Why I have this book: I borrowed it from the ebook library.
I think I've read too many John Bytheway books lately.
This book was geared toward youth and it was good. It would probably be better on a CD. It was fine, though… good counsel on how to build a strong foundation in life.
Clean.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
50 Ways to Soothe Yourself Without Food (Susan Albers)
Why I have this book: Amazon recommended it to me. Rude, right? I know. ;)
I don't really like the title of this book. If I was sitting on the subway with my Kindle and someone asked what I was reading, I would really have a hard time saying this title. It's just… awkward.
In any case, I thought it was a good book for anyone who is trying to stop a bad habit or addiction… smoking, drinking, nail-biting, etc. She gives lots of suggestions for things to do to calm one's nerves or to be productive or to get energy… whatever is needed to get one through that immediate temptation. I'm not sure it was anything new, but it did reinforce that ideas I've had before really are good ones. :)
I'm pretty sure it was clean… no swearing or anything. (I've read a couple books since this one, so…)
I don't really like the title of this book. If I was sitting on the subway with my Kindle and someone asked what I was reading, I would really have a hard time saying this title. It's just… awkward.
In any case, I thought it was a good book for anyone who is trying to stop a bad habit or addiction… smoking, drinking, nail-biting, etc. She gives lots of suggestions for things to do to calm one's nerves or to be productive or to get energy… whatever is needed to get one through that immediate temptation. I'm not sure it was anything new, but it did reinforce that ideas I've had before really are good ones. :)
I'm pretty sure it was clean… no swearing or anything. (I've read a couple books since this one, so…)
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
The Mistletoe Promise (Richard Paul Evans)
Why I have this book: My friend recommended it when I asked her how to spend my birthday Amazon gift cards. :)
So on the one hand, this is a little too good to be true. Not all of it, but the money aspect, the romance aspect, the perfect man, etc.
On the other hand, I felt a little uncomfortable with the similarity of the background stories of the two main characters to real-life news stories. I hope nobody who lived those real-life stories picked up this book for an uplifting Christmas read.
And, the bad ex-husband was just a bit too unbelievable with his "dumb" type of personality. I don't know.
So having said all of that... I really liked this book. Haha. I know that sounds crazy, but it was easy to get sucked in and to feel the emotions involved. I appreciated the message of redemption. I felt the compassion and mercy that we often forget to have when we hear heart wrenching stories on the news. I still feel a little like I want to cry...
So on the one hand, this is a little too good to be true. Not all of it, but the money aspect, the romance aspect, the perfect man, etc.
On the other hand, I felt a little uncomfortable with the similarity of the background stories of the two main characters to real-life news stories. I hope nobody who lived those real-life stories picked up this book for an uplifting Christmas read.
And, the bad ex-husband was just a bit too unbelievable with his "dumb" type of personality. I don't know.
So having said all of that... I really liked this book. Haha. I know that sounds crazy, but it was easy to get sucked in and to feel the emotions involved. I appreciated the message of redemption. I felt the compassion and mercy that we often forget to have when we hear heart wrenching stories on the news. I still feel a little like I want to cry...
I gave it four stars on Goodreads.
I don't remember any swear words, and it was clean otherwise. The background stories of the two main characters are painful and traumatic, but the story isn't necessarily focused on those things as much as it is about moving forward.
I don't remember any swear words, and it was clean otherwise. The background stories of the two main characters are painful and traumatic, but the story isn't necessarily focused on those things as much as it is about moving forward.
2001 Amazon Purchase Book Reviews
There are two books on my 2001 Amazon orders list that I don't have anymore. (I'm going through my orders on Amazon to read what I haven't read - yes, books I've had since 2001 that I haven't read yet - or to put a review on here or to read again to see if I want to keep them.
These two are the ones I don't have anymore and why:
Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (E.D. Hirsch, Jr.)
I bought this book back in my homeschooling days. (We homeschooled for 2.5 years.) I don't think I ever read it, and after looking on all my bookshelves, I think I probably gave it away when I gave away a lot of my homeschool stuff. I'm sure it is a fascinating read, and there's a part of me that would want to read it if I still had it, but I'm okay that it's not here.
Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic (Martha Beck)
I absolutely loved this book when I first read it. I completely took it at face value and deeply appreciated the beauty in the story of a mother learning her unborn child had Down Syndrome, and her journey to bring that child into the world. The mystical qualities of parts of the book didn't bother me... I figured it was her experience and that's how she wanted to describe it.
I loved this book so much that I recommended it to others and to book clubs. During one of those book clubs, we learned more about the author and as I researched her life, her family life, and her other books, I pretty much lost the intrigue I had with this book. I guess I lost the trust I had in her story, so I chose to not keep the book.
These two are the ones I don't have anymore and why:
Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know (E.D. Hirsch, Jr.)
I bought this book back in my homeschooling days. (We homeschooled for 2.5 years.) I don't think I ever read it, and after looking on all my bookshelves, I think I probably gave it away when I gave away a lot of my homeschool stuff. I'm sure it is a fascinating read, and there's a part of me that would want to read it if I still had it, but I'm okay that it's not here.
Expecting Adam: A True Story of Birth, Rebirth, and Everyday Magic (Martha Beck)
I absolutely loved this book when I first read it. I completely took it at face value and deeply appreciated the beauty in the story of a mother learning her unborn child had Down Syndrome, and her journey to bring that child into the world. The mystical qualities of parts of the book didn't bother me... I figured it was her experience and that's how she wanted to describe it.
I loved this book so much that I recommended it to others and to book clubs. During one of those book clubs, we learned more about the author and as I researched her life, her family life, and her other books, I pretty much lost the intrigue I had with this book. I guess I lost the trust I had in her story, so I chose to not keep the book.
I Feel Bad About My Neck - and Other Thoughts On Being a Woman (Nora Ephron)
Why I have this book: My friend actually loaned me a copy a couple of years ago that is still sitting on my bookshelf. I saw that the ebook library recently added it, so I borrowed it so I could read it on my Kindle instead. (And now I can give her the book back! Yay! One less book on my shelf...)
This is kind of like an Erma Bombeck book... but not as sarcastic and negative. It was funny'ish... I chuckled inside a couple of times. It was definitely interesting to read about living in NYC. I enjoyed that part.
All in all, it was okay to me. I didn't like the chapter on a former president at all... I'm not sure one's political opinion belongs in a book like this. And the last part was super sad, especially since I knew that the author died recently. Even if she hadn't, the last part was pretty depressing.
I probably wouldn't read any of the author's other books. It just isn't really my thing, although I can appreciate what she accomplished in her career.
There were a few swear words and comments about sex.
This is kind of like an Erma Bombeck book... but not as sarcastic and negative. It was funny'ish... I chuckled inside a couple of times. It was definitely interesting to read about living in NYC. I enjoyed that part.
All in all, it was okay to me. I didn't like the chapter on a former president at all... I'm not sure one's political opinion belongs in a book like this. And the last part was super sad, especially since I knew that the author died recently. Even if she hadn't, the last part was pretty depressing.
I probably wouldn't read any of the author's other books. It just isn't really my thing, although I can appreciate what she accomplished in her career.
There were a few swear words and comments about sex.
Falling to Heaven: The Surprising Path to Happiness (James L. Ferrell)
Why I have this book: I borrowed it from the ebook library.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It kept my interest and the author's perspective on several different subjects was thought-provoking. I wasn't completely on board with a couple of ideas, but I could see where he was coming from and understood the point he was making. I think the direction he is suggesting is a good one... turning to the Savior in a spirit of repentance, humility, and meekness.
I also appreciated that the author was willing to share experiences from his life that showed his struggles and mistakes. It always makes the message better when you can relate to the messenger.
If I had my own copy, it would be a keeper. I also think it would make a good discussion at a book club (if the members of the club were all of the same religious persuasion.)
Clean.
I enjoyed this book quite a bit. It kept my interest and the author's perspective on several different subjects was thought-provoking. I wasn't completely on board with a couple of ideas, but I could see where he was coming from and understood the point he was making. I think the direction he is suggesting is a good one... turning to the Savior in a spirit of repentance, humility, and meekness.
I also appreciated that the author was willing to share experiences from his life that showed his struggles and mistakes. It always makes the message better when you can relate to the messenger.
If I had my own copy, it would be a keeper. I also think it would make a good discussion at a book club (if the members of the club were all of the same religious persuasion.)
Clean.
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
The Rest of the Cedar Cove series (Debbie Macomber)
I'm not going to list all the books… there are eight of them, all titled with an address (e.g. 1225 Christmas Tree Lane.) I read them in Volumes 2 and 3, which each contained four books. Apparently, there was also a Christmas book thrown in somewhere which wasn't included in any of the volumes, but a quick search on Amazon helped me fill in the blanks when these two new random people showed up in one of the books. I had the feeling I should know who they are, but I didn't. (I'm glad Amazon's summary gave enough info that I didn't have to read the book.)
Why I have these books: see previous post.
Okay, so.
To be honest, I thought the series kind of went downhill. Well, the one good thing was there was a dwindling amount of the (relatively minor) sex scenes as the series went on. I think maybe only one in the last eight books, which was maybe a paragraph and not really descriptive. I'm glad they stopped altogether. So not needed.
So that was the one plus.
Some of the storylines were cute, some were super corny, some people/situations/scenes had me rolling my eyes… but it just got to where there were so many characters coming in and out that I would have to stop at the beginning of each chapter and remind myself who these characters were.
I think the author got confused, too, because she actually put the wrong last name on one of the characters at one point.
Anyway, it was a good read at first, which turned into an okay read, which turned into an "I'm glad I'm done with this series" read at the end.
The "puppy" theme in the last book was kind of a cute thread to tie the whole book together.
Each book got progressively worse at rehashing the history of each character when they were mentioned. I was skipping pages of "background" by the time I read the last book.
Interesting how many women were pregnant before/outside of marriage and how many divorced people ended up back together.
Still, I didn't hate them… I just ran out of interest.
P.S. I noticed that I made a comment in some of the first Debbie Macomber books I reviewed that I probably wouldn't spend money on her books in the future. Oops.
These were cleaner than the first four (see previous post).
Why I have these books: see previous post.
Okay, so.
To be honest, I thought the series kind of went downhill. Well, the one good thing was there was a dwindling amount of the (relatively minor) sex scenes as the series went on. I think maybe only one in the last eight books, which was maybe a paragraph and not really descriptive. I'm glad they stopped altogether. So not needed.
So that was the one plus.
Some of the storylines were cute, some were super corny, some people/situations/scenes had me rolling my eyes… but it just got to where there were so many characters coming in and out that I would have to stop at the beginning of each chapter and remind myself who these characters were.
I think the author got confused, too, because she actually put the wrong last name on one of the characters at one point.
Anyway, it was a good read at first, which turned into an okay read, which turned into an "I'm glad I'm done with this series" read at the end.
The "puppy" theme in the last book was kind of a cute thread to tie the whole book together.
Each book got progressively worse at rehashing the history of each character when they were mentioned. I was skipping pages of "background" by the time I read the last book.
Interesting how many women were pregnant before/outside of marriage and how many divorced people ended up back together.
Still, I didn't hate them… I just ran out of interest.
P.S. I noticed that I made a comment in some of the first Debbie Macomber books I reviewed that I probably wouldn't spend money on her books in the future. Oops.
These were cleaner than the first four (see previous post).
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