Category Archives: Reason: Birthstone Bookology

April 17, 2018 · 3:39 pm

Out of the Blue by Gretta Mulrooney

After inheriting her grandmother’s cottage in Cork, Liv leaves London to clear her head and think things through while her husband goes to a clinic to try to get his alcoholism under control. She unexpectedly runs into her first love, Aidan, who is now living near her grandmother’s little town, and sparks fly.

Out of the Blue is a horrible book. Most of the characters are incredibly selfish and think it is no big deal to have an affair. There are three affairs in the book and they all ruin lives, but that doesn’t seem to be much of an issue to participants. It’s like if you are unhappy in your marriage, feel free to step out on your husband or wife. As if the terrible plot wasn’t enough, the writing is sometimes hard to follow due to tense and incredibly boring and slow much of the time. The end is ridiculous and abrupt like the author had no idea how to actually write an ending to a book. I most definitely do not recommend reading this book.

1 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2018: 42
Pages Read in 2018: 9861
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March 15, 2018 · 12:33 pm

True Stories of Crime from the DA’s Office by Arthur Train

True Stories of Crimes from the DA’s Office is a collection of several stories of cases from the district attorney’s office from the very early 1900s. The writing is rather dull. It tells the stories mostly in a this happened, then this happened, then this happened, just the fact sort of way. I love reading true crime books, but this just didn’t hold my attention very well.

2 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2018: 24
Pages Read in 2018: 4534
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March 2, 2018 · 11:36 am

Exposed in Darkness by Heather Sunseri

Ex-FBI agent Brooke Fairfax finds herself in Kentucky in the middle of investigating a domestic terrorism plot involving a very strong poison. Soon she also finds herself drawn to one of the prime suspects. Meanwhile, Romeo, her anonymous source of information for many years, starts taunting her with the knowledge he’s been stalking her for a very long time.

I enjoyed Exposed in Darkness so much. It was fast-paced with just the right mix of lingering questions, romance, and police work. I absolutely did not see the end coming. I highly recommend reading it to people who enjoy thrillers. It’s the first in the In Darkness series and I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2018: 15
Pages Read in 2018: 2779
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January 15, 2018 · 8:11 pm

Until We Collide by Charlotte Fallowfield

Paige is hopelessly in love with Alec, but every time they run into each other, one or the other is in a relationship with someone else so it’s never their time. Meanwhile, over the course of more than a decade, Paige’s love life is a complete comedy of errors.

Until We Collide is quite entertaining. Although it was easy to put down, I still enjoyed it a lot and laughed out loud at some of Paige’s mishaps and babbling. I recommend it to women who enjoy a good, modern love story.

4 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2018: 7
Pages Read in 2018: 1662
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January 13, 2018 · 10:35 am

Intelligence Was My Line by Ralph W. Hauenstein

Hauenstein was an intelligence officer in World War II. Intelligence Was My Line is his story of that period of time in his life. Though he repeated himself quite a bit, there was a lot of interesting stuff in there. Included are pictures. I recommend this book to anyone interested in World War II or intelligence gathering.

4 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2018: 5
Pages Read in 2018: 1246
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January 10, 2018 · 1:09 pm

Utopia by Thomas More

In the 1500s, Sir Thomas More described his idea of the ultimate perfect society in Utopia. Written like a travelogue, various aspects of the way of life in Utopia are examined. As with many books written long ago, it tends to ramble on and on. It makes for an interesting read, though, since what we think of as a Utopian society today doesn’t really match the book where we got the word from.

3 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2018: 3
Pages Read in 2018: 854
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January 7, 2018 · 7:32 pm

A Question of Love by Isabel Wolff

Laura Quick is the host of a prime time quiz show. She is very surprised when her ex-boyfriend Luke shows up as a contestant and gets to “turn the tables” on her and ask any question and ends up asking her out on a date. She soon discovers she must play third fiddle to Luke’s daughter and soon-to-be-ex-wife and then everything gets worse when the tabloids get wind of her own husband’s disappearance three years before. Meanwhile, her sisters’ marriages are having issues making life just generally stressful.

A Question of Love is an enjoyable book filled with British humor. I guessed how it was likely to end long before the end, but that didn’t make it any less satisfying. There are quite a few typos/repeated words scattered throughout. I recommend it to people who like women’s fiction and happy endings.

4 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2018: 2
Pages Read in 2018: 732
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