Why I have this book: I borrowed it from the ebook library.
I know I swore off Amish stories, and I still stand by that. The only reason I read this is because my good friend said that she knew I swore them off, but she really enjoyed this one. I read it strictly out of friend-loyalty and because I always trust her judgement when it comes to books. :)
I admit that I enjoyed this book, as well. I gave it three stars on Goodreads. I could pick apart a few things with the writing, but I wasn't that bothered by it. The Amish characters didn't seem as Amish as in other books I've read. They way they spoke, for example, didn't seem to fit the setting, but that actually made it feel more relatable. I liked the overall theme of the book (allowing ourselves to have deep emotions, whether painful or joyful) and I enjoyed the light escape it provided during a hectic month at my house.
Clean.
Friday, August 11, 2017
Thursday, August 10, 2017
What I Saw and How I Lied (Judy Blundell)
Why I have this book: My friend recommended it, so I borrowed it from the ebook library.
I couldn't get my nose out of this book. It's not a literary masterpiece, but it was a captivating read and kept me up past midnight so I could see what happened. I had all the feels with this one.
I just put the author's other book on hold.
There were a few swear words and some mild sexual situations.
I couldn't get my nose out of this book. It's not a literary masterpiece, but it was a captivating read and kept me up past midnight so I could see what happened. I had all the feels with this one.
I just put the author's other book on hold.
There were a few swear words and some mild sexual situations.
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
Everything, Everything (Nicola Yoon)
Why I have this book: I borrowed it from the ebook library.
Okay, if I could just take out the swearing and one event in particular, this would be very close to a 5 star book for me. The story itself is fascinating, funny, emotional, and eyebrow-raising surprising at times. I think it's probably written for a teenage audience, but I would stay it's more appropriate for the YA crowd (although that might be pushing it for Christian readers). It's too bad it wasn't a bit more "clean," because I very much enjoyed this book.
If you do read it, just know that the "bonus" chapter after the story might take it all down a notch for you. It's kind of like a "deleted scene," but it feels out of place and actually takes away from the story for me. I guess that's why it wasn't kept in the story. I'm just not sure why the author included it at the end.
This book contains swearing (including the use of the Savior's name as an exclamation of emotion). I'm happy and somewhat surprised that the F-word was NOT in this book. It seems to be commonplace now in YA reading. There is some description of family abuse and premarital sex.
Okay, if I could just take out the swearing and one event in particular, this would be very close to a 5 star book for me. The story itself is fascinating, funny, emotional, and eyebrow-raising surprising at times. I think it's probably written for a teenage audience, but I would stay it's more appropriate for the YA crowd (although that might be pushing it for Christian readers). It's too bad it wasn't a bit more "clean," because I very much enjoyed this book.
If you do read it, just know that the "bonus" chapter after the story might take it all down a notch for you. It's kind of like a "deleted scene," but it feels out of place and actually takes away from the story for me. I guess that's why it wasn't kept in the story. I'm just not sure why the author included it at the end.
This book contains swearing (including the use of the Savior's name as an exclamation of emotion). I'm happy and somewhat surprised that the F-word was NOT in this book. It seems to be commonplace now in YA reading. There is some description of family abuse and premarital sex.
Monday, August 7, 2017
The Greek Village Series Books 1-3 (Sara Alexi)
Why I have this book: Okay, so longish explanation. I'm pretty sure I got Book 6 of this series for free or very cheap, but I hadn't read the earlier books, so I found this edition that contained the first three books for pretty cheap.
And to make it more confusing, once I finished reading this volume (with the first three books), I looked to see how much the fourth book was, and I discovered that the second book in this volume is really the second (or first?) book in another series by the same author, and therefore what I have as Book 6 is really Book 5 or Book 7 or something. I don't even know.
This volume contains:
The Illegal Gardener
Black Butterflies
The Explosive Nature of Friendship
In any case, I wasn't even sure if I would buy Book 4, because the books were only kind of interesting to me. They were good, but not really good enough for me to keep going. At some point I'll probably read Book 6 (?) since I have it, but I'm not going to buy any of the rest.
I gave this volume 2 stars on Goodreads. If I had the option, I'd probably go with 2.5, but I can't bring myself to go with a solid 3.
Also, these books needed to be cleaned up with a good proofreader/editor.
There are some swear words, a "mild" description of marital rape, and same-sex relationships are a part of one story.
And to make it more confusing, once I finished reading this volume (with the first three books), I looked to see how much the fourth book was, and I discovered that the second book in this volume is really the second (or first?) book in another series by the same author, and therefore what I have as Book 6 is really Book 5 or Book 7 or something. I don't even know.
This volume contains:
The Illegal Gardener
Black Butterflies
The Explosive Nature of Friendship
In any case, I wasn't even sure if I would buy Book 4, because the books were only kind of interesting to me. They were good, but not really good enough for me to keep going. At some point I'll probably read Book 6 (?) since I have it, but I'm not going to buy any of the rest.
I gave this volume 2 stars on Goodreads. If I had the option, I'd probably go with 2.5, but I can't bring myself to go with a solid 3.
Also, these books needed to be cleaned up with a good proofreader/editor.
There are some swear words, a "mild" description of marital rape, and same-sex relationships are a part of one story.
Saturday, July 22, 2017
Candle in the Darkness (Lynn Austin)
Why I have this book: I got the Kindle version for free back in 2013.
I enjoyed this book. It didn't have the depth that some of the author's other books have, but it kept me engrossed throughout. One thing I really liked is that it explained a lot about the Civil War in a way that was simple enough to understand —like why the war started and how it progressed. It was a complicated time with all the various battles and leaders, so it was nice to have a more simple explanation for how things went down.
I also liked seeing the conflict through the eyes of a Southern girl whose family owned slaves, but who also felt slavery was wrong. I wonder how many Southerners had that conflicted viewpoint.
I gave this 3 stars on Goodreads, but I really would have liked to give it something closer to a 4, like a 3.7. I guess I should round up and go ahead and give it a 4. :)
This Christian novel is clean. There are a few mild descriptions of battle wounds.
I enjoyed this book. It didn't have the depth that some of the author's other books have, but it kept me engrossed throughout. One thing I really liked is that it explained a lot about the Civil War in a way that was simple enough to understand —like why the war started and how it progressed. It was a complicated time with all the various battles and leaders, so it was nice to have a more simple explanation for how things went down.
I also liked seeing the conflict through the eyes of a Southern girl whose family owned slaves, but who also felt slavery was wrong. I wonder how many Southerners had that conflicted viewpoint.
I gave this 3 stars on Goodreads, but I really would have liked to give it something closer to a 4, like a 3.7. I guess I should round up and go ahead and give it a 4. :)
This Christian novel is clean. There are a few mild descriptions of battle wounds.
Friday, July 14, 2017
Petticoat Spy (Carol Warburton)
Why I have this book: It was a book club pick.
A friend actually loaned the print copy to me, but I only really have time to read at night right now, and I much prefer my Kindle Paperwhite for night reading. I ended up buying the Kindle version for that reason.
I returned it for a refund. I think I only got through about 20%, but honestly, I did not like this book. It was boring, the writing was so-so, and I had to force myself to pick it up again each night. I realized I'd had it for less than nine days or whatever the limit is to return an e-book, so that's what I did. It just wasn't worth the $10.99 I paid for it.
(And a big shout-out to Amazon for having a return policy on e-books! It's one of the many reasons I love that company!)
This book is clean, or at least I'm assuming the rest of it is as clean as the first 20%.
A friend actually loaned the print copy to me, but I only really have time to read at night right now, and I much prefer my Kindle Paperwhite for night reading. I ended up buying the Kindle version for that reason.
I returned it for a refund. I think I only got through about 20%, but honestly, I did not like this book. It was boring, the writing was so-so, and I had to force myself to pick it up again each night. I realized I'd had it for less than nine days or whatever the limit is to return an e-book, so that's what I did. It just wasn't worth the $10.99 I paid for it.
(And a big shout-out to Amazon for having a return policy on e-books! It's one of the many reasons I love that company!)
This book is clean, or at least I'm assuming the rest of it is as clean as the first 20%.
Sunday, July 9, 2017
The Moonflower Vine (Jetta Carleton)
Why I have this book: It was a book club book from earlier this year. (I didn't read it that month, being so busy as a student these days and all...)
I liked this book. I can't say I loved it (I gave it a 3 on Goodreads), because it was kind of a slow read and didn't have a lot of action to keep me enthralled. Still, it was an interesting story and it got more intriguing as it went along. I wish I could have dug a little deeper and had a little more time to get to know everyone better. I would have liked to see how things played out with some of the characters — it seemed like some of them just went away when their lives were getting interesting and then we just heard later what happened, but only sort-of.
This book was fairly clean. One character swore a lot, but it was only in one small section of the book. There were instances where a married couple both "cheated" (it's complicated) on each other. It always came back to God and some kind of morality, or at least the struggle with wanting to do what was right. It was kind of weird in that regard, but I didn't feel that the author glorified immorality.
I liked this book. I can't say I loved it (I gave it a 3 on Goodreads), because it was kind of a slow read and didn't have a lot of action to keep me enthralled. Still, it was an interesting story and it got more intriguing as it went along. I wish I could have dug a little deeper and had a little more time to get to know everyone better. I would have liked to see how things played out with some of the characters — it seemed like some of them just went away when their lives were getting interesting and then we just heard later what happened, but only sort-of.
This book was fairly clean. One character swore a lot, but it was only in one small section of the book. There were instances where a married couple both "cheated" (it's complicated) on each other. It always came back to God and some kind of morality, or at least the struggle with wanting to do what was right. It was kind of weird in that regard, but I didn't feel that the author glorified immorality.
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