Deadly Devotion...Review...DNF

About the book:
Research scientist Kate Adams and her colleague Daisy are on the brink of a breakthrough for treating depression with herbal medicine when Daisy suddenly dies. Kate knows that if it hadn’t been for Daisy’s mentorship, she wouldn’t have the job she loves or the faith she clings to. So when police rule Daisy’s death a suicide, Kate is determined to unearth the truth.

Former FBI agent Tom Parker finds it hard to adjust to life back in his hometown of Port Aster. Though an old buddy gives him a job as a detective on the local police force, not everyone approves. Tom’s just trying to keep a low profile, so when Kate Adams demands he reopen the investigation of her friend’s death, he knows his job is at stake. In fact, despite his attraction to her, Tom thinks Kate looks a bit suspicious herself.

As evidence mounts, a web of intrigue is woven around the sleepy town of Port Aster. Can Kate uncover the truth? Or will Tom stand in her way?

Suspense and romance is usually a combination that works for me.  Add in herbal and homeopathic subjects and it's good.  I just couldn't get into this one.  The characters were annoying rather than engaging.  The whole thing was just too much of a stretch. I finally just skimmed it and really didn't miss anything, which is a bummer because I was looking forward to this one.  It's the first in a series and often subsequent books outshine the initial ones, so I am hopeful for the next one.

Available June 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.  You can learn more about Sandra Orchard here. You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 5/13

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2/5 Stars

That Certain Summer...Review

About the book:
Karen and Val are family-yet they’re anything but close. Karen has carried the burden of responsibility for her aging mother ever since her gorgeous sister left town years ago to pursue a career in theater. But Val had darker reasons for leaving town-as well as a secret to keep-and coming home has never been an option . . . until their mother suffers a stroke.

Reunited in their hometown, Karen and Val must grapple with their past mistakes, their relationship with each other, and their issues with a mother who is far from ideal. When a physical therapist raising his daughter alone and a handsome but hurting musician enter the picture, the summer takes on a whole new dimension. As their lives intersect and entwine, can each learn how to forgive, how to let go, and how to move on? And strengthened by the healing power of faith, might they also find the courage to love?

With her trademark compelling characters and heartwarming hope, fan favorite Irene Hannon offers her readers an inspiring true-to-life tale of complex family relationships, transgressions revealed and forgiven, and the complicated process of finding love.

I have enjoyed everything I've read by Irene Hannon.  Her way with suspense is fantastic.  Her newest story however, isn't suspenseful.  Instead, it's a thoughtful, family-themed romance novel.  I loved these characters, I loved seeing them grow and change.  Being one of 4 daughters in my family, I can relate to Karen and Val in many ways.  Some of us aren't as close as we are with the others and we've had our share of sibling conflicts, but we love each other.  Fortunately we don't have a mother like Margaret who was cold and withdrawn and pitted one daughter against the other.  Margaret never redeemed herself to me, even when I learned her history, but she certainly softened a bit toward her daughters which was nice.

The story is richest with Karen and Val's interactions and I loved how their relationship changed and how they came to understand one another.  There really is nothing like a sister to talk to and confide in and I loved the sisters' relationship.

Irene touches on themes of divorce, infidelity and abortion and does so in a remarkably sensitive manner.  The Christian elements are strong and there is much talk of faith and forgiveness.  Everything wraps up neatly but in a heart-warming way that just makes you smile.

Available June 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. Thanks to Donna at Baker Publishing for the opportunity to review this novel.  You can learn more about Irene Hannon here. You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 6/13

* * * *
4 Stars

Booking Through Thursday...Choosing

What makes you choose the books you read? Genre? Reviews? Certain authors? Covers? Recommendations?

It's a combination of factors, really.

I have favorite authors whom I will always read.  I have genres I avoid in general. I rely a lot on recommendations and reviews.  I have my reading lists where I keep track of the books I want to read.

I will admit that covers have a big play in that.  Namely because it's so easy to spot a self-published book just by the cover and self-published books are usually not well edited and frustrate me more than entertain me.  Covers that are attractive will pull me in and then a really well written blurb helps.

What about you?

Go here for more BTT posts.

Simply Delicious Amish Cooking...Review

About the book:
Unbeknownst to many folks outside the Amish Mennonite population in America, Pinecraft, Florida---a village tucked away in the heart of Sarasota---is the vacation paradise of the Plain People. Unlike any other Plain community in the world, this village is a virtual melting pot of Amish and Mennonites from around the world, intermingled with people, like author Sherry Gore's family, who live there year-round. Gore has put together a cookbook that represents the people who make Pinecraft unique.

With hundreds of easy-to-prepare recipes, 16 full-color photographs and black-and-white photographs throughout, this cookbook includes traditional favorites such as Sweet Potato Sweet Mash and Mrs. Byler's Glazed Donuts, as well as Florida favorites including Fried Alligator Nuggets, Grilled Lime Fish Fillets, and Strawberry Mango Smoothies. Interspersed with the recipes are true-life stories about births, engagements, weddings, deaths, funerals, celebrations, wildlife encounters, and accidents told through years of Sherry's Letters from Home column published in The Budget, the Amish newspaper. This delightful cookbook offers readers a faith-based, family-focused perspective of the simple way of life of the Plain People. It is truly a breath of fresh air from Sarasota, Florida!

Simply Delicious Amish Cooking is as interesting a book to read as it is a cookbook. Sherry Gore of Pinecraft, Florida has compiled a wonderful, easy to use cookbook with recipes gleaned from family and friends.  It's very much like an old-time church or community cookbook.  Interspersed with the recipes are thoughts and anecdotes and true life tidbits from those who have shared recipes.

I love the spiral binding that allows the book to truly lay flat, but also has ease of turning.

Some recipes, not all, have serving sizes. I wish every recipe did. There are no photos for each recipe although there are a couple of color plates with selected recipe photos.  The index is nice with categories for meals: Appetizers, Main Dish, Desserts, etc.  It is also indexed by main ingredients: poultry, beef, pasta, etc.

This is isn't a cookbook for healthy or clean eaters, but it is a down home cookbook.  Chances are most ingredients are already in your pantry.  The recipes aren't fancy and they're written by experienced cooks, so some instructions may seem lacking in detail.

I baked Lisa's Brown Bread which was fantastic and makes the most delicious toast.  I also made the Hand-Breaded Pork Chops and Creamy Country Gravy, which also received rave reviews from my husband.  You can see those recipes on my cooking blog.

Thanks to BookSneeze for the opportunity to review this book. You can learn more about Sherry Gore here. You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 5/13

* * * *
5/5 Stars

A Season of Mysteries...Review

About the book:
Some may think the ability to recall entire conversations verbatim is a remarkable gift. But to fifty-year-old Dr. Richard Powell, it is a disruptive burden. He is being haunted by words. The words take him back to 1976, to the unforgettable summer when he and his friends of Boy Scout Troup 44 first witness an epic conflict between good and evil.

Faith was relatively new to Zack, Donnie, Skeeter, and the other boys who had played together on the 1971 champion Little League team. That baseball season was forever imprinted on their souls, due in large part to the life-changing actions of a boy named Rafer. But this summer, they would discover the real depth of their souls and the dangerous influences battling for control of their lives.

A follow-up to Whitener's acclaimed debut novel, A Season of Mysteries takes readers back to a time between the innocence of childhood and the uncertainty of teenage years; where girls, studies, and life's bigger issues become a reality. With the same gripping prose that made Whitener an award-winning screenplay writer, A Season of Mysteries explores the seen and unseen spiritual powers at work and the Ultimate Power who controls it all.

I loved Rusty Whitener's debut novel, A Season of Miracles.  I loved it.  It was heartwarming and inspiring. When I learned he'd written a sequel, I was excited to read it.

The book takes place about 40 years after the first one.  And nearly all of my favorite characters from Miracles return as well as some new ones. Now a professor, a chance encounter with another scholar causes Richard Powell to flash back to 1976 and remember the summer he and his friends discovered that evil really does exist in the world.

The author has taken a scriptural premise for the book: that demons, or fallen angels live among us and their only desire is to destroy you. Whether that interpretation is accurate or not has long been a topic for religious discussion and argument. In A Season of Mysteries however, Richard and his friends discover this spiritual warfare in a very real way.  As teenage boys, they are impressionable in many ways, good and bad.  Their interests are sports and girls and for some, new found faith in Christ. New friends test that belief and the boys come away stronger.

I can't pinpoint what it is about this novel that was so unsettling to me.  It just wasn't one I particularly enjoyed although the writing is fantastic.  Rusty Whitener has a way with words that is lyrical and almost magical.  The characters were memorable and likeable.  They still play baseball.  It's a great coming of age novel.  But, it's one that just didn't sit well with me.

Thanks to Kregel Publications for the opportunity to review this book. You can learn more about Rusty Whitener here. You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 6/13

* *
2/5 Stars

Mailbox Monday 6/3

It's time for another Mailbox Monday which was created by Marcia at The Printed Page, and this month is hosted by Bellezza of Dolce Bellezza.

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week... Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish list

This is what showed up at my house last week.

The Movement of Stars  by Amy Brill (for review, from Penguin)

The Last Camellia by Sarah Jio (for review, from TLC Book Tours)

-----------------------------------

What new books did you receive?  For more Mailbox Monday posts, check out Dolce Bellezza.

Doctor Who: Last of the Gadarene...Review by the Doctor

About the book:
'My name is Bliss,' said the newcomer, 'and I bring great news for you all!'

The new owners of a Second World War aerodrome promise a golden dawn of prosperity for the East Anglian village of Culverton. The population rejoices - with one or two exceptions. Former Spitfire pilot Alec Whistler knows the aerodrome of old, having found a strange, jade-coloured crystal there years before...

When black-shirted troops appear on the streets, Whistler takes his suspicions to his old friend Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. The Doctor and Jo are sent to investigate and soon discover that all is not well in the seemingly idyllic village.

What are the black coffin-like objects being unloaded at the aerodrome? What horror lies behind Legion International's impeccable facade? And what is the monstrous creature growing and mutating in the marsh?

As Culverton gears up for its summer fete, the Doctor finds himself involved in a race against time to prevent a massive colonisation of Earth. For the last of the Gaderene are on their way...

I can honestly say that the third Doctor, amazingly portrayed by John Pertwee, really was my first Doctor. I have vague recollections of watching the last story in which the third Doctor, receiving a fatal dose of radiation, regenerates into the fourth Doctor. I remember being terrified at the spiders, and haunted watching the third Doctor struggle and fight for life.

So imagine my joy when I got to review a book about my very first Doctor, written by Mark Gatiss. If you are unfamiliar with who Mark Gatiss is, go and watch Sherlock, and also watch some of the Doctor Who episodes that were written by him.

I honestly felt like a little kid who had not only managed to find a candy jar, but empty it, put it back on the shelf and have no one notice.

Over the years, the storytelling in Doctor Who has changed, and yet each of the episodes has a familiar flow and timing. The Last of the Gaderene is so well-written and so perfectly balanced that it could easily have been plucked from the early 1970s. The characterizations are fantastic, both in the Doctor, his companion Jo, and the supporting cast of Unit members. Even the non-repeating characters are well-written, with a personality that just flows off the page. I will not spoil your enjoyment by giving away too much of the story, but this is one of those times where, as a child, you would watch the screen, and all of a sudden some creature or some person would be revealed, and your first thought would be ‘damn it – it’s……. again’.

I am grateful to Mark Gatiss for writing such a fantastic story, and for giving me a trip back to my childhood. They say you can never go home again, but in reading this I was back to being a 12-year-old boy sitting in my bedroom with the new Doctor Who book, oblivious to the world, and enthralled as once again the Doctor took me places and expanded my mind in ways that nobody else can, or ever will.

Thanks to Lisa at TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to review this book. Because it's the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, the BBC is reissuing eleven classic Doctor Who novels.  One for each Doctor. You can learn more about Mark Gatiss here. You can see other reviews and tour stops here. You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 5/13

* * * * *
5/13

Monday, May 13th  A Bookish Way of Life – Beautiful Chaos, Book 10
Wednesday, May 15th - A Library of My Own – Festival of Death, Book 4
Monday, May 20th – Tiffany’s Bookshelf – Dreams of Empire, Book 2
Monday, May 20th – Black ‘n Gold Girl’s Book Spot  - Who-ology: Doctor Who: The Official Miscellany 
Tuesday, May 21st – No More Grumpy Bookseller – Only Human, Book 9
Wednesday, May 22nd – The Best Books Ever – Earthworld, Book 8
Wednesday, May 22nd - Col Reads – Ten Little Aliens, Book 1
Thursday, May 23rd – Reading Reality – Festival of Death, Book 4 
Friday, May 24th –  The Z Axis – Fear of the Dark, Book 5
Friday, May 24th – 2 Kids and Tired – Dreams of Empire, Book 2
Monday, May 27th - More Than Just Magic – Players, Book 6
Tuesday, May 28th – The Best Books Ever – The Silent Stars Go By, Book 11
Tuesday, May 28th – Bookish Ruth – Remembrance of the Daleks, Book 7 
Wed, May 29th – A Library of My Own – Only Human, Book 9 
Thursday, May 30th – Black ‘n Gold Girl’s Book Spot – Last of the Gaderene, Book 3 
Friday, May 31st – Bookish Whimsy – Beautiful Chaos, Book 10
Friday, May 31st - 2 Kids and Tired – Last of the Gaderene, Book 3
Monday, June 3rd – Book Addict Katie – Beautiful Chaos, Book 10 
Monday, June 3rd – No More Grumpy Bookseller – The Silent Stars Go By, Book 11 
Tuesday, June 4th - Bookfoolery – Ten Little Aliens, Book 1
Tuesday, June 4th – In Bed with Books – Only Human, Book 9
Wednesday, June 5th - Tiffany’s Bookshelf – Last of the Gaderene, Book 3
Thursday, June 6th – Booktalk & More – Earthworld, Book 8 
Friday, June 7th –  Speaking of Books – Players, Book 6
Monday, June 10th  - The Z Axis – The Silent Stars Go By, Book 11 
Tuesday, June 11th- No More Grumpy Bookseller – Remembrance of the Daleks, Book 7
Wednesday, June 12th – A Bookish Way of Life – Last of the Gaderene, Book 3
Thursday, June 13th - Speaking of Books – Fear of the Dark, Book 5 
Friday, June 14th – Bookish Whimsy – Festival of Death, Book 4 
Monday, June 17th – 50 Books Project – Beautiful Chaos, Book 10
Monday, June 17th – Black ‘n Gold Girl’s Book Spot – The Silent Stars Go By, Book 11
Tuesday, June 18th – Bookfoolery – Festival of Death, Book 4 
Wednesday, June 19th – Tiffany’s Bookshelf – Fear of the Dark, Book 5 
Thursday, June 20th – In Bed With Books – Remembrance of the Daleks, Book 7 
Friday, June 21st – Speaking of Books – Only Human, Book 9 
Monday, June 24th – Bookish Whimsy – Players, Book 6
Tuesday, June 25th – Book Addict Katie – Festival of Death, Book 4 
Wednesday, June 26th – No More Grumpy Bookseller – Earthworld, Book 8
Thursday, June 27th – Reading Reality – Ten Little Aliens, Book 1
Friday, June 28th:  Guiltless Reading – Beautiful Chaos, Book 10  
Monday, July 1st – 50 Books Project – Dreams of Empire, Book 2
Date TBD– Diary of a Stay at Home Mom – The Silent Stars Go By, Book 11

If bookworms ruled the world...

Pinterest.

Hillbilly Heart...Review

About the book:
Billy Ray Cyrus is an award-winning country music legend whose “Achy Breaky Heart” propelled his debut album, Some Gave All, to the top of the charts for a record-breaking seventeen weeks. He’s also father of Miley Cyrus, one of Hollywood’s most successful young stars, who grew up on stage and on screen, most famously as the lead on the Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana,” where Billy Ray Cyrus played her father. But sometimes the truth is even better than fiction. Now, for the first time, fans can read about Cyrus’s tenacious and inspiring struggle to find his own way to faith, family, and the power of music.

Hillbilly Heart opens during Cyrus’s turbulent childhood in Kentucky, where he sought refuge in music and sports after his parents’ divorce. He was a troublemaker in training, known more for pulling pranks than for following in his preacher grandfather’s much-vaunted footsteps. But when he heard a voice telling him to get a left-handed guitar and start a band, this rebel found his cause. Ten years later, after tirelessly working the club circuit and knocking on the closed doors of music executives from Nashville to Los Angeles, Cyrus finally made a stratospheric breakthrough, becoming a multi-platinum selling artist and taking his rock-and-roll twist on country music to the world’s stage.

Cyrus fans have always been able to piece together the details of his life through his lyrics—the ups and downs, adventures and disappointments—but Hillbilly Heart gives them a front row seat for his most candid performance ever.

In his memoir, Billy Ray Cyrus talks about his life and his story, mostly in chronological order. He name drops, but only because a particular celebrity was a part of whatever experience or event he is talking about, not because he wanted to fill his book with celebrity names.  He shares his belief that he was guided by the voices of God and others who had died before and who told him where to go and what to do. He is open about his faith, his flaws and his failures and he is also honest about how he got to where is today and why he made the decisions he did.  Billy Ray is proud of his children as any father should be and because he and Miley acted together on Hannah Montana, there is quite a bit about Miley in the book, although I think it was published before she started making some interesting life choices herself.

This isn't flowery or even very well written, but it's honest and straight-forward and interesting.

Thanks to Amazon Vine for the opportunity to review this book.  You can learn more about Billy Ray Cyrus here. You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 5/13

* * *
3/5 Stars

Problems of a Book Nerd

Image: Problems of a Book Nerd.

Truth. I always have a book with me.