Tag: book reviews

Bookends About Fear in the Sunlight

May 4, 2013 DoingDewey Uncategorized 8

Title: Fear in the Sunlight
Author: Nicola Upson
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
Review Summary: I almost really loved this well-written, atmospheric mystery, but the end was just too unsatisfying.

Mystery writer Josephine Tey is in Portmeirion to meet with Alfred Hitchcock and his wife about a film deal. Hitchcock is also in Portmeirion to scout the location and set up tricks to reveal his crews response to guilt and fear. In this tense atmosphere, no one is prepared to deal with the murder of two women on the island. The island police don’t seem particularly interested in finding the killer and it’s only years later that another murder connected to a Hitchcock film begins to lead to the truth. Read more »

Meeting Alfred Hitchcock

May 1, 2013 DoingDewey Uncategorized 3

Title: It’s Only A Movie
Author: Charlotte Chandler
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★☆
Fun Fact: Hitchcock once had a set showing a city street in Holland built complete with working street cars and sewers to drain the fake rain.
Review Summary: The book was a very light read composed mainly of quotes that made me feel like I really got to know Hitchcock.

It’s Only a Movie is a very comprehensive biography, covering Hitchcock’s career from his beginnings as a title designer through the final movie he was never able to complete. Even the plots of his movies are included. Mostly though, this was an intimate portrait of the man, told through quotes from him and those who knew him. Read more »

Monday Musings

April 22, 2013 DoingDewey Monday Musings 5

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’ll be talking about something that’s been on my mind a lot lately – how to fit it all in! With more work actually in the lab plus a longer commute time and starting working out, I’m trying to figure out the best way to fit in blogging…

Bookends About Scarlet

April 21, 2013 DoingDewey Uncategorized 1

Title: Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles #2)
Author: Marissa Meyer
Source: library
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: Creative, awesome world-building and interesting protagonists made this an enjoyable read very similar to Cinder but the lack of action was disappointing.

Loosely based on Little Red Riding Hood, Scarlet’s story starts as she searches for her missing grandmother. Along the way, she meets the dark and handsome street fighter Wolf who might be able to help her, if she can trust him. We also learn a little more about Cinder’s escape and how she might be connected to Scarlet’s grandmother. Read more »

Under the Tuscan Sun

April 10, 2013 DoingDewey Uncategorized 6

Title: Under the Tuscan Sun
Author: Frances Mayes
Source: library
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Review Summary: This is a wholesome, lovely, refreshing read with lyrical prose describing a beautiful location but it is a little undirected.

First let me tell you what this book isn’t. It’s nothing like the movie; it’s not a romance; and it isn’t even a book with much of a plot. Instead, it’s a beautiful collection of anecdotes loosely tied together by the progression of time. The primary focus is on the author’s experiences restoring a Tuscan villa, but her focus on food is a close second. Some of her experiences as a tourist remind me of a travel memoir, but I particularly enjoyed the other parts that describe the experience of actually living in Italy. Read more »

Special Offers

April 8, 2013 DoingDewey Uncategorized 2

Title: Special Offers
Author: M. L. Ryan
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: A nice light read with a well developed paranormal element, a fun romantic sub-plot, and a great sense of humor.

When Hailey orders a cheaper kindle with “special offers”, she gets more than she bargained for. Through a strange series of events, a super-natural being named Sebastian has been trapped in the kindle and is released to inhabit Hailey’s body when she turns the kindle on. Fortunately for Hailey, another super-natural (and also super sexy) being is look for Sebastian. With his help, perhaps she’ll be able to retrieve Sebastian’s body from his killer and put him back where he belongs. Read more »

Monday Musings

April 8, 2013 DoingDewey Monday Musings 0

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

A few weeks ago, I asked about other people’s experience listening to audiobooks in my Monday Musing. I’ve been listening to Tom Clancy’s Dead or Alive ever since, so today I’m going to tell you a little about my experience with audiobooks. Read more »

Bookends About Etiquette and Espionage

April 6, 2013 DoingDewey Uncategorized 3

Title: Etiquette and Espionage
Author: Gail Carriger
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: Great world building, a strong female protagonist, no angsty relationships, and an incredibly fun boarding school. This one’s a keeper.

Etiquette and Espionage, Gail Carriger’s first foray into young adult fiction, is set in the same fascinating world as her Parasol Protectorate series with its enjoyable blend of fantasy and steampunk elements. As a bit of a tomboy, Sophronia doesn’t quite fit her mother’s idea of a proper lady, so her mother is thrilled to send Sophronia off to finishing school. Fortunately for Sophronia, the finishing school is not what her mother thinks, teaching young ladies not only the “fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but [also how] to deal out death, diversion, and espionage—in the politest possible ways, of course” (source) .

The Botany of Desire

April 3, 2013 DoingDewey Uncategorized 4

Title: The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s Eye View of the World
Author: Michael Pollan
Source: library
Rating: ★★★★★
Fun Fact: A tulip grown from seed doesn’t flower for 7 years!
Review Summary: This was one of the most fun non-fiction books I’ve read, because of both the content and the author’s enthusiasm.

The author’s starting premise in The Botany of Desire has two fascinating parts. First, that plants benefit greatly from domestication, so our relationship with them could just as easily be viewed as them domesticating us. And second, that domesticated plants have evolved to meet some basic human desire, making plants of the past a great way to learn about what previous civilizations valued. The bulk of the book is devoted to stories of particular plants that illustrate this point. Although I expected more of a history of the plants in question (the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato), I very much enjoyed the collection of anecdotes presented instead.

Read more »

Bookends About And Then She Fell

March 30, 2013 DoingDewey Uncategorized 6

Title: And Then She Fell
Author: Stephanie Laurens
Source: from publisher for review
Rating: ★★★★☆
Review Summary: The unique premise and appealing heroine made this both a great romance and an exciting mystery.

Henrietta Cynster doesn’t believe she’s meant to fall in love. Instead she’s devoted her time to helping other young women determine if their suitors are truly motivated by love. However, when she breaks up a match that was motivated by good intentions (but not love) she feels honor-bound to help James find another bride. This being a romance, Henrietta and James are immediately attracted to one another, but their own stubbornness and some societal constraints have to be overcome before they realize it. Once they do, the book becomes largely a mystery, although one intended mainly to highlight the depths of their feeling for each other. Read more »