Category: Kindle



Wind and SilkWind and Silk by Alice Ivinya
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My friend wrote a lovely review of this book. I went to Amazon and saw the Kindle version was only $.99, so I picked it up. Today I found myself in need of a distraction. We were on a bus on the way to the ophthalmologist. Though the drive isn’t as bad for me as it used to be, this bus was killing me. This bus enhanced every bump in the road. So I went looking for a distraction. Since I didn’t have Kindle downloaded on my phone, I found my music on Spotify to get me by. I downloaded the Kindle at the next wifi spot so I would have something to read on the way home.

I found listening difficult with the bus noise, so I hoped reading would work for my newly decataracted eyes. Guess what? I read a whole book without text-to-speech or Audible! Okay, it isn’t very long. I finished it on the way home (less than two hours).

So I got to go to the land of dragons. I assume it was Japan. The main character was being married off for family prestige in the way it used to be, and let’s hope not coming back around. But will Fangying’s disabilities hold her back? Will her new husband beat her?

The story is gracefully told. I found it just what I needed for the painful drive. And I am so happy to have read, with my eyes, a whole book! Fantastic magic and dragons, too!

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The Novice (Summoner, #1)The Novice by Taran Matharu
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This book was not my cup of tea. One of my best friends loved it, so don’t take this review to heart.

If you loved Wheel of Time, Lord of the Rings, etc. This book is for you. Those and this are too male-heavy and too similar that I just got bored. I never got into the main character. I never felt anything about him was worth my time.

But, please don’t take my word for it. It was a quick read that I borrowed from the Libby library app. The text-to-speech was enabled for those who like to listen to books as they do other things like artwork with their hands. So it was painless. Still, when it got to the preview of the next book, I didn’t care if the MC was alive or dead. I was ready to move on to a series more to my liking.

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What Comes AfterWhat Comes After by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, wow! I have never been so impressed with an actor and many writers as I felt reading this book. I wish I had read it before seeing the Negan comic books of this series. I might have been even more impressed to read first. That said, it leads me to give the most enormous kudos to Robert Kirkman for giving life to this universe!

This Walking Dead world that Kirkman birthed is amazing and asks so much of our society to examine. I often think that Mr. Kirkman was wise beyond his years. He seems to have human nature down to each of our kinds and how any society can become its own worst enemy by standing too hard on specific statutes while not paying attention to others. I see that in the news every day.

So the writers of the show have done everything they can to respect the author. It is hard, I’m sure, to move a story from page to people. But all along the way, all 18 issues of this comic, I see how well they do. And resounding praise for the handsome Jeffrey Dean Morgan. The comic Negan isn’t as stunning to look at, but, oh, my! Mr. Morgan has made the paper Negan come to life! I didn’t realize it before reading this book. I just saw the gorgeous man we all fell in love with on Grey’s Anatomy become with the same smile and demeanor an evil bastard you love to hate. He had every line of the comic book delivered in the same fashion. Just amazing.

If you get the chance to read these comics, please do. The Kindle version works better as I couldn’t see the text in the paper version. Kindle lets you enlarge everything. Details of the drawing are more precise. Wow! Just Wow!

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Thru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart: An Adventure on the Pacific Crest TrailThru-Hiking Will Break Your Heart: An Adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail by Carrot Quinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book will stay with me for a while. Erin Spencer (Narrator) made me feel like I was right there, on the trail, soaking wet or extremely tired. Sometimes a narrator is so good that you think it has to be the author as they seem to maintain the cadence of the written speech as if it were their own. It was fantastically done.

That means the writing was natural and felt genuine. This was a journal of sort of the hiker, Carrot Quinn. She was honest and told the good and the bad of her travels. There were times that I laughed out loud at what happened. And there were tears of seeing the incredible scenery and tears of hurt along the way.

I have to admit I want to do this. But it seems so far away from possible when just getting the dog and I out for our mile walk is tough. A windy day will keep us in. Rain is my dog’s least favorite. She won’t go out, yet I have the raincoat and boots and plenty of umbrellas. Snow is my favorite, but my dog can’t handle it very long, even with coat and pad coverings, so we walk around the yard. So much for my trek.

So it is fun to live vicariously through those who do the long hikes or marathons. Inspiration helps with daily life and gives hope for more.

I want to read this again soon.

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Through the Magic SunglassesThrough the Magic Sunglasses by Mariia Manko
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book gives the phrase “looking at the world through rose-colored glasses” a whole new meaning.

I picked up this book for free on Kindle Unlimited because of the blurb. Okay. I’ll share it.

“When Mariia storms out of her boyfriend’s Kyiv apartment forever, she has no idea what is awaiting her. She is handed a pair of ‘magic’ sunglasses by a mysterious cabdriver on her way to Berlin, and what begins as a journey to get over her breakup turns out to be the adventure of her life. The sunglasses become her secret helper, always showing her an escape route as Mariia is chased by a trio of rich, vindictive women who want a compromising flash drive back from her, going from Berlin to Düsseldorf to Paris and then on to Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah.
Combining urban fiction and self-help with a dashing tale of adventure, Mariia Manko’s Through the Magic Sunglasses is an enchanting story about independence, strength, and believing in yourself.”

And yes, it was an adventure. But the most challenging part for me was how the main character couldn’t stop thinking about her ex and get on with the magic she had been given. I think that was the part that ruined it for me. The rest of the book was fun. And it was upbeat and a bit of a self-help book.

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Apsara by Pearl Whitfield

Apsara by Pearl Whitfield

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I don’t often share the blurb, but since it isn’t on GoodReads, this is the one I found on Amazon:

“Apsara is the story of a young girl in a remote village in 12th century Cambodia who loves to dance. She is chosen to train as an Apsara for King Jayavarman VII. Apsaras dance to bring heaven to earth, blessing the land with prosperity. Bopha walks from her home to Angkor Wat, and begins a life she could never have imagined.”

I was so happy to pick this book up on Kindle Unlimited. That way, I could listen to the story in text-to-speech. As the author was writing it, I heard parts of the story. I often missed the chance to listen to more. That broke my heart. Still, I could hear the author’s voice in my head as I listened to the British representative of TTS. I would love to have this story on Audible so that the pronunciations of non-English words and names would be proper.

The story itself is so riveting. I had a hard time putting it down when it was time to sleep. Ms. Whitfield managed to keep the story interesting while throwing in the history, culture, language, religion, and dance of the people of 12th century Cambodia. I loved the main character, Bopha, and wish there was more. I’d love to know more about the teen twins and the daughter.



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A Passage in Time (A Thief in Time #7)A Passage in Time by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

How do you prove that your time machine works? Prove something exists, then vanish it by changing events. Then hand over proof. It’s more complicated than it sounds. In this case, no Disneyland is proof the time machine is working.

I love time travel books. They always make you think. Could this work, and what if it could? What would happen if…? This book fulfilled and kept my curiosity going. Because of the Disney monopoly, I had mixed feelings about reading a book about Walt and the beginnings. At the same time, though broke most of my life, our family did have some fun times at Disneyland. I would cry at the end of every Mickey Mouse Club and Wonderful World of Disney as a girl. So Disney impacted my life. Without those memories, how would I know if I didn’t have them? Maybe other memories would be as sweet?

And this book continues the adventures set up in previous A Thief In Time books. So you get to see how old friends are doing.

I highly recommend this and all Cidney Swanson series.

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The Beginners Method for Soprano and Alto Recorder, Book 1 (Hargail Performance Series)The Beginners Method for Soprano and Alto Recorder, Book 1 by Sonja Burakoff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked up the Kindle version of this book first. Later I ordered the paper version so I would have the book online or without electronic aid. I had a soprano recorder I was learning to play and decided to try the alto, too. I love how the book showed the fingering for both recorders and even combined to make duets that both recorders would play a part.

Every couple of pages, the book gives a new note or two. I am happy to say that I have played all the songs in the book, the soprano melody, and the alto melody. I am glad they were, for the most part, easily recognizable folk songs. That meant that this first go-round, I could concentrate on the fingering, which is far different from the piano that I’ve played all my life.

After a music hiatus, this book was the perfect way to get back in and enjoy music.

Though I have played the melodies, I plan to use this book the following way. I have an app or two that will help me. One will play the metronome, and then I will record each part of the duets presented. It seems like a fun way to get even more acquainted with the fingering I have mastered. I know I still need work on breath and tempo.

After this book, I have many more beginning recorder books to play with. Each has different approaches and ways to perfect what I know to get to the next level.

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Since cataracts control my reading diet, and closing eyes to point won’t work for Audible books, I downloaded my next Kindle Unlimited book and went a few pages in to do the pointing. Here is the fantastic sentence I found. Sorry, chaos was the word but this! This is MARVELOUS! “Chaos will rot your plants and kill your dog and rust your bike.” This is from a book my friend, Michele, recommended, Why Fish Don’t Exist by Lulu Miller. With just this sentence I can hardly wait to read the book!

I remember the line from Game of Thrones, …’Chaos is a ladder…’

So, does that mean you pile up your plants, dog, and bike to climb? Ouch! Yet, that seems to be implied with chaos, right? Maybe a rusty bike could have a comfortable seat. The dog is dead, use the hide to make the seat usable? Compost the dead plants and squeak through the old neighborhood on that bike to find friends or food. They’ll hear you coming so hopefully they are friendly.

This stream is far from drained. It is NaNo after all. Yet my novel, Crystal, isn’t post apocalyptic. This imagery could fit in either Pandamapocalypse or Marine’s Mission. But maybe I can get a little ‘chaos theory’ mixed into Crystal’s world. It is a lot of craziness going on.

But this isn’t adding to my word count. Which is currently 9,096. That’s not too bad. But I wanted to stay a couple days ahead so I’m aiming for over 13K. So it was nice floating in the Stream but it’s needed elsewhere or there will be chaos in my soul!

Remember Crystal under pressure? Yeah.

Linda’s newest prompt:

Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “close eyes and point.” Grab the closest printed material to you when you sit down to write your post, open it up (if it’s a book, flyer, etc.), close your eyes, and point. Whatever your finger lands on, use that as your prompt. Have fun!


Fortune FallsFortune Falls by Jenny Goebel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

What a fun book! Though aimed at middle grades to young adults, I enjoyed it thoroughly.

My friend and her granddaughter were co-reading this. They shared on a Zoom friends-meet how much they were enjoying it. I started looking around to see if it was on Libby. I couldn’t afford to buy it right now. Thankfully my friend gifted the Kindle version to me. Yay! And thank you!

Imagine a town where superstitions come true. Sadie lived there and was considered unlucky. What an adventure she takes us on while making us question those beliefs!

If you want to take a break from the adult reads, this will fit the bill. I am amazed at the vocabulary and writing. I believe young me or my kids would have enjoyed this even more than I did, which seems an impossible bar to reach!

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