Monthly Archives: October 2017

October 9, 2017 · 6:45 pm

Prejudice Meets Pride by Rachael Anderson

Emma’s just moved to a new state with her nieces. She’s struggling but can’t handle taking help from others. Kevin is a pediatric dentist who likes things just so and jumps to conclusions about people. When Emma and the girls move in next door, his life totally changes.

Prejudice Meets Pride is an excellent mind vacation book. It’s predictable in all the ways you want a beach read to be predictable. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to read something fast and fun.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 136
Pages Read in 2017: 37,009
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Birthstone Bookology (P in OPAL)

Leave a comment

Filed under Realistic Fiction

Tagged as

October 9, 2017 · 6:34 pm

My School is a Spy Factory by Steven Stickler

Nate Fischer can’t even tell his parents what he’s learning in school. He’s a sixth grader at a school that secretly trains spies. He gets sent on a critical mission to save his school from the Syndicate, but there’s a double agent on the mission, too.

My School is a Spy Factory is a pretty exciting book. My 9-year-old especially enjoyed it. It’s great for kids to read on their own and also makes an excellent family read aloud.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 135
Pages Read in 2017: 36,762
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Bedtime Story for the Boys

Leave a comment

Filed under Middle Grades

Tagged as

October 8, 2017 · 8:42 pm

Appaloosa Summer by Tudor Robins

Meg is devastated when her horse dies of a ruptured artery right under her. She decides to spend the summer on an island working at a B&B. There, she begins training an appaloosa mare and meets an amazing guy, too.

Appaloosa Summer is a sweet story. Sometimes the conversations didn’t sound realistic and there were a handful of editing mistakes. I didn’t enjoy the parts giving the details about training the horse, but I am sure a horse lover would like it. I recommend this book to YA fans and people who love horses.

4 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 134
Pages Read in 2017: 36,590
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Birthstone Bookology (A in OPAL)

Leave a comment

Filed under Realistic Fiction, Young Adult

Tagged as

October 8, 2017 · 8:27 pm

Please Stop Laughing at Me by Jodee Blanco

Jodee Blanco was bullied through about half of her school years. She was told kids will be kids and that there was something wrong with her. Years later, she went to her high school reunion and discovered, like many bullies, her tormentors had no idea that what they did was a big deal or how it had affected her. Please Stop Laughing at Me is Jodee’s story. It’s sometimes shocking, but also sometimes familiar. It’s a huge reminder that our actions affect others, and often in ways we never realize. I recommend this book for anyone who has children or deals with kids on a regular basis.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 133
Pages Read in 2017: 36,342
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Birthstone Bookology (P in SAPPHIRE)

Leave a comment

Filed under Non-Fiction

Tagged as

October 8, 2017 · 8:16 pm

Salt to the Sea by Ruth Sepetys

The sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff near the end of World War II was one of the worst maritime disasters in history. Salt to the Sea tells the story through four different points of view. Joana is a Lithuanian nurse, Emilia is a pregnant Polish teenager, Florian is an injured Prussian opposed to the Nazis smuggling a treasure, and Alfred is a Nazi soldier who thinks he is more important than he really is. The characters are very well-developed and I really cared what happened to them. I very highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in World War II and people who enjoy historical fiction.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 132
Pages Read in 2017: 36,036
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Birthstone Bookology (S in SAPPHIRE)

Leave a comment

Filed under Historical Fiction

Tagged as

October 4, 2017 · 4:15 pm

Embryo by JA Schneider

Jill, an obstetrical intern, discovers a pattern among maternal and newborn complications at the hospital where she works. Her superiors tell her in no uncertain terms she is wrong and to give up her search to find what is going on.

I literally could not put Embryo down and so I finished it around 1am. It is fast-paced and well written. I was pretty surprised at who the culprit was, though looking back I could see the signs. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys medical thrillers!

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 131
Pages Read in 2017: 35,634
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Birthstone Bookology (E in SAPPHIRE)

Leave a comment

Filed under Thriller

Tagged as

October 4, 2017 · 3:43 pm

Any Way You Dream It by Monique McDonell

Lucy needs a fake fiance for her high school reunion. Chase says he’s not the relationship type, but he’s willing to pretend for a weekend.

Any Way You Dream It was completely predictable and ended exactly how I wanted it to. Unfortunately getting to that end was somewhat painful. The book is in great need of an editor. There were occasional stretches that were fine, but then there’d be several errors a page for a while. Occasionally I had no idea what the author even meant. Things went on a bit too long, too, like the author was just trying to stretch the length. It’s the second in a series, but there is no need to read the first book first. I only recommend Any Way You Dream It to people wanting a total mind vacation who don’t mind grammar and spelling errors.

2 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 130
Pages Read in 2017: 35,499
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Birthstone Bookology (A in SAPPHIRE)

Leave a comment

Filed under Realistic Fiction

Tagged as

October 4, 2017 · 12:30 pm

Intrusion by Mary McCluskey

Kat and Scott are grieving the loss of their 17-year-old son. A woman from Kat’s past, Sarah, hires Scott as her lawyer. Sarah is recently widowed and inserts herself back into Kat’s life, helping her through the grief.

The end of Intrusion was a complete shock. Everything I thought was wrong. It was one of those rare books where a couple days after finishing it, I still felt a little disturbed. The story moved very slowly, focusing on character development rather than action. It is quite well written.

4 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 129
Pages Read in 2017: 35,303
Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks (more book reviews!)
Reason I Chose It: Birthstone Bookology (I in SAPPHIRE)

Leave a comment

Filed under Realistic Fiction

Tagged as