Book Junkies discussion
Book Discussions
>
What are you currently reading?
Hello everyone. I'm in the middle of Phantoms by Dean Koontz. I'm sure everyone has already read it, so I'm catching up. :)
Natalie wrote: "Going to start either 
or 
. Pretty excited for both."Once I got passed the 100 pages or so of Immortals it really picked up and was a really enjoyable read :) the second book is even more entertaining.
I am currently reading
by Julia Crane. This is my first time to read about elves so I am quite excited about it. :)
I am reading At Home with the Queen - about worker life at Buckingham Palace. Just finished Sailing Around the World Alone. I just joined this group today and purchased A Life Worth Dreaming About so I can join the June discussion. Looking forward to it!
I'm currently reading
Just finished reading
(Loved it!). Now reading
. Pretty decent so far. :)
Currently I'm reading The Ex-Mrs. Hedgefund by Jill Kargman. It's something different for me in that it's neither a thriller nor a mystery which are what I've been reading lately.
FINALLY reading
I'm reading it veryyyyy slowly because who knows how long it will be before the next one!
Finished
, The Adventures of Johnny Bunko: Career Guide (manga),
and
Making progress in
and will probably start another.
Reading
by Lizzy Ford. This is the second book from the Witchling series and so far, it has been a good read. :D
Just finished
, will probably start
and a couple more when they get here tomorrow!~ :D
I hit another bad patch so I spent most of my time reading lol Read way too many to show but some of them were:
Am now starting -
I am currently re-reading
and reading
and
Have read (since my last post)
and let me say that all of those are awesome, Warm Bodies being one of the best written books I have ever read.I am currently reading
I'm reading, "How to Eat a Cupcake". It's a fun read so far. And, mighty tempting to go get a specialty cupcake. Mmmmmm.
^Martha, by far one of the best books I have read! I mean...it has some flaws but way better than I expected!Finished
and now on to
and maybe some others...we shall see :)
I just started reading Black and White and Dead All Over by John Darnton. On a rainy morning in New York a powerful editor is found murdered, with the spike he'd used to kill stories in his chest.
OMG...I am reading Tampa and it is wild. I very sensitive subject that is cringe worthy but you want to get further into her mind.I am hoping to see some justice in this book since I am still upset that there was no justice in Gone Girl.
I recently finished re-reading The Bellwether (Connie Willis). Very fun book, and very unique. Although Connie Willis is well-known as a sci-fi author, this books seems to elude classification. Here is my review: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...Enjoy!
Clover Doves by Courtney FiligneziStruggling towards the light
Emma Fiorello is sixteen and deeply in love with Eric Florentino, a bright and caring, but wayward youth. They have a very special connection which Emma felt virtually as soon as they met. According to Emma they are “soul mates”. Eric knows what she means, but is perhaps a little less ‘spiritual’ in his outlook. Life is fresh and good, but Emma also senses that perhaps she and Eric will not stay together. Suddenly Emma is attacked and raped and her life begins the swift process of falling apart. Can Emma survive this turmoil and will she and Eric struggle through it, or will the premonition of relationship break-up come true?
Clover Doves could be classified as a paranormal romance: it is a love story with references to precognition, empathic telepathy and ghosts. The novel is, however, also part spiritual philosophy and part self-development/psychology. This is not to imply that Clover Doves is overly ‘preachy’ or contains lectures on these subjects: the philosophy and psychology arise naturally from the plot and characters, and are quite skilfully woven into the novel. It is clear, though, that Filigenzi has done much reading and thinking about the subject of human potential. Beyond these specialized subjects the novel is also very much about ‘ordinary’ life struggles: family, friends, love relationships, suffering, conflict and death. Clover Doves is skilfully written and will appeal to a quite wide variety of readers, especially those willing to keep an open mind.
For the full review please click:
http://raymondmathiesenbookreviews.bl...
http://url.ie/i5hk (Clover Doves Book ed.)
http://url.ie/i5hm (Clover Doves Kindle ed.)
I'm currently reading
Cleared a ton of books off my ereader - it's wet & cold so what else is there to do when stuck at home & sick lolAlso read -
Started tonight -
Delighting In Your Company by Blair McDowell – Book Review5 out of 5 stars
Past suffering and future bliss?
Amalie Ansett is a busy working professional who part owns an advertising agency in Los Angeles. California. She has just suffered a painful break-up of her marriage and while cleaning her family home, which is now on the market, she discovers an unopened letter to her mother from a previously unknown cousin, Josephina Ansett. Josephina lives on St. Clements, a small island in the Caribbean. The letter invites Amalie and her mother, who is now deceased, to a visit on the island. Sorely in need of a break Amalie decides to go. Imagine her surprise when, while touring on St. Clements she learns of another Amalie Ansett, who lived in the early 1800s, and who looks remarkably like her twenty-first century descendent. Life takes on an even stranger turn when Amalie is visited by the ghost of Jonathan Evans, the 1810 lover of the Amalie of the past. Jonathan died in strange, unexplained circumstances and asks for Amalie’s help to solve the mystery.
Blair McDowell’s Delighting In your Company is an exciting, action packed novel of the paranormal romance/erotica genre. Much more than this, though, the book gives a glimpse of life in the early 1800s, especially for women and slaves. Most of all this is a novel about Amalie’s need to come to terms with her very present and very ‘real’ life problems.
http://url.ie/ig7q Delighting In Your Company (Book ed.)
http://url.ie/ig7r Delighting In Your Company (Kindle ed.)
For the full review please click:
http://raymondmathiesenbookreviews.bl...
I'm about 1/3 through the book, Shadow of Perception by Kristine Mason. It's the second in a series, although really a stand alone. So far it's really good. A thriller, romance, psycho guy, suspense...
I'm reading
. I've been wanting to read it for a long time and now keep trying to squeeze in every minute I can because I'm really liking it so far.
Just finished Eleanor and Park. I loved it!Starting
Dark Places now.
Since my last post I have finished
I am probably going to finish
and waiting on
and
I am currently reading
Just finished
and will hopefully be starting some of the Goodread first time novels. =) So glad I found this site hehe.
I'm currently reading Secret Sister. I'm about 1/2 way through and it's really good so far.
The Hidden Realms of Firestone by Linda M. David - Book Review by Susan McMichael – 4 out of 5 stars
Volcanic Lava Logs and an awesome holiday...
A mysterious figure is looking at a featureless wall.... then Agathea Fulstropp arrives with the bang of the car door. She doesn't want to go on holiday seeing things: “I want to go the beach with granddad.” She knows quite well where she wants to go: to school, on another planet and her parents aren't going to stop her. However, lots of other people have plans for Thea and she is kidnapped....
Who has kidnapped her? Where is she? Returned to the school with little knowledge of what happened Thea is simply delighted to be back. All, however, is not well, with a new girl spoiling everything. Will Thea ever again be friends with Annalije? Will she be able to find out who kidnapped her, before she is kidnapped again?
Linda M. David's The Hidden Realms of Firestone is an engrossing Fantasy/Science-Fiction book for teenagers. It will also appeal to those teenage readers who enjoy the School Story genre. Beyond this David’s novel can be read and greatly appreciated by adults who wish to recapture a little of their youth.
http://url.ie/iiys The Hidden Realms of Firestone (Book ed.)
http://url.ie/iiyu The Hidden Realms of Firestone (Kindle ed.)
To read the full review please click:
http://raymondmathiesenbookreviews.bl...
The Children Shall Be Blameless by W. Jack Savage – Book ReviewBy Raymond Mathiesen
4.5 stars out of 5
Do the right thing…
Richard Smith had a life before he lived at St. James Orphanage, St. Paul, Minnesota, but that was too long ago to remember. Even his first days at the orphanage seem hidden under a strange cloud of forgetfulness. One thing Richard does remember is that, no matter what, he must not eat the “cornmeal mush” (Ch. 1 and following) the nuns serve for breakfast. Refusing this meal is against the Orphanage rules, and Richard’s insistence over the years, as he grows up, marks him out as a trouble-maker. Faced with the harsh bureaucracy of the Catholic Church Richard decides that all talk of God is a fake, but he is determined to do what is really “right” (Ch. 1 and following) by people, regardless of what the church says. From a very early age ethics, rather than morals, interests this young thinker. As Richard grows up he changes in some ways, but in many ways he stays the same. What will the course of his life be?
The Children Shall be Blameless is a story about real life, taking a very practical and pragmatic view of things. It is, however, also a ‘spiritual’ (rather than religious) story asking deeper, philosophic questions about how to live and how we find meaning. Richard does not claim to have all the answers, and neither does W. Jack Savage, but if you find yourself often wondering ’what is the right thing to do’ this is the novel for you. Savage’s story is interesting and in parts very exciting, and the novel is not in any way preachy.
http://goo.gl/WKlgLV (The Children Shall Be Blameless - Book ed.)
http://goo.gl/ZueEgm (The Children Shall Be Blameless - Kindle ed.)
To read the full review please click:
http://raymondmathiesenbookreviews.bl...
Change Your Perspective by J. Poet – Book ReviewBy Susan McMichael
4 out of 5 stars
Different perspectives, interesting times and reliance …
As a long time singer of Church music, both hymns and songs, and as a poet, I was looking forward to this book. Christian poetry’s framework and structures have changed over the past thirty years, in much the same way as secular poetry has: using much more free verse. Following in this heritage this is a book of free verse. I appreciated Change your Perspective's hopeful tone of getting the reader to enjoy their life, to see how God and Christ could make a difference to people's lives. In the poetry in Change Your Perspective: A Collection Of Inspirational Poetry, the reader is asked to take a journey from the physical reality of imperfection to the spiritual view of change for the better through Christ. Despite this emphasis on the spiritual this is not a book of ‘grandiose’ events, but rather of the very ordinary. Following along these lines Poet uses the common, vernacular speech to bring God into these poems: “When your chips are down... you say you want / To be married / You say this will / Make your life / Whole” (Ladies – Give God A Chance).
The book is a series of small recipes for getting your life back together, for changing your ideas. It is divided into three main sections: Broken, The Almighty God and Emerge. It delves into the everyday, including those feelings and actions that we like to deny.
http://goo.gl/X5SMcL (Change Your Perspective - Book ed.)
http://goo.gl/Ucv71F (Change your Perspective - Kindle ed.)
For the full review please click:
http://raymondmathiesenbookreviews.bl...
The Only Way Out by Don De Lene – Book ReviewProblems, problems, problems… Solutions?
Hannah Lane, the seven year old girl we remember from The Power, The Miracle and The Dream, is now 22 years old and a “Pulitzer Prize winning photographer and renowned peace activist” (Ch. 1). She is with a National Geographic team that has just landed on Mars, and has become officially the first woman to set foot on the planet. Hannah has come a very long way since her loosing childhood days as an asthmatic, but how exactly did she get here? Was it really the secret of “the power within … [her] … mind” (Ch. 12) that brought her to these heights?
The Only Way Out: Forgiveness - The Path To Peace & Happiness takes us deeper into the spiritual philosophy set out in De Lene’s earlier book, concentrating on our desire to hurt others, and the solution of reconciliation through absolution. We can never really be at peace unless we are willing to forgive wrong. In this book De Lene digs deeper into a metaphysical view of the world, particularly the idea of God, however, the philosophy presented is not at all ‘orthodox’ religion. De Lene instead derives his inspiration from the non-fiction book A Course In Miracles (Helen Schucman, Foundation for Inner Peace:__ 3rd ed.:__ 2007). De Lene’s book is an unusual blend of novel and teaching manual, and is a very enjoyable and easy way of looking deeper into philosophy.
http://goo.gl/TgTBg5 The Only Way Out (Book ed.)
http://goo.gl/oVXkFg The Only Way Out (Kindle ed.)
For the full review please click:
http://raymondmathiesenbookreviews.bl...
American Crow by Jack Lacey – Book ReviewReviewed by Susan McMichael
5 out of 5 stars
Move over Rebus, here comes Blake…
Detective fiction is a little like drinking wine: there is a lot around and everyone has their favourite. When something new comes on the market, the drinker or the reader, looks longingly to their favourite brand or book and says, "I hope the new one is like the old one..." It's not an exact science of course: there is a chemistry to it. The reader can like a new detective story, and then the reader can love a new detective story.
I am a fan of detective stories. I began with Agatha Christie back when I was eleven. I read Sherlock Holmes and moved onto the feminist detectives in the early eighties. It's a little hard to define what I like: sometimes I think that reading anything is really a love story and so is undefinable, but....
I picked up American Crow by Jack Lacey and was hooked. I love American Crow. The character of Sibelius Blake is strongly written and interesting. Blake’s back story comes out through the novel. The plot ending ties beautifully with the beginning: it is very well structured.
http://goo.gl/mdsvFa American Crow (Kindle ed.)
For the full review please click:
http://raymondmathiesenbookreviews.bl...
Hypocrites In His Midst: A Story About Flawed Human Beings by Donnell Wilson – Book Review4.5 out of 5 stars
The long road from street gangs to success…
Wilton Latso is seventy two years old and a grandfather. In the middle of a heated argument with his adult daughter Abbie, Wilton realizes that she has no idea of who he is, where he came from, and why he did the things he did when he was bringing her up. Spontaneously Wilton starts remembering and soon he decides to write down the story of his life. Wilton came from a poor family living in a poor suburb of St. Louis, Missouri in the late 1940’s / early 1950s. In this era of street gangs Wilton is soon introduced to a world of violence, ego and selfishness. Wilton’s parents are staunch Pentecostal Christians, but Wilton doubts that faith from the start. The trouble is that he can see all too clearly his parent’s hypocrisy, particularly his mother’s. Throughout his life Wilton will continue to observe people, noting many to be hollow, offering friendship, espousing beliefs but proving to be fakes.
Donnell Wilson’s Hypocrites In His Midst: A Story About Flawed Human Beings is a fictional autobiography spanning seven decades. It is a story of “redemption” (Ch. 8) in a secular sense. This is a book about trying to “do the right thing” (Ch. 3), though the “right thing” (Ch. 2) is not always obvious or easy to achieve. Wilson’s novel, especially in the first three Parts, is broadly comparable to Nicky Cruz’s real life autobiography Run Baby Run (Logos, 1972), though that book is firmly Christian, while this book is firmly agnostic (Ch. 31). Most of all, this book is about how a person can growing to maturity (or avoid it).
http://goo.gl/5kL3R0 Hypocrites In His Midst (Kindle ed.)
http://goo.gl/G3Vom5 Hypocrites In His Midst (Facebook page)
For the full review please click:
http://raymondmathiesenbookreviews.bl...
The Book of Deacon (The Book of Deacon #1)by Joseph R. Lallo
'The tale of Myranda Celeste, a young woman orphaned by a century long war, and her chance discovery of a fallen soldier's priceless cargo. The find will change her life, sending her on an adventure of soldiers and rebels, wizards and warriors, and beasts both noble and monstrous. Each step will bring her closer to the truth of her potential, of the war, and of the fate of her world'
The pacing is a little slow for me to have the energy to devour this book like I normally do when reading a book that I like. This book is really good an interesting, don't get me wrong, it's just a fairly slow paced story.
Im about 60% through it right now.
A 3rd Time To Die by George A. BernsteinBook Review by Susan McMichael
4 out of 5 stars
What is it about you stranger?
This is a love story with a mystery at the heart of it, a paranormal mystery. Why can Ashley Easton speak French so well? Why can she ride a horse so well, after only riding for just a few weeks? Who is the mysterious young man she meets in the dressage competition, and why is he so alluring? A 3rd Time to Die by George A. Bernstein is a love story and a mystery, rolled into one. It uses the concept of reincarnation as an interesting plot device.
Our first glimpse of Ashley Easton is of a woman rescuing a horse:
"Hey quit that!" Her shout raspy, she banged the gate with the side of the pitchfork. (p. 25)
The horse has always represented passion and desire in literature, and A 3rd Time to Die is no exception. Ashley's new horse brings her excitement and energy into her life and allows a new relationship to flourish. Ashley is revitalised and energised by rescuing the horse; it also brings into sharp relief the way her life has changed. Ashley is an engaging character who knows her own mind and who is financially independent. She feels a great deal, but takes a long time to act on these feelings: this is Ashley Easton's challenge.
http://goo.gl/Jg40jh A 3rd Time To Die (Book ed.)
http://goo.gl/eg6sE5 A 3rd Time To Die (Kindle ed.)
http://goo.gl/uTOJg9 George Bernstein (Facebook page)
http://goo.gl/xp0Wvc George Bernstein (Goodreads page)
For the full review please click:
http://raymondmathiesenbookreviews.bl...
Currently I am finishing up on Barbara Hamilton's Sup With the Devil, which is a murder mystery set in Colonial Boston, starring Abigail Adams. It's the third in the series, and I'm seriously loving it. I had to put it down for a couple of days to read a fencing manual, but tonight and perhaps tomorrow I'll finish it up.
Crimson Footprints by Shewanda Pugh - Book Review 5 out of 5 stars
The balancing act of life…
Deena Hammond is a 24 year old architect living and working in her home town of Miami, Florida. In some ways Deena is very successful, but she comes from a poor background, and in many ways she is still inextricably tied up with those origins. Her grandmother, Emma Hammond, who brought Deena up, is constantly demanding and never satisfied. Deena’s adult brother Anthony is a small-time criminal, and her sister Lizzie, though still at school, is incorrigibly wayward and seems headed for a disaster of a life. Deena is half African-American and half white and feels that she was never really accepted by the black side of her family when they took her in as a child. In very harrowing circumstances Deena meets Takumi (Tak for short) Tanaka, the son of her world famous, distant and demanding boss Daichi Tanaka. Immediately the personal chemistry and attraction seems right, but everything else between these two people seems impossible. Deena is a mere underling. Should she even be talking to the son of the owner of the business she works for? What is more Deena’s family very much expects her to date a black man. Can these two people overcome the odds and form a friendship, or even the romance they both desire?
Shewanda Pugh’s Crimson Footprints can certainly be classified as a romance; however, it is much more than that. It is a story of class consciousness and racial division. It is about the struggle to find the right equilibrium between work and family, and it is a story about trying to ‘do the right thing’. Most of all, this novel is about balance in all things. We are all different, but we must overcome our resistances and come to the centre ground if we are truly going to be a success in life.
http://goo.gl/HwV0jG Crimsin Footprints (Book ed.)
http://goo.gl/vyOHiw Crimson Footprints (Kindle ed.)
http://goo.gl/aTcWKT Shewanda Pugh’s Blog
http://goo.gl/gcUo06 Shewanda Pugh’s Facebook Page
For the full review please click:
http://raymondmathiesenbookreviews.bl...
Currently reading
and I am completely in love with it already. It's very engaging.
Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
Still Life with Woodpecker by Tom RobbinsHow do I get the cover of the book in my comments???
Ralph wrote:How do I get the cover of the book in my comments???"
I can show you!
Hit reply to this, just so you can see an open text box to type in. (Or, just scroll down. When I hit reply the box showed up all by itself. I'm new, sorry.) ANYWAY. Do you see, at the top of the box, the very dark word "comment"? Now look a little more to the right, it says add book/author.
When you click on it, it brings up a search box.
I hope that helps?
Cindy
Book Junkies
Books mentioned in this topic
Radiant Angel (other topics)Beware That Girl (other topics)
Go Set a Watchman (other topics)
The Guest Room (other topics)
Into the Water (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jean-Claude Izzo (other topics)John Whitington (other topics)
Lynn Farley-Rose (other topics)
Daniel Kalla (other topics)
Stephen King (other topics)
More...
lol! Yes! Funny thing is that I actually live in NYC so it was fun reading it while taking the subway. I kept looking around for Moles. :D
I finished it yesterday and now I'm reading