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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 (2316 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 (5846 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 (7799 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!
MoMoBookDiary (20 KP) rated A Puppy's Dream Comes True in Books
Oct 1, 2018
I enjoyed this short adorable heart-warming story of BabyDoll, a maltese puppy who is adopted by a lovely couple, Lisa and Donald. The author has created a wonderful story telling of animal adoption from the dog's point of view.
It is clear to see from quick glance at this story that the author is American and in the fashion/entertainment world.
This is a great book for young children however I couldn’t relate to the way the family treat the dog – its a dog not a human. I have a dog myself who is treated like one of the family but I wouldn’t feed him real ‘human food’. I am sure there are families who do -but I feel there may be more families out there that are trying to get their children to stop feeding the dog scraps of human food and this book would not help with that. Otherwise it’s a great book with cute illustrations.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review prior to publication.
It is clear to see from quick glance at this story that the author is American and in the fashion/entertainment world.
This is a great book for young children however I couldn’t relate to the way the family treat the dog – its a dog not a human. I have a dog myself who is treated like one of the family but I wouldn’t feed him real ‘human food’. I am sure there are families who do -but I feel there may be more families out there that are trying to get their children to stop feeding the dog scraps of human food and this book would not help with that. Otherwise it’s a great book with cute illustrations.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review prior to publication.
Roxanne (13 KP) rated Bright Baby Touch and Feel Bathtime in Books
Nov 14, 2018
This is a cute and fun little book which my baby really likes. I have rated it 4 stars as it's not as good as some of the other touch books that I've got for her. It's quite sturdy so it should last a while and it's full of bright colours and different textures for your baby to touch. I would recommend books in this series but not so much as some others that I have purchased. The books are quite short so I would say get a number of them as after a couple of flick throughs your little one might get a bit bored.
Baby books aren't the cheapest things ever so before purchasing make sure you check your local library as they should have a good selection.
This one in particular is fun to read together just before a nice, warm bath so you can talk your baby through bathtime.
Anything to see that cute, little smile...
<img src="http://www.cgpgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Baby-Skin-Care.jpg"; width="180" height="110"/>
Baby books aren't the cheapest things ever so before purchasing make sure you check your local library as they should have a good selection.
This one in particular is fun to read together just before a nice, warm bath so you can talk your baby through bathtime.
Anything to see that cute, little smile...
<img src="http://www.cgpgallery.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Baby-Skin-Care.jpg"; width="180" height="110"/>
Roxanne (13 KP) rated Bright Baby Touch and Feel Bedtime in Books
Nov 14, 2018
This is a cute and fun little book which my baby really likes. I have rated it 4 stars as it's not as good as some of the other touch books that I've got for her. It's quite sturdy so it should last a while and it's full of bright colours and different textures for your baby to touch. I would recommend books in this series but not so much as some others that I have purchased. The books are quite short so I would say get a number of them as after a couple of flick throughs your little one might get a bit bored.
Baby books aren't the cheapest things ever so before purchasing make sure you check your local library as they should have a good selection.
This one in particular is fun to read together just before bed so you can talk your baby through bedtime.
Bedtime snuggles and smiles...
<img src="http://www.ohbabymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/happy-baby2.gif"; width="150" height="150"/>
Baby books aren't the cheapest things ever so before purchasing make sure you check your local library as they should have a good selection.
This one in particular is fun to read together just before bed so you can talk your baby through bedtime.
Bedtime snuggles and smiles...
<img src="http://www.ohbabymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/happy-baby2.gif"; width="150" height="150"/>