Monday, February 26, 2018

Reading People: How Seeing the World Through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything - Anne Bogel


Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes EverythingReading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything by Anne Bogel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book wasn't quite what I expected. I don't really know what I expected. Maybe more literary references tied into personality types? But it was still good.
Definitely a book you want to read with pen and paper in hand to jot notes, personality tests to take, etc.
I'm looking forward to diving into the resources section at the back and discovering more.

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P.S. I Like You - Kasie West


P.S. I Like YouP.S. I Like You by Kasie West
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sweet with a bit of depth. Just how I generally like my YA.

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Sunday, February 25, 2018

All American Boys - Jason Reynolds, Brendan Kiely


All American BoysAll American Boys by Jason Reynolds
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a super powerful book. Challenging to read because it challenges perceptions...beliefs...paradigms. A book that will stay with the reader long after the last page is turned.

As a side note, a lot of cursing in this book. At times it felt gratuitous to me. But it’s also entirely likely I’m just out of touch.

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Thursday, February 22, 2018

I Was Anastasia - Ariel Lawhon


I Was AnastasiaI Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Bolshevik secret police have always insisted Anastasia was executed via firing squad along with the rest of her family. Others have always insisted she in some way survived. The whole premise of this story hinges on whether Anna Anderson is, indeed, The Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov.
I picked up this book because awhile ago I read Ariel Lawhon’s The Wife, the Maid, and the Mistress – and loved it. After that I began following her SheReads blog and learned of this upcoming book. I stalked NetGalley until it was available to request.
I’ll admit that I don’t know much about Anastasia, the Romanovs, or Russia for that matter. In fact, the extent of my knowledge is pretty much that there was a revolution, the Romanovs were executed, but some believe that Anastasia survived. I’m not sure if that lack of knowledge helped or hurt my reading of this book. I was disappointed to not really enjoy it.
The book is told in dual narrative format. Something I generally like in books – especially in historical fiction. In this book, one of the narratives is told backwards in time while the other was going forward. While a daring writing technique, it didn’t really work for me. I was halfway through the book before the backwards narrative even started to be interesting or make sense to me. At the end, I do understand why Lawhon chose to do it that way instead of straight chronological. But that understanding didn’t make the reading any more interesting or enjoyable.
There were also time/age discrepancies in the backward narrative. I’m never a fan of discrepancies.
I enjoyed the Anastasia tale far more than the Anna Anderson plot line. Again, that could go back to Anastasia being told chronologically forward. I think also because the Anastasia narrative covered a shorter time span and had fewer characters to try to place. With the Anna story going backwards, all these people are thrown at you without any context until you get to a future (past) chapter.
I didn’t really like the book. I probably would still buy it for a friend or relative if they are really into the Romanovs and their lives. And it has sparked my interest in learning more through other books. But this just wasn’t my cup of tea.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.
If you would like to read my other reviews, visit my site at www.mommyreadsbooks.blogspot.com

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Friday, February 16, 2018

If I Live (If I Run #3) - Terri Blackstock


If I Live (If I Run #3)If I Live by Terri Blackstock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This books brings closure to the tale of Casey and her run from the cops trying to kill her. In book one, she had evidence about dirty cops. Through the three books, those cops are trying to find and murder her in the hopes of the evidence disappearing along with her. However, Dylan (a war veteran with PTSD) was also hired to track her down. This book wraps it all up.

I enjoyed it. I liked both Casey and Dylan and was rooting against the evil cops. I think some of the scenarios were fairly preposterous, but I was invested in the story enough to suspend disbelief. There were some surprises in this book that I didn't expect. All in all, it was a great conclusion to the series.

Do start with book one though. This is a series you can't read out of order.

I received this book as an advanced copy from NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions are my own.

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Oath of Honor (Blue Justice #1) - Lynette Eason


Oath of Honor (Blue Justice #1)Oath of Honor by Lynette Eason
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

1.5 stars

I really, really wanted to like this book. It seemed like one that would be right up my alley. Alas, it was not. It would be a 1 star book if not for the fact I didn't see one of the major twists coming. That gave it the extra half, rounding it up to 2 (Goodreads!!!! I need half stars!!!).

Police Officer Izzy St. John is there when her partner is killed in the line of duty. She resolves, with his brother Ryan, to figure out what is going on and bring his killer to justice.

There were *so many* characters in this book. So many it was clear this is being set up to start a long series. Some of them, however, simply weren't necessary to introduce at this time. They played little or no role in the happenings of this book. Even the characters that were necessary where a bit over the top for me. Seriously one of the main characters was frustrated by the lack of progress in the investigation. This is mention on Saturday morning...when the shooting happened late on Thursday night.

There was a lot of backstory about both Izzy and Ryan (and others) that is hinted at but is missing. Almost like there should be a prequel. That led to confusion about some things - some important, others not so.

There were discrepancies throughout the book as well: time, people, places, events. If I'm going to read a suspense book, I want those details to be tight. They weren't.

Overall, it was a disappointment to me. On a positive note, it was a quick read.

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Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Eligible (The Austen Project #4) - Curtis Sittenfeld


Eligible (The Austen Project, #4)Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld


I'm really torn on this book. So I'm just not going to rate it. Just spew out my thoughts.
I think it was really well executed as far as the modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice. It was well written and a bit snarky. The character portrayals were great.
There was just SO MUCH SEX...and some language. Had I not been so interested in the story and how Sittenfeld managed to pull off this pretty accurate retelling of P&P, I would have quit it at several different points.
So proceed with caution and awareness should you decide to give it a go.

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Thursday, February 8, 2018

House Girl - Tara Conklin


The House GirlThe House Girl by Tara Conklin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This book flips between the 1852 life of a teen house slave in Virginia and the 2004 story of a lawyer seeking reparations for slave descendants.
It took a lot of the book to get engaged in either story line. A lot as in half-ish...maybe a bit more. And even then I wasn't fully invested in either character's life or tale.


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Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories - RJ Palacio


Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories (Wonder #1.5, 1.6, 1.7)Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories by R.J. Palacio
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is a companion to Wonder and explores three Wonder characters' individual stories. While Auggie is mentioned in the stories, he doesn't really have a big role in any of them.
I was especially interested in Julian's story. It did not disappoint.
The middle story is from the perspective of Auggie's childhood friend, Chris. I think it gives a good perspective on the changing nature of friendships in general.
The final story is Charlotte's and focuses on how people are multidimensional.
Overall, it was an interesting read.

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The War I Finally Won - Kimberly Brubaker Bradley


The War I Finally Won (The War That Saved My Life, #2)The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the follow up book to the 2016 Newberry Honor Book, the War That Saved My Life.
I liked revisiting Ada and her brother, Jamie. To observe their struggles and their triumphs. There was a lot of character growth in Ada this time around.
However, there was an underlying tone to the book that didn't sit right with me. I can't quite put my finger on it. But that made it a 3 instead of a 4.

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Friday, February 2, 2018

Operation Hail Storm (Hail #1) - Brett Arquette


Operation Hail Storm (Hail, #1)Operation Hail Storm by Brett Arquette
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Thanks to the author for the copy of the book and review request. All opinions are my own.
If you would like to see more of my reviews, visit mommyreadsbooks.blogspot.com

I received an email from the author asking for a review of this book in advance of the second book in the series being released. I had the option to download the regular version or a school version. I went with the regular. In hindsight, I should have picked the school version where the swearing was probably removed or toned down. Although it begs the question how does the school version deal with the whole sexy CIA asset plot line and her job details?

Anyway...

Marshall Hail, physicist billionaire, has a vendetta following the death of his family in The Five. He's built a team and the technology to elimination those on the FBI's Top 10 Terrorist list. This book kicks off that mission.

This book was hard to get into. I was over 30% in before I even started to be interested in any of the story lines or characters. I even stopped reading for the night mid-paragraph once.

There were *so many* characters. Yet the story is more tech driven than plot or character driven. The technology for Hail to accomplish his mission is at center stage. There is an abundance of detail - especially in the first half - about the technology Hail and his team design and deploy.

There are weird word choices and typos. Redundancies right down to exact phrases along with discrepancies in time and detail . It could use a good copy edit for sure, despite the fact (to my knowledge) this was not an unedited advanced copy but the actual book published April 2017.

If you are really into technology and its potential yet don't care as much about character development, this might be the book for you. It was not the book for me.

1.5 stars

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By the Book - Julia Sonneborn


By the BookBy the Book by Julia Sonneborn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.
If you would like to see more of my reviews, visit mommyreadsbooks.blogspot.com

This book was cute. Predictable and cute. Just what I needed in my reading life at the time.

English professor Anne has goals: get a book deal, make tenure, dealing with her aging father. Maybe a new romance? They all seem to be moving along nicely. Then her ex-fiance shows up as the new president of the college she teaches at. Will this derail everything?

I just liked Anne. I enjoyed most of the other characters, but Anne had me from "English professor." She was a little quirky, but I can appreciate that. I just wanted to see her succeed.

The plot was predictable, yes. I look for that in my lighter fiction sometimes. It's nice to just be along for the ride with no huge surprises and the ending you were wanting.

Enjoyable read.

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