Review: Jenny Pox by J. L. Bryan

I won a copy of this book from LibraryThing.



About the Book

Eighteen-year-old Jenny Morton has a horrific secret: her touch spreads a deadly supernatural plague, the "Jenny pox." She lives by a single rule: Never touch anyone. A lifetime of avoiding any physical contact with others has made her isolated and painfully lonely in her small rural town.

Then she meets the one boy she can touch. Jenny feels herself falling for Seth...but if she's going to be with him, Jenny must learn to use the deadly pox inside her to confront his ruthless and manipulative girlfriend Ashleigh, who secretly wields the most dangerous power of all.

For more information about Jenny Pox please visit J. L. Bryan's website Follow him on Twitter or Like him on Facebook

My Review

I liked the story good enough. It just took me quite a while to get into this one. Once I got about half-way through the story I was attached and it went really fast. But getting to that "I don't want to put this one down" point took a while.

The premise of the story is pretty neat. Jenny has a "Midas Touch" of sorts, only it's in reverse. She's shunned by her father and by her peers. If life isn't hard enough for a teenager already poor Jenny's been dealt the worst hand of all. I really felt so sorry for her. I just wanted her to not be ostracized. All any girl wants is to find that place where she fits in. Jenny knows that she's not normal, but she's learned how to live with the hand life has dealt her. She's just biding her time until she can live out her life without the eyes of the town watching her.

As the story progresses and Jenny finds someone that she can actually touch I really wanted this to be the end to all of Jenny's problems. Ashleigh was such a horrible person and I really wanted to see her get what should have been coming to her. I wished from the first encounters with Ashleigh that Jenny would just have touched her and removed that thorn from her side. Seth seemed to sway back and fourth, sometimes I really wanted to hate him and other times I wanted to hug him. When it's revealed what is causing Seth's mood swings I couldn't wait to see how it was taken care of.

The end of the story was really good. It wasn't a cheesy ending, and it tied things up nicely. I was very happy with it. It was an enjoyable book to read and I connected with the story after a while.

Review: Moonlight in Odessa by Janet Skeslien Charles

I won a copy of this book on a giveaway from Library Thing.



About the Book

In Odessa, Ukraine, Daria, a whip-smart engineer, spends her days underemployed as a secretary—a job she was lucky to get in this rotten economy. She spends her evenings moonlighting as an interpreter at an agency that matches lonely American men with beautiful-but-broke Ukrainian women. She spends her nights wondering if there is more. When an American client offers marriage and a one-way ticket out of poverty, Daria jumps at the chance. She soon learns there's a reason that her husband couldn't find a wife in America, and that the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the world. The perfect book for anyone who's ever been stuck in a dead-end job or relationship, Moonlight in Odessa is an exploration of language, culture, and the difficult choices we make in the pursuit of love and stability.

For more information about Moonlight in Odessa you can visit Janet Skeslien Charles' website or follow her on Twitter.

As always you can purchase a copy of Moonlight in Odessa from my Amazon Store.

My Review

This one took a little while to get going. Setting up the story took quite a bit. But once the story got going I really did enjoy it. There's a lot of personality points that need to be made about Daria. I think had the story just jumped in it wouldn't have been nearly as good. I felt like the building was very necessary to the rest of the story.

I like Daria and her Boba. Daria's a very strong woman. She knows how to get what she wants in her beautiful city of Odessa. The means she takes don't always seem to make sense, but it's mentioned a few times that that's how it's done with Odesseans. In Odessa Daria is well-past the appropriate age to marry, but she's not "normal" and has put her life before the life everyone else expects her to lead. Her main focus is her Boba and making sure that she can take care of Boba, her grandmother, the way Boba has taken care of her. There's a very strong bond between the two of them.

When Daria & Boba's dreams finally come true, and Daria's approached by an American willing to move her to America with him she seems a bit torn. It's what she always wanted and yet she doesn't want to desert her Boba. But Boba pushes her out the door and Daria's on her way to America. The story is pretty good till this point, but once Daria reaches America is when the emotional ties really pulled me into this one.

Janet Skeslien Charles has a great ability to explain people so that you feel as if you know them personally. I felt as if I've known Daria, Boba, and the whole lot of characters all my life. I understood how they think and was able to predict how they'd act as easily as I can my own family. It was amazing to be that drawn into a book.

While this was a good piece of fiction I think the story is more of a look at how people interact, how cultures can clash and mesh, and how people can persevere even if they aren't given what they thought they were getting. It's about struggle, and the fact that we always have a way out.

I would have given this one 5 stars but it did take a while to really get into the story. While I see the need for the build up of the back ground on the characters it was a bit daunting. By the time the book started to get good I'd almost given up on it. Although I'm glad I didn't!

Review: The Anniversary Waltz by Darrel Nelson

Thanks to Glass Road for letting me review this one.



About the Book

At their sixtieth anniversary party, Adam Carlson asks his wife, Elizabeth, for their customary waltz. After the dance they gather the family and share their story—a story of love and courage overcoming adversity and thriving in the face of overwhelming odds.

It’s the summer of 1946, and Adam has just returned from the war to his home in Reunion, Montana. At a town festival he meets Elizabeth Baxter, a young woman going steady with his former high school rival and now influential banker, Nathan Roberts.

When Adam and Elizabeth share a waltz in a deserted pavilion one evening, their feelings begin to grow and they embark on a journey, and a dance, that will last a lifetime.

You can purchase a copy of The Anniversary Waltz from my Amazon Store.

My Review
I absolutely LOVED this book. It was one of the greatest love stories I've read in a very long time.

I really liked Adam - he was my favorite character. He was a knight in shinning armor so to speak. He was very caring. I liked that he was always looking for a way to help others. He was also a very loyal person, even though his dad felt a bit betrayed. Then the romance with Elizabeth. Elizabeth seemed to have her head on straight, until the end and even then she finally comes to her senses. I loved being part of  the story of them falling in love. It was so romantic. They seem to be able to get through anything, even when disaster strikes Adam's not willing to give up.

This book was very well written. Nelson has the ability to create such a vivid world that I didn't want to leave! I felt like I was a part of Reunion and was right there in the action. I was so emotionally attached to the characters that I just wanted  the story to go on forever. Even the secondary characters were so well developed that I felt like I was a part of the community. I knew who these people were and had a connection to them all.

Overall this was an amazing story! I will be hoping and waiting for something new from Nelson.

Review: Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled by Bert Murray

I have to thank the author Burt Murray for letting me review this one.



About the Book

Meet Colin Preston.
19 years old and a student at Elerby University in upstate New York.
He drinks too much.
Lives for the Beatles, John Lennon and classic rock.
Falls for the most beautiful sophomore on campus.
His life is about to change forever.
Funny. Moving. Honest. Raw.
An entertaining coming of age novel about friendship,
music, first love and betrayal.

For more information about Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled you can visit the book's website.

To purchase a copy of Colin Preston Rocked and Rolled you can visit my Amazon store.

My Review

Colin Preston is a bit of an outcast in this book. He doesn't really fit in anywhere, which I think is why I liked him so much. It's not so much that he doesn't care about what other people think about him it's more that he's just so different from everyone else. He loves the Beatles - their music comes up quite a bit throughout the story. It was interested for me to see how he connected to the music so much. It seemed like when he couldn't connect to anything else, the Beatles were there for him. Given that I liked him so much I hate to say that he was quite quirky. I'm still trying to figure out if he was crazy, but quirky sums it up nicely. And some of the things that happen in the story make me feel so sorry for him. I just wanted to hug him and tell him everything was going to be ok.

All the people in the book were quirky though. The parents were odd, the aunt and uncle were odd, the professors were odd - even the beautiful Jasmine had her quirks. It really makes you realize that no one is "normal" we all have quirks but those quirks are what make us who we are.

The writing was pretty good. I found it to be quite humorous. There weren't any ROFL laughing moments, but I let a few snickers out while I was reading it. There were some serious sides to the story also. There are some pretty dark themes that come up throughout the book, and without the humor to lighten them up I think this would have been a much more difficult book to read.

Overall I thought it was pretty good. It wasn't a great novel, but it was pretty good.

Review: The Void by Bryan Healey

Thanks to Bryan Healey for sending me a review copy of his latest book!



About the Book

A man is trapped in his own mind. Confined to a hospital bed for years, his family and friends believing him all but dead; somehow he can still hear. And he listens, he keeps breathing, keeps thinking, as those around him suddenly condemn him to death. With a life destined to end, he recounts his battlefield experience of death and violence, his own struggle with drug addiction and depression, and coming to terms with his own mortality, the importance of family and the meaning of life. And as he thinks, he
lays, still as always, wondering when the final moment will arrive...

For more information about The Void and Bryan Healey you can "Like" him on Facebook, follow him on Twitter or visit his website.

Purchase a copy of The Void from my Amazon store.

My Review

I've read two of Healey's books before and I LOVED them. This book took my expectations and blew them out of the water.

Within the first few pages I was crying like a baby, and it didn't let up much from there. I read this in one sitting, as I just could not put it down, I was so attached to Max right from the word go. Healey's ability to write with so much emotion is truly amazing to me. He has this ability to grasp my attention and not let go till the last word.

The story deals with something very controversial, taking a comatose patient off of life-support. I feel that regardless of your feelings on the subject The Void is an eye-opening story. It makes you wonder about all the what-ifs that surround a decision like that.

I love how well the story flows. Max, the main character, seems to float around between the world that is moving on around him and the world that he remembers. Despite the jumping back and fourth the writing just moves along and it does not feel choppy. That's one of my favorite aspects about Healey's writing - his ability to jump the story around without really bringing attention to the fact that you're jumping around. It's something that I do not come across often and I truly appreciate the author that has that kind of ability.

Healey is truly a master of his art! One of my favorite all time authors for sure!

Review: The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I purchased this book from the Doubleday Book Club. You can get 5 books for 99 cents for signing up.



About the Book

Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.

In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town, and the way women - mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends - view one another. A deeply moving novel filled with poignancy, humor, and hope, The Help is a timeless and universal story about the lines we abide by, and the ones we don't.
For more information about The Help please visit Kathryn Stockett's website or you can "Like" her on Facebook. 

Purchase this title from my Amazon store. 

My Review

I have been wanting to get my hands on this book for quite a while. Then when the movie came out I really had to get a copy. I'd heard such great things about the book and couldn't wait to read it.

I did like the book. The story really makes you think. It amazed me how some of the people acted. I would get so mad at them, it doesn't matter to me that this was how things were, it still made me so angry sometimes. Even Skeeter who was trying to do such good was so idiotic sometimes. I just wanted to smack her. I liked Skeeter but she was so naive, even when she started to open her eyes to what was going on she still seemed to have no idea.

I loved Aibileen, she seemed like the kind of person you could talk to for five minuets and feel like you've been friends forever. And although Minny needed her butt kicked a few times I really liked her to. She was a no nonsense take it or leave it kind of person, and unfortunately for her many people chose to leave it.

This book made me cry, made me angry, made me happy, made me sad, made me laugh, and made me laugh so hard I cried. It was easy for me to get lost in the story, I could vividly see what was happening. What I think I liked the most was that not everyone got a happy ending. I love a feel-good story, but at some point it becomes so unbelievable that it almost feels like an insult. Real-life is hard and not everyone gets the happy ending all the time. That really was refreshing for me. It seems as if most of the "popular" books that I read all end with everyone getting exactly what they wanted.

Now that I've finally read the book I can't wait to see the movie! Hope they did at least a half-way decent job with it.

Review: Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

I think I bought this book at a garage sale, but I can't really remember. It's been on my shelf for a while, and it looks like it has seen much better days!




About the Book

In the hopeful 1950s, Frank and April Wheeler appear to be a model couple: bright, beautiful, talented, with two young children and a starter home in the suburbs. Perhaps they married too young and started a family too early. Maybe Frank's job is dull. And April never saw herself as a housewife. Yet they have always lived on the assumption that greatness is only just around the corner. But now that certainty is about to crumble.

With heartbreaking compassion and remorseless clarity, Richard Yates shows how Frank and April mortgage their spiritual birthright, betraying not only each other, but their best selves
Purchase this book from my Amazon Store. 

My Review

I have to admit that the only reason I finally picked up this book was because I caught the last 30 minuets or so of the movie on TV and was intrigued. Then I learned that it was a book and so I decided to read the book before I watched the whole movie. I still have yet to see the whole movie, but based on what I saw the book is better than the movie and I thought what I saw was pretty good!

I'm really not 100% sure why I liked this book so much. I didn't like Frank, and I despised April. They just weren't good people. They both seemed to be a bit self-centered and not quite "grown-up". So how I enjoyed a book so much when I didn't like the main characters is a mystery to me. I thought that they both needed a big dose of reality and that the world needed to knock them down a bit. But the supporting characters were pretty good. And the overall character development was great. It would have been a lot harder to despise them if I'd not had such a good understanding of them!

The writing in this book was great. I could picture everything in my mind as I was reading. At the beginning of the book I saw Leonardo and Kate as Frank and April, but as I continued to read the image I had of them in my mind changed so much. That was really impressive to me. When I read a book after I've already seen the movie I tend to use the actor's and actresses in my mental image of the book. I don't know if it was more attributed to the fact that I've only seen part of the movie or the fact that the writing in this book was really good and over-rode my natural tendency to rely on images I already have. Either way it was refreshing to read a book without picturing the actors that were in the movie.

Giveaway: The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

Thank you to Sabrina @ Little, Brown for letting me give a copy of this one away!

This has to be my favorite Patterson book yet. It was fun to read and it was quick! But it really got me thinking about how quick my baby sister's wedding is going to be here. May really isn't that far away now. At least we all know who she's marrying :-) But there's so much more to be done. Nothing crazy has happened yet, but with my family it's only a matter of time, believe me.  


You can read about the book and see my review here.


Now for the giveaway :-) Thanks for entering!

Review: Life After Genius by M. Ann Jacoby

I bought this one at the dollar store. Can't beat a good book for a buck!



About the Book

Theodore Mead Fegley has always been the smartest person he knows. By age 12, he was in high school, and by 15 he was attending a top-ranking university. And now, at the tender age of 18, he's on the verge of proving the Riemann Hypothesis, a mathematical equation that has mystified academics for almost 150 years. But only days before graduation, Mead suddenly packs his bags and flees home to rural Illinois. What has caused him to flee remains a mystery to all but Mead and a classmate whose quest for success has turned into a dangerous obession.

At home, Mead finds little solace. His past ghosts haunt him; his parents don't understand the agony his genius has caused him, nor his desire to be a normal kid, and his dreams seem crushed forever. He embarks on a new life's journey -- learning the family business of selling furniture and embalming the dead--that disappoints and surprises all who knew him as "the young Fegley genius."

Equal parts academic thriller and poignant coming-of-age story, LIFE AFTER GENIUS follows the remarkable journey of a young man who must discover that the heart may know what the head hasn't yet learned.

For more information about Life After Genius please visit Hachette Book Group.
My Review

This was a weird one for me. I liked the story, even though it was a bit odd, but I didn't really connect with the main character. But the mystery of why Mead came home was pretty engaging. I just wanted to know why. The story jumps around through different times in Mead's life. It got to be a bit confusing at times, as Mead also seems to be having a bit of a nervous breakdown throughout the story. But the jumping around really adds to the mystery of what happened and if Mead really is starting to loose his mind.

Mead appears to have had a rough social life growing up. Being so smart and so much younger than the kids he's in school with made him a bit of a target for bullies and such. So it's really no surprise that once Mead goes to college young he's still an outcast. Herman, Mead's best friend/mortal enemy tries to befriend Mead for a while and has to take a HUGE step to get Mead to really open up. But as the story progresses we learn that while Herman seems to have been born with the silver spoon his life wasn't really all that easy.

Even though I didn't particularly care for either of the main characters there was something about this story that I couldn't walk away from. It was so out there at times and yet so "normal". It's so hard to describe. Even the ending was a bit odd, and it left more questions than it answered. But at the same time most of the really important stuff is cleared up before we get to the end. Like I said it's hard to describe... Overall I have to say I enjoyed it.

Review: The Mammoth Hunters by Jean M, Auel

This one has  been sitting on my bookshelf for about 10 years now...



About the Book


The epic journey begun in The Clan of the Cave Bear, and furthered in The Valley of Horses continues in this stunning, vivid adventure. Once again Jean M. Auel opens the door of a time long past to reveal an age of wonder and danger at the dawn of the modern human race.

Riding a horse called Whinney and accompanied by Jondalar, the man she saved when wounded by a cave lion and has grown to love, Ayla comes to the land of the Mamutoi--the Mammoth Hunters. She has finally found the ones the Clan called “The Others,” people who look like her.

Though Ayla must learn their different customs and language, she is adopted because of her remarkable hunting ability, singular healing skills, and uncanny fire-making technique. Bringing back the single pup of a lone wolf she has killed, Ayla amazes the Mamutoi by demonstrating how she tames animals. Even though she faces some prejudice when it is revealed that she lived her early years among the Clan–the ones called “Flatheads”–Ayla at long last finds women friends and begins to put the pain of her past behind her.

As Ayla becomes more a part of Mamutoi society, she meets Ranec, the dark-skinned master carver of ivory. She becomes enamored and her passion for this new man makes Jondalar fiercely jealous. He compensates by avoiding her. Because of her early life with the Clan, his behavior is mystifying to her. She mistakes his anger and hurt for disinterest, and turns more fully to the charismatic Ranec. Throughout the icy winter she shelters with the Mamutoi, while Jondalar broods over his disappointment.

Then it is summer again, and as the great mammoth hunt approaches with its annual Matrimonial ritual, Ayla must finally choose: to stay with the Mamutoi who have become friends and mate with Ranec, or to choose Jondalar, and leave this sanctuary for the hardship of a journey toward his home
many miles, and many adventures, away.

For more information about The Mammoth Hunters of Jean M Auel you can visit her website or like her on Facebook. 

My Review

I've been working on this series off and on for about 12 years. I bought them right after I graduated high school and didn't realize at the time the mental fortitude this series takes to read. At 18 I just didn't have the patience to read 700 pages. But now that I'm a bit older I can really appreciate this series.

Since I did start the series 12 years ago I feel like Ayla's been a part of my life for quite a while. She pops in to say hello every few years. So I've really become attached to her. It's hard for me to criticize this book at all because I do love Ayla and Jondalar so much. But it took me forever to read The Mammoth Hunters. I started this book in the summer of 09 and had to put it down about half-way through. Partly because I had just finished reading The Valley of the Horses and partly because the romance scenes were becoming a bit too much for me. Don't get me wrong, I'm far from a prude (believe me) but it just felt like all Ayla and Jondalar did was make love.

I'm glad I picked it back up. As it really is a great story. Again, I do seem to have a bit of an attachment to Ayla and Jondalar so I may be a bit biased here, but I really do like this series. There are times when I think the descriptions go a bit more into detail than necessary, but they also create such a vivid picture as to where the characters are and what is going on. The Mammoth Hunters introduces us to so many new characters I didn't think I'd ever get them all straightened out, but as the story goes on I really didn't have any problems keeping track of everyone.

I obviously like the main characters but I really liked the Mammoth Hearth. Tulie, Talut, and Frebec are probably my favorite new characters. Frebec comes off as being a bit of a jerk at first but he's really loyal and protective. He also seems to have a bit of a soft side that, like most men, he was trying to hide. Tulie and Talut are great characters. They are strong, wise, serious, playful, and humorous all at the same time. They just seemed so real to me.

While I don't think I'll be reading Plains of Passage anytime in the near future, knowing it's sitting on my bookshelf is a bit of a comfort too me. When I decide I need to see what Ayla and Jondalar are up to I can just pick it up and start reading it. It's like a having one of those great friends that even if you don't talk for awhile you can sit down and have a conversation and it feels like no time has passed at all.

Review: The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

Thank you to Sabrina at Little Brown for letting me review this one! 

About the Book

The tree is decorated, the cookies are baked, and the packages are wrapped, but the biggest celebration this Christmas is Gaby Summerhill's wedding. Since her husband died three years ago, Gaby's four children have drifted apart, each consumed by the turbulence of their own lives. They haven't celebrated Christmas together since their father's death, but when Gaby announces that she's getting married--and that the groom will remain a secret until the wedding day--she may finally be able to bring them home for the holidays.

But the wedding isn't Gaby's only surprise--she has one more gift for her children, and it could change all their lives forever. With deeply affecting characters and the emotional twists of a James Patterson thriller, The Christmas Wedding is a fresh look at family and the magic of the season.

For more information about The Christmas Wedding please visit Hachette Book Group. You can also visit James Patterson's website or like him on Facebook.

My Review

This book was pretty good. The story was interesting - a mysterious wedding, a few unexpected twists and turns, and a good mix of mushy and humorous. The character development was a bit lax, but I think that added to this story a bit. There were so many important characters that had they all been well-developed, like Gaby, this book would have been horrendous to read. And the lax in development added even more to the intrigue of who is Gaby going to marry? I did like the children. Claire was probably my favorite though. I'm not sure why I connected with her, even more so than with Gaby, but I did. I've never really been through any of what Claire goes through in this book, but the connection was there nonetheless.

I have to say I was a bit shocked that Patterson was doing a romance story, or "Love Story" as it says on the back cover. Although that's probably more from my lack of following his works, as it appears he has a few of them. In true Patterson fashion there was mystery and intrigue surrounding the whole thing. It was very well balanced between the mystery story and the love story. In the past I have been a bit critical of Patterson's novels because they, while entertaining and engaging, tend to be a bit predictable. I thought I had a good idea of who Gaby was going to marry about halfway through, but I was wrong. She picked my second guess :-)

Overall it was a pretty good story. I enjoyed reading it. It was a very quick read also. It took me less than two days to finish it. Partly because I wanted to know who she was going to marry and partly because it was pretty fast paced.

Review: A Line Blurred by Bryan Healey

I won a copy of this book from Library Thing.

After getting a copy of Shattered Wings direct from Bryan imagine how excited I was when I won a copy of his first book on Library Thing!



About the Book

A couple caught in a boring life deviate from their routines to devastating and exciting result. Now unable to pull themselves from their newfound happiness, they rationalize their actions to satisfy their guilt, coming ever closer to an emotionally shattering end for both themselves and their children, who are unwillingly swept into their downward spiral.

For more information about Shattered Wings you can visit Bryan's blog. You can also follow him on Twitter.

My Review

After reading Shattered Wings I had high hopes for this book. And I have to say I was not at all disappointed! Again Healey writes a story that was so emotional, and yet didn't leave me feeling emotionally drained.

In this one we're following Kevin and Kylie, a couple who are part of a marriage that just isn't working anymore. Kevin is all about his routine: get up, go to work, come home, have dinner, go to bed. Not much in his life deviates from that routine. What I liked about Kevin is that he isn't a boring person by nature, he's just living the life that was given to him. He knows he wants more, and he tries to be spontaneous, but life gets in his way and he falls back into doing what he's always done. Kylie I didn't really like in the beginning of the book. She came off as a bit prissy and heartless. But the more the story followed her the more I began to feel sorry for her. She's worried about her life: her husband, her kids, herself. But Kylie is pulled by responsibility to keep her thoughts to herself. She wants the appearance that everything is ok. She really grows through the story to become such a strong character.

The story starts with twists almost right from the beginning. I didn't see any of the things that happened coming. It was so exciting to read to see what was going to happen next. Even when there wasn't something "exciting" going on the story was still exciting. I really didn't want this one to end. I wasn't disappointed by the ending, as I think it was exceptionally done, but I just wasn't ready to give these characters up. Healey has an ability to capture your emotions almost right from the word go. That connection really makes his books special to read.

A Line Blurred

Review: Shattered Wings by Bryan Healey

Thanks to the author Bryan Healey for letting me review Shattered Wings.



About the Book

John holds the American dream: A man he loves, a beautiful little girl, a suburban home and a well-paying job... And then a sudden layoff brings about unexpected financial and emotional strain. As he struggles to find new work, a growing sense of despair triggers a relapse into alcoholism and causes him to face his demons of addiction, discrimination, and regret as he tries desperately to recover before it's too late...

For more information about Shattered Wings you can visit Bryan's blog. You can also follow him on Twitter.

My Review

This one I thought would be a bit difficult for me to read. So many of us right now are struggling with losing our jobs, not having the money to make ends meet, and all the other stresses that come along for the ride. It's a difficult subject to talk about, let alone get emotionally attached to in a story (as I almost always get emotionally attached to the stories I read). My fear was that I would be emotionally drained after reading this. Healey masterfully pulled off a story that let me get attached, but didn't drain me, and actually let me wanting to keep reading.

The character development was so great in this book. John comes off as a bit of a jerk (sometimes a lot of a jerk) but he was still likeable. I really attached to him and even though I felt like he needed a swift kick in the you know what I still felt the pain and anguish that he was going through. I just wanted things to work out good for him. As the book progresses we are taken back through important moments in his life that give us a little more insight into how his life has progressed. We get to meet Charlie with him, we get to see him when his daughter is born, we get to see all the important events that have gone on in his life. Being privy to these moments really helped to form the bond that I built with John.

I think it takes a great author to be able to pull of flashbacks in a story without making the story feel choppy. The flashbacks sometimes confused me, as I would get lost in the story and I wouldn't realize that I was in a flashback. I think that is my only criticism of this book, while the flashbacks didn't deter from the story I didn't always pick up on the fact that I had jumped into the flashback. But I think this is more due to my reading habits rather than an error on the author's part.

But overall it was a great book. I really liked the characters, even when I didn't want to. There were some great twists that really made John's situation that much more desperate. The ending was great, I had part of it pegged, but the last twist really threw me for a loop. I was left with a few questions, but I didn't feel like I was left with an unfinished story. Enough was answered to keep me satiated, and enough was left unanswered to make the ending quite intriguing.

Shattered Wings

Review: The Secrets of Newberry by Victor McGlothin

Thanks to Anna at Hachette Book Group for letting me review this one.



About the Book

Two lifelong friends are about to discover the hard side of life in The Big Easy after a heinous crime is committed . . .

1950s New Orleans couldn't be sweeter for Ivory "Bones" Arcineaux and Hampton Bynote. Friends since meeting at an illegal gambling house outside Newberry, Louisiana, they indulge themselves with all the fine women, good food, and wild nights they can handle. All seems good in N'awlins-especially for Hampton, who plans to make a clean break from riotous living after falling for the woman of his dreams, classy Magnolia Holiday. But the love of a good woman may not be enough to pull Hampton from the brink of disaster when his pal Bones murders a white city councilman during a simple robbery gone wrong.

Now with the local police and FBI hot on their trails, Hampton and Bones must decide whether friendship is worth losing their freedom-and possibly their lives

For more information about The Secrets of Newberry please visit Hachette Book Group's website.

My Review

Wow, what a story. I couldn't put this one down, it was so intriguing. I really liked Hampton and wanted to see everything turn out ok for him, even though he kept getting himself into trouble.

The story was really well written. Hampton is looking for something more than life on a plantation can offer a black man in the 1950s. Things seem to be going fairly well for him and then he meet Bones. Bones becomes Hampton's ticket to the life he wants while at the same time being the one thing that can take Hampton's dreams from him.

The story moves pretty fast, and at times I felt a bit too fast. Some things just seemed to me that they needed to simmer a bit more before coming to conclusion. There was a lot that happened in the story though and I think that's part of why everything moved so fast. Had it been a slow story it either would have been too long to hold my attention or it would have been missing so many pieces.

It was a pretty good story and I really enjoyed it. I really didn't want to put it down because I wanted to see how Hampton was going to get him (and his family) out of the binds that they've gotten into. While things don't always go the way Hampton planned he was pretty quick on his feet and was able to at least put band-aids on the situations that arise.

I liked Hampton and really wanted to see good things for him. I also liked Magnolia (Hampton's love interest). But I think my favorite character was Pearl Lee, see just seemed to be so level headed. Although she does have some moments when her heart takes over and she throws that level-headedness out the door.

The Secrets of Newberry

Review: Lipstick in Afghanistan by Rboerta Gately

Thanks to Gallery Books for sending me a copy of this to review.



About the Book

Roberta Gately's lyrical and authentic debut novel—inspired by her own experiences as a nurse in third world war zones—is one woman's moving story of offering help and finding hope in the last place she expected.
Gripped by haunting magazine images of starving refugees, Elsa has dreamed of becoming a nurse since she was a teenager. Of leaving her humble working-class Boston neighborhood to help people whose lives are far more difficult than her own. No one in her family has ever escaped poverty, but Elsa has a secret weapon: a tube of lipstick she found in her older sister's bureau. Wearing it never fails to raise her spirits and cement her determination. With lipstick on, she can do anything—even travel alone to war-torn Afghanistan in the wake of 9/11.
But violent nights as an ER nurse in South Boston could not prepare Elsa for the devastation she witnesses at the small medical clinic she runs in Bamiyan. As she struggles to prove herself to the Afghan doctors and local villagers, she begins a forbidden romance with her only confidant, a charming Special Forces soldier. Then, a tube of lipstick she finds in the aftermath of a tragic bus bombing leads her to another life-changing friendship. In her neighbor Parween, Elsa finds a kindred spirit, fiery and generous. Together, the two women risk their lives to save friends and family from the worst excesses of the Taliban. But when the war waging around them threatens their own survival, Elsa discovers her only hope is to unveil the warrior within. Roberta Gately's raw, intimate novel is an unforgettable tribute to the power of friendship and a poignant reminder of the tragic cost of war.

My Review

I absolutely loved this book. I loved it so much that I can't think of the right words to describe it, at least not any that would do it justice. The story was so heartwarming, sad, happy, and touching. It was so sad and yet was filled with so much joy.

When I started reading it I didn't really expect the story that unfolded. At first I didn't understand the whole thing with the lipstick, but as the story progressed it was such a great way of tying the characters to each other.

The story jumps a between Elsa and Parween until their lives cross. The tragedy that follows each of these women seems almost unbearable, but yet they've pulled through it and made the most of their lives. Both women are so strong and give all they have to help others. Even putting their lives on the line to help those in need.

The romance that blooms throughout the book is such a great addition to the story. With so much devastation and sadness in the story adding the different romances kept the story enjoyable. Without the romance added in the story would have been so full of grief and sorrow that it would have almost been oppressive to read.

Overall I would say this is one of the best books I've ever read. Gately's writing is amazing. Her ability to tell a story like this is nothing short of amazing. It really makes you think. And it shows that just because people are surrounded by hatred, war, and fathom doesn't mean you have to fill your heart with those things. Happiness is what you make of it and these characters really made me realize that.

Lipstick in Afghanistan

Review: Audiobook Nora, Nora by Anne Rivers Siddons

A friend of mine picked this one up for me at a library book sale. Support you local library, they can really use the support and you can find some great gems.



About the Book

The young heroine of Nora, Nora comes from a long line of angst-ridden adolescents, stretching back through Holden Caulfield and Frankie Addams to Huckleberry Finn. Yet Peyton McKenzie certainly has good reason to be unhappy. Her household, in the small Georgia town of Lytton, is shadowed by the deaths of her mother and older brother. Her father, meanwhile, has withdrawn into mournful distraction: "When Buddy died in an accident in his air-force trainer, when Peyton was five, Frazier McKenzie closed up shop on his laughter, anger, small foolishnesses, and large passions. Now, at twelve, Peyton could remember no other father than the cooled and static one she had."

To withstand this mortuary atmosphere -- not to mention a touch of small-town claustrophobia -- Peyton has founded the Losers Club, where she and two other misfits share their daily doses of unhappiness. But everything changes when her cousin Nora shows up for a visit. This jaunty outsider is unlike anybody else in Kennedy-era Lytton, circa 1961:

The first thing you noticed about Nora Findlay, Peyton thought, was that she gave off heat, a kind of sheen, like a wild animal, except that hers was not a dangerous ferality, but an aura of sleekness and high spirits. There was a padding, hip-shot prowl to her walk, and she moved her body as if she were totally unconscious of it, as if its suppleness and sinew were something she had lived with all her life.


At first Nora's high spirits have a tonic effect, jogging both Peyton and her father out of their torpor. But her involvement in racial politics eventually rubs some of Lytton's citizens the wrong way -- and puts her young cousin's loyalty to the test. Anne Rivers Siddons handles the narrative with a deft touch for local color (right down to the perpetual "three Coca-Colas in an old red metal ice chest"). But her feeling for her cast of characters is even better, mixing just the right proportions of delicacy and Southern discomfort. --Anita Urquhart

My Review

I don't even know where to begin with this book. The writing was excellent, the story was so good, the themes in the story were so important (and so well handled), and it was very enjoyable.

I loved Nora. She just didn't care, but at the same time she cared so much. I know that sounds weird but I don't know how else to describe her. She stood up for herself, and prided herself on simply enjoying life however it's handed to you. Peyton on the other hand was such the opposite. And while Nora had a huge impact on Peyton's life and the changes in Peyton were drastic Peyton will always be Peyton.

The story touches on so many different issues. First it takes place in the south in the 60s, so there's the racial issues. Then Peyton is in a place in her life where she needs the guidance of a woman, but Nora is so unconventional it is question whether her ideals should have influence on Peyton. I can't really give any more because it would take away from the web of the story.

The narrator did an excellent job. While I tend to think it would have been really hard to have a bad narration for such an amazing book Cristine McMurdo-Wallis did a really good job. She had such a dramatic voice and since Nora was such a dramatic person it fit perfectly together. Cristine's voice was just perfect for this one. She was very pleasant to listen to. She also did a great job of staying in character so you always knew who was talking.

Nora, Nora

Review: Audiobook: The Broom of the System by David Foster Wallace

Thank you to Anna at Hachette for letting me review this one.



About the Book

The "dazzling, exhilarating" (San Francisco Chronicle) debut novel from the bestselling author of Infinite Jest, available for the first time as an audiobook.

At the center of The Broom of the System is the betwitching (and also bewildered) heroine, Lenore Stonecipher Beadsman. The year is 1990 and the place is a slightly altered Cleveland, Ohio, which sits on the edge of a suburban wasteland-the Great Ohio Desert. Lenore works as a switchboard attendant at a publishing firm, and in addition to her mind-numbing job, she has a few other problems. Her great-grandmother, a one-time student of Wittgenstein, has disappeared with twenty-five other inmates of the Shaker Heights Nursing Home. Her beau (and boss), editor-in-chief Rick Vigorous, is insanely jealous. And her cockatiel, Vlad the Impaler, has suddenly started spouting a mixture of psychobabble, Auden, and the King James Bible, which may propel him to stardom on a Christian fundamentalist television program.

Fiercely intelligent and entertaining, this debut novel from one of the most innovative writers of our generation explores the paradoxes of language, storytelling, and reality.

For more information about The Broom of the System please visit Hachette's website.

You can also "Like" David Foster Wallace on Facebook.

My Review

This was another odd one, and I really don't know what to say about it. It was pretty good, but at times it made no sense whatsoever.

Lenore seemed to be a bit dense at times. She just didn't seem to grasp what was going on most of the time. Her boyfriend Rick was teetering on crazy! Her therapist was nuts himself. Her brother and Wang Dang Lang were the most down-to-earth people in the story. And with one being a genius and the other with the name Wang Dang Lang... how down-to-earth can they really be?

I don't know if my lack of connection with this one was because it was an audiobook or if it was because it was just a little to out there for me. I understood the basic theme to the book, but even with the "broom" sweeping the system the story was just plain odd. The characters were really not believable, and the short stories interlaced throughout were distracting. They did serve a purpose in giving insight into how Rick was thinking/feeling, but I think it could have been done much more effectively.

The narrator was ok in this one. A few of the voices he did were off as to how I had them in my head, but he wasn't monotonous to listen to and he did use voices to help differentiate who was talking.

The Broom of the System: A Novel

Review: No Hope for Gomez! by Graham Parke

I had been wanting to read this one for a while so I went ahead and bought this one for myself.



About the Book

It's the age-old tale:
Boy meets girl.
Boy stalks girl.
Girl already has a stalker.
Boy becomes her stalker-stalker.

We've seen it all before, many times, but this time it's different. If only slightly. When Gomez Porter becomes a test subject in an experimental drug trial, he is asked to keep track of any strange experiences through a blog. What Gomez isn't ready for, is so many of his experiences suddenly seeming strange; the antiques dealer trying to buy his old tax papers, his neighbor boiling salamanders on his balcony at midnight, the super sexy lab assistant who falls for him but is unable to express herself in terms outside the realm of science. But when one of the trial participants turns up dead and another goes missing, Gomez begins to fear for his life. No longer sure who he can trust and which of his experiences are real and which merely drug induced illusions, he decides it%u2019s time to go underground and work out a devious plan.

Now, years later, his blogs have been recovered from a defunct server. For the first time we can find out firsthand what happened to Gomez as he takes us on a wild ride of discovery.

For more information about No Hope for Gomez! please visit Graham Parke's website.

My Review

I was intrigued by this book from the first time I'd heard of it. It sounded as if it would be an interesting read to say the least. It was interesting, but it was also weird. I've read this twice now because I felt like I'd lost something along the way. And while the second reading did help me figure it out a little more I was still kind of confused with the whole thing.

Gomez was an odd character. His downstairs neighbor was odd, the employee that worked for him at the antiques store was odd, the guy that was shopping at the store was odd. His doctor/girlfriend was the most "normal" person in the book, and even she was a bit odd at times.

The things that happen in Gomez's life aren't really all that odd, but the way in which he deals with them is odd. Falling in love with the researcher, perfectly normal. Becoming her stalker stalker, odd... I can't really give anymore examples without giving some of the story away.

The writing was humorous, I laughed quite a few times throughout the book. And like I said the things that happened to Gomez weren't all that abnormal, but the way he deals with life was a bit strange. It was an entertaining read, and it didn't take me long to read it. I actually read it twice within a few days.

No Hope for Gomez!

Review: Just After Sunsent: Stories by Stephen King

Thanks to Book Cove Reviews for sending me a copy of this to review.



About the Book

Stephen King -- who has written more than fifty books, dozens of number one New York Times bestsellers, and many unforgettable movies -- delivers an astonishing collection of short stories, his first since Everything's Eventual six years ago. As guest editor of the bestselling Best American Short Stories 2007, King spent over a year reading hundreds of stories. His renewed passion for the form is evident on every page of Just After Sunset. The stories in this collection have appeared in The New Yorker, Playboy, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, Esquire, and other publications.
Who but Stephen King would turn a Port-O-San into a slimy birth canal, or a roadside honky-tonk into a place for endless love? A book salesman with a grievance might pick up a mute hitchhiker, not knowing the silent man in the passenger seat listens altogether too well. Or an exercise routine on a stationary bicycle, begun to reduce bad cholesterol, might take its rider on a captivating -- and then terrifying -- journey. Set on a remote key in Florida, "The Gingerbread Girl" is a riveting tale featuring a young woman as vulnerable -- and resourceful -- as Audrey Hepburn's character in Wait Until Dark. In "Ayana," a blind girl works a miracle with a kiss and the touch of her hand. For King, the line between the living and the dead is often blurry, and the seams that hold our reality intact might tear apart at any moment. In one of the longer stories here, "N.," which recently broke new ground when it was adapted as a graphic digital entertainment, a psychiatric patient's irrational thinking might create an apocalyptic threat in the Maine countryside...or keep the world from falling victim to it.

Just After Sunset -- call it dusk, call it twilight, it's a time when human intercourse takes on an unnatural cast, when nothing is quite as it appears, when the imagination begins to reach for shadows as they dissipate to darkness and living daylight can be scared right out of you. It's the perfect time for Stephen King.

My Review

After reading the fist few stories in this one I was thinking to myself "King has lost his touch". The first few stories were so predictable. But then it started getting really good. There were only a handful of the stories in this one that I didn't love. It wasn't that they were bad, they were just predictable.

I think my favorite stories were Stationary Bike, The Things They Left Behind, and N. I really think that they could have been turned into full-length novels. But they were still really good as short stories. N kind of had a IT feel to it. The Things They Left Behind was just weird, but in a good way. Stationary Bike was also weird. I thought it would be kind of like Thinner when I started reading it.

I usually don't like to read short stories, as I don't get enough time to connect with the characters and it's hard for me to get a real feel for things. With a few exceptions in this collected that was not the case. King's ability to write a short story that doesn't seem abrupt was great. And the characters were all fairly well-rounded.

This one did take me a while to read. Although at 539 pages it didn't take me nearly as long as I thought it would. The short stories were fairly fast paced and so they lent themselves to be read very fast.

Overall it was pretty good. The preview of Under The Dome in the back has me chomping at the bit to get my hands on that one.

Just After Sunset: Stories

Review: The Lion by Nelson DeMille

Thanks to Anna at Hachette Books for sending me a review copy of this title.



About the Book

In this eagerly awaited follow-up to The Lion's Game, John Corey, former NYPD Homicide detective and special agent for the Anti-Terrorist Task Force, is back. And, unfortunately for Corey, so is Asad Khalil, the notorious Libyan terrorist otherwise known as "The Lion." Last we heard from him, Khali had claimed to be defecting to the US only to unleash the most horrific reign of terrorism ever to occur on American soil. While Corey and his partner, FBI agent Kate Mayfield, chased him across the country, Khalil methodically eliminated his victims one by one and then disappeared without a trace.

Now, years later, Khalil has returned to America to make good on his threats and take care of unfinished business. "The Lion" is a killing machine once again loose in America with a mission of revenge, and John Corey will stop at nothing to achieve his own goal -- to find and kill Khahil.

You can get more information about The Lion by visiting Hachette's website.

You can visit Nelson DeMille's website.

You can also "Like" The Lion on Facebook.

My Review

This was a great story! I wasn't instantly drawn into it, but once it got going I couldn't pull myself away from it.

I hadn't read the first in this series, so there was a bit that I think I was missing from this one, but I don't think it deterred from the story at all. I was able to piece together what had happened in the first book and pieced together the back story.

I've never read DeMille before, but I'd heard great things about his writing. I wasn't disappointed! There is quite a bit of wit in the writing. I don't know if it was just the nature of the main character, John Corey, or if it's a common thing for DeMille, but it made this story easier. I think without the witticisms this could have been a very difficult and dark book.

I really liked Cory. He was witty, he was strong, and (like us all) he had faults. His drive to finish what The Lion started was so strong. While not all of The Lion's actions were meant to egg on Corey, Corey seemed to take them all quite personally. Although since The Lion promised Corey that he would be back to finish what he started I guess there was a vendetta to settle, and since Corey knew what The Lion's plans entailed I can see how he took everything personally.

The story was pretty intense. But again, the wit helped to break it up. It didn't make the story any less serious, but it made it not so dark and hopeless.

The narrator was pretty good. He wasn't mundane, but he wasn't the most lively narrator I've ever listened to. He gave the characters their own voices, and did a pretty good job at helping the listener to differentiate who was talking.

The Lion