Why I have this book: It was one of the books on Book Bub… I thought it sounded cute and it was only $1.99…
I did enjoy it. I was reminded of books I read in elementary school, which is the target audience with this one, so…
It ended a bit abruptly, but it's first in a series, so I could continue on if I want to. I might wait and see if my daughter likes it (in a year or two, when this will be her reading level) and then we'll see if she wants the other books in the series.
One thing I found perplexing is that twice in the book, kids walking home from school were kicking a "sweet gum ball" as they walked. The first time, I didn't think anything of it… just figured there was a gum ball on the sidewalk and the girl was kicking it. But then it happened again later, and that confused me. Why are there gum balls on the street? Or do the kids bring gum balls, just to drop on the sidewalk to kick as they walk? I didn't get it.
All in all, though, I enjoyed the book. I especially liked that the protagonist loved to read and the book talked about which books she was reading. It would give young readers some ideas on what to read next. :)
Clean.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
Painting Kisses (Melanie Jacobson)
Why I have this book: One of our book club members chose it for this month's book.
I'll be honest… I had a hard time getting into this story for about the first 1/4 of the book.
I've read two other books by this author and I consider them mindless beach reads. Escape books. You know what I mean. I think this one ended up with more depth than the other two I've read, so that's a plus.
Still, there were parts of the story that were pretty predictable, and I'm never that impressed when being wealthy is a part of the appeal of a character. It wasn't played that way, but maybe because that doesn't attract me, I think it shouldn't come into play at all. But that's just me. ;)
Anyway, once I got past that first 25% of the book and felt a little more invested, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I still would call it an escape book… in fact, I had a migraine all day today and was still able to read it… so see, it's that kind of a book. A light, mindless read… but with just a touch more depth than I expected.
Clean.
I'll be honest… I had a hard time getting into this story for about the first 1/4 of the book.
I've read two other books by this author and I consider them mindless beach reads. Escape books. You know what I mean. I think this one ended up with more depth than the other two I've read, so that's a plus.
Still, there were parts of the story that were pretty predictable, and I'm never that impressed when being wealthy is a part of the appeal of a character. It wasn't played that way, but maybe because that doesn't attract me, I think it shouldn't come into play at all. But that's just me. ;)
Anyway, once I got past that first 25% of the book and felt a little more invested, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I still would call it an escape book… in fact, I had a migraine all day today and was still able to read it… so see, it's that kind of a book. A light, mindless read… but with just a touch more depth than I expected.
Clean.
It Was Me All Along (Andie Mitchell)
Why I have this book: I heard about it somewhere and had added it to my Wish List… then a friend mentioned she had read it and really liked it, so I took the jump and bought it. :)
I really liked this memoir, which is some ways reminded me of The Glass Castle, only maybe not quite as traumatic. And once the childhood trauma was over, the rest of the book was about the author's struggle with food and weight.
The author is a popular blogger, from what I gather. And if I'm remembering correctly, she has authored a food blog and maybe also a weight loss blog? I'm not sure on what the blog (or blogs) have been about, exactly. And I obviously haven't taken the time to go see…
In any case, I enjoyed her story a lot. It was an interesting glimpse into the mind games we play as we go through life and it's challenges. I also enjoyed her writing style… it was easy to get into.
There was a handful of swear words, including the F-word once or twice.
I really liked this memoir, which is some ways reminded me of The Glass Castle, only maybe not quite as traumatic. And once the childhood trauma was over, the rest of the book was about the author's struggle with food and weight.
The author is a popular blogger, from what I gather. And if I'm remembering correctly, she has authored a food blog and maybe also a weight loss blog? I'm not sure on what the blog (or blogs) have been about, exactly. And I obviously haven't taken the time to go see…
In any case, I enjoyed her story a lot. It was an interesting glimpse into the mind games we play as we go through life and it's challenges. I also enjoyed her writing style… it was easy to get into.
There was a handful of swear words, including the F-word once or twice.
The Beloved Daughter (Alana Terry)
Why I have this book: It was on one of those discount book services (which I swore off before and somehow have subscribed to again) and it sounded interesting. It is about North Korea, so that was a draw for me, too.
So. It was interesting in the sense that I think it was written to draw attention to how Christians are treated in North Korea. Horrendous, really. It was eye-opening, but the problem for me was that I just didn't get sucked into the story. So while I think the message is important, I also think it could have been more powerful. Plus, I'm not really sure what happened at the end, and I didn't like the book enough to read the companion (or sequel?) book.
Kind of clean, although a lot of things that happened are disturbing. Nothing is graphic, though.
So. It was interesting in the sense that I think it was written to draw attention to how Christians are treated in North Korea. Horrendous, really. It was eye-opening, but the problem for me was that I just didn't get sucked into the story. So while I think the message is important, I also think it could have been more powerful. Plus, I'm not really sure what happened at the end, and I didn't like the book enough to read the companion (or sequel?) book.
Kind of clean, although a lot of things that happened are disturbing. Nothing is graphic, though.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Pollyanna (Eleanor H. Porter)
Why I have this book: I downloaded it a long time ago to my Kindle. Pretty sure it was a free "classics" download.
I really enjoyed reading Pollyanna. For a classic, it's really easy to read, which is nice. You can feel smart without being in brainiac mode. :)
I kept picturing the movie in my mind while I read… I had only seen the Walt Disney/Hayley Mills version, and I planned to show it to my kids this weekend. We only have it on VHS, so I checked to see how much the DVD was, and that led me to a newer version… 2004 Masterpiece Theater. I bought that one instead due to the reviews. We'll see which one I like better!
I also discovered that the author wrote a sequel called, "Pollyanna Grows Up." That's on my reading list now.
Clean.
I really enjoyed reading Pollyanna. For a classic, it's really easy to read, which is nice. You can feel smart without being in brainiac mode. :)
I kept picturing the movie in my mind while I read… I had only seen the Walt Disney/Hayley Mills version, and I planned to show it to my kids this weekend. We only have it on VHS, so I checked to see how much the DVD was, and that led me to a newer version… 2004 Masterpiece Theater. I bought that one instead due to the reviews. We'll see which one I like better!
I also discovered that the author wrote a sequel called, "Pollyanna Grows Up." That's on my reading list now.
Clean.
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