Search This Blog
2026 Bookish Books Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)
2026 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)
2026 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama
- Alaska (1)
- Arizona (2)
- Arkansas (1)
- California (8)
- Colorado (2)
- Connecticut (1)
- Delaware
- Florida (3)
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho (2)
- Illinois (2)
- Indiana (2)
- Iowa (1)
- Kansas
- Kentucky (1)
- Louisiana (2)
- Maine (4)
- Maryland (1)
- Massachusetts (2)
- Michigan (2)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska (1)
- Nevada
- New Hampshire (1)
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico (1)
- New York (5)
- North Carolina (2)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (4)
- Oklahoma (1)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (1)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota (1)
- Tennessee (2)
- Texas (3)
- Utah (1)
- Vermont (2)
- Virginia (1)
- Washington (2)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin (3)
- Wyoming(1)
- Washington, D.C.*
International:
- Australia (7)
- Austria (1)
- Canada (3)
- England (24)
- Fiji (1)
- France (1)
- Ireland (3)
- Italy (2)
- Mexico (1)
- Morocco (1)
- New Zealand (1)
- Norway (1)
- Scotland (2)
- The Bahamas (1)
- Vatican City (1)
2026 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
2026 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
Booklist Queen's 2026 Reading Challenge
2026 52 Club Reading Challenge
2026 Build Your Library Reading Challenge
2026 Craving for Cozies Reading Challenge
2026 Medical Examiner Mystery Reading Challenge
2026 Mount TBR Reading Challenge
2026 Around the Year in 52 Books Reading Challenge
Shelf Reflection Candy Reading Challenge for Kids (and Adults)
2026 Countdown Reading Challenge
Dragon Rambles' Law of Fives Bingo
2026 Southern Literary Reading Challenge
2026 Reading Challenge (by Linz the Bookworm)
2026 Pioneer Book Reading Challenge
European Reading Challenge 2026
2017 Pick Your Poison Reading Challenge (retired challenge - doing old boards for fun)
2026 Reading Challenge Addict Reading Challenge
The 100 Most Common Last Names in the U.S. Reading Challenge
The Life Skills Reading Challenge
Thursday, December 29, 2011
One of Those Ho-Hum Reads Where I Don't Love It or Hate It
1:00 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
When Ruby Miliken's mother dies, the 15-year-old has no choice but to move to L.A. to live with her father. She wants nothing to do with the man who abandoned her pregnant mother to pursue an acting career, even if it has made him into a well-known movie star. Despite his money and influence, Whip Logan's never made one attempt to contact his only daughter, so why should Ruby go out of her way to get to know him? Two can play this game.
Living in a mega-mansion in Southern California is so different from everything about her former life in Boston that Ruby can hardly stand it. She misses her BFF Lizzie and worries that her boyfriend back in Massachusetts will forget all about her. Her father's trying so hard to be her buddy that she feels suffocated. It's all so overwhelming and the only person Ruby really wants to confide in is her mom.
As Ruby settles into her new life as a celebrity's daughter, she'll learn a few lessons about her father, her mother and herself. While she's beginning to understand the truth about her past, she'll have to grapple with the reality of the present in order to decide who Ruby Milliken really is and where she truly belongs.
One of Those Hideous Books Where the Mother Dies by Sonya Sones is an angsty novel-in-verse narrated by a spunky girl with a broken heart. Delving into Ruby's thoughts, expressed through bits of poetry as well as emails to her best friend and letters to her dead mother, makes this sympathetic character really come alive. The story did skimp a bit on details that were needed to make the setting more realistic. I never felt grounded in Ruby's new world, which, now that I think about it, could be a clever storytelling device. Or it could just be because of the skimpy details. Whatever. At any rate, between that unsettled feeling, a predictable plotline, and the fact that Ruby could never see what was right in front of her made this book a little disappointing for me. In the end, I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. So, another ho-hum read, although I have to say I really do dig the title.
(Readalikes: Reminded me a lot of Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay and a little of Sparrow Road by Sheila O'Connor)
Grade: C
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (no F-bombs), sexual innuendo/content and references to illegal drug use
To the FTC, with love: Another library
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Give Jance Another Chance? Opinions, Please ...
1:00 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)When television anchorwoman Alison Reynolds is fired from her job, she's livid. Especiall
y since her only crime is being over 40 in an industry where youthful good looks count way, way more than talent. Venting to her producer husband gets her no sympathy. In fact, it convinces her of a truth she's been shying away from for years: her marriage is over. To add insult to injury, Ali learns that her best friend from childhood has died in a mysterious car accident. Realizing how few reasons she has to stay in California, Ali heads to her hometown of Sedona, Arizona, to lick her wounds and grieve for her friend.
y since her only crime is being over 40 in an industry where youthful good looks count way, way more than talent. Venting to her producer husband gets her no sympathy. In fact, it convinces her of a truth she's been shying away from for years: her marriage is over. To add insult to injury, Ali learns that her best friend from childhood has died in a mysterious car accident. Realizing how few reasons she has to stay in California, Ali heads to her hometown of Sedona, Arizona, to lick her wounds and grieve for her friend. With nothing else to occupy her time, Ali pitches in at her parents' cafe and keeps up with the blog she's started to chronicle her journey from television news star to ... well, waitress. In the meantime, she's mulling over the details of Reenie Bernard's death. Unlike most people in town, Ali doesn't believe her friend was suicidal, even though she had reason to be. But the alternative is even more unbelievable - who would murder Reenie, a kind, altruistic mother of two young children? Ali has no idea. Not that that's going to stop her. She's spent her career asking questions, pulling answers out of reticent subjects. It's a skill that's going to come in handy as Ali launches an unofficial investigation into her friend's death. And one that will, quite likely, get her killed in the process.
Lots of people love J.A. Jance and since she's a local author who writes books set in Arizona, I thought I should give her a try. Only, I kind of wish I hadn't. It's possible Edge of Evil, the first novel in the author's Ali Reynolds series, was just the wrong book for me, but I had a hard time getting past the stereotypical characters, the predictable storyline, the unrealistic plot twists and the stale writing. All of those things turned me off of this much-lauded Arizona author. Maybe I'm being too critical (who, me?) - what do y'all think? Should I give Jance another chance? Convince me and I will. Otherwise, it ain't gonna happen.
(Readalikes: Reminded me a little of Mary Higgins Clark's books)
Grade: C-
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for language (no F-bombs) and sexual innuendo
To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Ever Wonder About Jacob Marley? Wonder No More.
1:00 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)Jacob Marley plays such a prominent role in Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol that it's natural to wonder about him. What was his story? Why was Jacob doomed to wand
er, dragging his chains for eternity, while Ebeneezer Scrooge got a chance to make things right? What's up with that? In Jacob T. Marley, a new holiday book by R. William Bennett, the author imagines the answers to all these questions and more. Written in the style of the incomparable Charles Dickens, the book tells the familiar story, but from the perspective of Scrooge's business partner, Jacob Marley. The new angle adds depth to the classic novel, making Jacob T. Marley an entertaining and moving tale in its own right.
While the story starts out with Marley's childhood, it doesn't linger there. It focuses, instead, on his adult life, specifically his interactions with Ebeneezer Scrooge. When Jacob dies, he begs for a chance to redeem himself by saving the joyless Scrooge, for whose black-hearted soul he suddenly feels very, very responsible. Jacob's awarded the chance, although no one believes he can actually accomplish such a daunting task. As Jacob orchestrates the intervention of three ghosts in the life of his associate, he realizes (as does Scrooge) the great impact - for good or ill - that we all have on each other. The conclusion is the same as the one reached in A Christmas Carol: it's never too late to develop a charitable heart. It's never too late to reach out, to give, to make someone's life brighter. It's never too late to become the person you've always wanted to be.
No modern work can ever equal a classic like A Christmas Carol. Still, I found myself enjoying Jacob T. Marley much more than I thought I would. It's a hopeful, warm-hearted story that helped me feel the spirit of Christmas. I can't say I absolutely loved it, but I did like this unique take on Dickens' immortal yuletide tale.
(Readalikes: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)
Grade: B-
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for some scary images
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Jacob T. Marley from the generous folks at Shadow Mountain (an imprint of Deseret Book). Thank you!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Historic Christmas Eve Story Goes From the Stage to the Bookshelf
1:00 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
Every year, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the Orchestra at Temple Square perform a free Christmas concert, which they present as their gift to the public. Enjoyed by the thousands who crowd into the Conference Center to view it, the show is also broadcast on PBS. The concert, which always receives rave reviews, has included performances by luminaries like David Archuleta, Natalie Cole, Jane Seymour, Angela Lansbury and Walter Cronkite. In 2009, historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author David McCullough accepted an invitation to be part of that year's concert. With the choir and orchestra accompanying his words, McCullough told the story of a historic meeting between Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt which took place on December 24, 1941. Using that event as a backdrop, he also talked about the stories behind two popular Christmas songs: "I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem."
The next year, Shadow Mountain (an imprint of Deseret Book) published McCullough's words in a hardcover volume that includes vintage photographs, the texts of the speeches given by Churchill and Roosevelt, and a CD of McCullough's performance at the 2009 Christmas concert. While In the Dark Street Shineth by David McCullough makes a moving story, I actually liked the whole thing better as a vocal performance than as a book. I did, however, enjoy the historic photos and reading the leaders' speeches in their entirety. Churchill's, especially, was so poetic that I wondered why the book didn't use his words instead of McCullough's. Even though I found it a tad disappointing, I still enjoyed the history and the holiday spirit captured in this book.
As I said, though, the actual performance is better. If you missed it, do yourself a favor and watch this:
(Readalikes: Um, I can't really think of anything. Can you?)
Grade: C
If this were a movie, it would be rated: G
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of In the Dark Streets Shineth from the generous folks at Shadow Mountain/Deseret Book. Thank you!
Subscribe to:
Posts
(Atom)
Readin'
Liberty Street by Heather Marshall
Listenin'
The Accidental Beauty Queen by Teri Wilson
Followin' with Bloglovin'
Followin' with Feedly
-
-
The Wild Season5 days ago
-
-
-
-
-
20+ Kids Breakfast Ideas5 days ago
-
-
TTT- Favorite Indie Authors5 days ago
-
-
-
Top Ten Tuesday: Indie Books on My TBR5 days ago
-
-
-
-
Sheer by Vanessa Lawrence5 days ago
-
Fruit Fly by Josh Silver5 days ago
-
Frankel, Laurie "Family Family"6 days ago
-
-
The Tailor by Tim Sullivan6 days ago
-
-
-
Chase Me If You Can1 week ago
-
Week in Review #371 week ago
-
Books read in August1 week ago
-
-
-
-
Seasonal TBR: Fall1 week ago
-
-
Sparked My Interest: August 20263 weeks ago
-
-
-
Madrigals and Mayhem by Elizabeth Penney7 months ago
-
-
Sunday Post #5681 year ago
-
-
Girl Plus Books: On Hiatus2 years ago
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?2 years ago
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra3 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?3 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Grab my Button!
Blog Design by:
Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ► 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
- ► 2013 (183)
- ► 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ► 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)
2026 Goodreads Reading Challenge
2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction
2023 - Middle Grade Fiction
2022 - Middle Grade Fiction
2021 - Middle Grade Fiction
2020 - Middle Grade Fiction
