Take Time for Your Life - Book Review 4 Stars

Take Time for Your Life by Cheryl Richardson


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
In all honesty, I would rather rate this a 3 1/2. However, Goodreads does not allow that option and I am leaning more towards the 4 mark. While the main principles Richardson uses to guide the readers into taking care of themselves are basic, they are practical none the less.

The biggest thing that helped me was identifying my energy drains and setting my "must do list." With a world in which faster is better and quantity often beats quality, it is nice to reaffirm yourself that you do not need to do/have it all. Taking stock and setting your priorities allow you to get the most out of life without stressing yourself to the point that you cannot enjoy it.

I recommend this book for people who feel that there life is moving to fast and have a difficult time juggling everything all at once. Set all of those balls you are juggling down, grab your spouse/partner/child/friend, and focus on them. Your relationships will give you a satisfaction that cannot be obtained by material objects (yes, I mean money too!)

View all my reviews >>

100 Book Challenge is within reach

I was a bit leary at first when I signed up to read 100 books in 2010. I read alot, I mean I read more than alot. At times I feel like I am cheating on my husband. Is it wrong that on some nights I dream of getting under the covers with a good book?

Even with taking 2 grad courses this semester I am still able to get some decent page time in and have been enjoying a ton of good books. The tough part is that I have been reading so many at a time when my wireless card decides to go on the fritz. So now I am going to attempt to "catch up" on reviewing my books.

If you like Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Paranormal, and Epic Fantasy then you may want to bookmark me. I have read some fabulous books and am looking forward to encouraging your reading habits!!!

The reviews I have on deck include:

Soulless

Captain's Fury

Princeps Fury

Back Up

The Edge Chronicles

Uglies

Pretties

Specials

Extras

I also got around to reading a few self-help books from my bookshelf. Since I am hosting a genre challege, I figure it would be a great time to knock those out as they have been collecting dust for the past 8 years (I was preggos with my daughter!). They were interesting/helpful, but mostly I would rather pick up an entertaining read. Does anyone else do that to?

Dear John - Nicholas Sparks - 4 Stars

Dear John by Nicholas Sparks


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Tug at your heartstrings kind of books are not my typical cuppa tea. I usually go for fantasy, sci-fi, or even the occasional contemporary fiction.

Give me blood, guts, chilling humanoid or even nonhumanoid creatures that threaten the common good or societies constructs. Give me blood oozing out of crypts, 30 foot poisonous spiders waiting in anticipation around the corner, vile war lords that oppress, plot, and scheme. Anyone that knows me will also attest that I am a sucker for the underdog and the unexpected.

I need an escape. I deal with enough "real world" stuff to fill my day (and even beyond). Needless to say, the drama and heartbrake that I encounter as I help others leaves me drained and desiring to go far far away.

So far I have ranted for 3 paragraphs about why I should not like/typically would not chose to pick up a book like Dear John. The story came into my possession through a book giveaway on one of my fellow book worshipers blogs. Having won an audio version, I figured it wouldn't hurt to pop it into my cd player on my hour and a half trip (each way) to grad school.

I have never listened to a book on tape/cd (elementary school doesn't count). I wasn't sure what to expect, but thought I could at least listen to the first disc and go from there. My initial thought was that they should have gotten a female to portray Savanah. That was my only grip.

I was easily dragged into the story. Wanting to hate it and chalk it up to the evil, despised "chic lit," I was left with wanting to know how it was all going to work out.

While some of the story line was transparent, it was interesting. Like I said, I made it through all 8 cd's not just the first one. And yes, I admit...I cried on multiple occasions towards the end. That is precisely the reason why I tend to avoid these types of situations.

Overall, I was treated with a good story line and found out that I really like books on cd.

Happy Reading!

View all my reviews >>

Princep's Fury - Jim Butcher - only 3 this time...for some really good reasons!

Princeps' Fury by Jim Butcher


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Let me just start of by saying that I am a huge supporter of Jim Butcher. I have devoured all of the Dresden files (all eleven with in 3 weeks). So when I say the Captain's Fury and the Princep's Fury sitting their on the library shelf I was grinning ear to ear.

However a sad reality of my beyond humanly possible high expectations is that every one is human and tries to please the masses by what is known and comfortable. This is a good summation of about 75-100 pages of the story. One of my worst pet peeves in a series is when the formulation behind the writing to so obvious.

Don't get me wrong I love the book. I love the series. I would recommend all of them in a heart beat and I am super geeked to get the First Lord's Fury (knowing that they are gonna kick some serious butt.

The comfort of staying with the main sympathetic characters was a bit flat this time around. I would have liked to seen further insight into some of the more perverse characters. Like answering what made them so whacked up.

There were so many more characters that would have stirred up the intrigue during the chapters that were used to describe "how they got to where they are." I'm cool with a chapter ended with and they sailed for their destination" and then the very first line of the next chapter "As they pulled up to the shore line."

Of course I am simplifying my point.

Butcher's ability and adaptability to produce such satisfying and complex tales of Dresden and Alera is a testament to his genius and craft of story telling.

Although he only received a 3 this go'round - God Bless Jim Butcher!!!

View all my reviews >>

Captain's Fury - Codex Alera 4 Series - 5 Stars

Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The 4th installment of the Codex Alera did not disappoint! Some books in the middle of a series serves as a filler to bridge the first few and the last few in the series. Not the case with this one!

This book could easily be a stand alone read without a newbie to the series getting lost. An additional positive is that Butcher does not take more than a paragraph or two to give the "background" of the previous books. It is so aptly done that the seasoned Codex Alera reader's eyes don't roll in the back of their head out of sheer boredom with the recap (can you tell I hate recaps?).

More than just a "small town boy makes good" type of story. Travi's growth during this installment is not just physical but also in character. This is evident as Travi sacrifices himself in multiple ways for the benefit of the realm. Too bad the realm would rather he die.

View all my reviews >>

Lords of Darkness - Soulless - 5 Stars

The Soulless by L.G. Burbank


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When I first picked this up I expected it to be filled with blood, guts, horror, etc. I was not disappointed. However, I also found deeper literary connections to the writers reflections of the human spirit and classic motifs of "a savior for mankind" I know, I know, these type of "fun reads" are supposed to be only that "fun" with no social message or intellectual connection. After all this is a "horror" book. How can we have blood and guts and a message for mankind? Seriously? Blood and guts don't go with mankind? That's a stretch you say? To say that mankind is without the blood and guts is the real fallacy. Don't get me wrong, I don't think this book will insight political change but I do think that the author has done a great job tapping into the archetypal theme of humankind's damnation and their salvation hinging one one person. Either by accident or genius, using the Jesus motif in a vampire/paranormal book is a fun take on a classic theme.

View all my reviews >>

Not your momma's Tom Sawyer - Book Review - 5 Stars

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is a reread for me as I read it in Junior High. Often this book is regarded as a coming of age classic piece of nostalgic Americana. This was my initial conception when I read this 18 years ago.

I have discovered that this is not the case. Not by a long shot.

The book holds many parallels to Twain's Calvinist up bringing. I don't want to delve too much into the many layers of Twain's writing. I was a bit skeptic at first and believe that these realizations should be obtained first hand.

A few things to consider while reading or rereading Tom Sawyer (and then Huck Finn for that matter).

The town: St. Petersburg
-translates into "St. Peter's city"
-Peter is said to be the one that stands at the gates of Heaven to let the worthy in.
-St. Petersburg Russia at the time was rife with corruption, murder, and chaos
-What are the main things that happen in the town? Is there anything going on to actually be nostalgic about?

Adults:
-If a town is represented by it's citizens, what do they say about St. Petersburg?
-The adults are violent, irrational, pious, judgmental, etc
-Take a look at their parenting and child rearing skills. While spare the rod spoil the child has been around for a long time (and still today), the Victorian philosophy incorporates motivating a child to do right out of love and not fear. This is not present in anyway in St. Petersburg. Look at their parenting practices and ask yourself if you would be nostalgic of being a child with those types of parents...

These are just some of the basic elements to argue that this is not merely a coming of age boy's book. While reading, keep an eye out for Twain's critique on Romantic Literature that was prevalent with the day and ask yourself what do Tom's trips and Injun Joe represent.

I would love to discuss this book further with anyone that is interested!

Happy Reading!




View all my reviews >>

Masquerade by Gayle Lynds ** 2 Stars

Masquerade by Gayle Lynds


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
In a nut shell, I would say that if you are at one of those camp grounds that has a lending library and you are without a really good book, this book is finishable.

In it's honor the last 1/3 was pretty good and did keep me coming back to the end. If a book is all out horrible I quickly move on to something better. However the good part was working to wrap up and make sense out of the first 2/3 of the book.

For me a book revolves around the characters and the plot. While the book did start off as promising, the characters seemed too random as the story tried to include them all for the big reveal at the end. To me it seemed as though the book was written with the end in mind and then the characters were worked in through out the book so they could be used later. As the ancillary characters pop up in the book, it's not very clear as to why you would even care about these people and then they get dragged into the whole conspiracy at the end.

The plot has an interesting premise, but was not fully executed in a way that builds much suspense or great intrigue. Scenes seemed a bit pat and already done and lead me to understand much of it in the first half. However, it was an easy read and I was curious to see exactly how it would work out. Although I was hoping for a surprise ending (which I didn't get) it wasn't the worst book I have ever read.

View all my reviews >>

Challenge Stats:
100 Book Reading Challenge: 1
Mystery/Thriller Challenge: 1
Read Your Bookshelf Challenge: 1 (gave me the inspiration to keep going, typically I would have jumped ship)
Genre Challenge: 1 Mystery

My 100+ Book Challenge for 2010

Yup, I'm going for it. I know there are some weeks when I plow through a few books in one week. Heck I read all of the Twilight books in 6 days, while I was working full time! Let's see if my obsession is as bad as what I think it is.

Since it's not yet 2010, I am just saving a place. As I find some that I want to polish off I'll post a pic here and then update as I finish them. A few of these I am using on the other two challenges I am working on. Childhood Favorites and Awesome Authors. Feel free to comment about any of them. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

1. Boxcar Children









2. Catching Fire










3. Where the Sidewalk Ends









4.Vampire Academy










5. Uncle Tom's Cabin











6. Undead and Unwed

7. The Secret Holocaust Diaries

8. Ulysses

9. The Shadow of the Wind