Self-Editing for Writers by Harvey Stanbrough
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I can’t argue with the facts. BUT… That’s all there is to this book. It is just a list of writing rules. There is much more information on web: DailyWritingTips.com or Writing.com or GrammarGirl.com . Sorry, but, meh.
The Eve Tree: a novel by Rachel Devenish Ford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
At the current moment the Yosemite fire is only 30% contained. Here in Reno, Washoe Valley, the smoke has been extreme at times. Today the air is a little better than yesterday. AND we have had our own lightening-caused fires.
When my children were little we lived on a little over an acre out in the desert, where fires were a constant threat.
Our pediatrician suggested that as I wean my children, I should start them on goat milk, especially in a family with milk allergies. So we got goats. I cannot say how much I loved my goats. Milking time was meditation time. I didn’t have a herd, just two or three at a time. But that was the most precious time for me. I was glad no one of my four kids wanted to do the milking. In the morning they were still in bed, in the evening they were freshly bathed and getting quiet (at least I hoped so) or watching something with their dad. Peace and quiet and smart furry-friends who willingly let me take their milk. I so miss that!
In fifth grade I was best friends with my neighbor. Every day she let me come up and help her take care of the horse and donkey. She once told me that I owned half the donkey. I was pretty excited until the thought struck me–which half? Anyway, we would often go out riding, yes, me on the donkey. One day we were heading down a hill. My friend clicked at her horse to gallop. Hey, I’m game! I clicked and the donkey started to gallop and then stopped suddenly with her head down. I rolled head first off the donkey and down the hill. I wasn’t hurt, except my pride, but that donkey had a gleam in her eye and she smiled–and I swear–she laughed! So did I. I got up and hugged her neck. I loved that donkey!
What in the world did any of this have to do with The Eve Tree? Association. From the moment I started reading the book I was in love with the story, the characters, and the plot. There was so much I could relate to. Rachel Devenish Ford developed a story that was profound yet simple. Her prose often felt poetic in nature. She certain followed the writers’ commandments: Show don’t tell, and Include all the senses. I was so impressed with her writing! There was a point that the main character, Molly, was so tired and frustrated that she ran away to the forest and rather than having her plop on the ground, Rachel included all the feeling and sensations of that plop. She included the feeling of having her sandal pinch her foot. Suddenly I was aware, that is how it feels if you have on sandals and try to get comfortable.
The story was multi-generational and multi-POV. I like reading stories that put you in everyone’s head. This story made me think of my own family. In the book, you can follow the bi-polar genes that put our MC into her own depressions and manic/OCD behaviors that threatened to break up her marriage and her home. My brother and I can trace similar links up our family tree. So that was another angle that I identified with.
Oh, and Molly is a empty-nester. And I was relating to that. Then her mother comes ‘to help’ and we get to see how it feels to be an 81 year old. Brilliant!
AND besides, goats, donkeys, mental-illness, fires and de-nesting, Ms. Ford dealt with something I consider a sticky wicket, her characters had varying degrees of Christianity. And she did it without it feeling pontificating. It was a part of this family and how they lived. Bravo!!!
I will be reading this again and again because I feel enriched as a person and as a writer by reading this amazing book. I see in the reviews a wide variety of views on this. So if you don’t like it I won’t be offended. Maybe you haven’t enough experiences similar to mine or the characters to relate.
Here are pictures of animals that make me smile and sometimes laugh.
Páramo woolly baby donkey in Chimborazo, Ecuador (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
photo curtesy of Ironhillfarm.com
Apple Cider Vinegar Handbook by Shae Harper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This isn’t so much a read straight through book. It is informative in the beginning, then there is a break down of disorders and conditions by name in alphabetical order and how ACV can help. The back of the book is dedicated to recipes, some even this gluten-free/vegan can enjoy. Though I like the Kindle format, this might be a good tree-book to have on hand. I have often heard of the AVC tonic and have taken it when I remember. I like it cool in the summer but hot in the winter. There are so many uses for this wonderful inexpensive liquid!
The Locket Thief by Daniel Patrick
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Thank you, Daniel Patrick, for the offer of a lifetime! You were right! This book was brilliant! I hated when real life drew me away from reading it.
This book is like a combination Golden Compass, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Annie. The action and adventure never lets up. The characters are well developed. I loved that it felt gender neutral. I think young men and women would love this equally, as well as children and senior citizens. There’s something there for everyone. This could easily be made into a movie.
***The problems written here before have been edited out. So this author deserves five plus stars!!!!***
Fabulous read! Thanks, again! Can’t wait to read the next book!
The Wild Side of Alaska by Donna Morang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Ever since my husband and I took a small cruise from Juneau to Glacier Bay back pre 9-11 in June 2001 (TMI?) I have had a love-hate relationship with Alaska. The cruise was marvelous. I loved every minute of it. I just knew could I never live there. I would never be able to handle the cold winters and long winter nights. When we were on the cruise having only a couple hours of night was perfect for me. Kayaking next to icebergs was so exciting!
But this is supposed to be about the book. I highly admire Donna Morang and her spirit of adventure so it was a given that I would love the book. And I did! Even though I am a gluten-free vegan, I understand the fishing and hunting thrill. I, also, appreciate the survival need for these activities. I suppose if I needed to I might push myself to partake. Since the Kilcher Alaskan Show (name slips my mind right now) I feel there are ways for me to survive there diet wise. But this old body would cease to exist in the cold.
Why am I making this about me? Well, the above thoughts would be prominent as I read Ms. Morang’s story. Okay, maybe I would have made it in the sixties. also. I think I am about Donna’s age. In fact, I was a cosmetologist in the late sixties and early seventies. But I was in Southern California at the time.
What an adventure! Bear attacks, nearly drowning in the rapids, raising a baby so far from town. Flying above the Alaskan scenery! It was so fun to live, vicariously, through Donna’s eyes. Such a different kind of life from mine.
There were grammatical errors, but not enough to ruined it for me. I think I wanted more emotion? Deeper connections between Donna and her husband? I can’t put my finger on it. Maybe because she is drawing on journal entries and memories, and who remembers accurately that far back? I barely can remember yesterday. Maybe I needed more of my senses involved?
I did love the pictures. I wanted more of them. The scariest picture was of the baby and the wolf. I felt all the emotions Donna must have felt at that moment.
I give it 5 stars. I will remember this book for a long time, and I may want to re-read it someday just to bring back the Alaska feelings. I already miss it.
Everyone of us looking in different directions. There was so much beauty! And mountain sheep.
Me getting ready to kayak. I didn’t need all those layers I learned as I huffed and puffed.
We cruised by gems of icebergs, some blue, some green. All fascinating!
It was a larger iceberg like this one that we saw a line of puffin lined up. Not sure where the puffin picture is right now.
Ice flows. Okay, this isn’t the picture of the the soup of ice that our captain had to maneuver, but it almost looked this bad! Scary!
Me in my orange coat with orange nails in front of Mendenhall Glacier. My husband had bought us matching orange coats. At the time they arrived I felt it a little corny, but it was meant to take this kind of cold. Those nails are shown because I was wearing thermal reacting polish that was pink in color when warm. I was surprised that when they were cold they matched my orange coat.
Stilettos and Steel by Jeri Estes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As a teen of the sixties, I found much I could relate to in the book, especially in the beginning where the location was in Southern California.
In other ways, I couldn’t relate. I don’t remember the laws about gays, but then I was so sheltered and naïve back then. Wish I had known a few people like Jesse. It might have helped me find my authentic self.
I rarely went to San Francisco. I do remember a vacation when my parents finally obliged my brother and me by taking us to Haight and Ashbury. My parents were very afraid. My brother and I were sorely disappointed that there was nothing but a street corner that day. No hippies with flowers in their hair.
I was impressed with Jeri Estes’s writing that was descriptive without weighing the story down. Sometimes I didn’t care what the characters were wearing but I guess it is necessary to keep the characters current or in style for that time. I enjoyed the dropped music references. Ms. Estes pulled off the advice we writers get so often of involving all the senses. Yes, there were a few hot spots 😉 but not so much to be constant erotica.
I see that many reviewers are upset by the misogyny but, um, that was the way it was . That was WHY the woman’s liberation started and many became militant. Younger women seem to think it was silly. They need to keep reading books like this to feel what it could be if women don’t stay active for their own sakes.
The characters in the story were believable to me even when the lifestyle of prostitutes and pimps is foreign to me. I feel I only know through movies and TV what it is like. So how would I know?
Jeri Estes has mentioned that this is being made into a movie. I look forward to seeing it. I wonder if there could be a book two as I want to know what happened next.
Thank you, Jeri, for letting me read your book.
Sacrificed in Shadow by S.M. Reine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Disclaimer: this book was given to me by the author for an honest review.
I’m not one to read about demons. And at times, this book felt like a nightmare. But somehow my mind did not pick up on that. I didn’t have a nightmare.
Demon possession occurs when you first get into the book. Not the demon possessing you, but you looking through the eyes of the demon. It was a bit weird for me because I hadn’t read the books that the demon had come from. But that didn’t stop the story from being understandable. Had I not read anything by S.M. Reine, this still would be an interesting story.
I love Ms. Reine’s characters, in spite of being paranormal, they seem very real. This book will keep you on your toes, biting your nails with all the suspense. And get ready because the last part might keep you up all night. It was really bad because I finished it before I went to sleep. I had to start another book to dull me back to sleep.
If you can handle the paranormal if you love the paranormal, this book is for you. I will be looking at the books I haven’t read yet, so that I will be ready when the next of the series is out. Thank you Sarah for letting me read your great book.
(This was dictated using Dragon Naturally Speaking.)
Dragon NaturallySpeaking (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
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