Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Song of the Brokenhearted by Sheila Walsh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Song of the Brokenhearted is about Ava and her well put together life. She has her ministry with the church that occupies what little time that isn’t taken up with her family. She’s planning the wedding of her daughter, dealing with the increasing work load her husband seems to have and the new football season for her son. Then like the click of a light switch her well constructed life seems to fall apart. She’s constantly brought out of the present with reminders of a past she’d like to forget. Then with the ringing of her doorbell she’s set on a path to go visit the past she’d like to forget.
I was quickly drawn into wanting to know more about Ava, we were given little snippets of her life before everything seemed to turn golden for her. It was nice to see that even if you have everything God can work something great through you even if He slowly allows those things you came to rely on to slip away. To make you stronger or to even learn things about yourself that you may not have seen. I loved how Ava handled how things came at her.
I would highly recommend it for anyone who has had a troubled past, and who may be going through a rough time. It was a great uplifting christian based read.
I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com http://BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Review: Through Rushing Water
Posted on: July 29, 2012
Through Rushing Water by Catherine Richmond
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Through Rushing Water by Catherine Richmond is about a Russian born, American implanted teacher Sophia Makinoff. She’s pretty sure she has her future figured out when the man she thought would propose chose another instead. In a sudden decision to join a mission board, with hopes of going to China, she finds herself the new teacher on a small Ponca Indian reservation. Its the last place she wanted to be, but God proves what we want and what we need are two different things.
I loved this story more than I thought I would. I’ve always enjoyed historical type fiction. This one is even loosely based off a true life story. I felt that the story moved well and you actually could get to feel for the different characters. They all become dear and close.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a slowly evolving romance, and looking for a little insight to what it was like back when the west was ‘wild’.
I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com http://BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Review: Before I Go to Sleep
Posted on: March 5, 2012
Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I happened across this one on accident at Target. It sounded interesting, and it didn’t disappoint. I found myself enthralled with the main character right away. I found myself wanting to know what happened to her, wanting her memory to become complete so that everything was spelled out. For a while I believed that her husband had caused what happened to her, whether he did it himself or had someone do it. The twists were nice.
There were times within the ‘journal’ writings though that the writer would make errors, or there were errors missed. Especially toward the end of the story. My biggest problem with the story is the ending itself. I felt a little short changed, that there should have been an epilogue. But that is a part of me that I battle with occasionally, wanting things tied up into a nice little bow. This had a good end but I hate having that nagging feeling of what happened with a character that I have invested some feelings for. I didn’t necessarily want a HEA but it would have been nice to know about ‘tomorrow’.
Review: The Help
Posted on: February 13, 2012
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed reading this once I got into it. I love the premise and the overall tone of the book. I think the author did a pretty good job of giving the ‘help’ a good and honest voice. I was glad to have read the book before reading reviews that have been left here. I feel some are so over critical of a fiction piece. Just my honest opinion.
I loved the characters in this book, even the ones that I hated. I felt that they could all be very real people in their time period. They felt real with real emotions, they often made me laugh and sometimes brought me to tears.
Honestly I felt it was better than the movie.
Review: Beastly
Posted on: January 3, 2012
Beastly by Alex Flinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book. I especially loved the little snippets of chat speak for some reason. Probably having experience in joining chats before it spoke that little part of me that enjoyed those experiences.
Over all the book was cute and I liked it only slightly better than the movie, which is the only way that I had come across the book. It was a quick and easy read, I managed to follow it well while I worked out on the treadmill.
I’d recommend it to anyone who loves a cute love story.
Review: Selection Event
Posted on: January 3, 2012
Selection Event by Wayne Wightman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Well for the most part I was okay with the story. My only beef is with how every single crazy murderous power hungry person in the book was ‘Christian’. They were the villains everytime.
I don’t generally let what people say or think about different groups get to me, especially in a fictional story, but for some reason this felt excessive. I think that at least once there could have been a villain that didn’t claim to be led by God.
There were some things that I did like, Isha’s point of view was interesting, the light humor at times was well inserted and helped lighten things up. I really liked most of the characters. Overall it was an okay quick read. But not one I will be reading again soon.
Review: Invasion
Posted on: February 8, 2011
Invasion by J.S. Lewis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Invasion by Jon S. Lewis is a sci-fi fantasy where after a fun summer a young boy named Colt loses his parents and has to move from California to Arizona to live with his grandfather. He learns that his grandfather just might be the model for one of his greats comic book heroes and that it’s possible his parents didn’t just die in a horrible accident but may have actually been murdered. As if that wasn’t enough he also starts to learn that those monsters in the comic books are actually real.
I’ve always liked a bit of science fiction, possibly from my love of Star Trek and Star Wars so I thought I would give this a try. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I fell in love with it. The writing is good and engages you quickly. I feel like it follows a good timeline and the author introduces enough new concepts as well as filling out other plot areas.
The characters are growing which is really good for a story like this where there are other books planned. I look forward to reading the next chapter very soon.
This book is great for scifi lovers and the teenage crowd (or like myself the young at heart!).
To comply with new regulations introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, BookSneeze® has provided me with this as a complimentary copy of this book.
Review: Incarceron
Posted on: January 17, 2011
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Where to start… I’ll try not to ramble to much.
I’ll start with I enjoyed this book, I mean really enjoyed it. I devoured it today basically and am itching to go back and read it again.
I read some of the reviews and see that some people didn’t like the third person and I know that I am no editor but I didn’t catch enough of the slips to make an issue for me. But then I don’t read books to critique and tear them apart for errors missed on the editing room floor. I read them to have a little escape from the world and to just enjoy a good story being told.
This book accomplishes that very well. Its a world very unlike our own in the fact that they have technologies past our own. They’ve had a great war that threw them into a scared unchanging set of Protocol. They threw the scum of their world into a prison in order to keep it away, basically thinking if they locked it away they could make it disappear. Of course this never works.
Another complaint I saw was that Catherine didn’t describe it enough. Ugh god forbid really, has our society lost all its imagination that you can’t fill in the blanks on your own?
The prison is constantly changing so I can see why she left a lot of the description out, imagine the thickness and boring details that she would have had to go into had she described every facet of the prison. It’s impossible. It had been created as a living breathing thing all on its own. It had become much grander than I believe even the creators had imagined.
Then the Outside was well painted I believe. They live with tight rigid laws and rules to uphold the Protocol and they do this only slipping when they can to use the technology they obviously had once advanced to.
I know some hated the characters but I loved them. Claudia was stubborn and bull headed, a perfect product of her parentage I say. And Finn was lost and had to protect himself, so of course he would be come what he was. At least he tried hard to not let everything completely consume him, and he searched for anything that would tell him who he was.
Altogether I enjoyed it, it was a different kind of story and felt fresh. Even if I could figure out what was kind of going on early on in the story, at least with Finn’s character, and I had suspected something off with the relationship between the Warden and Claudia, but I didn’t find out on that matter til much later in the book. And the whole of Incarceron was a surprise to me in the end.
I think that Catherine did a good job, and I look forward to reading the second book.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This was a very simple read, although it took me a lot longer to read than it takes me to read most books. I didn’t hate it it just didn’t grab me. I had none of that eager anticipation to read the next page or to get to the end of the book to know whats happening. I think it ruined a bit of the surprise for me when I figured out who was the bad guy early on. It wasn’t very well hidden, it was just a matter of knowing who was in league with who.
I won’t be reading it again, though I will likely read the rest of the books in the series, just to have read them and finished it out. When I can get them from the library.
BookSneeze
Posted on: November 10, 2010
I’m joining up. I’m hoping it will motivate me to write more full bodied reviews. I had intended to do so here on my blog but then forgot about it. I will work on it though!
Check it out http://www.booksneeze.com
