Category Archives: Reviews

August 27, 2013 · 2:39 pm

Tuesday Teaser

Teaser Tuesdays is weekly bookish meme. I have decided to participate for the same reason I review books and read must read / top X # book lists – exposure to new genres and books. These books do not have to be just released. In fact in many ways I prefer the older titles.

Grab your current read.
Open to a random page.
Share two ‘teaser’ sentences from somewhere on that page.
Take care not to include spoilers.
Share the title and other so that other participants can add to their TBR lists.

In War Times by Kathleen Ann Goonan

“In short, if human consciousness was the time-sensitive entity she believed it was, this device could be called a time machine – although that would be a clumsy, inexact way of describing it. It would meld the latest discoveries in physics with the latest discoveries about biology – a connection that very few scientists, with the exclusion of James Watson, ventured to consider.”

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August 26, 2013 · 12:18 am

Review: Keepers of the Lost Cities

Keepers of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger.
Sophie Foster is a twelve year old prodigy. Younger than anyone in her class, her mind is constantly buffeted with the thoughts of others due to her telepathic ability, Sophie is a misfit. Then she learns she is not human, she is an elf.

An elf searching for Sophie sends his son to earth to bring her to the Elvin world. Sophie expects to return to her family and she is concerned about the strange fires in her city. A young elf named Fitz brings her to meet his father Alden.
Alden convinces Sophie that she does not belong with humans, her place is in the elf world.

She learns that the elves have shut their world away from humanity. Places like Atlantis and Shangri-la exist, they are the lost cities. The human world is forbidden. Sophie agrees to remain and learn on the condition that her family will never know she existed for she does not want them to feel pain and is concerned for her family’s safety.

Sophie is brought by Alden before the elves council. They discover she has a stronger telepathic ability than any elf. She is sent to the best school and is given to the care of foster family. Young Sophie makes friends with a boy named Dex and develops a crush on Fitz. She struggles in school but sometimes she knows things she should not know, secrets buried in her brain.

Is Sophie a tool of the Black Swan, a group of exiled elves, or are they protecting her. The mystery of why she was hidden on earth and her hidden knowledge involve her in a dangerous game. Someone is setting deadly fires on earth and clues are being left for her to discover.

The author has created a sweet protagonist with a strong sense of right. Messenger does an admirable job of complex world building and introduction of characters. Readers only know what Sophie knows and learns. She is naïve by both her age and he newness to the elvin society. We are never certain which character can be trusted or their motivation.

Keepers of the Lost Cities is targeted to middle grade readers, ages 8 and up. The story is strong enough to engage adults. The writing does not talk down to the reader. I am not around readers this book is targeted for but they will be drawn into this world and the world of books. The dialogue is well done and young readers will connect with the characters.

I enjoyed the book and found the ending acceptable knowing this is the first in a series. I hope the author can adequately explain and bring resolution to the mystery of the Black Swan.
I recommend this book to all readers that enjoy fantasy.

The second book, Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities) will be released October 1, 2013.
Product Details
• Age Range: 8 and up
• Grade Level: 3 – 7
• Series: Keeper of the Lost Cities (Book 1)
• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin (August 6, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442445947
• ISBN-13: 978-1442445949

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August 20, 2013 · 11:32 pm

Review Interruptess and a Probable 5 Star

I have reviews I want and need to write on a few books

Keepers of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger. A grade 5 to grade 8 book. Short review: Recommended.

Time Thief: A Time Thief Novel and Time Crossed: A Time Thief Novella by Katie MacAlister.

Some not worthwhile, self pubbed ‘How to Make Money on the Internet’.

And ALL the Darynda Jones ‘Grave’ books.

But I picked up a book on my list, The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James. I cannot put the book down. My Kindle says I have read 18% of the book. I will be up all night reading. I see a 5 star review on the way.

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August 19, 2013 · 2:16 am

Unsure about ‘Undead and Unsure’: A Review

Undead and Unsure by Mary Janice Davidson. Book 11 in the Undead Queen Betsy series.

Yes I am Unsure about how to review Undead and Unsure.

I love Queen Betsy, I really do. Along with her yummy man Sinclair. I think the author is witty, talented and has a great agent. Of all the series written by MJD I appreciate the werewolf books and can’t stand her mermaid books, love Betsy books.

In preparation of this release I re-read all ten Betsy books. The read didn’t take long. MJD is funny, snarky and great with internal monologue. The reading is fast and fun, light and enjoyable. Her books are not plot heavy. The stories have a simple plot and are filled in with Betsy’s unique view and thought process.

Undead and Unwed is the introduction to the Betsy series. On her 30th birthday Betsy Taylor loses her job, her party plans are spoiled, gets hit by a car and is killed. She wakes up in the morgue, realizes she is a vampire, tries to kill herself, rescues someone else from killing themselves and goes home.

Her mother and best friend are elated, the local vampire population – not so much. But vampires Eric Sinclair and Tina believe she is the foretold vampire queen because she isn’t burned by a cross and can go to church. They want Betsy to put an end to the reign of Vampire King Nostro, read kill, and rule.

Betsy isn’t having any of it but of course that is exactly what ends up happening. Oh and now Sinclair is her consort for the next 1000 years. Fun.

And book 2 Undead and Unemployed continues the fun. Betsy gets a job selling shoes at the mall. Someone tries to kill her. Sinclair rushes to the rescue because he loves her and Betsy lives on because she is the all-powerful vampire queen.

But her last release, Undead and Unstable used a terrible ‘trope of going back in time and changing the past so the future is what it is, or was. I didn’t and don’t care for this storyline arc.

Undead and Unsure started off (after the now familiar pages of acknowledgements where the author mainly pats herself on the back and add a few pages to the book) with Sinclair talking baby talk -terrible, yucky baby talk- to puppies. Not in character and repellant, that is not our familiar sexy hero.

As in some of the other books another character jumps in and tells the story for a chapter or so. That irritates me. In this case the character is Sinclair which is good and bad if you can get past the earlier baby talk crap.

If I was not a fan I would have stopped reading. The first half of the book is unnecessary internal dialogue to turn a short story into a book. After reading above you may wonder why you should read the book. If you are a fan, plow through because the last 1/3 or 1/4 of the book is worthwhile.

If you haven’t read the books, this is not the place to start. Start with Undead and Unwed and enjoy! The first two books can stand on their own. But don’t jump on the Undead series trolley in the middle of the series.

Remember, I love Queen Betsy and the series but don’t start here, this is a bit of challenge to wade through to get to the good stuff even for a fan.

For a complete list of Queen Betsy books click this link: Amazon.com Widgets

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August 12, 2013 · 11:50 pm

Downton Abbey and Public Television

As always,hooray for PBS. If for no other reason, Sesame Street. And I watch PBS a lot: Nova, Nature, Antiques Road Show, Live Concerts of War and Heart, on and on.

Somehow I rarely watched Masterpiece Theater. At the beginning of this year I started to hear about Downton Abbey.

When I tuned in to Downton Abbey I was hooked immediately. I went on-line to PBS.org to view all the episodes. I am now a rabid Downton fan.

Season 1 begins with an idyllic life for the Crawley family in Edwardian England. But the sinking of the Titanic leaves Downton without and heir. Succession now goes to Matthew and his mother Isobel, part of the ‘new’ middle class. We meet the Earl and his American wife, married for her money. Their three daughters, Mary, Edith and Sybil. The dowager countess Violet.

The servants include the strictly by-the-book Carson and head housekeeper Mrs. Hughes. Devious O’Brien and Thomas the footman. Mr. Bates is the new valet, Daisy a scullery maid, Anna and Branson the Irish chauffeur.

I love the soap opera-ish drama, the view into a different age. The characters are three-dimensional. And the creator Julian Fellowes has killed off some major players bringing me to tears.

Yesterday PBS had a special hosted by Angela Lansbury, Downton Abbey revisited. New viewers are brought up to speed. Behind the scenes interviews. But most importantly if you donate $200.00 or become a sustaining member of $16 a month you can get all 3 seasons of the series on DVD and a special on High Clere Castle where the series is filmed.

But wait, there is more! For a limited time your donation will get you the entire Season 4 on DVD. After the premiere episode in January you will be shipped the entire season before it airs.

Not only is this a remarkable and unprecedented offer but you can feel good about yourself by donating.

And I encourage you to donate.

If you have never watched Downton Abbey, give it a chance. Let me know if you loved or hated. Who is your favorite character? Other than the marvelous Maggie Smith as the Dowager Countess of Downton who do you like? I am enamored with the entire cast and show, however my favorite couple is Sybil and (gasp) Branson.

Below is a link to join Amazon prime. I point this out because as a prime member you can watch episodes for free.

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Review: Dead to Me

Dead to Me by Anton Strout.

Simon Canderous has a double edge sword of a talent, psychometry. Psychometry is the unique ability to divine information about the history of an object through touch. Formerly a petty thief Simon answers a cryptic newspaper ad and becomes a new employee for N.Y. City’s Department of Extraordinary Affairs. The D.E.A. is on the side of Good. Our young protagonist takes his new position seriously. He views good versus evil the same as black versus white.

Simon struggles with learning the aspects of a real job, office politics and other-worldly skills. His mentor, Connor, specializes in ghosts and points out a lovely young woman sitting across from them in a coffee shop. Because she has not moved on they interview her trying to determine why she is still here. The ghost has no memories but she says something cryptic about the movie Apocalypse Now. This suddenly makes her a priority case though why is not clear.

As Simon and Connor work to discover information about Irene they stumble across the Sectarian Defense League. The SDL is a cultist rights movement legalized by the city as part of equal rights movement. A kerfuffle ensues and the Mayor’s liaison arranges a meeting between the D.E.A. and the SDL. Simon is sent and meets Jane for dinner. Jane is the personal assistant to the evil Faisal Bane, chairman of the SDL. Simon is attracted to Jane but conflicted because she works on the side of darkness. Simon’s investigation leads him zombies, ghost sniffing drug addicts and other forces of darkness.

Dead to Me is light urban fantasy. Fans of the Dresden Files will in all likelihood enjoy this book. Author Strout has four Simon Canderous books published to date, obviously the series had potential. But this book is a bit uneven, the characters under-developed and the action come across as a series of confrontations from an outline. The humor in the book seems thrown arbitrarily. I am not saying it isn’t funny rather the characters aren’t funny.

Examples: “Are you implying you had someone murdered? The Mayor’s Office does not condone that sort of conflict resolution.” And

“A lot of people who have come to work for us over the years have come to us from …. shall we say suspect backgrounds. Involvement with the dark arts, telemarketing and worse.”

The first chapters of the book introduce the reader to Simon and his motivations. The writing could have been tighter. The book came out in 2008 and I started to read it but wasn’t engaged. It sat in my TBR pile for 5 years. Simon is a likeable, hot-headed but good intentioned, 24-year-old man. The secondary characters are interesting. However sometimes the story gets ridiculous. When Simon wants to learn if Jane really a bad guy, he reads her diary. Her diary that she was writing in a chick lit voice when she was on a rooftop spying on him and having been sent to kill him.

I did like reading the book and may give the second book a try. I can’t rate this book a 5 but if you want light urban fantasy this is definitely worth a try.

Product Details
Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Ace (February 26, 2008)
ISBN-10: 0441015786
ISBN-13: 978-0441015788

Ratings 1 – 5
• Readability: 3.5
• Likability: 3.5
• Recommended: 3
• Book Club Read: 0
• Author Watch List: 2
• Laugh Meter: 32
• Cry Meter: 0
• Three Word Description: Light Urban Fantasy

Other books by Anton Stout.

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I Love these Products!

Some times a product comes to my attention and I wonder how I ever did without.

Over a decade ago I found GS Hypo Cement. A fantastic product with a syringe precision applicator. I use it for jewelry making usually to expel glue inside a bead but the possibilities are endless. Hypo cement works on glass, plastic, metal, sealed woods and ceramics. I consider this a must have supply. The cap has a thin pin that inserts into the syringe and that has recently become an issue – as I have ‘ahem’ matured I have a very hard time seeing the syringe opening. Now to my FIND.

Behold the 1-step looper.

This tool makes a consistent size wire loop. Better than looping pliers you don’t have to mark the same spot on the pliers. Just place a headpin or wire in the hole on the side and squeeze the plier. The 1 step looper takes some practice to become comfortable using but the reward is the ability to have a round loop made rapidly and easily. Now my connecting loops are identical. Making two loops on either side of a bead is a breeze, Insert the wire, make a loop, slide on a bead and make another loop. Using this tool is so easy, like a daisy the pleasure is in the simplicity.

Another recent find is thread spools or bobbins. I found this product when I decided to make some kumihimo braids to I wanted to use a pattern for a square plate and needed a new one. These bobbins spare irritation by avoiding tangling of threads. Made of flexible plastic and easily opened they come in 3 sizes, 8 bobbins to a bag. I find the 1 7/8″ spools the easiest to work with but other sizes available are 2 1/2″ and 3 1/2″. Again, how was I oblivious to this wonderful tool? I keep buying more because they have made weaving, braiding, kumihimo and macramé more enjoyable.

Extra tip, using a weight when braiding with kumihimo is a great help but the weights are pricey. I have developed an alternative and hope to have available for sale soon.