Book Review #6: A Bramble House Christmas

Title: A Bramble House Christmas

Author: CJ Carmichael

Published: October 26th, 2015

Page Count: 172

Price (eBook): ~ $3.99

Format Read: NetGalley PDF

Genre: Romance

Date Read: November 8th - November 14th, 2015

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Recommendation: Highly Recommended

Synopsis: When Finn Conrad finds out that his father bequeathed a large sum of money to the nurse who cared for him in his last few weeks, he is convinced that she must be up to something sinister. His mother and sisters urge him to visit Montana, where she'll be spending the Christmas holiday, to find out more about this woman who seemingly manipulated their father into giving her his money.

Willa Fairchild is just a mother struggling to protect her six-year-old son from the world. Now that he's been declared cancer-free, she knows that she ought to release her grip on him, but it's difficult. Since his father left shortly following his diagnosis, it's been difficult for both of them. 

Finn no longer believes in love, following his parents' divorce. He comes to Marietta, Montana under his nom de plume, hiding his identity from a woman he believes had sinister intentions with his father. Once he meets her, however, it becomes apparent that she's nothing like what he expected. 

My Thoughts: I loved everything about this book. It's one of my favorites that I've read this year, and I will happily recommend it to all the family and friends who enjoy romance novels. 

It's no big secret that I'm not generally a fan of romance novels. I've read quite a bit of Nora Roberts, but little else captures my attention. Most of the time I find the heroes to be weak and the heroines simpering and pathetic. This is not a genre that I generally pick up, but for some reason this book stood out to me (in spite of the fact that I don't like the cover at all). When I do pick up a romance novel, I don't often finish it, so the fact that I not only read this, but finished it and loved it is saying something to me.

Willa's character is real. She's soft and warm, but we want our romantic heroines to be soft. We're not looking for a strong female lead who's going to sweep in and save the day. If we did, we'd be reading a different genre. 

Her concern for her son is touching, and Scout's story -- not to mention the fact that he is a key character in the book and not simply a plot device! -- tugged at my heart strings. His condition forced Willa's character to develop independent of the romantic storyline, which I very much like. Kids are often little more than props in romantic stories (which is one reason I don't often finish them!) but in this case I felt like Scout was a fully-developed character himself, which was lovely. 

Finn is masculine without being macho. His manliness isn't shoved into our faces. He's sensitive to his mother and sisters' needs while the relationships are still kept realistic and varied. They aren't a perfect, happy family without any problems in their relationships, and I liked that about him. I loved the fact that he was an artist, because this, too, is not typical romance novel fare. He's not a man in uniform, and his occupation isn't a prop to make him more attractive to the reader (or to the heroine, for that matter).

I fell a little bit in love with both of them, and Ms. Carmichael did an amazing job of making them both appealing. Most romance novels I've read start out with one character being an unappealing ass while the other is the partner they've always wanted. One then has to work their way toward the other. In this novel, however, the conflict is more external (the inheritance money) and less to do with the characters' personalities.

The magical touches in the book just made it that much more appealing.

I will definitely be looking at the other books in this series! I loved all the characters I was introduced to!

Highly Recommended!

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is my honest opinion of the novel.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Book Review #5: Flesh and Blood by Simon Cheshire

Title: Flesh and Blood

Author: Simon Cheshire

Published: March 2nd, 2015

Page Count: 336

Price (eBook): ~ $8.89

Format Read: NetGalley PDF

Genre: Horror

Date Read: November 6th - November 8th, 2015

Rating: 2/5 Stars
Recommendation: Not Recommended

Summary:  Sam Hunter's family has always struggled until his father, a musician, sells a song and suddenly they have millions of pounds to allow them to move to an affluent neighborhood. The family moves into a large house near an estate (in England, an "Estate" is like the American "Projects") and they meet their new neighbors, the Greenhills. But why does everyone they meet have a thin line of yellow mucous on their upper lips? And why do his parents seem so cheerful all of a sudden? Everyone around him seems strange, and Sam believes that the Greenhills must be up to something. He begins to investigate, using all of his skills as a journalist, but he never expects what he actually finds.

My Thoughts: Ugh. I hated it. Not so much as to give it a one-star rating, but this book was quite awful.

To begin with, the book starts out with several pages (I didn't count) of a massive info-dump that details the life that Sam and his family had before they moved, through to the journey to their new home, and details of how his father got the money. All of this information is redundant, and the reader doesn't need to read it in order to get into the book. This is the sort of thing that I hate in a novel and I hope that when I finally begin writing mine, I won't do this myself. 

I won't ever read another book by Simon Cheshire because of this one annoyance. It's death for an author in my books.

The second thing that bothered me is that the author made a show of being English. I've lived in England, and I know the slang pretty well as a result, but I felt like the entire book was anglicized to the point that it was difficult to read as an American. And I mean that it wasn't just an annoyance, but that I almost couldn't get through it because I had to use context to figure out terminology I hadn't encountered when living in England or enjoying British literature in books, movies, and television. 

This is the second book I've read with this problem recently. 

The story simply didn't make up for these things. It was an alright story, when it moved, but it didn't move quickly, and once the author reached the climax (another one who hit the timing right, so he gets kudos there!), the book actually slowed down again. Action around the climax was slow moving and, for me, boring. It didn't entertain and I wasn't impressed with it at all. 

I have to admit that the ending was something of a redeeming quality, as it was the best-written part of the book (maybe the author wrote this part first!) and it startled me more than most horror novels manage to startle me. Unfortunately it wasn't enough to save this book, and though it might have brought it from a 1 to a 2 star rating, I don't plan on reading something from this author again.

Not recommended!

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is my honest opinion of the novel.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Book Review #4: The Beast of Barcroft, by Bill Schweigart

Title: The Beast of Barcroft

Author: Bill Schweigart

Published: November 17th, 2015

Page Count: 202

Price (eBook): ~ $2.99

Format Read: NetGalley PDF

Genre: Horror

Date Read: October 29th - November 6th, 2015

Rating: 4/5 Stars
Recommendation: Recommended

Summary: Ben McKelvie moves into a nice neighborhood in the suburbs with his fiance, but he doesn't realize that he's moving next door to an animal hoarder. Madeline feeds the wild animals, and her yard is unruly. Birds poop on Ben's car, rats infest the neighborhood whenever the lawn is mowed, and the yard is a pit. The neighbors complain about her property, but once she dies, animals begin to pick them off one by one. What is it that's stalking Barcroft, with its glowing eyes? Is it really the mountain lion, the rats, or a wolf? Ben and his little team of believers will find out!

My Thoughts: Another book that I enjoyed, I still must note that this book could still do with some editing and that I don't feel it's ready for publication on the 17th. The author is fond of the word "suddenly" and several actions appear to be very rushed, like Mr. Schweigart doesn't know quite how to make certain transitions (like a particularly awkward kiss in the middle of the novel).

In particular I was happy to see a lesbian couple in a novel, and to see their relationship treated as no more "outstanding" than a heterosexual relationship. I'd like to see more of this.

Both females in the book were strong, stand-up women with good heads on their shoulders (in completely different ways). Schweigart writes women the way that I like to read them, and these two didn't sit back for any man, no matter how chauvinistic both Ben and Richard behaved throughout the book.

The novel actually scared me (which is hard to do with the amount of horror reading I've done) and I jumped several times when interrupted during reading this book. While I'd hardly say that it's at the level of Stephen King (as the description suggests), it definitely frightened me, and that's what I'm looking for in a good horror book!

Recommended!

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is my honest opinion of the novel.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Book Review #3: The Cracked Spine, by Paige Shelton

Title: The Cracked Spine

Author: Paige Shelton

Published: March 19, 2016

Page Count: 320 (Hardcover)

Price (Hardcover): ~ $19.25

Price (eBook): ~ $12.99

Format Read: NetGalley PDF

Series: A Scottish Bookshop Mysteries

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Date Read: October 27th-October 29th, 2015

Rating: 3/5 Stars
Recommendation: Undetermined (See Review)

Summary: Delaney Nichols needs some adventure in her life! She decides to take a job working for a bookshop in Edinborough, Scotland, but is surprised to find that tragedy strikes the small bookshop family nearly as soon as she joins it! Now she must solve the mystery of who killed her boss's sister.

My Thoughts: Ugh. This is going to be a tough book for me to review. I've only finished it a moment ago and I feel unfulfilled while still compelled to read any future books in this series or by this author.

I want to be fair in this review while also being honest about my reading experience. In general, I give books two ratings: A star rating and a recommendation. The former is intellectual, usually based on the book's merits (though sometimes I might push a 3-star book to 5-stars if I particularly enjoyed it, even if its merits don't deserve it). The latter is an emotional response to the book. Is it something that I'd recommend to a frient?

In this case, the writing is good and the editing excellent. In terms of actual content, the book is a solid three-stars when compared to other popular cozies that I've read. 

The book would be much more readable if Ms. Shelton wrote dialog in plain English. Instead, she attempts to imitate the Scottish accent by writing dialect (including some Scots) into the dialog. This makes it more difficult to read, to the point that I got regular headaches while reading the novel and had to put it down in order to avoid them.

Readers are capable of inventing the accent in their own imaginations and do not need the author to do it for them. (That being said, some -- such as my husband -- love dialect in dialog. I'm just not one of them, and it's considered poor form for writers, besides).

This was the biggest drawback from this novel for me, but it was far from the only drawback that I experienced.

The book starts off slowly, with too much description of "what it's like to be an American in the UK." It would seem that the author has had her own experience with this (since her descriptions were adequate), but as someone who also has lived in the United Kingdom, I felt someone insulted by Delaney's response to the cabs and the accent. For a clearly intelligent character, she struggled with culture, and I was glad when the mention of "G-Forces" (in the car) finally stopped. 

Description has its place, but this book could have been cut by about two-thirds if only the unnecessary description was removed from it to leave the reader with more story and plot.

I also found it disturbing that the clues of his mystery didn't seem to point to its conclusion. Perhaps the author is attempting to avoid the formula, but the formula works for a reason (it tends to be more engaging to the reader). If one followed clues throughout the novel to reach a particular conclusion, we were thrown off-balance with the climax (which I felt came just a bit too late in the book, feeling rushed).

My opinion is that Ms. Shelton should have focused more on the pacing of her story throughout, and less on descriptions of the Scottish countryside. If she can do this with future novels, I'd happily read the next book in this series (which leaves me feeling conflicted on whether or not I recommend the novel in the first place).

The characters were well-developed and mostly likable (one reason I so enjoy books set in Scotland and Ireland is that they remind me of my time living in the UK and how generally hospitable these people were compared to the English!), but I found it someone strange that the majority of them were described as "older." Most of the characters -- except for the protagonist and Hamlet (one of the workers at the bookstore) -- were over the age of 50. 

While I appreciate diversity in all fiction (including books and movies), I felt that this was somewhat less "diverse" and more focused on the elder characters than on a good mix of characters from various backgrounds and ages. This may be setting the stage for another book in this series, which I would find believable.

All in all, my favorite character was Elias, and I hated the way that Delaney used him and Aggie, but have to confess to having liked Delaney well enough to give another book featuring this character a shot.

I read the book in about two days, which says something for someone who usually only reads about one book every week and a half. It will be released in March of next year and can be pre-ordered on Amazon.

Recommended for very patient readers.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is my honest opinion of the novel.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Wishlist Wednesday #1: Focalink Double Alto C Ocarina

I've been doing a little bit of writing lately about how and why to make a holiday wishlist, so I thought that since I didn't have any overwhelming inspiration for today, that I'd write about what's on my wishlist. Every week I'll choose one (relevant) item from my wishlist and post it here (with a link to Amazon, of course!).

I'd love for my readers to participate by adding their own most wished for items in the comments. If anybody's interested enough, I'll add a linky to next week's Wishlist Wednesday. Make sure to include a link to your wishlist if you choose to participate!

This week, I'd like to share with you the Double Chamber Alto C Ocarina from Focalink that has been on my wishlist for about a year.

This blog's main focus is on books because they're easy to write about, but its secondary focus is on music. I've been playing the ocarina for about two years now, and I've found real peace and joy in musical expression. I purchased the Focalink Double Soprano G last year, and I love this little instrument -- but prefer to play in the key of C. 

Other ocarina players advised me to buy a key I didn't currently own (since I already had two Alto Cs and one Soprano C). I've never been happy that I followed this advice, in spite of how much I love my two Soprano G ocarinas (one double and one six-hole).

Of all the things I hope to receive off of my wishlist before the end of the year, this is at the top of my list.

If you'd like to see the other things on my Amazon Wishlist, then check out the link below.

My Amazon Wishlist

Book Review #2: Frozen Charlotte, by Alex Bell

Title: Frozen Charlotte

Author: Alex Bell

Published: January 5th, 2015

Page Count: 352

Format Read: NetGalley PDF

Series: Red Eye

Genre: Young Adult Horror

Date Read: October 27th, 2015

Rating: 5/5 Stars
Recommendation: Recommended

Summary: Sophie and her friend Jay think it's innocent enough when it starts. What harm can a Ouija app on a cell phone do, anyway? But when the lights go out in the cafe and Sophie sees the figure of a girl in a long dress standing on one of the cafe's tables -- right before a woman starts to scream from the kitchen -- things take a dark turn. Can the ouija board, in fact, release something evil from beyond the grave? She's going to find out, whether she wants to or not!

My Thoughts: Let me tell you, it's been a long time since I read an entire book in one day -- including the little 70 page novellas I've downloaded free from Amazon. This book grabbed me, sucked me in, and held me until I read the last page. I came to the end shuddering with horror -- which is exactly what I like when reading a horror novel!

The book is atmospheric -- but then you might expect it to be, set on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It reminded me in some ways of stories like The Woman in White, The Good Son, and Orphan. When a book sucks me into the setting with its outstanding atmosphere, it's harder to put it down, and results in a faster, more entertaining read.

Considering that I'm making a concerted effort to read for pleasure at this point in my life, this book hit the spot!

I have to admit that I thought I'd figured the book out -- that it was something similar to My Sweet Audrina -- and I was waiting to be proven right. Ms. Bell successfully pulled me through to the very end without spoiling the results for me. How wonderful!

If you're looking for a spooky read, this is a great choice. It includes classic components of great horror: Atmosphere, an item commonly connected to phobias (dolls), excellent characters, decent writing, and a fast pace. The book never slows down, doesn't include unnecessary wordiness, and though written simply (for younger readers), the ease with which I read this encouraged me to continue by picking up the next book on my TBR stack -- tonight.

To note: The writing could do with some improvement. At times choppy, the flow in the beginning of the book requires some improvement, but it got better as the book went on. Either that, or I was so enthralled with it that I ceased to care. It's well-enough edited: Few grammatical errors and no spelling errors that I noticed. A copy editor could deal with some of the leaps in the novel, but they aren't significant enough to bother me -- and I'm a tough reviewer, in general.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is my honest opinion of the novel.

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

I receive a small commission on purchases made through Amazon. If you click through my link and make any purchase on Amazon through this link within the next three days, I will receive a commission. This helps to support my book habits! I'd appreciate any commissions I can make through this blog. Thank you!

Book Review #1: The Last Reading by Gillian Larkin

Title: The Last Reading

Author: Gillian Larkin

Published: August 13th, 2014

Page Count: 77

Format Read: Kindle

Series: Storage Ghost Cozy Mystery #1

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Date Read: October, 2015

Rating: 3/5 Stars
Recommendation: Recommended

Summary: Grace Abrahams works with her brother's second-hand shoppe by attending storage locker auctions to pick up merchandise for the store, and she meets ghosts in the abandoned lockers who are attached to items in the lockers. 

In The Last Reading, Grace meets Mae Moonshine, a psychic reader who was killed during a psychic fair. now she must work with Mae to find the killer and answer the questions the befuddled ghost has about why she had to die.

Thoughts: I enjoyed this quick and easy cozy mystery. In the last few years I've read a number of mysteries which cannot be solved based on the clues given to the reader, and Larkin successfully built a solvable story that wasn't so completely obvious that I groaned and rolled my eyes when I reached the climax of the story. She has considerable skill as a storyteller, which is what got me through this book. 

Before I get into the specifics, I do intend to pick up more books in this series to give them a further read. I liked the book and would recommend it.

That being said, I do feel that the characterizations were a bit thin and that the author could do with hiring a good editor with a mind toward fleshing the prose out. There were moments in the book when things changed unexpectedly -- and not in a good way. One example that comes to mind is that Grace is confident throughout the story that she can use her sleuth powers (like Jessica Fletcher, on Murder, She Wrote) to solve the mystery, and then she very suddenly loses all confidence and has a meltdown in front of Mae.

The characters could do with more definition, but were likable and I feel that all in all, these characters will follow through with more development in future stories.

It bears mentioning that while this book is the first in a series, it is a continuation from another series. Grace and her brother Frankie, as well as Pearl (the ghost of the thrift store) are characters from another series by the same author. This may be confusing if you don't understand this point from the beginning (as I didn't).

I like Ms. Larkin and would love to see more from her. 

Did you read The Last Reading? If so, what did you think of it? If not, do you plan to?

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

I receive a small commission on purchases made through Amazon. If you click through my link and make any purchase on Amazon through this link within the next three days, I will receive a commission. This helps to support my book habits! I'd appreciate any commissions I can make through this blog. Thank you!

4 simple reasons I read for pleasure

Every fall, I begin to read again, and nearly every winter, my reading drops away. There are several reasons that this happens, but the most important reason is that in the fall, I read for pleasure.

There's something different about the Autumn, when I comfortably settle in to read with a cozy blanket in my favorite recliner and read for hours at a time. (Wouldn't it be nice if I could do it without being interrupted by my seven-year-old?) Moreover, this is the time of year when I am most turned on by paper books and not my eReader.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot love my Kindle the way that I want to. It's fine for quick reads of independent fiction (in particular the shorter books published through KDP), but the meat and potatoes of reading is (for me), the paperback novel.

(Admittedly, I don't even get the same thing out of hardcover books!)

This fall, I picked up my Kindle Fire (not my favorite device to read on, but it was available at the time) and when I opened it, the first book that popped up was Stephen King's It. I had begun picking at it about a year ago (it is admittedly an epic read) off and on but found the Kindle version to be overpriced and under-edited. Too many 1s stood in place of lowercase Ls (or vice versa), making the book difficult to read on Kindle.

So I took myself to Half Price Books and purchased a copy of the novel for $2.49.

It has been years since I got so much pleasure out of a book. This book, in particular, has occupied much of my reading time; Not because of its length, but because the book fascinates me. I'm reading it for the third time now.

I'm not going to get into the reasons that I don't get as much out of reading on the Kindle (not yet, anyway, but I will at a later date!) but I would like to talk some about what reading for pleasure has done for me this fall -- and why I want to do more of it throughout the year.

It Provides an Escape from Stress

I struggle with post traumatic stress disorder, and even the most routine stress can cause me to become deeply depressed. This became a serious problem this summer while my family and I were living with my parents for four months (and more recently, since my husband lost his job).

When I put aside the stress of reading (a commitment to review everything that I read, the challenge to read a book or two a week, the desire to read for knowledge rather than pleasure), it provides me a temporary escape from stress. While I read, I am fully immersed in the world the author has woven for me.

This takes me out of the world of stress in which I live and provides me the opportunity to engage with something different. Even if the world of the novel is horrifying (such as It), I can escape from my present circumstances and into a rich world of characters and (my favorite), terror. 

Of course, this only applies when the book provides a stable universe, interesting characters, and a plot that continues to move. This is one of the reasons that I enjoy Stephen King's older work, among other favorite authors.

It Broadens My Reading Library

When I read for pleasure, I read more. While I realize that this isn't true of everyone, reading for pleasure means that I read more often, read more deeply, and that I enjoy reading more than I do if I'm reading as entertainment (to replace writing, television, or music), and therefore I generally read more books if I'm not on a timeline (even if the books are longer!).

I've always been a quick reader, capable of finishing a novel in a week or less, depending on its length and how much reading I'm doing. What I do not like is having to read on a schedule in order to churn out book reviews on a particular timeline or for the benefit of the author (which is especially true if I didn't enjoy the book).

Reading for pleasure means that I read more deeply, become more involved in the book, and that I therefore remember the book better. The books I read for pleasure are most likely to be added to my book shelf of books to recommend to other people, and I'm more likely to keep them -- my true test of enjoyment for any novel.

I'm always looking to expand my library of books I've read from start to finish (which includes if the book is written as part of a series, finishing every book in the series).

I want my personal library to look like this: Full of books I've read!

It Introduces Me to Excellent Authors

One of the most amazing things about reading for pleasure is taking recommendations for friends. If it wasn't for friends, I'd never have discovered Nicholas Evans, John Grisham, or Nora Roberts (some of my favorites). In fact, I might never have stepped outside of the horror genre and away from Anne Rice and Stephen King if it hadn't been for the recommendations of other pleasure readers.

I read book blogs on a regular basis -- it's one way that I've discovered books I truly enjoy (such as The Hunger Games). The best recommendations often come from other pleasure readers, and the people I connect with the most are always those who read because they want to, and not because they've set up a personal timeline on Goodreads or their blog, reading a set number of books in a set time period. The most astonishing (for me) is when I read blogs by people who claim to read a book a day.

This is impossible for me to do and enjoy, even when the books are remarkably short. The last short novel I picked up was The Last Reading and it took me about six months to finish because I pushed myself too hard. I ultimately enjoyed the book when I relaxed and read it because I wanted to, and not because I had to. I'll happily read more by author Gillian Larkin.

It Helps Me Relax Alone

As an INFJ, I need a lot of time to relax alone. Reading for pleasure helps me do that!

I'm an INFJ personality type -- for those who don't know, the rarest personality type at only 1% of the population. Like most introverts, I require considerable time to be by myself. Reading -- and in particular reading for pleasure -- provides me with what I need in order to rejuvenate myself. 

The escape into a fictional world helps to comfort me and the book provides a barrier between me and other people who would otherwise attempt to engage me.

Throughout the time that my family stayed with my parents, my mother was the worst culprit for stopping to talk to me when I was involved in other things. For me, this could be anything from writing to studying language to working on graphic design (which is not a talent of mine, I must say). She was particularly fond of bringing up stressful topics when I could least handle discussing them (such as how my husband's job search was going, or whether or not we'd signed a lease on a home yet). 

A book tells other people "leave me alone, I'm reading." It tells people that you want to be by yourself, and it acts as a barrier. Reading for pleasure separates me mentally from the people who attempt to change my focus. If I'm reading for pleasure, I'm deeply involved in the fictional world, and am further from the "real world" in which my friends of family wish to involve me.

This makes it easier for me to be alone, and therefore to relax away from the pressures of every day life.

It's Monday: What Are You Reading? #1 (Stephen King's It)

I've just begun to start reading again after a long hiatus (mostly due to personal pressure on myself to read too much in too short a period of time). This is significant for me, though it tends to happen every autumn. 

This is a new blog because I thought that a fresh start and a fresh perspective might work well to help keep me motivated. 

My goal is to read as much as I want and to review everything that I read, regardless of whether or not I'm able to finish it (provided I've read enough to give an opinion on the book).

Mondays are a good benchmark, but they are also the day that Book Date hosts "It's Monday: What are you reading?"

I've made my own graphic because I like to have Pinterest-friendly graphics on my blog. The official banner is on the right (it links to the meme for this week on Book Date, if you're interested).

If you're a book blog, you might want to participate, so stop on by and leave your link, along with what you're reading this week! I'll be happy to hear from you in my comments as well.

As for me, this week I'm reading It for the third time.

This classic horror novel is a favorite of mine, and it seems timely given that Halloween is just around the corner. I'm taking it slow and reading for pleasure rather than to race to the end so I can review the book. Who needs another review of a Stephen King novel, anyway?

(Late) last week I finished reading The Last Reading, which was a nice, short little cozy mystery by Gillian Larkin. The review will be posting tomorrow (scheduled), so you can look forward to it then (I'll link it here once the review has actually posted). I would recommend this book, but encourage readers to understand that the book claims to be the first in a series but starts from a point it continues from another series. It's a little bit confusing, but the book itself was enjoyable.

I'm not expecting to finish It this week, so I don't project any other books for this one.