Posts

Showing posts from 2017

Joshua and the Magical Islands by Christopher D. Morgan

Image
Hey everyone, back again. Doing a quick write up while I'm in class because I need a break from my crushing stress. The author was kind enough to send me a copy of this book a few weeks ago. I read the first book in the series which was Forestium, and now changed to Joshua and the Magical Forest. This is the second book to that series and there is a third book on the way. It feels like it's been a million years since I first read the first book, but I still remember the details quite well. The author does a great job at creating a memorable world and characters. It was nice to see a second book that is written just as well as the first one. Let me tell you about it: Joshua and his friend Sarah are returning home after their long journey to destroy the evil Goat, who had tortured their lands. Joshua is looking forward to introducing Sarah to his mother and his other friends from his village. But when they arrive in the village they find it destroyed, with all of the peopl

State of Emergency by Mary Hallberg

Image
Hey everyone back again really quickly! I'm taking a brief break from the absolute hell-scape of homework, presentations, and papers that are all due on the same day. I haven't had time to read or to do any of my writing, which is the saddest part of all of this to me. But I need a break and I promised I would do a review for this book, so I shall. First things first, this is a zombie book. By far my favourite genre of books (if it can be considered its own separate genre). When I do get brief moments at school when I decide paying attention is for people going somewhere in life I like to reread a variety of different zombie novels. If there's anything I've learned from studying them it's that to stand out among the many out there it has to be unique. And this book is unique in the way that it draws off the classic zombie story. Let me tell you about it: Dallas is just your normal teenage girl. She's in high school and dreams of being a singer when she gr

Eats, Shoots, and Leaves by Lynne Truss

Image
Hey everyone. Kind of a random book to review, considering the content, but I think it's worth discussing. My friend recommended this book to me while she was editing something for me. I guess my grammar could use some improvement and she seemed to think this book would help. I can now say that I agree with that. The book is about grammar, but it is by no means a boring read if you are looking to improve your writing. The author has a very strong voice and uses sarcasm and emotion to get her point across in a way that you'll remember. It's a very short read, so it's worth the time to just sit down and read in one sitting. The only complaint I would have about this book is that she spends more time talking about useless stories in her life than actually teaching you what to do. Her information is really helpful if you can get through the rest of her stories. That's all I really have to say about it. Check it out if you're interested in this type of book. 4

Jorie and the River of Fire by A. H. Richardson

Image
Hey everyone, it's been a while since my last post. In that time I've been reading a few different books including this one! It's the third book in the series. The rest of the books have been reviewed on this blog as well if you'd like to check those out. The author has been very kind to send me the third book and the others as well. It's interesting, this series, because it really feels like each book could be the end. So each time I see another book I get excited to see the story continue. It's hard to say if this book is the end because, though it ends on a good note, there is still a lot of room for the story to continue. If it does continue, hopefully I will be able to review that one as well. Let me tell you a bit about this book: Jorie and Rufus are back in another adventure through the Tarn. This time, though, they are much older . After being gone for a couple of years Rufus has been trained by his Uncle Herc to be a proper gentleman, even if tha

Sweet Sacrifice by L. D. Rose

Image
Hey everyone. Sorry for the late review on this one. I had meant to have this done for Monday morning but I had a very busy weekend taking care of an injured baby squirrel. But it's with the humane society now so I have time to write the review. The book came out just last week so I haven't missed the boat by too much here. I've already read and reviewed two other books by this author that have no connection to this one (as far as I can tell). It is also one in a series of other books, according to Goodreads, but they also don't have any connection. So it is a standalone book in a series with the same general name, The Soul Mate Tree. Since this is the one I read, let me tell you a bit about it: Sebastian, Bash as others call him, died when he took a grenade to save his comrades. He was pulled from purgatory by the Archangel Michael to join the angel army in fighting the demons and all they stand for. And for a time he does his job without complaining, much. It

Black Bullet by L. D. Rose

Image
Hey everyone, I'm back again. I know it's been a while but now that I am back in school I am going to try to keep a more regular reading schedule. I won't be working so much so I'm hoping I'll actually want to read and write more often. And I'll start that by catching up on books I've read and writing the reviews for them. This book is the second book in the series and has been sent to me by the lovely author. The review for the first book is on my blog if you are interested in checking it out. This book carries on after the events of the last book left off from the point of view of a different one of the brothers. It tells the story of one of the strange hybrids who was created by one of the brothers. Let me tell you a bit about it: John was known as the Black Bullet in his human days. He had been one of the lead FBI agents who worked alongside the Hybrid brothers when they were hunting the vampires that preyed on the human population in New York. Th

Ten-Ten by Joe Mansour

Image
Hey everyone I hope you're having a good week. It's been a while since I last posted since I've been so busy between two jobs. To be honest I've been worked so hard that I started losing interest in all the things I used to love. I stopped reading because when I wasn't working I was sleeping and I started questioning if the things I had been working for years on were worth it. But now I'm trying to work through it. A little while ago the author was kind enough to send me this book to read. I apologize for taking so long to get around to reviewing it even though I did finish reading it a week ago. I have two days off in a row so I am using the time to catch up on some reading and some reviews. When I first starting reading this book I was unsure about how I felt about it. But as I read on I found that the story was well thought out and the characters were well developed. I will say that this book is meant for a more mature audience. Let me tell you a bit ab

The Sweet Oil of Vitriol by Daniel Eagleton

Image
Hey everyone I hope you're having a good day. I missed last week and Monday due to my crazy work schedule. In the future, until I get some time off, I'll be posting a review whenever I finish a book and get time to write it. This book was sent to me by the author. I literally knew nothing when I started reading the book so I didn't have any expectations. But once I started reading the book I noticed a few problems with it, but I'll get into that a little later. The basis of the story is that it's a man, a spy, trying to assassinate because it's what he's been trained to do. Let me tell you what it's all about: Thomas is probably the worst spy in the world. From the very beginning he messes up the one job he was given leading to him being hospitalized when his job eventually fails. His old boss, who himself has been fired for his participation in the failure, creates his own business with his old contacts. Feeling sorry for Thomas he decides to gi

Jorie and the Golden Key by A. H. Richardson

Image
Hey everyone! A few weeks ago you may remember that I read the first book in this series 'Jorie and the Magic Stones'. The author was kind enough to send me a copy of the second book in the series to read as well. In the previous book we saw Jorie, a young woman from the human realm travel to the magical world where dragons rule the skies. She and her friend Rufus were tasked with retrieving the magic stones that would grant any who hold them the power to rule over the world. At the end of their adventure Jorie returned to the world and left the stones in the hands of the Great Wizard who promised to protect them from the Dark Lord. I enjoyed the first book so I jumped at the chance to read the continuation of Jorie's story. The cover of the book is amazing and the colours jump out at you right away. If you are someone who judges a book by its cover this is a great one to start with. Let me tell you a bit about it: Jorie and Rufus are once again called back to the m

Underneath: A Merfolk Tale by M. N. Arzu

Image
Hey everyone. This week I finished reading this book that the author was kind enough to send to me. My first thoughts were that it was going to be another book about mermaids that I really had no interest in. Thankfully I am open to giving books a chance because this was nothing that I could have expected. The whole book shoots between different points of view of all people involved in one event. Since there are so many important points of view I'll just give a summary of each persons goal throughout the book, instead of a summary: A man walking along a beach one morning finds a man washed up on the shore with severe wounds to his body. The man calls police but notices that something about the man isn't right. Before he is taken away he takes a video with his phone of the half man, half fish, he found. From here the story takes off. The 'Merman' is then quickly passed into the hands of scientists who quickly try to determine what he is. Among the scientists there

Releasing the Demons by L. D. Rose

Image
Hey everyone I hope you are having a good week. I missed last week because of work and interviews but I did actually finish a few books that I just didn't get around to writing reviews for. So expect a few in the next coming weeks, on time of course. So this is the first book of two that the author was kind enough to send me. I will be reviewing the second one I just don't know when I'll get the time to finish it. I'll try to get it done in the next month as long as work doesn't get in the way. It's been a while since I've read a sort of romance book with vampires in it. It was nice to read something professionally written in this genre. A lot of people can say that Twilight left a bad taste in their mouth. But this book is by no means Twilight. It is clearly aimed for the adult audience with language and sexual content. Let me tell you a bit about it: In our world Vampires have become known to humans. There is a police force that specifically deals

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling

Image
Happy Monday everyone! This is it, the last book in the Harry Potter series. By far the longest and, arguably, the best book in the series. Now that I'm finally finished I wish there were more books to read. I can happily say that I enjoyed this series. For those who have not yet read this series, whether they had seen the movies or not, I would recommend giving this a read. Now that I've finished reading the books I would like to rewatch the movies, even though I know I don't like them as much as the books. Some people may have a different view on this, it's just the way I feel. Let me tell you about it: Dumbledore is dead. The Order of the Phoenix is on the run. The Ministry of Magic has been taken over by Death Eaters. But that doesn't Harry and his friends are going to give up. They finally know what they need to do to kill the Dark Lord, even if it means they can't tell anyone in their families. Harry and the others have decided not to go back to Ho

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling

Image
Hey everyone I hope you are having a lovely Monday. I'm continuing with my binge of the Harry Potter series. This is the second last book in the series so I'm very close to getting it all done. When I first started reading the series I didn't have much hope for finishing it. Now that I'm almost done I'm truly enjoying reading it more and more. I am starting to understand why there is such a devoted fan base. I'm still not the biggest fan of the movies but I can enjoy the books a lot more now. So for those of you who have read the other books let me tell you a bit about it: Harry is once again back at Hogwarts school for Wizards but now things are getting heated. Dumbledore has personally taken on the responsibility of teaching Harry to make sure he is ready when the Dark Lord returns to fight him. He is given many tasks by his headmaster that he has trouble taking seriously. All around him he finds clues that lead him to believe that his enemy Malfoy is

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling

Image
Hey everyone I hope you're having a great Monday. As you can see I finally got back into reading the Harry Potter series after taking a very long time off. It started off as a way to listen to a book while taking my dog for a walk. When that wasn't moving as quickly as I can read I broke out the books again. Needless to say it has taken up most of my weekend finishing the series. I may have mentioned in the past that I'm not the biggest Harry Potter fan. I still don't enjoy the first couple movies but I've found myself liking the last couple ones more and more in the last couple weeks. My roommate has been a big help with this one. Many of you have already read these books but for those who haven't, and have read the other books before this one, I'll tell you a bit about it: Harry is having one of the worst weeks of his life, and that's saying something. He's been charged with using magic in front of muggles after saving his cousin from a pack

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury

Image
Hey everyone. This year I thought I'd go back to the classics a bit. A few years ago I read this beauty in my English class. I think it was the first time that I truly enjoyed a book that I was forced to read in school. To this day I still enjoy readings this book and learning from the message it leaves. This book has been around for a long time but the message still is applicable today. As a lover of books there is something strange about reading a book about how reading books is illegal. But none-the-less I love it. Let me tell you about it: In a dystopian future reading books is against the law. Firemen are people sent to homes to set fire to books and burn anything that could be considered to be hiding books. Books are considered to be the cause of sadness in society so by banning them it is the hopes that people will be happier by listening to the media and learning that way. Guy is one of the firemen who sees people hiding books on a daily basis. But one day something

Come on Up to the House by Dane Cobain

Image
Hey everyone. Late post, I know. I was going to work on this yesterday but when your roommate says "Harry Potter Movie Marathon" it's hard to say no. And last week I didn't get a chance to post because I had a 15 page term paper to turn in and didn't finish the book. But this is the last week of school before Summer begins for me and who needs to do readings for the last week anyway? This book was kindly sent to me by the lovely author, who I've done reviews for before. I know that he is good at creating a creepy environment for a story so I was excited to get started on it. There were a few things that concerned me when I started reading this book, but I'll get to those after the description. Once I came to terms with what the book was I enjoyed it a lot more. Let me tell you about it: The Jersey family has just moved to a new house with the hopes of starting over. What the family doesn't know is that there has been a dramatic disaster that ha

Check out the Layout!

Hey everyone! In case you haven't noticed I updated the look of the blog. Google uploaded a few new options so I figured it was about time I changed it up a bit. Let me know what you think! - K

By the Hands of Men Book Three: The Wrath of Righteous Man by Roy M. Griffis

Image
Hey everyone. I hope you are having a good Monday! A few of you might remember an eternity ago when I did the review of the first book in this series. I've had the third book pretty much since they time but I haven't had the time to read it. Finally I forced myself to sit down and finish it because I owed it to the lovely author who sent it to me to finish it. Well, now I'm done and ready to do the review. As always I am absolutely blown away by how much research has been put into this book. The situations the characters are put in are detailed and well thought out. The author has clearly improved his already well honed writing style. For the series as a whole I was very impressed. So far I've done the reviews for the first two books in the series, the links to these will be posted below. So let me tell you a bit about it: Now long since separated the stories of Charolette and Robert are slowly coming together. The First World War has ended but the battles still

Jorie and the Magic Stones by A. H. Richardson

Image
Hey everyone, I'm sorry I've been away for so long. In the last couple weeks I have managed to sort out most of my medical problems and deal with all of the my school work. Now that I am caught up I have time to do readings. Speaking of readings, I have an apology to make to all the lovely authors who have been so kind as to send me copies of their books to review. I am making it my mission now to get them all read and all of the reviews written up within the next couple weeks (school permitting). One of the awesome books I got sent in exchange for an honest review is this one. At first I was weary to read this book because it is a fantasy children's book. On the surface it seems like it is going to be confusing and childish all at the same time. In reality, that couldn't be further from the truth. Jorie, a imaginative young girl, has been sent to live with her Aunt in the countryside for a while. While she is there she intends to explore and learn as much as she

Update: Taking Time Off

Hey everyone. I've been away for a while and I'm going to be away for a while longer. I kept telling myself over the last couple weeks that I was going to be okay to keep going but I can tell now that I'm not going to be able to do it. I have been on some serious medication for anxiety that makes me sleep up to 18 hours a day. Because of that I haven't been able to read, work, do school work, or anything else. Finally I decided that I had enough and I couldn't take it anymore so I've stopped taking the meds. Of course that comes with some withdrawal symptoms that I feel like are actually killing me. Right now I can't move from the couch except to get to the bathroom or to the bedroom at night. No pain killers are working to stop the pain so I'm going to have to tough it out. Looking at my computer or my phone or a TV screen makes me sick. Even writing this is taking me far longer than I would like it to. In a week my parents are taking me on a cruise

The Nazi Officer's Wife by Edith Hahn Beer

Image
Hey everyone. I'm really sorry that I haven't posted in the last couple weeks. There is no excuse I simply didn't have a book read so I didn't do it. But now that I'm back at school I am finding the time to do some reading and have managed to get a few books read ahead of time. This book is one that was given to me for Christmas by my roommate. She also got the book for Christmas and was reading it at the same time as me. We both agreed that this is one of the best tellings of the struggles of a woman during World War Two. It's not a fiction book but it reads like one. This is a story told from the mouth of the woman who lived it, written out by a member of her family. Let me tell you a bit about it: Edith Beer is a Jewish woman who grew up in Germany during the lead up to World War Two. In her words she describes the way her life changed as Hitler came to power and how her family was torn apart before the war even started. Unable to escape Germany due