A 5th Portion of Chicken Soup edited by Jack Cranfield and Mark Victor Hansen

A 5th Portion of Chicken Soup for the Soul edited by Jack Cranfield and Mark Victor Hansen carries on the well established Chicken Soup for the Soul legacy. This book, like the others in the series, is uplifting and thought provoking. Whether you read the book by reading a story a day or reading large chunks of the book at once, it doesn’t matter. Whether you read the book from cover to cover or skip around won’t matter either. However you choose to read this book, you can be sure you’ll enjoy it.


I truly appreciate the kind tone of the book. There is enough edginess in my day to day life, it is relaxing to pick this book up and lose myself in the kinder, gentler rhythm of a book whose sole purpose is to uplift and inspire.

Honestly I can’t say enough good about this book. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, but especially to those who need encouragement. I would also recommend this book for teens.

Model (Volume 4) by Lee So-Young

In this latest installment of Jae and Michael’s story we finally learn some of Eva, Ken and Michael’s story and why Jae has become so important in Michael’s house. Of course, there are still a lot of unanswered questions and half answered questions. As always, this book is satisfying enough to be enjoyable, but it leaves you wanting to pick up the next volume.

Model (Volume 3) by Lee So-Young

Lee So-Young continues to weave an intriguing tale. In this volume again the reader is left with more questions than answers. However, enough is revealed to make this a satisfying read. And with the addition of another paranormal character that has ties to Eva, things are getting really interesting. Add in the fact that we’re starting to see the more human side of Michael, and this book becomes one that simply can’t be put down.

One Bullet Away by Nathaniel Fick

This book has garnered some scathing reviews due to its unflinching look at how the military really works. Some reviewers have had some rather unflattering things to say about Mr. Fick. To those reviewers I would say: Don’t read this review. I found this book to be very interesting and I appreciated the author’s decision to tell it the way it is and not the way people think it should be.


I found One Bullet Away to be written in such a way that it didn’t come across as just a recounting of a time period in Mr. Fick’s life. While, yes, the book did recount Mr. Fick’s journey in the Marine Corps, the author’s writing managed to imbue that recounting with a life of it’s own that made it interesting and easy to read. The author used details and his own thoughts regarding each story he told to make it personal for the reader. Through his writing style, the reader could enter Mr. Fick’s world and see the things he wrote about for themselves.

I also found the brutal truth Mr. Fick used in telling his story to be refreshing. While I support our military, I am well aware that those who lead aren’t always the paragon of virtue they would have us believe them to be. I’m fine with that too -- so long as they are honest about it. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen often. Thus it was refreshing to read an account of Mr. Fick’s time with the Marines that told the story with unflinching honesty. It might not always be pretty, but at least it was real.

I will say this book is not a weekend book. I took the time to read the book over the course of about a week and was glad that I did. If you read this book too quickly you will lose the whole essence of the book. Take the time to read the book carefully; and before you make any rash judgments, take a moment to think about what is really being said by the author.

Lone Star Marine by Cathie Linz

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I always judge mind candy (aka: romance) on a much more forgiving scale than I judge other books. I especially go easy on the Silhouette/Harlequin books. Even so, this book came up short. Very short.

I don’t know about you, but when I pick up a book of this type I am looking for entertaining, easy reading that doesn’t require much of me. At least on one count (doesn’t require much of me) this book succeeded. I certainly didn’t have to use my brain to follow this book. However, the author felt it was necessary to preach and that pretty much killed the entertaining criteria. I get that bullying is bad, terrible in fact, and I in no way condone such behavior. Despite that, I do not need to be lectured, in the guise of a character’s conversation, with the statistics of bullying and how bad it is. I already know this. Furthermore, I did not pick this book up to be educated. If the author felt the need to educate the general reading public about bullying, I would suggest that it might be more productive to tackle the subject head on as opposed to trying to address the topic in a romance novel of all things.

Other than the aforementioned issue, the book was OK. The story wasn’t especially inventive nor were the characters especially original, but I wasn’t really expecting either attribute in a Silhouette/Harlequin book so I wasn’t exactly disappointed. As we all know, I have a soft spot for Marines, especially injured ones, so I was able to enjoy Tom’s character and that helped a little.

I suppose if you can get past being preached at throughout a book that should be light and entertaining, you’ll enjoy this book. It’s fine for a weekend read if you really don’t want to invest much into it. However, if you’re looking for something with a little more quality, I’d suggest another book.

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is easily the best book I’ve ever read. The book drew me in like no other book. Not surprisingly I read the book in one sitting and the next day I started the book again. At this point I’ve read the book three times!

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this book is the author’s ability to craft a story that reads like a memoir. I found myself often thinking of this book as non-fiction and often had to remind myself that, indeed, this book was not a true story. That said, kudos to the author for his stunning ability to weave a tale that reads so well.

I also enjoyed the author’s ability to really get into the characters’ minds. This attention to detail really brought the characters to life and filled out the story. The author’s ability to bring the characters’ emotions to life added a dimension to the novel that took it from good to amazing and really made you care about the characters.

I also appreciated the fact that the author did not shrink away from tough subjects nor did he feel compelled to write a happily ever after book. This book was real, but not in a tawdry way. All subjects that had the possibility of being poorly handled were, thankfully, handled well and avoided using shock value to make a point.

I would strongly recommend this book to teens and adults alike. The book is very thought provoking and the things you will take away from this book will stay with you for a long time to come. In fact, it may change the way you think; I know it did for me.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

This drivel was a defining moment in our young adult literary culture? Have we forgotten from whence we came? Apparently.

How to put this nicely? This book sucked sh!t through a paper straw. I don't even know where to begin. I guess I can start with the basics. It was poorly written. It was almost as if this book had been written by committee. It was so far fetched it left me rolling my eyes and thinking to myself, "This is why people can't take this genre of book seriously!" Even when I repeatedly reminded myself this was only mind candy, I still couldn't find anything within the book to recommend it. The characters were flat with no real development. The plot showed she was obviously reaching for straws. And the whole thing with Jacob and the baby just made me want to puke. That was just SICK! I forced myself to finish the book, but it was a total waste of my very valuable time. Do yourself a favor and go read something else -- ANYTHING else...even if it's the phone book.