Author:
Jennifer Worth
Stars:
5
Review by: bus driver 599
Just like BBC program- with more insight and human feelings.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Fat Man in a Fur Coat
Author:
Alvin Schwartz
Stars: 1
Review by: BookWorm2
The title refers to what a bear may look like when approached from behind. This book talks about bears in terms of their interactions with humans. I have to say that I was absolutely disgusted by some of the information given. I had no idea how bears were taught to "dance" or how Grizzly Adams caught his bear friends. Not a feel good book. Supposedly geared to kids, but the content is more adult than some YA books.
Stars: 1
Review by: BookWorm2
The title refers to what a bear may look like when approached from behind. This book talks about bears in terms of their interactions with humans. I have to say that I was absolutely disgusted by some of the information given. I had no idea how bears were taught to "dance" or how Grizzly Adams caught his bear friends. Not a feel good book. Supposedly geared to kids, but the content is more adult than some YA books.
More Than It Hurts You
Author:
Darin Strauss
Stars: 2
Review by: Lrizza
This book dealt with Munchausen by proxy, which is very interesting, but the story veered off too much on different parts of the story. I didn't find the chapters about the doctor's father relevant or interesting. The author also focused on the child's father's job, maybe with a little too much boring detail. I wished the book focused more on the Munchausen by proxy storyline.
Stars: 2
Review by: Lrizza
This book dealt with Munchausen by proxy, which is very interesting, but the story veered off too much on different parts of the story. I didn't find the chapters about the doctor's father relevant or interesting. The author also focused on the child's father's job, maybe with a little too much boring detail. I wished the book focused more on the Munchausen by proxy storyline.
Killer Ambition
Author:
Marcia Clark
Stars: 4
Review by: rapidreader
If you like to read about fiction court battles this is the book for you. We all know Marcia Clark from the famous O. J. Simpson case.
Stars: 4
Review by: rapidreader
If you like to read about fiction court battles this is the book for you. We all know Marcia Clark from the famous O. J. Simpson case.
The Tender Bar
Author:
J.R.Moehringer
Stars: 5
Review by: kathyb
Fantastic book. I loved it from start to finish. I highly recommend it.
Stars: 5
Review by: kathyb
Fantastic book. I loved it from start to finish. I highly recommend it.
The Well of Lost Plots
Author:
Jasper Fforde
Stars: 5
Review by: BookWorm2
The third in the Thursday Next novels this is another Fforde triumph. This series is about a literary detective that is able to venture inside books. The amazing detail used by Fforde makes this series a true delight to read. Start with book 1 - The Eyre Affair and you will not be sorry!
Stars: 5
Review by: BookWorm2
The third in the Thursday Next novels this is another Fforde triumph. This series is about a literary detective that is able to venture inside books. The amazing detail used by Fforde makes this series a true delight to read. Start with book 1 - The Eyre Affair and you will not be sorry!
Sarah's Key
Author:
Tatiana de Rosnay
Stars: 5
Review by: Alicia E
Loved the book - and loved the movie! Tearjerker alert!
Stars: 5
Review by: Alicia E
Loved the book - and loved the movie! Tearjerker alert!
Paris
Author:
Edward Rutherford
Stars: 5
Review by: Alicia E
Made me want to go back to Paris and explore more areas! Wonderful book to enjoy the stories and learn history at the same time!
Stars: 5
Review by: Alicia E
Made me want to go back to Paris and explore more areas! Wonderful book to enjoy the stories and learn history at the same time!
Ghost Soldiers
Author:
Hampton Sides
Stars: 3
Review by: NancyW421
This is an older book, published in 2001, about the rescue of POWs in the Philippines during WWII. At first, it was hard to get into, but as I persevered, I found it interesting and well written. It was well researched, giving true accounts from the men involved, as well as good background for that time and place in history.
Stars: 3
Review by: NancyW421
This is an older book, published in 2001, about the rescue of POWs in the Philippines during WWII. At first, it was hard to get into, but as I persevered, I found it interesting and well written. It was well researched, giving true accounts from the men involved, as well as good background for that time and place in history.
Inferno
Author:
Dan Brown
Stars: 4
Review by: Alicia E
Dan Brown's book was exciting, but not quite as thrilling as his other books.
Stars: 4
Review by: Alicia E
Dan Brown's book was exciting, but not quite as thrilling as his other books.
Killer Honeymoon
Author:
G.A. McKevett
Stars: 3
Review by: mystery lover
I enjoyed this book. It had a few minor twists. The story did not entirely follow the usual mystery outline, for a change.
Stars: 3
Review by: mystery lover
I enjoyed this book. It had a few minor twists. The story did not entirely follow the usual mystery outline, for a change.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Friday, July 5, 2013
Just Jennifer
Point Doom by Dan Fante (Bourbon Street Books, June, 2013)
After his life as a PI, sometimes enforcer, in New York City
hits rock bottom, JD Fiorella heads back to his childhood home in the Point
Dume section of Malibu where his father reworked film scripts for very little
credit, hating it the entire time. Eight
years after his father’s death, JD finds himself living in Point Dume with his
mother, in AA, trying to put his life back together without alcohol and drugs
this time. He becomes friendly with
Woody and takes a job as a used car salesman with Woody and thinks he might be
able to put his life back into some semblance of order when things start to go
wrong again, and in JD’s life, when things start to go wrong, they go wrong all
the way. After celebrating his first car
sales, JD leaves a restaurant to find his mother’s old Honda set on fire with
no idea who would have a grudge like this against him and assumes it was a
random act. JD agrees to meet Woody at his apartment to
offer some advice on a movie script Woody is writing and finds Woody brutally
murdered, pulling JD back into the life he thought he left in Manhattan. JD quickly becomes a person of interest in
Woody’s murder and promptly loses his job.
Just when he thinks things can’t get any worse, the investigation into
Woody’s murder takes a strange a sinister turn and begins to bring things that
JD thought were in his past into his present threatening any progress he has
made toward a more conventional, sober life.
Dark and gritty, this a book that will be hard to put down even as it is
hard to read because of the graphicness of some of the violence and the raw
honesty with which JD lives his life.
While trying to reform his life, JD makes no attempts to atone for his
past; he is who is and did what he did and can only try to move forward. Disturbing and fascinating at the same time,
JD is not a character who will be easily forgotten.
Just Jennifer
Modern life seems to revolve around time, the lack of it and
the speed of it. As a child, the time
between birthdays seems to drag on forever while the time between the last day
of school and the return shortly after Labor Day speeds by at a startling pace. While many people experience time in a linear
fashion, not everyone does and Hammond, a psychology lecturer, writer and
broadcaster, offers other ways to view time and perhaps change the shape of
it. Using current scientific,
physiological and psychological research, Hammond attempts to explain how we
see time and why we see time differently based on our circumstances. Even the book, arranged in six parts, does
not need to be read in a linear fashion.
Chapters on the illusion of time, why it speeds up for some people and
how we can manage our time better all illustrate how time is a very personal
thing and how we can individually shape how we perceive and use it. Hammond’s easy writing style present the
information in a fascinating manner; reading through this book like having a
discussion with a friend over a cup of coffee.
This is a book that is definitely worth, well, taking the time to read.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Author:
Mark Haddon
Stars: 4
Review by: Car-Lay
An autistic boy discovers a dog that has been obviously killed. He decides to investigate and his life becomes very complicated. Written in the first person, we learn of his suffering and confusion "through the narrowly focused insights of a boy who hasn't the words to describe his emotional pain."
Stars: 4
Review by: Car-Lay
An autistic boy discovers a dog that has been obviously killed. He decides to investigate and his life becomes very complicated. Written in the first person, we learn of his suffering and confusion "through the narrowly focused insights of a boy who hasn't the words to describe his emotional pain."
Nickeled-and-Dimed To Death
Author:
Denise Swanson
Stars: 3.5
Review by: L.Z.
Same old story--small town girl tried her hand at the big city success, but is back in her small town, penniless except for the fancy car that she couldn't give up, and now solving mysteries and sorting out her love life. Still, its a fun, quick summer read. Can't complain.
Stars: 3.5
Review by: L.Z.
Same old story--small town girl tried her hand at the big city success, but is back in her small town, penniless except for the fancy car that she couldn't give up, and now solving mysteries and sorting out her love life. Still, its a fun, quick summer read. Can't complain.
The Wives of Henry Oades
Author:
Johanna Moran
Stars: 4
Review by: Smudge
Henry & Meg Oades move to New Zealand where Henry has accepted a post as an accountant. Not too long after, Meg and the children are abducted by the Maori and enslaved. After an unsuccessful search, Henry, convinced they are dead, moves to California. When Meg and the children find him several year later, Henry has remarried. Meg and the children move into Henry's new home. This novel is the story of bigamy trials that ensue and the friendship that develops between the two wives. (The author based the story on a law case that may have been a hoax. Nonetheless, the book makes you think about bigamy as a less black-and-white way.)
Stars: 4
Review by: Smudge
Henry & Meg Oades move to New Zealand where Henry has accepted a post as an accountant. Not too long after, Meg and the children are abducted by the Maori and enslaved. After an unsuccessful search, Henry, convinced they are dead, moves to California. When Meg and the children find him several year later, Henry has remarried. Meg and the children move into Henry's new home. This novel is the story of bigamy trials that ensue and the friendship that develops between the two wives. (The author based the story on a law case that may have been a hoax. Nonetheless, the book makes you think about bigamy as a less black-and-white way.)
Domestic Malice
Author:
Jessica Fletcher & Donald Bain
Stars: 3.5
Review by: Jambob
I cannot expect a cozy mystery such as Murder She Wrote ever rising to the category of "literature" but I am pleased with a trend I see infiltrating this genre. Now within a sanitized murder mystery (no sex, or foul language, little gore) is a social concept that provokes consideration. As the title suggests, the mystery involves a case of domestic abuse. With Cabot Cove as the cozy back drop, serious issues are interwoven in the story itself. It had me write to the author several times; something I don't usually do. I now look to cozies for more than included recipes and quaint history, but thought-provoking social concepts. Something new!
Stars: 3.5
Review by: Jambob
I cannot expect a cozy mystery such as Murder She Wrote ever rising to the category of "literature" but I am pleased with a trend I see infiltrating this genre. Now within a sanitized murder mystery (no sex, or foul language, little gore) is a social concept that provokes consideration. As the title suggests, the mystery involves a case of domestic abuse. With Cabot Cove as the cozy back drop, serious issues are interwoven in the story itself. It had me write to the author several times; something I don't usually do. I now look to cozies for more than included recipes and quaint history, but thought-provoking social concepts. Something new!