Category: Books


Review: The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

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November 4, 2016

The Girl BeforeThe Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you, NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for a review.

This book takes the concept of perfection into the realm of scary and bloody. Take that as my word of warning. Do you read a lot of books about clutter and minimalism? Well, the home in this story is dedicated to that kind of lifestyle. But in the end, it does get messy. No, I will say no more. Spoilers!

I shouldn’t have pushed myself to read the last part of the book before trying to go to sleep. I don’t like mysteries, or suspense or thrillers. Still, the concepts presented in the book blurb had me curious.

The main characters are the renters of this special house broken into chapters that are titled: Then: Emma and Now: Jane. Then wasn’t that long ago as they had cell phones. That gives a clue to the reader. We are given the opportunity to live through each point of view. The characters are well-developed and I found myself SEEING everything that was happening. The author was great at describing everything. I nearly found myself huffing and puffing as the characters climbed the stairs or clean the home to perfection as per agreement.

I am giving this four stars. Not because I liked it so much, but because I don’t think I will ever forget it. I think that means the author did her job well. If you like thrillers, this one is for you!

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Review: An introduction to take Body Measurement by Moyo Abikoye

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October 30, 2016

An introduction to take Body MeasurementAn introduction to take Body Measurement by Moyo Abikoye

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I nearly forgot to make a review of this book. It is a very quick read but a marvelous reference if you are a sewer and like to make your own clothes. I did learn about things I often forget to measure when buying a pattern or even making my own patterns. I will be keeping this handy when I get back into sewing again.

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Review: A Looming Lady by Pamela Murrey

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A Looming LadyA Looming Lady by Pamela Murrey

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I belong to a wonderful little group who makes hats for cancer patients, preemies, the homeless, and many other who need warmth and comfort. Before I started with the group I could crochet fairly well and had knitted a few scarves and slippers. I had bought the Knifty Knitter sets when I worked at JoAnn’s a while back. But I didn’t know how to use them. Carol, the chairman of our group, taught me how to use the knitting looms and I have become addicted to loom knitting. I scour the internet for new patterns.

That is how I found this gem. Most of the patterns in this book are easy beginner projects that didn’t fit what I want to make but I think novice knitters would like to try some of these. Notice I didn’t say women. Many men are finding the joy of making things with these looms. In fact, we have a guy in our group who makes many hats and gives us advice in our knitting pursuits. He is also a liaison to vets in need.

But this book is better than just a pattern book. It is a story of a homeless person who learned to use the looms. If you are involved in helping by making hats, this book personalizes recipients. Many people see the homeless as takers and leeches on society. They think that all homeless are out for drugs, in general, worthless beings. For those of us who have known folks who have been there, or almost were there, we know misfortune can happen to anyone and those without connections to help out of their plight are the most susceptible. This story gives us one example of a person as she tries to find her way out. Not everyone is as lucky as she becomes, even though that luck doesn’t seem good to her in any way. We get to see her growth. I loved the story.

Though I am on SS myself, the donated yarn gives me a chance to learn more about my obsession, while making comfort items for folks who need them. If you have the same obsession, this book may ring true for you. Even if you haven’t found your way to actually making loom hats, this story may open your eyes to the plights of the homeless.

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Review: Forgotten Women by Freda Lightfoot

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Forgotten WomenForgotten Women by Freda Lightfoot

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book free of charge from NetGalley.

Historical fiction is usually the best way for me to pay attention to history. Take a historical event and make it more real by putting characters I like into the story. That is not to say there weren’t real characters I would care for in the real event. But since I wasn’t there then, I don’t know characters who were.

In this case, I have to admit to not having a clue about the involvement of the British helping in Spain. Most of the history given to US students in my day was about dates and famous men. Yawn. Maybe teachers should take note to Freda Lightfoot’s method of letting us know about the women who helped all the people regardless of politics.

My only problem was that I didn’t care much for most of the characters until near the end. There wasn’t a strong urge to see how the painting had anything to do with the rich lady or the crazy hormones floating around the young people who started out with only the desire to help.

Still, there was enough story, or draw, that I kept reading. I remember! It was the feminist thread. It was nice to see that there were some who thought women could do anything that men could do. That women artist could paint as well as their male counterpart, etc.

I just couldn’t fall in love with the characters. Hopefully, other readers will like it more.

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Review: Life After Coffee by Virginia Franken

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Life After CoffeeLife After Coffee by Virginia Franken

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I want to thank NetGalley for letting me read this book. I liked the title and the premise of the story.

If you are under 45 this may be the book for you. Being a child of the 60s and the era of bra-burning, I was excited to see a book about a reversal of roles. Stay-at-home dad, mom travels for a high paying job. But I didn’t much like the characters. The dad seems the abandon the parenting job when the wife needs him to step up. She is left floundering with a couple young children after losing her job. She makes a lot of bad choices while her husband won’t see that his ‘back-up-plan’ won’t keep the family feed.

Look, I am glad we are in an era where this kind of story can be told and most of the reviewers LOVE it. The feminist in me is SO happy. But the humanist in me is still not satisfied with most of this story. I do love that the author researched about the finding and securing good coffee for the Starbuck’s obsessed. But for me, a tea-drinker, the story ended where I wanted it to start.

Still, I am giving this four stars for being modern and different. But YOU may just LOVE it.

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Review: Faithful by Alice Hoffman

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October 25, 2016

FaithfulFaithful by Alice Hoffman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge from NetGalley dot com.

I read another book by Alice Hoffman, The Red Garden, and was very impressed. So when I saw this one offered for review I jumped at the chance. It was an ARC or Uncorrected Proof but when you get these from NetGalley it is hard to see the errors. At least, it’s that way for me. With most of the freebies I pick up through One Hundred Free Books, and the like, there are plenty of mistakes that even I can see. Sometimes there are so many I can’t get into the story. If the story is fantastic I can never see them. And this book hid the errors in a terrific story.

Okay. At first, I didn’t like the main character. Nearly stopped reading for her self-pity and hateful ways. But she grows on ya. Maybe that is because there is a line of characters that support and fill up the story. True, nearly killing yourself and best friend, knocking the friend into a permanent coma, would be hard to walk away from. One would think a person might learn that the negative behaviors didn’t help. But I don’t know how I would handle it all. I’m not a young person anymore. Hormones aren’t raging and I’ve seen my share of life. So who am I to judge this girl? So I did as I suggest other readers do, stick with it, get past it. She’ll grow on you. It was a great story. I’m glad I read it. Alice Hoffman is a fantastic writer!

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Review: Daksha the Medicine Girl by Gita V. Reddy

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October 4, 2016

Daksha the Medicine GirlDaksha the Medicine Girl by Gita V. Reddy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I was given this book by the author for an honest review.

Sorry it took so long for me to write this review. See my review for Soul Slam to find out why (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show…).

I read this book in one evening quite a while ago. I remember enjoying it a lot. I loved learning about the main character, Daksha and her life. When you live in a society that is busy with it’s own goals of education and modern medicine, it is easy to forget that others have been living with herbal medicines and more holistic ways of living than we are used to. And they have survived centuries like that. So when we read about a young girl who apprentices for the local medicine man and finds this is her passion of life, it may seem a bit off. But we grow to love and understand her and her way of life.

The part I didn’t like was how the story was over before it had a chance to follow her next steps. I wanted to know more about her learning to read and getting that kind of education and how she might have taught others how to integrate her type of medicine with others we might have grown up with. Just a thought. I almost think this could be a series. I loved that it was centered around a girl. I just want more.

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Review (and life): Soul Slam by Allie Burton

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Soul Slam (Soul Warriors #1)Soul Slam by Allie Burton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: A few months ago I was asked to read this little treasure for an honest review.

For my own future reference, and for those who might care, I have been busy. I actually finished reading this weeks ago. But here’s my day: Get up, breakfast. Work on DuoLingo Spanish and then German. That lasts about three hours. Then I research Loom Knitting ideas for the Hats I want to work on or my work in process. I finish about one hat a day unless I get into a complicated pattern or make mistakes I have to ‘tink’ (knit backward–unknit) or frog (completely unravel to start again). The hats and gloves and scarves are for charity and I love doing them. I feel I am doing something useful with my life while doing them. AND I can distract myself from the fibro pain.

The rest is watching shows with my hubby while continuing knitting. So my reading time is late at night. That has drastically reduced my reading and writing review time. After I get into a swing of things I might find more reading time while working on easy patterns.

AND I’m getting excited because friends are coming to visit and I want to decorate for Hallowgivingsmas as I know once we are dead into winter no one will be able to navigate the icy roads to see us.

And while none of this has to do with this sweet/fun book, I will need to know later how it was that I put off writing a review for so long.

Now on to the book: It was fun. I would have loved to read this as a preteen or teen. What I really liked was that though the main character is a female, I think this would be a great read for guys, too. The fun part was watching this girl deal with the male being that takes over her soul. King Tut was supposed to take over a young male but circumstances have it to where the poor girl is in the wrong place at the right time. Then farts and spitting become a part of her being, even while she tries to deal with new love.

The other thing I love is that this story takes place in San Francisco with most important things happening in the tourist attractions we all know and love. It is easy to picture the adventure happening on the Golden Gate Bridge or Fisherman’s Wharf, or Lombard Street. It makes the story that much more fun. But even if you haven’t been to SF, the author does a good enough job describing the area as it fits into the story.

Please give this a read and share with the young people you know. You will have a lot of fun! I’m glad I had the chance!

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Review:Any Loom, Any Hat, Any Time: Loom Knitting Hats by Scarlett Royale

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September 22, 2016

Any Loom, Any Hat, Any Time: Loom Knitting HatsAny Loom, Any Hat, Any Time: Loom Knitting Hats by Scarlett Royale

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I don’t usually buy books. I especially don’t spend over a couple dollars. But this one is not only worth the $9.99 I paid, I am hoping to get the paper version for even more. Meanwhile, I loved all the patterns so much I had to write them in my notebook (with proper attributions, of course) so I could work on these without my overheating laptop open.

I love how the author shares the formula for translating these patterns to smaller or larger looms. That is something I have always tried to do, see how to adapt patterns. But the formula Ms. Royale shares is so simple, and it works.

These patterns were well written and I finally chose the one I would use as my first from her book. The beret. She makes hers on the green (36 pegs) loom. I have a new, larger (48 pegs) size from CinDLooms that I used Scarlett’s formula on. IT WORKED! The hat was a good size to fit over my ponytailed hair so I think it will be a nice hat for someone who needs it.

If you have trouble interpreting the patterns and/or the formula, Ms. Royale has links in the book that lead to YouTube demonstrations to guide you through. For the most part, the tutorial helped me. May I put in here that I did have trouble seeing what I needed to see in the part where you need to do the Kitchener stitch. It seemed the camera didn’t show it up well and I finally gave up and just sewed the bits together. I would love Scarlett to do a separate tutorial of this stitch. I think another kind of formula would help. I kept looking around the webs for something that showed it better. Nope. didn’t find it. I wanted a written version that might say bottom down, top down, second peg upper up, first peg lower up, etc. That was about when I got lost. I attempted the whole thing, several times but it didn’t follow. But all in all, I was happy with the results and can’t wait to try it again on a smaller loom.

And, I can’t wait to try other patterns in the book. I will be buying more of Scarlett Royale’s books! BTW, here is the link to my Ravelry page with the hat I made: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Darra…

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Review: The BFG by Roald Dahl

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August 28, 2016

The BFGThe BFG by Roald Dahl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I read a children’s book, I try to imagine what kind of read-aloud experience it would be for me and my children when they were small. My review reflects that scenario.

But first… this was a tree book. When I was younger I wouldn’t have found the font difficult. But I could only read a few pages at a time now. Thank goodness for the smaller paragraphs and pictures.
Pictures! Why don’t adult books have pictures? Even simple ones like in this book are such a blessing to tired eyes and an inspiration to the inner artist. But I don’t think the pictures would have won my young critics hearts.

The story, on the other hand, would have been a tough bedtime read. Thinking of how comical it would have been for Mom to be reading the words of the giant. Word of warning to parents about to try that, READ AHEAD. That way you can pronounce the words silently before exposing innocent ears to words you didn’t mean to say. No, the Giant’s words are all G-rated. But there are tongue twisters I know I would have fallen for. I can see my kids now rolling on the floor laughing at Mom for the mistakes.

Some say this story is scary. I suppose that may be true but my children would have been delighted.
The child, Sophie, and the Big Friendly Giant were great characters. The bigger giants were scary but the reader feels protected by the intelligence and common sense of BFG and Sophie.

I wish, though, that the bad giants were given a chance to show they could learn to be good. All in all, this was a fun book that I was glad I got to read. Now I can watch the movie!

By the way, I want to thank Julie at our library for picking this up for me. Yay! Librarians!

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