Category: Reading



The Alien Within: Book 2 of The Alien ChroniclesThe Alien Within: Book 2 of The Alien Chronicles by Robin Martin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I think I like this book better than the first one. There was a little more sanity and well thought out decisions made. Of course, there was a little teen angst but it seemed the major characters thought with true love and caring for the object of the love.

The author chose to go into the heads of the major characters to give the reader insight into their souls. I think I would have loved this book as a teen. I liked it a lot as an adult.

The ending came far too soon but at the appropriate time. I can’t wait to read the next book! I’d love to see the author take us to the cloud to meet the other aliens that were still in their own form and see how this Alien turned human affects their thoughts and ways of living.

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50 Loom Knitted Stuffed Animal Pattern Collection50 Loom Knitted Stuffed Animal Pattern Collection by Scarlett Royale
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is kept for its reference capabilities. I have not made every animal in the book. But I have made enough to know that I am happy to have the book.

One of the problems I have with the book is that sometimes the patterns can be confusing and there are a few errors. But the best part of this book is the links to the tutorials. They take you right to the YouTube teaching how to make what you want to make. My latest is the snowman, that looks so cute! And it had very little sewing.

I would like to someday get the paper version so I don’t have to be on the computer while making these little cuties. But in the meantime, this will do!

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My Alien (The Alien Chronicles Book 1)My Alien by Robin Martin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Though I have rated this three stars, I still went and bought the next book. I have to stay true to me and my feelings.

The first part of this book is a lot like The Host by Stephenie Meyer. Ugh! what a horrid book that was. So as this alien takes over this teen girl it feels just like that!

Then this turned into a YA. Yes, with all that angst! UGH! times two!

By this point, I was ready to throw the book away. But I couldn’t get my other book to load up. So I continued reading. Somewhere around the three-quarters mark, I somehow cared for a couple of the characters.

I didn’t like the ending, a bit of a cliff-hanger. But curiosity got the better of me. I want to see what happens.

If you liked The Host, you might love this book, too. If you love teen angst, this is right up your alley,

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The Walking Dead, Vol. 2: Miles Behind UsThe Walking Dead, Vol. 2: Miles Behind Us by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love two-parter, year-long Christmas gifts! You see I promised my adult son one Walking Dead paperback a month and promised myself the Kindle version for me. So I got number two at the beginning of this month as he already had book one.

I didn’t even bother trying to read the paper version. The font is too light. But I love the Kindle version. I can tap on any picture and enlarge it. Every aspect of the drawing is there, all the word clear. It makes me want to do a lot of comic books this way.

This particular volume takes us to the farm and Hershel and Maggie. It wasn’t as detailed as the episodes that we binged a few years ago. Yet it is fun to see how this story continued when it was fresh from Robert Kirkman’s imagination. I love how the show has tried to stay true and yet worked with Mr. Kirkman on new storylines to make a fantastic show about people dealing with survival.

Can’t wait for next month!

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Mary Poppins (Mary Poppins, #1)Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I picked up the combo-version for four Mary Poppins books. I got the Audible for the book for whispersynch. But I wasn’t careful and found out that the Audible version was just for the first book.

I called Amazon and Audible about the problem that I couldn’t read the next books with Audible or text-to-speech. They made it right and took back the Audible and so I will continue reading with TTS. But I wanted to make sure that folks understood that the narrator was fantastic. She didn’t play Mr. Banks very well but Mary Poppins and the kids she acted out quite nicely.

I read all these books as a kid so it is fun to read them now with an adult (some find that hard to believe) point of view.

Hope others get the chance to read/listen to these books!

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The Christmas HirelingsThe Christmas Hirelings by Mary Elizabeth Braddon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Yawn. Another gruff old rich guy who finds love. Bah Humbug!

The narrator, Richard Armitage, did a marvelous job of acting/reading this. It made a nice bedtime story. But mostly I was irritated that the story was about the mean guy finding love and not the children or their mother who worked so hard at making life loving and kind. Even the guy who instituted the children as hirelings would have made a better story. The rich old codger made me worry about the little girl he was so fascinated by. Sure it was ‘innocent’ still it was shudder-inducing for me.

Still, for a freebie from Audible, I guess I shouldn’t complain–much.

If you love the Dicken’s Carol garbage, you’ll love this.

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Happiness is a CollageHappiness is a Collage by Gita V. Reddy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don’t like short stories. Give me a long series any day. But this book was marvelous! It is a collection of stories of women who have paths of their own and how they deal with cultural, spiritual, educational issues and mix that with those mores of American feminism and ‘modern’ ways of life and these stories seem nearly as truth, not fiction.

If there were more story for each told here I would be happy. Nearly any of these stories can be full novels, that I would love reading. I love the education I pick up as I read of each of these life situations.

This wasn’t a long read. I think it was a couple of nights. With text-to-speech it was often hard to know when I had moved into another story, but other than that I enjoyed Gita V. Reddy’s writing. I think others will like it, too.

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Witches Abroad (Discworld, #12)Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a read full of trials for me. The library sent me the Kindle copy. Borrowed it. Found that the text-to-speech didn’t work. Found a credit at Audible to get that version to help me along. It was the cheaper version. Didn’t like that narrator at all. Returned that version and was able to try another Audible version.

Look, I don’t think a male voicing for four females interesting or even funny. I hated both versions of the Audible. Returned that one, too.

By that time my Kindle spit out the older Kindle version that didn’t have text-to-speech and replaced it with one that had it. What a welcomed relief! Though I had a hard time telling one character from another my text-to-speech is set for British female. So about everything I listen to sounds like Mary Poppins! So it is a delight even if it is confusing as to which female is talking, all I have to do it look at the words and see for myself.

I think there was a time I would have loved this story. I used to enjoy the punny stuff Pratchett gave us. But I am weary of more fairy-tale spoofs. So, I’m afraid I didn’t give this story any more than three stars. I was glad when I was finished reading it. I know others will love this. Enjoy!

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What HappenedWhat Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I thought I wrote a review for this one. Sorry, after looking all over I somehow never did.

As I usually say about autobiographies, this is HER story, not what I think I wanted from her. But I agree with a fellow reviewer on GoodReads Jessica Mae Stover. Here’s her review URL

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show…

for those reading on Amazon and Audible, you’ll have to look it up on your own as they don’t allow websites in reviews. Those on my blog enjoy.

In short, I listened to the Audible version and I felt she read her story okay. She didn’t get screechy as she did on some of her speeches. But what little she did address she did a good job.

Granted she had a lot to deal with that no other person running has ever had to deal with. And with the political temperament since the election has been a bully pulpit supported by his own channel. Misinformation and lies are starting to come out into the light. Still, Hillary owned up to most of her own issues.

My biggest issue, and I know nobody is asking me, whereas Bernie addressed the poor, Hillary dismissed him and the poor. Her deal seemed to be directed at the middle-class and above. Those of us who have slipped out of her sight, those who used to be middle-class, who were the first affected by the mortgage issues and were not given any help when the house got beyond the income. Now many of us are too old to help ourselves up by our bootstraps. We can’t afford the boots! Sure there are those with plenty of energy and health at our age, but we are not worth anyone’s time in politics. She didn’t address how we should get to the miracle cures out there, we can’t afford to go to the doctors. She didn’t address, nor did anyone except Bernie, those of us not able to afford to HELP them get into office.

That’s all I have to say about that. Others loved this book, a few hated it. I guess to each their own. Still, I think it best reading things we might not like as we can learn something here and there.

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Extra YarnExtra Yarn by Mac Barnett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a review for the Audible version of the book. I can’t afford to buy the paperback or hardback right now but couldn’t wait to read it as I heard it was exquisite.

I love picture books. They inspire my inner artist. Still… I’m truly surprised to see how much fun just listening to the story without pictures was.

Narrated by Nicola Barber with accompanying music made this a beautiful story about never-ending yarn. Don’t think that this magic was lost on this knitter. I almost have that wonderful situation. I get to knit from donated yarn. I make comfort items for the homeless, homebound, cancer patients and others. It is a win-win craft for me. I get to knit forever and other people get warm hats or toys or scarves… I haven’t knitted a sweater yet, but it would be fun to yarn bomb everyone and everything around me!

I’m hoping to finally READ and enjoy the pictures in the book someday soon, but this Audible version does hold its own.

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