Books Reviewed

Reviews of books, audiobooks, etc…

Review: WE SHOULD HANG OUT SOMETIME by Josh Sundquist

/ drbethnolan / 1 Comment

I picked up a copy of this book on Net Galley. I thought it would be a fun mix of Wimpy Kid meets Seinfeld. WE SHOULD HANG OUT SOMETIME: EMBARRASSINGLY A TRUE STORY is Josh Sundquist’s story of how he never had a girlfriend and his quest to track down significant girls from his past to find out why exactly that was. Sounds funny, right?

However, this little book was a whole lot more. First of all, Josh is a cancer survivor, having had cancer at the age of nine and having his leg amputated at that time. He also comes from a strictly religious family that homeschooled him until high school. His story is about how he comes to terms with his identity as both a person and as an amputee. Josh is funny and has a great style of writing that flows easily and is quick to read. He adds little graphs and curves to illustrate his points. However, the pain of his self-consciousness, especially when he is in middle and high school, flows through so poignantly that at one point I turned to my husband and said, “This book better have a happy ending because my heart is breaking for this poor guy”. Well, SPOILER ALERT, there is a happy ending (thankfully!). Josh finally realizes that his own worst enemy is himself and also learns self-acceptance.

I had not heard of Josh before reading his book, but he is a well-known and popular personality. He is an amazing paralympic athlete and motivational speaker. However, when I started reading this book I knew Josh only as a young boy who had lived a fairly sheltered life that had been overshadowed by cancer. I felt for his parents, who I have to assume had real difficulty in letting go of this son that they had almost lost. Josh’s portrayal of them is rather funny, but as a parent, I can see where their protectiveness comes from.

So glad you got the happy ending you deserve, Josh!

Thanks, Net Galley, for my copy!

cover48143-mediumjosh

HF Virtual Tour: WHITHER THOU GOEST by Anna Belfrage

/ drbethnolan / Leave a comment

02_Whither Thou Goest_Blog Tour Banner_FINAL

Today I am taking part in the Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tour for Anna Belfrage’s WHITHER THOU GOEST, the seventh book in the Graham Saga. This series focuses on time traveller, Alex Graham, as she goes back to the 1600’s to be with her soulmate, husband Matthew, and their trials, tribulations, and adventures.

In this installment, there is no lack of excitement! Alex and Matthew start off with the issue of their pregnant daughter, Sarah, the victim of an earlier gang rape by the deplorable Burley men. Trying to help Sarah cope with her feelings and emotional scars, along with what to do with a new baby, are all-consuming tasks, second only to tracking down what remains of those Burleys, previously thought dead but maybe not…

Then Matthew receives a letter from brother-in-bad-blood Luke, begging him to help with his son who has been taken as a slave to the West Indies. Matthew decides blood is thicker than water and, along with Alex, they head out to the Caribbean to try to locate and help their nephew.

This book is a steady stream of events and excitement, along with a big dose of romance, similar to the Outlander series (which I love) but not as lengthy. I really connected to the character of Alex, who is smart and plucky but not perfect. She loves her husband but also gets jealous. She is attractive but not ridiculously so – in fact I think her confidence and integrity are her most appealing characteristics. I have not read the earlier books and while this one can certainly stand on its own, having the earlier books would have made my understanding of characters a tad easier as I would have the backstory as it happened. I enjoyed Belfrage’s writing which has an easy flow to it. I think I will go back and read A RIP IN THE VEIL which is the first novel in this series.

Thank you for letting me take part in this tour and for my review copy!

01_Whither Thou Goest

YA Review: ENLIGHTENED by A.L. Waddington (The E.V.E. Series – Book 2)

/ drbethnolan / 1 Comment

I’m happy today to be part of the blog tour through Booktrope for ENLIGHTENED, Book 2 of the E.V.E. series, written by A.L. Waddington.

Enlightened

The E.V.E. series is a YA series about a teenager who exists in parallel dimensions. Jocelyn Timmons is a fairly typical senior in high school when she meets new neighbor and fellow senior Jackson. His presence throws her into a sense of vertigo and illness. Soon she realizes that she and Jackson knew each other in the 1800’s as well as now.  See my review of the first book, ESSENCE, here:

https://drbethnolan.wordpress.com/2014/09/04/quick-ya-review-essence-by-a-l-waddington-book-one-of-the-e-v-e-series/

In Book 2, Jocelyn is still struggling with completely understanding her life in the past (or parallel, if you will). She and Jackson express their love for each other and decide to marry after her high school graduation. Not surprisingly, this is met with a lot of consternation and concern from her parents, especially her mom and brother, and her friends. Jocelyn insists that she will continue on to college and just do it as a married woman. Much of the book is focused on the upset and angst she feels over this decision, her battle with her family, and then her upset with Jackson. A photo album from the past, found in her uncle’s things, also adds to her knowledge of the past.

I enjoy reading this series and I know I would have liked it when I was in high school. That said, this book moved a bit slowly for me. Poor Jocelyn pretty much was miserable in both her lives. In her current 2009 life she was a lot more aware of her life in the past, which helped her to understand and not be quite so upset. I have to say, too, that I can understand her family’s distress over her announcing her marriage to a boy she’s hardly known for long. It wasn’t all that long ago that getting married at 18 or 19 was commonplace; however, by today’s standards, it is much more rare. In any case, Jocelyn struggles with her desires and her knowledge of her time travel (which her family doesn’t know about). I am reading the next installment now so that I can find out how Jocelyn ends up (and where!).

Thanks, Booktrope, for making me a stop on your blog tour and for my copy!

Review: ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr

/ drbethnolan / Leave a comment

This WWII historical novel came highly recommended by my dear friend, Amy of Mom Advice. She featured it on her blog at http://www.momadvice.com. I purchased it for my kindle, but honestly, I forgot all about it! When I saw it and started reading it, what a delight! This was a wonderful story, beautifully written. It is definitely one of my favorite reads of 2014.

ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE starts with young Marie Laure, a blind girl living with her father in Paris. Her father is the master of locks at the Museum of Natural History, and she arrives at work with him each day. Marie Laure has an active imagination and her mind is keen. She loves to learn about the different items in the museum, especially the snails and sea life. When the Nazi’s take over Paris, Marie Laure and her father flee Paris to the small island village of Saint Malo, where they have a relative. He is elderly and suffers from what we would call PTSD, from the First World War, leaving him frightened and unable to leave the house or socialize. Marie Laure builds a tentative relationship with him and also with his loving housekeeper. Together they use her uncle’s secret wireless to work against the Nazis. But Marie Laure does not realize that her father is also hiding a secret – one that could put their lives in jeopardy.

At the same time, young Werner and his sister Jutta are growing up as orphans in Germany. Werner is fascinated by radios and wireless and he earns a reputation as a young expert. He and Jutta love to listen to stories over the radio that come from France at night. Soon he is drafted, so to speak, by the Reich to serve in the military. As the Nazis move to take over the island of Saint Malo, Werner is tasked with finding any radios or wireless devices that could be helping the British and French forces. Werner and Marie Laure’s world are set on a collision course.

I loved this book! What a beautifully written story with such a memorable and unique young heroine. I love WWII stories, but this one really touched me. I would recommend it for YA readers, too, but there is a scene of violence near the end that some may find disturbing (I did and I’m far from young!). I have to add, too, that I loved the use of Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea as part of this story/part allegory.

Highly recommended!

Here’s Doerr talking about how he came to write it, via You Tube:

Quick Review: THE HANDSOME MAN’S DELUXE CAFE by Alexander McCall Smith (No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency)

/ drbethnolan / Leave a comment

If you read me, you know I love the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith. I have read them all. I purchased the latest, number 15 in the series, recently for my husband for his birthday (he’s a fan, too).

Life continues to go on for the characters in this charming series set in Bostwana. The agency has a new case – a woman with amnesia – and even a new “detective”, the hapless “apprentice mechanic” Charlie. Meanwhile, Grace has decided to open a restaurant and is dealing with staffing, menus, and a reviewer who is an old nemesis.

Always a delight, this series brings new events as these characters continue to grow and develop. I just love these books!

You can see this book at the library, at your fave bookstore, or on Amazon where I got mine.

HFV Blog Tour: SELDOM COME BY by Sherryl Caulfield with GIVEAWAY link!

/ drbethnolan / 1 Comment

I’m thrilled today to be taking part in the Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tour of SELDOM COME BY – Book One in the Iceberg Trilogy – by Sherryl Caulfield.

SELDOM COME BY tells the story of Rebeca Crowe, a teen living in Newfoundland in 1914, and Samuel Dalton, the nineteen-year-old shipwrecked boy she saves and comes to love. This beautifully written story covers almost thirty years, starting with Rebeca and Samuel and their burgeoning love. Rebeca’s family is harsh (particularly her father) and she fears that her sister Rachel loves Samuel, too. When she realizes that he does indeed care for her, they then have to face her authoritarian and strictly religious father, who does not support them. Samuel is actually from Toronto and his family is there; eventually he leaves to go home. Then the war intervenes as he joins the forces for WWI. WIll their love survive the forces pulling them apart?

As I already mentioned, this book covers about thirty years in their lives (in over 500 pages), and with it comes all the tragedies and joys of real lives lived. These characters are drawn so clearly and seem so believable. You get wrapped up in their story! Yet, this book was so realistic that you knew while reading it that you couldn’t count on it being all happiness and light.

Beautifully written, and just the first in a series about these people and their families, this is a beautifully written story that captures the imagination.

Thank you for my copy and for making me part of this blog tour!

Here’s a bit of info on Sherryl and how she came to write this novel:

Australian-born Sherryl Caulfield is a marketer, writer and traveller. After twenty years working for some of the world’s leading technology brands and a stint with Outward Bound, she longed to write about the human experience and the redemptive qualities of nature.

In 2006, haunted by an encounter with a woman she met in Canada, Sherryl started what has now become known as The Iceberg Trilogy. From her home in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand, she distilled the lives of three generations of women – Rebecca, Evangeline and Lindsay – over the course of a century. In the telling of their stories she crafted a series rich in landscapes – of sea, land and the human soul.

Here’s the scoop on the GIVEAWAY!

Giveaway

To enter to win an Autographed copy of Seldom Come By, please follow the link and complete the Rafflecopter giveaway form below.

Rules

– Giveaway ends at 11:59pm on December 13th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
– Giveaway is open internationally.
– Only one entry per household.
– All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
– Winner have 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Three for Christmas — from the Ho Ho Ho Readathon

/ drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I had a great time reading and participating in the Ho Ho Ho Holiday Readathon this past week! I set a goal of three books for myself, and I easily reached it (I also finished two more to review and started a third – guess I had time to read!).

The first book I read was A NEW YORK CHRISTMAS by Anne Perry. In this novel (and apparently Anne Perry writes a Christmas novel every year) it is 1904 and Jemima Pitt has accompanied her friend Phinny to New York from England for Phinny’s marriage. Poor Phinny doesn’t have much family and her mother left her while she was quite young under what seems to be mysterious and unfavorable circumstances. Jemima is hardly there when a dead body shows up – Phinny’s long-lost mother – and Jemima appears to be the main suspect in her killing (though with little motive). Determined to prove her innocence, Jemima joins forces with local policeman Patrick Flannery to figure out who the real killer is.

This was a fun read – and very quick for me (a few hours – less than 200 pages). Call me stupid but I never could figure out exactly WHY the murder took place and what it served. It seemed to stir up a lot of trouble, that’s for sure.

This was my first Anne Perry book, but she has a legion of fans and several other Christmas stories.

Thanks, Net Galley, for my copy!

Next I read CHRISTMAS TRUCE by Aaron Shepard. This was a children’s picture book that I got a pdf of from Net Galley. It tells the story of the WWI Christmas truce in fighting between the front lines of British and German men. This was a beautiful (and true) tale, with lovely illustrations by Wendy Edelson. Great for a read aloud to children!

Finally, from Blogging for Books, I got The 13th Gift: A True Story of a Christmas Miracle by Joanne Huist Smith. I just loved this book. This author lost her husband unexpectedly in the fall of 1999. They had three children, aged 10 to 17. That Christmas was incredibly painful and difficult for them. This true story tells how some unknown “true friends” delivered to them small surprise gifts each day leading up to Christmas and, in essence, helped them to feel the spirit of Christmas again. Not only was this a heart-wrenching read, especially because the grief was so poignant on these pages, but it was so inspiring to read the end and how the whole 13 gifts tradition got started, why, and how. What a beautiful and inspiring story — truly a favorite Christmas read for me.

Audiobook Review: THE DRESSMAKER by Kate Alcott

/ drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I had heard of the novel THE DRESSMAKER but never read it, so I took it from the audiobook shelf at the library. In this book, set in 1912, Tess is a young seamstress who wants to make her way in the world. She has a wonderful opportunity when she signs on to be part of the famous designer, Lady Duff Gordon’s, household.They sail for America, but unfortunately on the Titanic! Well, of course we all know what happens, but Tess and Lady Duff Gordon and her husband survive, though there is a question about The Duff Gordons’ actions and if she and her husband kept people out of their lifeboat. Tess is thrown into the spotlight of the hearings after they reach New York (which are based on the actual trials and evidence given by Titanic survivors). She must decide what is the truth and how she can be true to herself even if it means not being faithful to her employer (and there’s a little romance thrown in there, too!)

Interestingly, there really was a designer named Lady Lucile Duff Gordon whose experiences were like those of the book, and she was the inspiration for this novel. Susan Duerden is the narrator and she does a nice job with the different and has a lovely English accent. That said, the one voice I didn’t care for was Tess’ as she sounded to high-pitched and a little vapid, when the character was actually quite smart and strong.

I enjoyed listening to this one (kid-friendly as well for those drives to school!).

Quick YA review: Deadly Little Sins by Kara Taylor

/ drbethnolan / 1 Comment

I just loved this Prep School Confidential series! DEADLY LITTLE SINS is the third and final book in the series. This time Anne Dowling is once again chasing mysteries and killers at her Massachusetts prep school. Picking up where the last book left off, Anne is attempting to find to out where her beloved teacher, Ms. Cross, has disappeared to. Naturally, her sleuthing takes her into danger and she has to face the fact that Ms. Cross might not have been exactly who she said she was (which of course begs the question: who was she and why was she at Wheatley?).

Fast-paced and fun, with a tough heroine who is smart and clever, this series is one of my favorite, fun YA reads. Yes, you have to suspend belief a bit (it’s a story, people!) but somewhere in my travels I saw this series compared to the Gossip Girl books. Um, no. Those books deal with some over the top, ridiculously nasty teens in NYC. They paint the “rich kids as evil” picture in bright colors, and the adults are all but nonexistent. While I can see why some teens love them, this book is more of the Veronica Mars variety. Anne is not a nasty person and her friends aren’t either. Yes, these kids are wealthy, but they are also (wait for it — ) normal. As someone who has spent 25 years teaching in schools like Wheatley, I think Kara Taylor does a good job in portraying teens accurately.

I thought I also saw that this would be made into a movie, but maybe I imagined that as I couldn’t find that info again. That would be fun, though!

I got mine on Amazon (as I must have been whistling in the wind and missed it on Net Galley).