I've been spending the hot days inside reading, when I'm not at work. Look on the left sidebar to see my three most recent books and a short review. If you want to see more of my reviews on Good Reads, click the link at the bottom of any of the reviews.
Blogs I Read
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Yesterday and Today
Books I've Read Recently
- Chris Cleave: Little Bee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Little Bee is not a happy book, but it does have joys. It's beautifully written, and I enjoyed discovering the gifts the author had left me on its pages. The book will leave you angry at a system that does not recognize individuals and their situations, and it will leave you loving the character that is Little Bee. Most of all, it is a book about choices, and it will leave you examining the choices you make.
View all my reviews - Will North: Water, Stone, Heart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I didn't know what to expect from this book, but I certainly wasn't disappointed. I didn't want it to end because I'd grown so fond of the characters. Although you know a crisis is coming, much of the book is like a visit with friends in the countryside of Cornwall. That fact alone made the book very attractive to me. It reminds me a bit of Rosamunde Pilcher's books, some of my favorites. When the crisis comes, the characters deliver. The characters are believable and broken, just like real people. If you don't fall in love with Lee, the young girl in the novel, then there's something wrong with you. She is pure magic. The cover compares Will North's writing to James Patterson. I find North's writing more real, his characters more believable. This is one book I'll be keeping because I know I will want to read it again.
View all my reviews - Cinda Williams Chima: The Demon King
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It took me a while to get into this book, but I ended up liking it. I'd really liked Chima's Heir series, and I had high expectations for this book. It was a bit slow to start for me, but the plot ended up as engrossing as I was expecting. It's a fantasy book intended for a teen audience, but adults will find much to like. Although it takes place in an imaginary land, I found it much like old England which probably added to my enjoyment. I didn't love this book because of the slow start, but I'm looking forward to reading the second book in the series. The author did a good job of developing the characters as the book progressed, and you will have a difficult time not getting engrossed with the two main protagonists. If you liked the Heir series, give The Demon King a try.
View all my reviews - Gina Showalter: Unraveled
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Not as good as the first book, Intertwined, by a long shot. The voice of this book changed, almost as if the author were told to pander to teen girls only. The vampires and werewolves become vamps and weres, there are sparkly fairies, and there's way too much titillation and tongue-flicking. The sad thing is that Intertwined was full of promise and could have been a genre-busting novel with wide appeal from teens through adults. Instead, it failed to fulfill its promise, and this second book continues the downhill slide. There are moments when the promise peeks through, but for the most part this book is, as my teen son says with disgust, "only for girls."
View all my reviews
Scrap Space
- Welcome to my updated scrap space. I hope my storage solutions will help you make better use of the space you have. Updated September 2007 - there have been a number of changes since I originally posted pictures of my scrap haven. I've replaced the old photos with new ones. And about the CD player mentioned below, it's still there because it's integrated with the clock. BUT I rock out to tunes on my iPod now. :-) You won't see my CD player - but there's one there. You also don't see my sewing machine and lots of other cool stuff like fabric - they are in the opposite corner of the room. This is a sewing/scrapping/have fun room, so there's lots of stuff packed into a VERY small space. Enjoy.
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