R4: Team Dublin

[~Leslie~]

Vi, you are almost caught up with me!

We are still waiting to hear from Laura this week.

[~Leslie~]

Week 3: Jail
Bonus Word: Chicken

8/2/13 ****1/2 stars
Review
Loved this book except for the ending which is what dropped the rating by 1/2 a star. The story was tightly drawn and the action strong throughout the book. I loved learning more about the Fae world and they are scary! And the conclusion to the Samuel/Adam triangle was resolved in a very reasonable way. Overall , I loved this book - it was an emotional rollercoaster in some places but it definitely showed us Adam's heart and love for Mercy.

Jail: p.47 " Zee could walk out of any jail."
Chicken: "chickens run"

[Lala]

I'm good with A, hope I'll find both words this time.

[~Leslie~]

Great! Thanks Laura!! If you need any help finding a book, let me know. I found one A that had both words.

[Vi]

Leslie wrote: "Vi, you are almost caught up with me!

We are still waiting to hear from Laura this week."

Almost, Leslie. Just this one to go. Isn't she releasing another book in the series later this year? I'm hoping I catch-up in time.

[Lala]

I'll be reading Kiss Me, Kill Me by Allison Brennan and it has both words

[~Leslie~]

Great Laura!! Thanks for letting me know. I have that book on my TBR, so I'll be interested to read what you think.

And Vi, she is releasing a new one this year. I follow her on FB and she's been talking about it. But you have

to go. And she has a bunch of novella's I know.

[Vi]

Oh, I thought Deadly Sting was the one that was about to be released. Oh well.

Anyway, just wanted to let you all know - I'll be going on vacation from 9-11. I probably won't have access to the internet. I'll check back on 12 and take the letter left. I'll be able to finish before the next word is called.

Leslie, I haven't read By A Thread yet but I did finish The Texan's Wager by Jodi Thomas that will work for J. It has both the words too. I'll write up a review tomorrow.

[~Leslie~]

Have a great vacation, Vi!! And thanks for letting us know. I will be looking for the review.

[Marty]

Have fun, Vi.

I'm finding my book to be a chore to read. There are three subplots and they're kinda working against each other.

[~Leslie~]

Sorry your book is being difficult, Marty. Too many subplots can make me a little crazy.

[Marty]

Yeah, it's a mixture of gaming, 9/11, twin brother dying of cancer, Eastern philosophy and religion and experiments with the subconscious. Gad.

[Jenne]

Wow I don't envy you on that one!

[~Leslie~]

Wow. I don't have words. Better you than me. I would not survive all that!! I will be excited to see your review.

[Vi]

Week 3: JAIL
Letter: J



Book: The Texan's Wager by Jodi Thomas
Date: 04 August
Rating:★★★☆☆
Review:
This is going to be a really short one. A historical western trilogy that has 3 women who supposedly killed a man being raffled off to town's three bachelors. Since women are scarce in that are, the men queue up to enter into the raffle.

The first book has Bailey and Carter paired. Carter has traumatic past that has manifested itself in his behaviour - especially in the way that he has few friends and he doesn't talk much at all. Bailey escapes a crime she committed and now both are married.

I usually love westerns but I can't tell exactly why this book didn't work for me as I expected. Carter and Bailey don't speak much in the book and it's full of misunderstanding on both their part. Bailey's behaviour was not really typical. Added to that, is a sub-plot involving a little girl who can't speak. As such, Bailey and Carter don't really spend much time with each other and I can't accept a HEA with that. But, still a really good western.

WoW & Bonus
Jail: (Amazon Pg 24) The bed in the jail was better than the one..
Chicken: (Amazon Pg 70) The chickens that normally wandered around the yard..

[~Leslie~]

Thanks, Vi!!

[Vi]

I have to leave early in the morn so this will by cya later post. The hotel does have free wifi but I'm not sure how good it'll be. I'll try checking in tomorrow night if possible. If not, I'll take the letter that's left over.

Have a great day/evening, folks!

[~Leslie~]

Thanks Vi! (I feel like I'm chasing you all over GR!) Let's hope for an easy word.

Okay team, we are halfway to being finished for another week. Let us know how you are doing with your book - Marty, I'm definitely curious!

[Marty]

Okay here's my review:


Week 3: JAIL
Letter: L



Book: Luminarium by Alexa Shakar
Date: 8/8/13
Rating: two stars
Review:

As I said earlier, this book was a chore to read. Rather than being too shallow in it's treatment of death, philosophy and modern computer technology, it was 'way too deep. All the various threads of the plot fought against each other. At one minute you were watching Fred's life unravel while his twin brother lies in a coma. The next minute you were dealing with post 9/11 trauma, East Asian religious beliefs, Reiki faith healing and the possibility of virtual reality being actual reality. I was shocked to find out that this thing won awards.

Fred and George (the twin in the coma) had a company built around a virtual computer world called Urth. George is diagnosed with cancer and Fred loses the company to a conglomerate working with the U. S. military. Enter Mira, who offers Fred a more spiritual existence via an electronic brain manipulation study. Add in text and e-mail messages that appear to come from comatose and immobile George and younger brother Sam's take over of what is left of the Urth project and you see what I mean. It's a very foggy plot.

The ending, by the time you manage to make it through the nearly 500 pages of this novel, is clever but one you really should have seen coming. Some of the characters are just plain ridiculous. Do we really need the magic shows for parties that Fred's washed-up-actor father, Vartan puts on with Fred's help as a commentary on unreality? Do we really need head-in-the-spirit-clouds Holly who things Reiki will cure her comatose son as well as the chaos she 'senses' all around Brooklyn? It's all a bit much.

I would have been happier if the author had focused on the virtual reality element and the issue of what's there after death, rather than all the 'side-trips' he took, probably in the hope that density equals depth and confusing misdirection equals interesting reading. Unfortunately, it doesn't. Disappointing overall.

WOW and BOW
Jail: "So if it was like a jailbreak," she said when the typing stopped, "what would you say is the jail?" Page 16
Chicken: "I suppose you think I'm chicken?" she said. Page 344

[Lala]

by Allison Brennan

5 Stars 07.08

Jail - page 176 -...and in jail...
Chicken - page 66 -...something more the chicken...

FBI is looking into the murder and private investigators looking into the missing girl case. There paths cross in New York and it opens all new can of worms. It was scary book, but i loved every moment of it :) I couldn't read it in the evenings. It freaked me out so much, but i liked the feeling. It was great read and i will pick up more book by Allison Brennan

[~Leslie~]

Great job, Team!! And thanks Marty!! Way to take one for the team LOL. I'm so sorry your book was bad. I hope this week you get a 5 star read.
And Laura, I will be bumping Allison Brennan up on my TBR list. Sounds good!
Now we wait for the word to be called!

[~Leslie~]

Okay! Here we go

Week 4:

Camp

Bonus:
Pancake

[~Leslie~]

Week 4: CAMP
Bonus Word: Pancake

C Marty(both WOW and BOW)
A Laura
M Leslie (both WOW and BOW)
P ViFlat-Out Love(both WOW and BOW)Review

[~Leslie~]

I have a book with both words for all the letters. I would prefer to read M or P if at all possible and the book for letter C has been placed on Hold at the library so not sure when I'm going to get it. But I'm okay with reading A.
If anyone needs help finding books, let me know.

[Marty]

I found a 'C' book that has both: The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty. If it's okay with you, Leslie, I'll take C.

[~Leslie~]

I posted for points for Week 3! We got the maximum. Way to go Team!!

[Lala]

I'll pick A

[~Leslie~]

Okay Laura! That leaves P for Vi. Great job Team!! Hope everyone has a wonderful week.

[Vi]

Just came back from my trip and obviously the first thing I do is check GR. Very tired so I'll go through my shelves first thing tomorrow.

[~Leslie~]

You are so conscientious, Vi!! I hope you had a wonderful time. And I if you can't find a P book, I have one I can read instead of M.

[Vi]

LOL, Leslie! I think I might be addicted to GR. :P

I just checked a couple of books (Frost Burned & Proven Guilty) but both don't have the pancake. I'll dig further in the morning. I should be able to scrap up atleast one book. Thanks though, Leslie!

[~Leslie~]

I found another P book with both camp and pancake I can read. So look for M books as well Vi.

[Vi]

Leslie, I seem to have loads of M books that has both words. I finally managed to find my only P book with both words. It's not something I was planning to read but it'll work for other challenges so P it is for me.

I'll be reading

[Vi]

Week 4: CAMP
Letter: P



Book:Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park
Date: 12 August
Rating:★★☆☆☆
Review:
Ugh! That sums up my reaction to the book.

I hated the main character, Julie. She was soo judgmental of others. Especially the clothes they wear. She kept trying to change the other characters' dressing and how they behave. Please, it's not wrong to be an individual instead of always conforming to the norm. If you're conforming to the norm, then it's your choice. Just because you conform doesn't mean you are being your true self or vice versa. And if you don't have any close friends, then that's your problem.

The supposed love triangle was not at all a mystery and I could see the twist coming miles off.

SO anyway, halfway through the book, I lost interest and napped. The only reason I finished was because it'll work for a challenge and I didn't have any other P book. And because I wanted to know if I was right. Not recommended at all.

WoW & Bonus
Camp: (Amazon Pg 165) Case in point: One summer when I was at day camp...
Pancake: (Amazon Pg 70) Finn was decidedly adorable. Even in pancake form

[Lala]

I'm reading An Apple for the Creature

[~Leslie~]

Thanks for taking one for the team, Vi! I've seen that book around - I won't be putting it on my TBR. Thanks for keeping one off! And now I can get to reading my M book!

And thanks, Laura. I've never heard of that Charlaine Harris book.

[~Leslie~]

Update on the competition:

9 Teams = 54 points
1 Team (us) = 52 points
1 Team = 12 points

So, we are right off the pace. If we make sure that we have both the WOW and BOW in our books from here on out, and finish our books on time - we are doing great!! Keep up the good work team!

[Vi]

And there are only 11 teams right?

How's everyone doing with their reading? This thread is awfully quiet.

[~Leslie~]

It has been quiet! I got totally sucked in to reading some other books that are part of a series, and have not started my book yet. I will do so today. Any body else finish their book?

[Lala]

I just discovered that i have been reading the wrong book :( so i would like to switch it to The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

[Lala]

by Margaret Atwood

16.08 3 stars

Camp - page 142 -...was near the camp...

It's the most bizarre book I have read. It's book of handmaids who are valued only for their ability to have children. At the same time it's scary book too, because it can become reality. I gave 3 stars because the story went little slow for me, but all together i liked this book :)

[Vi]

Week 5:

Triple Word Week: Pork
Bonus: Barn

What's a Triple Word Week? And if I may, can I take R? The book I was about to read has both words in it. (And barn is mighty hard to find in my books)

[Jenne]

The letter's points are tripled so if you have r this week instead of being worth one point it's worth 3. The bonus points don't get tripled though.

[Marty]

Hi, I've been traveling over the past couple of days. I was in Baton Rouge getting an apartment and storing some things as well as checking in with my new employer. :)



Book: The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty
Date: August 16, 2013
Rating: Five stars
Review:

After the weirdness of my last book, this one was a relief to read! Louise Brooks has always fascinated me. The facts about her life are very accurate, so I'm guessing Moriarty has read Barry Paris's 2000 bio of her.

Louise is heading to New York to start her training at the Denishawn school of dance. It's 1922, but not-yet-famous Louise is already a force to be reckoned with.

Along for the ride is Cora Carlisle, acting as her chaperone. Cora has her own reasons for going along - as a small child she was sent west to Kansas on an orphan train. She was lucky - her adoptive parents were kind. Still, now in her middle 30's, Louise wants to find out who left her at the NY orphanage when she was little more than a baby.

Between trying to keep the precocious Louise away from men and out of speakeasy's, Cora manages to find some information through the assistance of a sympathetic worker at the orphanage. To her shock, she finds herself falling in love. To her further shock, she finds out the horrible reason behind Louise's forward behavior.

I've always had a fascination with Louise Brooks. She had such a short career and pretty much utterly disappeared from the public eye after the 1920's. She was stunning, as well as mysterious. Her screen presence was unmatched. Moriarty is a great storyteller - I had trouble putting this one down, even though I was traveling and needed get up very early in the morning!

WOW and Bonus Word
Camp: (Amazon) Page 208 - "She rolled her eyes. 'Oh. You're in that camp.'"
Pancake: Page 183 - "'You almost died,' he reminded her, taking a bite of a pancake..."

[Vi]

Jenne wrote: "The letter's points are tripled so if you have r this week instead of being worth one point it's worth 3. The bonus points don't get tripled though."

Oh, thanks Jenne.

[Lala]

Can i get P

[Vi]

Great review, Marty! I had to google on Louise Brooks - hadn't heard of her actually.

[~Leslie~]

Good morning Team!! Great reviews, Marty and Laura. I read Handmaid's Tale many years ago in High School and was really intrigued by the story. That was during my hardcore feminist stage. I'd love to read it again and see what I think.
And Marty - I lived in Baton Rouge and pass through it now all the time on my way to New Orleans. I'll be sure and wave to you as I'm stuck in traffic on I-10. Where will you be working?

I am off to the DMV again this morning as my daughter missed passing the test by 1 question. I will keep looking for books. I have only 1 book that has both WOW and BOW. And it's letter K.

[~Leslie~]

Laura wrote: "Can i get P"

I have not problem since you are first on here. Does it have both WOW and BOW?

Also, I will be back on in a little while.

[Vi]

Leslie, Can I take R? I couldn't find a O book with both the words. Don't people eat pork anymore in books?