Tag: book reviews

Monday Musing on Balancing Reading and Blogging

June 10, 2013 Monday Musings 23

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

For the first time since I’ve started blogging, I’m actually ahead on reading and behind on writing reviews! Read more »

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Soundbites: The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern

June 9, 2013 Soundbites 1

catwho2Title: The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern
Author: Lilian Jackson Braun
Narrator: George Guidall
Rating (Story): ★★★☆☆
Rating (Narration):★★★★☆

Like Tom Clancy, Lilian Jackson Braun is an author I rely on to basically write the same book over and over. It’s like comfort food for the brain 🙂 And as such, it made for nice easy listening. This was an adorable, cozy mystery. The plot is fairly simple and it lacked the Agatha Christie sense of challenging you to solve the crime. Instead you sit back and join our main character as the mystery unfolds, often helped along by his cat, Koko. Read more »

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Bookends About Water for Elephants

June 8, 2013 Uncategorized 11

43641Title: Water for Elephants
Author: Sara Gruen
Source: library
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: The characters were fascinating and their personal stories were moving, but the main character didn’t do much to advance the plot.

Left penniless after his parents’ death, Jacob Jankowski quickly fell in love with the two stars of the circus: the beautiful performer Marlena and the elephant Rosie. However, Marelena is already married and her husband is sometimes completely brutish to her and the circus animals. With the circus owner on his side, her husband is very dangerous and Jacob will have a hard time escaping with his life and those he loves. Read more »

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Scapemaker

June 3, 2013 Uncategorized 3

scapemaker

Title: Scapemaker
Author: Steve V Cypert
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Review Summary: The plot was creative and interesting, but the writing was a somewhat stiff and the ending fell a little flat for me.

Scapemaker takes place in a world were some people, known as “Dreamscapers”, are born with the ability to enter a dream world in which monsters and myths are real. Although Matthew’s father teaches dreamscaping, Matthew is unaware of the existence of Dreamscapers until his father’s mysterious descent into a coma forces him to learn. He quickly finds that his father’s coma was caused by events in the dreamworld, events which have left a powerful talisman his father was guarding unprotected. Now Matthew must act as guardian and try to free his father before it’s too late. Read more »

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Armchair BEA – Intro Post

May 29, 2013 Blogger Events 18

Hi all! Yesterday was the first day of Armchair BEA, an event for bloggers who aren’t meeting at BEA in New York City to meet online instead. I was out of town and didn’t managedto do an intro post in advance, so I’m posting one today instead. If you would also like to link up an intro post, the questions are listed here and the linky is available here. Here are the questions I chose to answer… Read more »

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Monday Musings

May 27, 2013 Monday Musings 6

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

I recently had one of my most fun blog-inspired experiences, attending the Rochester Teen Book Festival and getting to meet many of the authors whose YA books are getting rave reviews from bloggers. It was amazing! I loved meeting the authors, the other book lovers, and the adorable small children already in love with reading. However, I was surprised that I was so excited about meeting authors when I generally don’t get excited about online interviews. So today I’m pondering why that might be and wondering which author interactions you find most meaningful. Read more »

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Quiet: The Power of Introverts

May 15, 2013 non-fiction, Psychology, Science, Self-Help 3

Title: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking
Author: Susan Cain
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★★
Fun Fact: Individual animals may also be categorized as introverts or extroverts.
Review Summary: This was fun, easy to read, enjoyable and educational. Also somewhat inspiring for us introverts 🙂

The stereotypical introvert is not viewed as someone who could be a great leader, lawyer, or salesperson. Susan Cain challenges that view with both fascinating research and enjoyable anecdotes. This research strongly suggests that society could benefit from the complementary strengths of extroverts and introverts. However, much of American society is designed to favor extroverts. Cain discusses why that is; why we should try to change it; and how we can begin doing so. Read more »

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Frozen In Time

May 6, 2013 Uncategorized 8

Title: Frozen In Time
Author: Mitchell Zuckoff
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Fun Fact: The Greenland coastline is longer than the distance around the equator.
Review Summary: Another awesome example of narrative non-fiction from Zuckoff, packed with adventure, drama, and a personal touch that makes the reader feel like the know the people involved.

During WWII, planes routinely used Greenland as a staging point to get from the US to Europe. From this story, it seems as though planes almost as routinely ended up crashing due to the wind and poor visibility! In Frozen In Time,  a B-17 participating in a search and rescue mission crash lands with all men on board miraculously surviving the crash. A Gruman Duck amphibious plane which is part of a daring rescue mission crashes as well and since none of the men on board survived, the plane is never retrieved. Frozen In Time tells both the story of the many daring rescue attempts necessary to retrieve the men aboard the B-17 and the modern day story of the hunt for the lost Duck. Read more »

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Monday Musings

May 6, 2013 Monday Musings 11

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

Today, I have a question for you, dear readers. Do you write your blog based on the sort of blog you like to read? For the most part, I do and here’s how that affects what I write… Read more »

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