Tag Archive: read



Eric Conger was the narrator of this audiobook from the Libby library app. For the most part, he was good. But when it came to acting the female parts, not so much. Male voices tend to demean women, it seems.

To the author’s credit, there were smart women and women of power in the mix of scientists, politicians, and the like. It just didn’t come across that way through the narrator.

Once past that issue, which may not show up in the written version, the story was riveting. What was that spacecraft nearing Saturn? What would the aliens look or act like? And what if the Chinese ship gets there before the USA?

John Sanford’s research is obvious. You don’t feel the magic happening. You see commonsense answers explored. And as the reader, you feel part of the team looking for answers. And the more I read, and listened, the more I wanted to know.

The end of the book is my favorite part, the science explored while writing the fiction. I highly recommend sticking around to read, and listen, to this part.

I will try to find the Kindle version and listen to text-to-speech. I want to read this again!


The Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of World War IIThe Last Bookshop in London: A Novel of World War II by Madeline Martin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m so sorry I am finished reading this book! I wanted to live with these characters. No, I didn’t want to live during a war, especially while bombs were dropping. But I love living with book people who love to share books with those they love. Oh, yeah. I already live that, sans bombs!

Saskia Maarleveld (Narrator) keeps the story live. Not even a moment did I remember real life while in the book.

I love stories about females during World War II, but they are often soft mushy girls who do not seek their inner strength. They often fall in love with the guy and become arm candy or the like. Not our main character here. She seeks her own worth and, in the process, finds a fellow book lover, even before she has become addicted to the same.

Please, if you get the chance, try this book. I think you may love it as much as I did. I was lucky to pick it up on Libby, but I am seriously thinking of getting my own copy for when I want to curl up in a guaranteed good read. I hope you love it as much as I do.

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Dava Shastri's Last DayDava Shastri’s Last Day by Kirthana Ramisetti
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I spent the first half of this book wanting to throw it across the room or just quit reading. The main character was interesting, and I wanted to get more into her head. But her offspring were horrid. They were supposed to be attending to their mother’s deathbed, but all they could do was fight and be hateful.

I guess that is credit to the author to have written such strong characters. Soneela Nankani (Narrator) was fun to listen to, her acting chops showing regardless of which person she was playing.

In the end, I found I liked the book and was happy to read it. And redeeming of beings took place.

I learned about this book on Good Morning America one day. At first, I couldn’t see how it even got featured. But soon, I could see a lot of lessons to be learned with a deeper reading, like in a book club. It was nice to read about a strong woman who obtained everything in the end. But that was at the beginning of the book. It is very worth the read!

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The Walking Dead Deluxe #20The Walking Dead Deluxe #20 by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a short review. Sorry. It has been a while since I read it. I was excited to see Michonne again. I love reading these in Kindle format because I can see so much more. I can enlarge the cell and see the words and pictures so much better.

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The Butchers (Breeders #6)The Butchers by Katie French
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There are many different reviews on this book, low stars and high. I’m giving it five stars as I still care for the characters and the situation enough to make it through the whole series. And I look forward to the new book in a takeaway series in the future but in the same place.

What I hate has nothing to do with this book, except the way books have to be labeled. Yes, it is nice to have a guideline of readability levels. But maybe we need something that says, this is gory and has a lot of killing and blood. There is a romantic element but no sex. There are gender issues addressed in the way of this series’ settings.

But here’s my thing: Why do young adult books have to have young adults? I remember being a young adult and loving science fiction. The more, the better. Those characters were men, not anyone that looked like me. Still, I consumed them. Am I happier to see books that reflect every age of me now? Absolutely! I’m not ever depicted in exciting books, adventures, etc. Auntie is the closest to me. I think all of us need a variety of types of characters to get to know. What we relate to are the places, flaws, ability to rise above, etc. 71 year-olds are people who need all that, too!

The reading level is easily accessible by middle grades though a parent or teacher may want to talk to the child about it. Certainly, children these days watch shows on the media that contain all that is here. And for many, the survival of our characters teaches how one might be to be out in the New Mexico desert with bad guys everywhere out to kill you.

But barring all those elements, this story pulls me in. From the very beginning, The Breeders. I do agree that it is hard to differentiate between characters. Even having the title of the chapter as the heads up for the viewpoint, the character Sounds the same until he/she bring up individualized things. I’m not sure how to fix that confusion that happens if you are reading by listening only to text-to-speech. But I somehow got used to it and felt the new chapter beginning.

All-in-all, I loved these books enough to overcome the issues presented. I’m looking forward to reading more by Katie French.

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Review: The Barriers by Katie French


The Barriers (Breeders #5)The Barriers by Katie French
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the fifth book in the Breeder series. Dystopia is different in any sci-fi I’ve ever read. This whole story from book one on has been quite the ride.

The characters by this book five are well rounded and though many each has a purpose. I felt myself nearly on the edge of my bed and far from sleep hoping for the best for these young people and their loved ones. There were a couple nights I had to force myself to put away the Fire at three or even four in the morning.

Thank goodness these are on Kindle Unlimited because when this book ended I could grab the next!

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So Still the Dawn (Shadow of Mars Book 3)So Still the Dawn by Cidney Swanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cidney Swanson has me under her spell. I love all her books. I feel so fortunate to be able to be an early reader for her. I am especially giddy when she writes about Mars. This latest series is called Shadow of Mars. This was book three. This one is so new it wasn’t even listed on Amazon or GoodReads when I read it.

Just a quick blurb. Book one was So Dark the Sky, in which our main character Penny Wanjiru, a school teacher, finally gets the chance to go to Mars. But leaving her elderly grandmother makes the decision difficult. Book two was So Bright the Stars, in which Penny is on her way to Mars. This third book is So Still the Dawn, in which Penny is on Mars and wondering if she is going to get to stay.

Anyone who knows me well knows how much I love and have always loved science fiction, especially space travel. Cidney writes to my inner kid. Especially in her Saving Mars series. But this series is aimed toward adults. Even though I would have read it as a youngster. I read too many stories of men getting to go to space. They weren’t kids. They were adults. I wish there had been women in space novels who weren’t eye candy. Ms. Swanson makes you feel more, that the adult in the book isn’t so much a wimpy woman crying for romance but an adult who happens to be a woman who is brilliant in her own way.

Another wonderful thing Cidney does in her books is dive deep into the character’s psychology. All those creeping thoughts we record early in life, that make us feel unworthy or wrong for what good could happen, Cidney brings that forward and helps us to grow with the character. Go Cidney!

Okay, I don’t want to spell it out for you or give you spoilers. I highly recommend reading anything by Ms. Swanson but especially the Shadow of Mars series!

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Excerpts of Things I Will Never Say: (A collection of short excerpts and poems)Excerpts of Things I Will Never Say: by Nagham AB
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I was a teen I was into poetry. For the most part, I find it too emotionally crippling. Or vague enough that a poem written about a stubbed toe can mean it was about your true love. Yes, I write it on occasion. And yes I read it sometimes.

In the case of this book, I felt, often, like I had walked into someone else’s life. It felt autobiographical. So how can I judge it? This is the author’s feelings about things that have happened in their life. It was well written. Deep feelings reached out. Never once felt like I would quit reading. But none of the excerpts or poems seemed to lead into others. Yet I wanted to hear (text-to-speech) what the author had to say.

I know others will love this, will relate to it deeply.

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Tara and the Giant Queen: A Fantasy in Giant LandTara and the Giant Queen: A Fantasy in Giant Land by Gita V. Reddy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thank you, Gita, V. Reddy for letting me read this book. As per our agreement, I am giving my honest review. Sorry it took so long to actually write this. I’ve been very busy and needed a bit of time to think about it.

This didn’t grab me. As I said above, it may be because of summer busy-ness. I just couldn’t get into the story. I found that I couldn’t relate to the main character or the giants. Yet I was constantly remembering BFG (Big Friendly Giant). I kept reading. I hoped that something would pull me in. Maybe bad timing for me to try?

I’d love for others to read this. Maybe if you aren’t reading using text-to-speech you become more part of the story? I don’t know. I will try again later sometime to see if it was just my ADD or circumstances.

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FELT IT for beginners: 25 PROJECTS FOR DECORATION AND THERAPY (THE CRAFT OF FELTING- FUN AND THERAPY Book 1)

Though this book is about felting, it is more about wet-felting. And though there is a bit of needle felting and some ideas for what to do with defective or broken needles, it wasn’t enough for me and my need to learn about needle felting.

Another cool thing about this book is that it is for parents or teachers/counselors of children with disabilities. I can see how the wet felting could be fun and how it could be a great bonding experience for everyone. And the squishing wonderful feeling of wet felting has to be a lot of fun. Maybe as good as making slime, but you get to keep the item you make, not just clean it up.

But for me, it is getting cold and I just don’t have the room that is warm enough to do wet felting. Maybe next summer I will revisit this book and this part of the craft of felting.

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