Tag Archive: Reviews



Armed and Outrageous
Armed and Outrageous by Madison Johns
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Though I am reading the three-book boxed set, I think it is fair to give a review of each individual book. Since I did buy both, and as I want to encourage writing for seniors, the reals ones not the ones in twelfth grade in high school. Besides, it doesn’t hurt my reading goals to review individually. 😉

It is so exciting to actually read something that includes people, womyn, who are not teens. Was it as well-written as I would like? Not so much. I would give this three and a half stars. This needed more editing. And did we have to fall into the trap of the romance? I like when womyn can think for themselves and stand without a man coming to their rescue. Agnes did that for the most part, but she got all weak kneed and girlie when the man of her dreams comes into view. I loved Eleanor, the ninety-something sex crazed side-kick better than the main character. She pulled no punches and got what she needed from the world.

That world is Tawas, Michigan. I’ve never been there so it seemed like another country, to me. The author did make it sound like the kind of place I’d like to visit sometime.

I love how Madison Johns, the author, captures all kinds of senior citizens within this book. She laughs at some who seem like they would enjoy the joke while holding respect and sympathy for those not so blessed or able. And I love how Ms. Johns addresses fem issues. You wouldn’t think that the issues would be so strong once womyn were no longer in the work force, but it seems to affects us all a lot more. Ms. Johns doesn’t draw attention to these issues, but rather, states them as is and moves on, leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions.

The tags ‘mystery, thriller, suspense’ are the most accurate. Chic-lit or cozy mystery seem too light for the contents. Rape, murder, and sex-trafficking are some topics involved which are dealt with in a serious manner. I found that fact a little too much to deal with. I don’t like reading stories that are too realistic. I get that on the news. Give me a good sci-fi or fantasy to get lost in, any day. But all in all this was a good read and I will continue the series with delight. Go, Seniors!

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Tapestry of Fortunes: A Novel
Tapestry of Fortunes: A Novel by Elizabeth Berg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Road trip!

Look, I see a lot of negative reviews of this book. That’s sad because this one actually met my goal. It is a story about older women (sixty and younger) written by a female author. It was a fun read. A great read for someone who is rather stuck at home during the winter. I got my travel bug up and ready for being a vagabond. At least the older females were thought of!

Could the book have been deeper? Yes. In fact just as it all seemed to be fun the story took a turn and ended. It was as if the author didn’t know what to do with a bunch of women having an adventure. Sure, there was drama, but bits that I wanted to explore got left by the wayside. Too bad. The worst part? When at 50% read the book ended. BOO!

Well, the second book in this bundle was a bit of a surprise. Who expected one more book? Open House wasn’t as good as Tapestry of Fortune. The woman was younger (in her forties). It was an agonizing tale of divorce and all the emotions attached to that. I still found it interesting and found myself rooting for the main character. But this all brings up why I prefer sci-fi and fantasy. If I wanted real life, I’d live it! Oh, wait, I already do! In both of these books I was disturbed by the hokey romantic notions. Can’t a woman just find herself and enjoy all the relationships in her life? Do they have to be looking for the ‘one’? Geez! There is nothing wrong with sex or romance. It just left behind the growth of the woman.

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Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Libraries, bookstores and friends (family) the true gold of this world. At least for me. Family fits in there, too, but to me, they are friends with common DNA. Just like books in the bookstore or library, a friend/family member is there to lend their uniqueness to your life. Gold.

I borrowed this book from the library. I was lucky that they had it in Kindle form and that text-to-speech was enabled. I think I will have to buy this book in Kindle form and see if there is an Audible version. That would make the book even more golden.

Thank you, my good friends, for recommending this book so highly. Though it fits none of my criteria for my reading goals of ‘books by women with strong female protagonist’, it still has a couple women that are smart and goal oriented. Still, it wouldn’t pass the Bechdel Test http://bechdeltest.com/.

Look, for many of you the title will dissuade you from reading the book. It, frankly, sounds dreary! But as I was telling my husband, it feels as intriguing as Da Vinci Code (sorry, I never read that one–not my kind of book). There are codes to solve and mysteries to unravel all against the background of San Francisco and New York. For me, the best part is that there is no blood and guts to worry about. Yet the story keeps you engaged, wondering what is going to happen next.

I would like to read it again. I look forward to the second book.

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Winter's Awakening: The Metahumans Emerge
Winter’s Awakening: The Metahumans Emerge by Karen Luellen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Have you read the Maximum Ride books? Did you like them? I did. This book was surprisingly like those books. The main characters are kids who have been experimented on. The oldest of the kids is a girl who is feisty and has talents. No, the kids can’t fly. Yes, they were raised out on a ranch away from the populace. There are inconsistencies and minor mistakes, but they don’t detract from the story that much.

I feel badly giving this book three stars. If I had read this first I might not have felt the similarities so much. I might have given it four stars. I do appreciate the writing style that keeps one engaged with the characters and on the edge of their seats with worry, but James Patterson and the Max books have been done quite well. Give me the flying kids any day!

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Tears of the Giraffe
Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the second book in the series. For my review of the first book go here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/395919607

I didn’t think I would go on and read the next book. But I saw that my library had the Kindle version AND the audio CDs to go along with it. And as luck would have it I was able to check them out at the same time!

I can’t tell you how marvelous it is to listen to the narration of Lisette Lecat and her accent. Yes, I could have read the Kindle version without the text-to-speech and no audio version to help me. After all, I did read three chapters before the CDs showed up for me to check out. But that voice brought a reality to the characters of Botswana’s No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.

What a beautifully told story! It does stray from my goal of reading books written by females with strong female characters. By the way, that goal is swiftly narrowing down to wanting to read mostly OLDER females. I’m tired of Young Adult books. But, though this is written by a male, I find the older female and her co-characters written so well that I dearly love this series.

I hear that it has been made into HBO series. I can understand why. Yet I can’t imagine it is as wonderful as these books. How can visual arts capture inner thoughts? But I will watch them and give them a chance.

Since I can’t afford to buy this series I will have to take it slowly as the library has the copies of Kindle and audio available.

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Are You My Mother?
Are You My Mother? by Alison Bechdel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is on my wishlist to own! Thank you, Washoe County Library System for carrying this book!

It is not an easy book to get through. But if you manage, you find so many diamonds of wisdom to apply to your own life.

Which of us has gotten through childhood unscathed? Which of us, as parents, release healthy, unscathed adults into the world? In Alison Bechdel’s first memoir, Fun Home, Alison addressed her life with her father. In this book, Alison tells of her life with her mother. I was amazed at how well she was able to keep the story on her own interpretation of her own life. She brings in her therapists and friends and lovers in how they help her understand why certain things happened and how she can get over it and become whole.

Though this is done in comic book form it is far from funny. Yet, as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, she was able to speak volumes using this method of story telling. It brought my own mother issues to mind while reading this.

A spot of vomit on the floor. Running lines with mom for the next play she’ll be in. The inability to cry properly. Maybe these things wouldn’t cause you cathartic experience, but as you follow Alison’s path, which is also her mother’s path, it is easy to relate to both women. As Alison calls into play the works of Virginia Wolfe and Freude among others to help her understand how it all fits and how we all fit into our mother’s worlds.

This book may have triggers for some people but I think that most people will find if they stick it out there are more answers than questions through Ms. Bechdel’s story. I recommend it highly to everyone.

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Dykes and Sundry Other Carbon-Based Life Forms to Watch Out For
Dykes and Sundry Other Carbon-Based Life Forms to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fast read for me. Having read the Essential Dykes to Watch Out For, I found many of the strips repeated here. Or is it the other way around? I think this was written first. actually. But it was nice that there were some unique strips in this book. I especially liked the longer last on in the book giving us a deeper understanding of the characters and what they were going through.

Now that I have read this one I feel I want to read all the Dykes to Watch Out For as I can see there are a lot of them. This will give me some light reading and will be equally fast, like this one.

As I said in my review for Essential Dykes to Watch Out For, I think everyone should read these, regardless of your sexual, national, political leanings. It is an introduction into what others think and how they operate their lives. Love is love and life is complicated. Join these friends as they try to make it through both.

Thank you Washoe County Libraries for carrying these books. If I ever get a few pennies ahead I think I would like to aim for owning the complete collection of Alison Bechdel’s work.

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Questionably Human
Questionably Human by Miss Kitty Roads
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a freebie from author for Fourth of July (2012). Thanks!

Wow, since I have had this book for nearly two years, I am sorry it took so long. I am hoping the author has taken the time to edit this book. The reader already has to suspend disbelief on this erotic sci-fi, but to have so many errors, especially ones that made me have to stop and reread a lot of passages, made this a rough read.

I loved the story and the characters. Keva is one tough cookie and sexy as hell! Even when she is shot she fights to save her mate. For those that are turned off by language or erotic situations, this is not for you. But for those willing to enjoy a different type of story… this is it!

There is space travel and evil scientists all the things that make a good sci-fi, Miss Kitty Roads just took that kind of story and made it sexier. Thank you for letting me read your story. Sorry it took so long for me to get to it.

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The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For
The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Star light, star bright… I wish to own this book! Meanwhile, I am grateful for my library carrying it and other Alison Bechdel works. Talk about a lesson in feminism and history! No details were spared in the telling of the different stories or in the drawings.

Not long ago I read Ms. Bechdel’s autobiography, Fun Home, and was blown away by the comic style to tell a serious story. The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For seems to be the L Word from before it became a series. But not. The characters are all different. The only way it is the same is that it is similar to watching a soap opera of lives going through, well, life and all that it throws at them. Each frame holds a story of its own. That was why it took me so long to read a comic book. That and this is a large book. Each frame held clues top the news of the moment, or books or music of the time. With this backdrop, the cast of characters live out their lives with all the problems and decisions one needs to make. Love, romance, school, children, break-ups, death… everything is included.

Ms. Alison Bechdel is the essential feminist. If you want to know what that movement is all about look into her books. No one loves and cares for women like a lesbian. And that love and care is visible in these books. A sign of our times to see how repressed women really are? The Bechdel Test: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bechdel_test will get you thinking about this archaic patriarchal world we live in through movies.

I have been on a mission for a while to find books under a similar test. I want to read books by women authors with strong women main characters. Recently there are a lot of them but suddenly I got tired of Young Adult books. Now I am on a mission to have exciting books by women with older main characters (preferably baby boomers NOW). AND I would like the genre to be Sci-fi or fantasy. Hey, but if they aren’t in that genre, or that age group, how about someone that isn’t 17 or the pretty and skinny girls. How about letting the world know that anyone can have an adventure and it can be an interesting read to all kinds of people. Is that too much to ask?

Back to this review, sorry, stepping off my soap box. The women in TEDTWOF don’t always talk about their love interests. The talk about politics, the environment, education, the poor, the wars, and, yes, love. You don’t have to be a lesbian to read and appreciate Ms. Bechdel’s work. In fact, I think if men and other straight women read these books, they would come out of the experience with an appreciation for all people.

Now I am off to read another Bechdel book: Are You My Mother?

Thank you Washoe County Library System for having these books available to everyone!

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Doctor Who The Pirate Loop
Doctor Who The Pirate Loop by Simon Guerrier
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What was I thinking? Me? Reading a paperback? These old eyes can’t handle that small font. I had to read it in short chunks, about 10 pages was all I could handle without my eyes hurting. But it was Doctor Who. My favorite Doctor. And I like Martha. So, since I knew the people I didn’t get lost like I might have without the visual aids in my brain. Also, this is a book full of dialogue to make the paragraphs short with lots of space between lines.

I only gave this book three stars. Not because of any great fault in the writing. But because there were things said and done that weren’t characteristic for the Doctor or Martha. Example: ‘Wosname’ is said often in Terry Pratchett books, but the Doctor doesn’t say this on the show. There were other bits like that that pulled me out of the program. For some reason I can’t remember the other examples.

Still it was a fun read and would be a great beach read. I think it would have been fun as an episode of the Doctor with David Tennant. And probably for those with good eyes this would be a quick read.

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