Category: Kindle



Black BeautyBlack Beauty by Anna Sewell

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Yes, I did go through that phase as a pre-teen, when I read every book about horses possible. Black Beauty was an important part of that literary diet. I loved it then. But how would that translate to my old-lady brain? It was better!

The Amazon page says it is for kids 9-12. That may have been so a generation ago, but now the vocabulary and historical references don’t play out quite as well. In a well-structured class program, it could be a great lesson plan anchor to cover history, equines, medicine, weather and many other subject-matter for an all inclusive study. The best is the lessons of kindness. This is a lesson that covers all generations and all religions or philosophies. And we here it all from the horse’s mouth. Animals understand kindness.

Peter Batchelor was the narrator in this version of the story. I was lucky to pick up the Kindle version from Kindle Unlimited and for a tiny fee I got the Whispersync Audible narration. He did a marvelous job bringing all the characters to life. I highly recommend that everyone read this classic!

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Death Scream: A Descent Short (Descent, #0.7)Death Scream: A Descent Short by S.M. Reine

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, that was a quick read. I guess this is the only way I like short stories. I already know the main characters and how this world works. Instead, this was a fun extra ride. Elise and James in Ireland.

Still, I think it was too short as I wanted to see what happens next.

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Fever 1793Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I finished this masterpiece a couple of days ago. It was part of my anti-depression about my husband being in the hospital while I was home with fibro-flare. In this case, I would say misery loves company. Or… at least things aren’t as bad as it was then.

This was a birthday present from me–to me! I had picked up the whispersync for voice also so I was able to listen to Emily Bergl’s narration. I have to admit she is not my favorite narrator. But once she was into the story I felt drawn in and forgot that there was a narrator.

Laurie Halse Anderson always amazes me with her works. This book is no exception. Wow! The amount of research that she dug through to write this fiction is overwhelming! This is based on a real epidemic that happened just a few years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Yellow Fever takes over. But no one knows yet that it is due to the mosquitoes. Medicine was still in its infancy. Through Ms. Anderson, we get to see what could have happened to a young girl, her family and her community.

Okay. Confession time. I have never been a history buff. I did have a fabulous professor in college that made me appreciate it a bit. That class was when I was in my forties. So imagine how long it was that I hated history. I think with books like this I might have been able to relate to historical events as a middle grader on. This younger generation is so lucky to have such writers as Laurie Halse Anderson!

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Special Offers (Coursodon Dimension, #1)Special Offers by M.L. Ryan

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked up this fun book through BookCrossing dot com. I put off reading it for a long, long time. Why? The title and the cover. Even the blurb didn’t make me want to read it. But I am so glad I finally did!

It is only vaguely about Special Offers. What it is is a humorous paranormal story. When I started reading it I couldn’t stop. I needed something light to read as my husband was in the hospital and I was in the middle of a fibro-flare. So I couldn’t be at the hospital with him. Instead, I started this book. What a joy!

The characters M.L. Ryan invented were wonderful. Haily, the main character, is quirky and fun. She isn’t a hopeless romantic, she is practical and has a sharp wit. That romance happens in the deal is felt as rather coincidental. The rest is quite the adventure!

Even though I picked this up from BookCrossing, I want you to know it is free for Kindle on Amazon right now. I recommend it for adults, as there are a couple scenes that might be too racy for young adults. I picked up another copy so I could read it in my other readers when I feel the need of the fun ride again.

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The Paying GuestsThe Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think I have found my favorite author, Sarah Waters. I was so thrilled with Fingersmith that I couldn’t wait to read something else by her. The Paying Guest lived up to my expectations. Too bad Ms. Waters wasn’t one of the required reading homework of my high school. She is a classical writer. I think she could rewrite ANY of the old classics and make them so much more relatable.

Juliet Stevenson narrated this story with class and character. I could listen to her reading forever. She added depth to my experience; giving each character a tone and feel so you knew who was talking or whose point of view you were in.

There is so much intrigue in this book. I couldn’t stop reading. I just wanted to know what happens next. That was why I didn’t do much else yesterday but read. I want to say other things, but I don’t want to be spoiling the story for others. Just amazing! That’s all I can say. Amazing!

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TracksTracks by Robyn Davidson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, how I hated to see the end of this story. I absolutely loved it! I was lucky enough to pick it up on Kindle Unlimited. Then I saw that there was an Audible version. I bought that. I’m glad I did. I loved listening to Angie Milliken tell me the story. Even though the KU went back to Amazon, I still have the story to listen to again, later.

When I was a girl, at the zoo, I was talking to a camel and he spit at me. Yuck! I hated camels ever since. But between Robyn Davidson’s story and Angie Milliken’s voice I wish I could be around camels, make friends with them.

This is the first book in a long time that I didn’t try to fast forward. There’s no speed reading about a trek across Australia. It was a long hike. I wanted to relish every word of it. If I can’t do the trek myself I will absorb the experience vicariously.

Being alone, Robyn shared her inner conflicts along the track. These were worries about the world in general or psychological problems. Both were discussed with frankness. She alternately shared wonders of Australia’s splendor or the barren rottenness, left overs of the non-ecologically sound non-natives. All the while keeping up with her four camels and her dog.

Shoot! This review doesn’t go near the wonder I felt as I read and listened to it. If you get the chance, please pick of a copy for yourself. I look forward to seeing the movie!

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The Exemeus (The Exemeus, #1)The Exemeus by Folami Morris

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked up this e-book about two years ago from BookRooster.com I’m glad I finally gave it a shot. This was a fun ride.

It starts in a dystopian future when a nerd, forever the recipient of the wedgies and other tricks of the bullies. It doesn’t take long to like this kid. In spite of himself, he is a smart yet patient young man.

Without going into spoilers… hmmm…how to do this? Well, he ends up with a journal that his mother kept back in our days. Through this and a few other happenings, we see how much he is like his mother and we watched his magic bloom.

Well, that didn’t give anything away, but it doesn’t seem all that exciting. But it was! I really loved the characters, even the bad guys. They were all well fleshed out. The plot was an interesting take on the dried up meme of dystopia.

When I get new books that aren’t from Amazon I usually download them to my Moon Reader Pro where I can read along with text-to-speech. That way I don’t need a light like I do for my older generation Kindles. MRP is backlit like the Kindle app on my Tablet or on the Fire. It was a very fast read. I was sucked in right from the beginning and didn’t want to let it go until the end. Sleep and other needs got in the way of the read.

There is to be a book two. I can’t wait to read it. I didn’t feel this book left me with a cliffhanger. We know how THOSE bug me! I guess the only reason I didn’t give it five stars is because there were places that I felt there were holes in the story, that things had been left out with little segue between parts. I managed to pick up the threads but felt unnerved by how it was done.

By the way, It is now $.99 on Amazon for the Kindle version. Not bad for a great bit of entertainment!

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Pride and PrejudicePride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

To my English teachers and friends who have raved that I should read this. Check. Done! My grade for this book is a C- and that was with the help of Carolyn Seymour, the narrator. Glad I read it so I could say I did, but I was not wowed like others.

I couldn’t have gotten into it as a tree book, even on Kindle with text-to-speech I couldn’t get there. Though the reader did add a lot to the experience, in the beginning, I’m afraid there was no help.

The first half of the book seemed centered around bickering, gossip, and how women of the time could climb the status ladder. Ms. Seymour’s varied voices just made that part even more irritating. I felt sorry for the reader as there was no way to vary the voices enough within that family of females. Lizzy and Jane’s father was probably easy to do. And the voice of Darcy felt unique. But other than those voices, I couldn’t tell whose voice belonged to whom.

As for the book itself, I felt that the real book started about 3/4 in. That’s where it all started to get exciting. I suddenly cared for a few people. It may be that the passive voice that seems to live in most so-called classics that made this less than wonderful. I plan to watch a couple versions of the movie next. Then there are possible book two by more recent authors. And… I’m not done with Jane Austen. I do plan to read them all, somehow. After all, these follow my main goal of reading books by females with strong female leads.

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Amazon Discusses Kindle Unlimited & Kindle Select Stats.


Off the Beaten Page: The Best Trips for Lit Lovers, Book Clubs, and Girls on GetawaysOff the Beaten Page: The Best Trips for Lit Lovers, Book Clubs, and Girls on Getaways by Terri Peterson Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Truth? I didn’t finish reading this book. Not because it is horrid. Mostly because this would make a great research book to have around. It is mostly for book clubs or groups that like to relate their travel to their reading. There are many pages of books dedicated to certain states or cities. There are pages of itineraries to follow. And there are pages dedicated to setting up groups that travel ‘by the book’.

I highly recommend it to those who can travel and would like to set up a group just for that way of seeing the world. I will try to put it on my wishlists for the hardback version so that I can make notes and research the books for the local areas. And who knows? I may be able someday to do some traveling beyond my own neighborhood. 🙂

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