) rated The Bride Wore Blue (The Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek, #3) in Books
Feb 15, 2018
This book was something that keep interest to the end. Vivian and her Aunt Alma start out on the train to Cripple Creek. Vivian Aunt is only staying for a week or two before she head back to Maine. Vivian has her only ideas and what she wants to do.
Carter is a lawman who seem determined to keep Cripple Creek safe. He been dealing with bank robberies. He here that the train was robbed of the cash book by two men. When the train travels in to Cripple Creek. Carter see a young woman and she the one who tripped the short man. It really a strange that Carter and Vivian would see each other often somewhere in town.
Vivian and Carter do not that they will help each other and find love that the same time. They both start with their own struggles. They were needing find Grace and Forgiveness though God and there mistakes. Do they overcome their fears and struggles and mistakes? Read it to find out.
Carter is a lawman who seem determined to keep Cripple Creek safe. He been dealing with bank robberies. He here that the train was robbed of the cash book by two men. When the train travels in to Cripple Creek. Carter see a young woman and she the one who tripped the short man. It really a strange that Carter and Vivian would see each other often somewhere in town.
Vivian and Carter do not that they will help each other and find love that the same time. They both start with their own struggles. They were needing find Grace and Forgiveness though God and there mistakes. Do they overcome their fears and struggles and mistakes? Read it to find out.
Mitchell Knutzen (16 KP) rated Till We Have Faces in Books
Feb 21, 2018
Best Lewis Novel By Far
More than a simple retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth, this is a masterwork of storytelling by an author often hobbled by his well known and, in my opinion, laughably ridiculous religious beliefs. Yet unlike so many others that let these beliefs dissolve their efforts of mainstream fiction into so many pieces of nonsense too hamstrung by foolishness to ever assemble something coherent, let alone worth reading, Lewis often managed to rise above it, as with (for the most part) his deservedly beloved Narnia chronicles. Till We Have Faces is nothing short of brilliant, beautiful, at times achingly sad, and very profound. Those of you not fooled by the Jesus parade, but who love a damn good book written by a master of his craft, do yourself a HUGE favor and read this gem of a book. Then do the literary world a favor by passing along the good word (lol, couldn't help myself) that this may be the best book that nobody has heard of.
Mark @ Carstairs Considers (2204 KP) rated Lost Beneath Manhattan in Books
Mar 9, 2018
Ricky Kidd’s class trip to New York City turns into a disaster when he has to take his six-year-old brother with him. Joel is always disappearing, even at home, so Ricky is worried that Joel will do that on the trip. When an encounter with a security guard at a museum frightens him, Joel takes off, and Ricky begins to search for him. Where will the search lead him?
Author Sigmund Brower does a good job of making the premise believable. Of course, it doesn’t take much in a middle grade series for readers to root for the main characters to solve the crime. The book takes a little while to take off, but once it does, it never lets go until we reach the climax. The characters are a lot of fun; they get a lot of personality for a short book. Ricky wondering how God can allow suffering adds some depth to an already solid story.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/09/book-review-lost-beneath-manhattan-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Author Sigmund Brower does a good job of making the premise believable. Of course, it doesn’t take much in a middle grade series for readers to root for the main characters to solve the crime. The book takes a little while to take off, but once it does, it never lets go until we reach the climax. The characters are a lot of fun; they get a lot of personality for a short book. Ricky wondering how God can allow suffering adds some depth to an already solid story.
Read my full review at <a href="http://carstairsconsiders.blogspot.com/2017/09/book-review-lost-beneath-manhattan-by.html">Carstairs Considers</a>.
Gail (4 KP) rated Every Last Drop: A Vampire Anthology in Books
Jun 4, 2018
A collection of short stories involving vampires. Who doesn’t love vampires. These are the legitimate kind though so no sparkles. I enjoyed the twist in history. To give a reason for blood lust.
Natural Born Predators was awesome. The Beauty and The Beast with a vampire twist. Belle is no damsel in distress. She is a hard core vampire hunter. She is lethal and hot. Frey is a god with the power to control the weather around his castle. He imprisoned Bell's father for trespassing. What he wasn’t expecting was this beauty to come and calm his world. He knows he can’t change who Bell is but can he accept the thought of her always putting her life at risk.
All the stories were really good. It would be awesome to read full length novels of Fate and Fortune and Natural Born Predators. To get more details on the love stories and how the lives of the people effected turned out. To see that not all stories have a HEA.
Natural Born Predators was awesome. The Beauty and The Beast with a vampire twist. Belle is no damsel in distress. She is a hard core vampire hunter. She is lethal and hot. Frey is a god with the power to control the weather around his castle. He imprisoned Bell's father for trespassing. What he wasn’t expecting was this beauty to come and calm his world. He knows he can’t change who Bell is but can he accept the thought of her always putting her life at risk.
All the stories were really good. It would be awesome to read full length novels of Fate and Fortune and Natural Born Predators. To get more details on the love stories and how the lives of the people effected turned out. To see that not all stories have a HEA.
ClareR (5726 KP) rated Herland, the Yellow Wall-Paper, and Selected Writings in Books
Jun 6, 2018
This review is for Herland only!
This is lauded as being amongst the first feminist literature, and I'm sure it is - both now and at the time it was first published.
An all-female society is discovered in the middle of nowhere (I envisioned deepest, darkest South America, in the jungle somewhere) by three male explorers. They arrive with their male preconceptions, and two of them change their way of thinking for the better.
It's an idyllic life in Herland (the men's name for the country, not the women's - they never mention a name). There is someone in charge, but she's elected. No (or little) conflict, no crime, everyone does their share. Motherhood is sacred and limited to one child. They conceive magically, it seems, as there are no men, and all women share the parenting. It's idyllic all right!
A short little novella, and an easy, quick read. It's interesting to see what a woman in the early part of the twentieth century thought would be an idyllic society - and rather telling that men didn't actually feature in it at all!
An all-female society is discovered in the middle of nowhere (I envisioned deepest, darkest South America, in the jungle somewhere) by three male explorers. They arrive with their male preconceptions, and two of them change their way of thinking for the better.
It's an idyllic life in Herland (the men's name for the country, not the women's - they never mention a name). There is someone in charge, but she's elected. No (or little) conflict, no crime, everyone does their share. Motherhood is sacred and limited to one child. They conceive magically, it seems, as there are no men, and all women share the parenting. It's idyllic all right!
A short little novella, and an easy, quick read. It's interesting to see what a woman in the early part of the twentieth century thought would be an idyllic society - and rather telling that men didn't actually feature in it at all!
An interesting thriller
As thrillers go, this is a pretty good one. It's very well written and has you hooked and interested right from the start. The characters are well developed and all flawed in their own way, some to the point where you actually don't like them (but I get the feeling that's intended). There is a lot fitted into a fairly short book, but this isn't necessarily a negative. There are some benefits to books not dragging on for hundreds of pages more than necessary.
My only negatives are that sadly I saw the twist coming. Not straight away, but I cottoned on around 2/3 of the way through and I'm afraid I turned out to be right. I've probably read far too many books but it's a shame when you figure out the ending in advance. Also, the story goes at quite a pace but the ending seems ridiculously rushed.a massive build up and then a bit of a lacklustre ending, despite the twist.
My only negatives are that sadly I saw the twist coming. Not straight away, but I cottoned on around 2/3 of the way through and I'm afraid I turned out to be right. I've probably read far too many books but it's a shame when you figure out the ending in advance. Also, the story goes at quite a pace but the ending seems ridiculously rushed.a massive build up and then a bit of a lacklustre ending, despite the twist.
Briannabrown1019 (799 KP) rated Love Her Wild in Books
Jul 4, 2018
"She was afraid of heights
But she was
much more afraid
Of never flying."
So I went into this book with no idea of who the author is or where they started. For background, I have been on a major poetry kick this year. I have been devouring books of poetry faster than I can find new authors. This book had some amazing moments for me, and some eh moments. It was a super quick and light read. I spent less than an hour to go through the entire thing. I loved the pictures as I thought they were beautiful, but I didn't love that there were so many of them in between poems as I felt like they were almost using it as filler. About 90 % of the poems were incredibly short, averaging about one sentence in length. However, the ones I liked really stuck with me. I think it was an overall really great collection, just maybe not my cup of tea. I think I would have to say part 3 is my favorite section.
But she was
much more afraid
Of never flying."
So I went into this book with no idea of who the author is or where they started. For background, I have been on a major poetry kick this year. I have been devouring books of poetry faster than I can find new authors. This book had some amazing moments for me, and some eh moments. It was a super quick and light read. I spent less than an hour to go through the entire thing. I loved the pictures as I thought they were beautiful, but I didn't love that there were so many of them in between poems as I felt like they were almost using it as filler. About 90 % of the poems were incredibly short, averaging about one sentence in length. However, the ones I liked really stuck with me. I think it was an overall really great collection, just maybe not my cup of tea. I think I would have to say part 3 is my favorite section.
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Love...and Sleepless Nights in Books
Aug 13, 2018
Fun and lighthearted
Whilst Nick Spalding will never win any literary prizes for this series of books, he really does well to sum up real life situations and emotions. The writing is good but what really makes this story entertaining is the characters. Laura and Jamie are a very relatable couple and their diary/blog entries are so down to earth and realistic. I doubt anyone could read this book (or any others in the series) and not find a handful of comments, thoughts or situations that they’ve experienced in their own life. This story is also pretty funny and I found myself laughing out loud on many occasions.
It may not be the most thought provoking or insightful of reads, but this is a great fun and lighthearted story that is refreshingly short - I finished it in less than 2 hours so it’s one you can easily get through. One I’d recommend trying if you’re stuck with a fairly long commute - I may leave books 3 and 4 for my next long distance train journey for work!
It may not be the most thought provoking or insightful of reads, but this is a great fun and lighthearted story that is refreshingly short - I finished it in less than 2 hours so it’s one you can easily get through. One I’d recommend trying if you’re stuck with a fairly long commute - I may leave books 3 and 4 for my next long distance train journey for work!