Review: Families and Other Nonreturnable Gifts

Families and Other Nonreturnable GiftsFamilies and Other Nonreturnable Gifts by Claire LaZebnik
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

[DISCLAIMER - I WON A COPY OF THIS BOOK IN THE GOODREADS GIVEAWAY.]

Actually, I rather enjoyed this book. It was well-written, funny, sad, pretty much everything you could want in a contemporary-style book. I knew right from the start that Jacob had a crush on Keats, simply because of the way they interacted and the way she seemed oblivious to his adoration. Later on she admits she's known about it forever, but I never got that feeling. Oh well.

Getting to know her sister Hopkins via phone and e-mail conversations was interesting, but then when she shows up in person at the end it was kind of surprising just what her character was actually like outside of a thirty-second window.

I recognized a lot of stuff in this book as being similar to my own family and myself, and pretty much understood everything Keats was feeling (especially as she feels trapped and stagnant).

Overall, a good light read. Not my normal type of book, but it was a nice trip down the sidewalk anyway.

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Review: The Swan Kingdom

The Swan KingdomThe Swan Kingdom by Zoƫ Marriott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A solid 4/5 because it was wonderfully written. There were a few story problems, such as the very quick ending, but overall it was a fast and fun read. Also, it is a STAND-ALONE!! Hallelujah!

Good for middle- and high school kids, and even adults who are young at heart. It took a while to really get going, but it was nice when things finally started to happen and it wasn't just an overview of what the main character's life was like.

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Review: How Blended are Dust and Fire

How Blended are Dust and Fire (Purgatory, #0)How Blended are Dust and Fire by Kieran McKendrick
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an e-copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

It's really more 3.5 stars instead of just 3, but I didn't want to give it 4. My main reason for this rating is because there were so many made-up words the people used, and most were not explained. In any given sentence there could be anywhere from two to five words of in the language, and half of them I had to figure out for myself. If an author is going to go to the trouble of creating new terms for things, they should not be left to the readers' imaginations. Be specific and explain without truly explaining. I got so lost between all the words that started with "dher" or whatever that it became difficult to tell what the story was trying to tell me.

That language issue aside, the book was a wonderful fantasy novel, a prequel from what I read in the end-note, which sets up nicely for the rest of the series (which I will have to seek out and read now). It was a rather quick read at only 105 pages in the e-edition.

Setting it apart from many other novels is the chapter set-up. Each "chapter" is actually just a character's name, followed by either a few paragraphs or up to a few pages of a character's experience. At times, some characters were introduced out of the blue with these sections, which was a bit confusing. But I actually liked it this way, because the reader gets to experience the chaos of the festival that all the characters are experiencing. It also made for a swifter read. I'm curious how the rest of the series is set up - whether it's like this book, or in normal chapter set-ups.

Recommended for fantasy lovers, over 18 because of violence and sex. If you are capable of diving into a new language and adjusting your vocabulary to it, all the better.

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Quick Deal Alert

Please take the time out of your day to read this blog post by John Kerry, author of Eden at the Edge of Midnight.  If you remember, I gave this a pretty good review and I still feel that it's a great book.  If you want to get a copy of your own, now is the time, as it's only 99¢ for the Kindle, through today only!

Both the author and I would appreciate it if you would write a review, positive or negative, after you've read it.  Like I said, it's a good book and I think some of you may enjoy it.


Plus, it's only 99¢!  Who could say no to that?


(Sorry for the white background on the text, I can't for the life of me make it go away!  Gotta love technology, right?)

Piles and piles everywhere

Image from tumblr.com - I have a feeling that my middle room
would have looked like this eventually.
The to-read piles were growing by leaps and bounds.  Instead of shelving them, I was putting stacks of books on top of my shelved books, weighing down the top two shelves of the open bookcase.  There were also stacks on the floor, on my Aunt Mary chair, and all over the living room.  It was out of control.

But first, let me back-track.  Chris and I have stopped calling the middle room "the library" or "the reading room," as it will eventually be neither.  The basement will become a library-slash-family room, and the plan is floor-to-ceiling bookcases along one wall to house all of our books and other media.  In the meantime, we are attempting to ready the middle room for potential guests and a future nursery for children who have not yet been conceived.

And so it happens that we were in the room one night last week, attempting to clear out the clutter that had inevitably built up over the last year as we threw things in there that we could "find a home for later."  Later never quite came, did it?  Of course not.  But finally boxes were cleared out, piles of books were thrown haphazardly on shelves, and there was eventually an empty space in the middle of the floor in which people could walk, sit, stand, what have you.

Only one problem remained: my books had been put on shelves.  There were no piles anymore.  The open bookcase was no longer leaning forward, shelves buckling under the weight of simply too many pages.  How would I know what I was supposed to read next?  So I created a pile.

Yes, one last pile.  A pile of to-read books, and I would be stuck with that pile until it is finished.  And when that pile is gone and the books have been shelved or given away, I will create a new pile.  And maybe in the next ten years I will finally be allowed to buy new books again, or take books out of the library, because I will be caught up on my to-read pile and will have read every book I own.

Wishful thinking, I'm sure.  But it's the thought that counts.

Review: The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller My rating: 3 of 5 stars OK. I'm going to come at this from the angle that everyone (exc...