Reboot

Life is always a rollercoaster.  At least mine is!  From fighting illness for a few years, to a bad car accident, and then COVID, it's been interesting to say the least.  I've read through it all, I just haven't posted my reviews.  Some books I read and didn't even write a review at all!  However, I've decided to come back to post my reviews here and on my Goodreads account.  This is only a small blog with extremely limited readership, but it doesn't really matter.  I like to put my reviews out there in case they help someone.  Maybe I'm crazy?

Along the way, I've discovered mysteries!  I have to admit, I'm really enjoying them!  I never thought I'd like mysteries because, you know, someone dies.  But I found cozy mysteries leave out the gruesome details.  I like that.  A lot.  I see enough gruesome details in my job, I don't need to see them in my books.

I've also read about half of the Julia Quinn Bridgerton series.  I will review them at some point.  Truthfully, they weren't good enough to make me want to watch the Netflix series.  One or two books stand out as pretty good, but mostly I don't find them to be all that noteworthy.  I'm surprised they were picked up to be made into a series.  

I also am planning to review Preston and Child's Pendergast series as well.  I've only read eight of them.  A friend of mine has read them all and has informed me that they gotten to be more like Lovecraftian horror with a healthy dose of dimensional travel thrown in so I don't know if I will actually finish the series.  I don't like horror.  Especially horror in the Lovecraft vein.  I also am not a fan of taking an otherwise pretty solid series into the realm of...mysticism is the best word I can come up with.  Although, truth be told, some of that is already showing up in the last two books I've read.  And, no, I wasn't happy to see it hinted at there either.

As I am doing this reboot around the holidays, it is likely I will review a few holiday romances.  I have revealed before that I'm a sucker for holiday romances.  Really holiday books in general.  I love Christmas!  So any book that deals with the holidays will probably be something I enjoy.  Given that, I will review a few.  Maybe not all of them, I've read quite a few!

If I decide to do any type of reading challenge or anything of that nature, I will post about it here.  I probably won't do anything more than set a goal for myself.  The really big challenges with all the specific items you have to read to complete the challenge are fine, but they tend to suck the joy out of reading for me.  The last few years I've simply set a small goal.  This year my goal was to read only sixteen books.  I've read more than that of course.  I don't like to set super high goals because that too sucks the joy out of reading.  If I have to rush through two books a week to meet my goal, that isn't enjoyable.  I'd rather just give myself a relaxed goal and then read past it if time permits.  Some years I can read thirty or forty books.  Other years I'm lucky to eek out twelve.  And that's okay.  Reading is about enjoyment and not about attaining a number.

I hope you enjoy the upcoming holiday season and find time to do a little reading.  I'd love to hear about what you're reading.  I have a long list of books I want to read, but I'm always willing to add to it!  Let me know if you have any suggestions.

Happy reading!

The Mistletoe Promise by Richard Paul Evans

I'm already in the mood for Christmas!  OK, fine, I was never really out of the mood for Christmas.  Still...

My favorite Christmas activity is watching all the Hallmark Christmas movies.  I love them!  And one of my favorites (Top 5) just happens to be The Mistletoe Promise.  Which, incidentally, is not out on DVD/BluRay.  This hurts my heart.  Hallmark, are you reading this??

Anyway...

As previously stated, The Mistletoe Promise was made into a Hallmark movie.  As soon as I found out it was based on a Richard Paul Evans novel, I just had to snap it up.  I'm glad I did.  As is so often the case, the book was so much better than the movie.  Sadly, Hallmark actually gutted the story.  The Hallmark movie barely resembles the book.  I understand why Hallmark did it, but I still like the book much better.  (Not to worry, I'll still buy the  movie if it comes out on DVD/BluRay.)

As for the book:

The Mistletoe Promise is not a long book by any means.  I easily read it in just a few hours.  Honestly, I couldn't put it down.  Richard Paul Evans's writing is easy to read.  The prose flows easily and is simply enjoyable.  Neither scholarly nor elementary, the writing hits the Goldilocks zone -- just right.  It's perfect for a weekend read.

Likewise, the plot and pacing of the book are also in the Goldilocks zone.  There is some depth to the plot, but the book never gets too weighty.  Yes, the issues that give the story depth are heart wrenching, but because the author doesn't dwell on them and drag them out they don't detract from enjoying what is ultimately a great and relaxing weekend read.

I really did like the characters in The Mistletoe Promise.  Elise is believable and relatable.  She is very much every one of us.  In Elise I saw facets of myself, as I'm sure others will too.  Elise was well written with compassion and understanding -- something all of us want, which is why I was drawn to her.  Nick was also a good character.  He wasn't as well rounded as Elise, nor did he enjoy the same character development, but he was still a good character and was exactly what the story (and Elise) needed.

All things considered, I would recommend this book to anyone.  There is nothing objectionable -- no profanity, no sex, no questionable morals or ethics.  This book is a simple, sweet, utterly enjoyable read.  A perfect holiday read, but also a book that can be enjoyed any time.  Just because the story is set at Christmastime doesn't mean it should be limited to Christmas time.

Happy reading!

Pestilence by Laura Thalassa (The Four Horsemen Book One)

A book about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  I've seen that before.  A romance book about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  Now that's a new one.  To say I'm intrigued is a vast understatement.  How would one even work romance into a story featuring the Four Horsemen?  Love is completely at odds with everything the Four Horsemen represent.

I finished the book with mixed feelings.  First, let me be exceedingly clear on one point:  This book strays so far from the Biblical Four Horseman they are unrecognizable as the entities of Revelation.  The four Horsemen in this book and the Four Horsemen in the Bible share a name.  That's it.  This book is for entertainment only.

Setting that aside, what really troubled me about this book was that Sara seemed to suffer from Stockholm Syndrome.  Of course I'm not exactly sure, short of being taken prisoner, how you could write someone willingly into the presence of Pestilence.  And for there to be romance, one does need to spend time in the presence of one's love interest.  So I pushed the Stockholm Syndrome complaint out of my mind and kept reading.

I can say that I did like the characters.  I work with firefighters and some of them are like Sara.  Some really are in this profession because they care about people and want to help.  So the compassionate side of Sara's personality did ring true for me.  As did her toughness.  You can't be a woman in what is still considered a man's profession and not be tough as nails.  Given what the author put Sara through, it certainly was a good choice on her part to give Sara that backstory.  It also made her compassion towards Pestilence a little easier to understand.  Additionally I liked that Sara wasn't a whiner.  She got hurt physically and mentally, but she didn't whine about it.  She acknowledged it, dealt with it and moved on.  Frankly, once I discarded the Stockholm Syndrome argument, her growth as a character was very well written.

Pestilence was also well written.  His changes were of an existential nature and they made sense.  Who wouldn't question their duty to exterminate a "bad" race when several times compassion is offered without expectation of repayment?  And who wouldn't be torn when that same race showed abject hatred and cruelty?  Watching Pestilence wrestle with his changing certainty about his cause actually made me think more than once about my own reactions to some of the things humanity does.  It's easy to have a knee jerk reaction and fall back on habitual thoughts.  But are those thoughts right?

The writing itself was fine.  Points for using a few words not normally used in books targeted for mass market.  However... the language!  In some cases, yes, there was a need because that is exactly how those types speak.  But in general, there was a lot of the use of the F-word and taking the Lord's name in vain that I could have done without.  But it wasn't so bad that I gave up.  I just started skipping those words.  Other than that, I can't really complain about the writing.  Obviously it wasn't horrible; I read the book in two sittings!

The story itself was intriguing.  I found the story to be of a more cerebral nature than of an action nature.  To be sure, there was some action, some of it gruesome, but that action was needed to push the story along.  The heart of the story, the truly important part of this story, is how Sara and Pestilence changed.  Thankfully that part of the story wasn't lost in a quagmire of unnecessary action.

All things considered, I recommend this book for adult readers that can overlook profanity, sex, and some gruesome scenes.  I will say this about the sex:  It is not super graphic nor is it disgustingly or cheaply described.  Sure, I've seen better descriptions but I've also seen a whole lot more offensive descriptions.  As these things go, it's not terrible.  The violence in the book is only what is necessary, however, it isn't pretty.  It is not super graphic, but neither is it easy to read.  I will say if you are easily upset or offended, don't read this book.  Otherwise, enjoy just be forewarned.

Note:  I read this book a year or two ago and wasn't going to post a review until all the books had come out and I had reviewed them all.  I've decided not to wait.

Book Clubs, Etc.

It's been awhile.  A long while actually.  A lot of non-book, life stuff has been going on.  Illness, family illness, work, and just plain being busy has kept me away from blogging.  I'm sure you know exactly what I'm talking about.  We all have a lot going on.  Despite all that life stuff, I've still been reading.  I haven't reviewed everything I've read, but I do have a few reviews ready to go. 

During my sabbatical, I came to a few conclusions about reading.  Specifically the things we do that make reading a chore instead of fun.  There are three things that I realized were making my reading life hell:  blogging/reviewing, book clubs, bookish social media.  One would think those things would enhance the reading experience, and maybe they do for others, but for me they made reading so stressful I just didn't have any real interest in reading.

After about six to twelve months of no blogging/reviewing, I realized I was enjoying my reading time more.  I enjoy reviewing books for my blog, but I realized I was getting to caught up in feeling like I had to review every single solitary book I read.  Within the first three months away I was stressing because I had read four books and hadn't reviewed a single one of them.  I kept worrying about how I was going to remember enough to write a review.  I worried that I might confuse them and write a jumbled review about all the books when I thought I was only writing about a single book.  Then I worried that I wasn't reading the kind of books people wanted a review of.  And then I worried that I wasn't blogging right anyway.  And on, and on, and on...

Then around about month six I realized none of it mattered!  I realized I don't do this blog for followers or money or notoriety.  I do this to share what I've read with whomever might happen upon my blog.  I don't advertise my blog.  This blog is more like my online reading journal.  Reading Journal Lite, to be exact.  To be sure, it is nowhere near as exhaustive as my paper reading journal, but I never meant it to be.

I took some time to mull over exactly why I started this blog and what I intend to accomplish with it.  The answers were actually pretty easy to come by when I just took a moment to think about it.  I started this blog to share.  Nothing else.  I don't want to monetize it nor do I have dreams of becoming internet famous with it.  That realization brought up the question of exactly what I wanted to accomplish with the blog.  The answer was the same.  I just want to share.  I assume the people coming here already have an idea what the book is about, so this is a place to share about my experience reading the book.  Did I like the writing style the author uses?  Did I enjoy the plot and the pace of the plot?  What did I think of the characters?  That's it.  I only want to share my experience. 

Once I had all this settled in my mind, it was once again enjoyable for me to read.  In fact, I began to look forward to reading again.  And if I wanted to write a review that was fine.  But if I didn't, I no longer felt that guilt.  Blogging was no longer a chore.  It was something I knew I would come back to when I was ready.

Now about the time I settled the whole blogging issue, I got involved in a book club.  (Cue the ominous music.) It started innocently enough.  I thought it would be nice to gather and talk about whatever book we read that month.  Seems innocent, right?  Well...

Here's what I learned about book clubs:  You know those judgmental people you encounter in so many other aspects of your life?  They're in book clubs too.  Maybe you're more introverted.  Great!  Guess who's going to be going out once a month to gather with people you don't see except for when you go to book club and don't interact with unless you're at book club together.  Do you work full time and have a busy life to boot?  Well guess who now has to finish a book by a certain date?  I learned I do not like to be told what to read and when to read it. 

I tried to like book club.  Honest.  But it just wasn't for me.  I do not like hanging out with people that really are just strangers.  I did meet two people that I actually liked, but other than comments here and there on Facebook we had no interaction outside of book club.  My time is limited.  I work full time and what precious little free time I have, I'd prefer to spend it with people who want to actually be my friend.

And then there was the demands of book club.  It isn't that the "demands", such as they are, were onerous, I'm just not real good with the whole being told what to do thing.  It's like checking books out from the library.  I don't like to be told I have to read anything in an allotted amount of time.  Nor do I really relish being told what I have to read.  Not mind you, that the book club selections were awful.  After all, the books were put to a vote.  And the books to be voted on were books that were there because we voted to move them from being presented for consideration to being contenders.  So honestly it's not the book club's fault I was feeling unfulfilled. 

After about eighteen months, I just pulled the plug on it.  It just wasn't for me and I was not about to read The Handmaid's Tale.  That was one that didn't get a formal vote.  It was thrown out as a hey what do you think thing and some people said it would be good to read it and the next thing I know we're reading it.  I have some serious issues with that book.  If other's want to read it, that's fine with me, but after an executive decision to read The Hate U Give, I wasn't really wanting to read another book that didn't make it through the voting process.  It just seemed like the controversial books never got a vote.

So my conclusion on book clubs was that they are great for other people.  I'm clearly not the type who needs to be involved in book club.  My personality is simply not geared for it.  The book club I was involved with, I would recommend it to anyone looking for a book club in this town.  For the most part, the women are great and the books chosen were usually good books.  So, it's not the book club at all.  The problem is all me.

Leaving the book club, brought a sense of relief to me.  I no longer had to read anything on a schedule.  It was an amazing feeling.  Now I'm reading more than I'm watching TV.  I'm reading a book every other day and I'm loving it.  Reading is fun again!

Which brings me to the last thing that made reading a chore for me.  Bookish social media.  You know what I'm talking about.  Things like Booklr, Bookstagram, Facebook reading groups, etc.  Those are great things -- for someone not me.  For me, they again made reading a chore.  Trying to keep up with them all was just too much.  I found I spent more time reading/looking at the various accounts and groups than I spent actually reading a book.  There was that pressure to be an active, contributing member when all I wanted was to just read my book.

My solution was to just turn off the notifications and if I happen to be scrolling and see a post or pin or whatever, great.  However, I no longer strive to be an active member.  I don't know how people who post that they read hundreds of books a year have time to also post twenty or thirty times a day.  It boggles the mind. 

Ultimately we're all different.  I know there are people out there who might be reading this who are surprised by my reactions to these things.  I also know there are people out there who have a similar experience.  I'm certainly not saying these things are bad.  This is just how they affected my reading life.  How do you feel about these things?  Does your experience parallel mine?  Do these things actually enhance your reading enjoyment?  I'd be interested to know.

Already Home by Susan Mallery

I am not even going to try to be coy.  I loved this book!  I had never read a Susan Mallery book before this, but if her other books are this good, I will be reading more.  I saw this book at the library and it just intrigued me.  So I looked both ways to be sure nobody saw me take a romance book and then fled to the checkout.  It turns out I liked this book so much I just ordered a copy for my home library and I will read it again the moment I get it.  I'm not too proud to say I'm counting down the six days until it gets here!  I could have had it Monday, but I am just too cheap to pay the extra for two day shipping.  I'm sure that says something about me, but I won't think about that!

I enjoyed the author's writing style.  Of course, you never know what you're going to get when you pick up a romance.  Sometimes the writing is subpar and other times it's just ok-ish.  This author's writing style is simple yet not boring nor too elementary.  It certainly is not challenging, but neither did I feel the need to take out my red pen and mark all the mistakes.  Perhaps I didn't mind the simple writing style because I loved the plot.

As for the plot:  Already Home certainly held no surprises.  I figured out everything pretty quickly and knew exactly where we were headed.  Despite that, I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.  It was akin to going on a road trip.  I know exactly where I'm going, but I enjoy the drive to my destination nevertheless.  Susan Mallery made the trip to the end of this book just amazing.  I can't say what exactly it was that made me love it so, but I can't deny I truly did enjoy it.  I believe it was the author's ability to handle even very tough subject matter with kindness and avoid the pitfall of over sentiment.  I feel Ms. Mallery did a very good job of adequately addressing some incredibly tough subjects without being preachy, condescending or crass.  And trust me, those things could have easily happened. 

I also truly enjoyed the characters themselves.  Each character was pleasingly unique and wonderfully kind in his or her own fashion.  Ms. Mallery did a fantastic job of creating complex, yet easy to understand characters, and that made it so easy to appreciate each character's growth throughout the story.  I also was extremely happy that each character was well rounded and grew with the story.  Even the minor characters had a bit of growth.  However, the main characters especially grew within the story with grace, kindness and love.

What truly impressed me about this book however was the depth of the story.  Yes, it was a romance and there was certainly that aspect.  But the other issues explored throughout the story were deep and resonant.  None of them were easy issues.  And I would venture to say that most readers will have experienced at least some of these issues in their own lives.  The writer never made the story apologize for these issues.  Instead she wrote wonderful, strong characters that met their challenges and grew from them.  I absolutely loved the story's exploration of the most human of relationships -- the family. 

All things considered, I would highly recommend this book.  I would strongly encourage you to move it to the top of your reading list.  That being said, I will say the book deals with some very intense issues and some people may have a very hard time with that subject matter.  The author does not go into gross and gory detail, nor does she belabor the point.  However, if you are easily triggered, you may not want to read this book.  I will admit this book brought me to tears several times as most of the things dealt with in this book have been a part of my life.  However, don't let this scare you away.  I would say that anyone who reads this book will enjoy it and will be better for having read it.   

November 9 by Colleen Hoover

I saw a picture of this book on Tumblr and the caption mentioned that the book would be released on November 10th.  That intrigued me, so I decided to find out what November 9 was about.  The description of the book intrigued me even more, so I bought the book as soon as I could get out to the bookstore.  I am very glad I did.  Having never read a book by Colleen Hoover, I wasn't really sure what to expect.  In all honesty, I had never heard of this author up until I saw the picture of November 9.  However, I do believe I will be reading more Colleen Hoover books now.

Overall Ms. Hoover's writing style is pleasing.  She uses a good mix of varied sentence structure and complexity to keep the reader from becoming bored and her vocabulary is satisfactory.  I found her writing easy to follow but thankfully not simplistic.  The only thing that I had to get used to was the story switching from one narrator to the other.  Thankfully it was easy enough to follow as each chapter had its own narrator and did not switch between narrators in the middle of a chapter.

I enjoyed the characters in this book.  They were well written and easy to identify with.  Even when I really wanted to dislike a character, in the end, I couldn't.  The characters were real.  In each character the reader can find a bit of themselves.  Even the most unlikeable character, Fallon's father, I ended up at least understanding and being able to peacefully coexist with. 

As far as the story goes... Wow.  That's really all I can say.  Just...wow!  The story explores so much and the characters grow so much!  This book beautifully illustrates the complex dynamics between individuals and family members.  Ms. Hoover does a great job of giving the characters a story that allows them to develop and learn about themselves.  And the plot?  Let's just say I never saw it coming.  I suppose perhaps I should have, but I didn't, and that made the end of the book have so much impact.

I really can't say enough good things about this book.  If you read no other book in the coming year, you must read this book.  My only caution is that this book does have certain topics that are not suitable for younger readers.  Nothing that is terrible or over the top, but nevertheless, I would not recommend this book for anyone under the age of a mature mid-teen reader.  But don't let this scare you off!  This book is amazing and should be one of the first books you read in 2016.  I enjoyed the book so much, I will likely read November 9 again in the new year.

A Gift From Bob by James Bowen

Anybody who reads this blog regularly, or knows me even a tiny bit, knows I love reading Christmas books.  Nothing beats curling up with a seasonal book on a cold day.  I also enjoy books about animals.  A Gift From Bob fulfills both criteria.  I admit at first I was a little leery of a book about a man on the streets.  I wondered how on earth a book about a man who is one minuscule step above homeless could possibly make for good holiday reading.  I'm glad I took a chance on this book.  A Gift From Bob truly is one of the most uplifting books you could read this season.  And the best part?  It's non fiction!

I have to admit I like the author's writing style.  James Bowen's style is not pretentious nor is his style elementary.  I would say Mr. Bowen's style is simple but compelling.  At no time did I find myself distracted by the author's style.  I appreciated the fact that it felt as though he were sitting in front of me telling his story.  This conversational style pulled me in and really helped me enjoy the book.

I especially enjoyed how well he enabled me to know the other people populating his story.  Not only did he do a very good job of helping me visualize where this part of his life took place, he also made it very easy for me to make a connection with the people who were an integral part of his life. 

The story itself, if you will, had me completely engrossed.  I can't say that I know anything about the struggle of the homeless.  I certainly never gave much thought to how, or even if, they celebrate the holidays.  Neither have I considered how one goes from sleeping in the park to reintegrating into a more traditional mode of living.  Mr. Bowen's story gave me a glimpse into the life of the homeless and certainly made me far more aware of the role I can play in assisting those that I encounter.

Additionally, A Gift From Bob made me think about what "Christmas spirit" really means.  This book also helped me to refocus on the important things of the season.  It really is less about the price tag on the gift and much more about the thought that goes into it.  And truly, when things look as though they are at their worst, if you just slow down for a moment and refocus, it turns out things aren't ruined after all.  But most of all, this book helped me remember that the gifts really aren't that important.  It's all about who you spend your Christmas with.

All things considered, I would recommend this book to everyone.  There is nothing at all bad in this book.  In fact, I would encourage everyone to read this book regardless of the time of year.  Of course if you can read the book during the Christmas season, I would certainly encourage you to do so.  I will be reading this book again next Christmas and I will probably do so first thing in the season.  Just like A Christmas Carol, this book should be read every year and should kick off the beautiful season that is all about love, joy, peace and the greatest gift man has ever known.