Books
Group avatar

I Love Reading Challenges

Do You Love Reading Challenges?
Are You Ready To Tackle Your TBR Pile?

Here you will find challenges from different sites? If you are hosting a reading challenge or know a site that is having one, share it with us.

You do not have to sign up where the challenge is being hosted unless there is a prize being offered. To be...more »

« more discussions

  • Bunnitaz

    Book Review #4

    Save Changes Cancel

    Wow y'all are really reading. Time for a new post.

    Please format it as such:
    The name of the challenge
    Title of book, author
    Your rating (if you are giving one)
    Your review

    Bunnitaz started this discussion 3 years ago. ( reply | permalink )

95

replies
expand replies 
Sign in to participate in this discussion.
  • Bunnitaz

    Bunnitaz (edited)

    Save Changes Cancel

    A to Z Challenge
    The Princess Bride by William Goldman
    3stars
    I must say that the book differs from the movie. Once you get into the story itself without the authors other crap is an okay read. But the movie is the real “Good Part” version.
    The author extra notes and the prologue was unnecessary. In fact if I hadn’t ever watched the movie I would have shelved the book 3 pages into the prologue.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
    show 1 reply
    • Erin S
      Save Changes Cancel

      One of the few instances where I preferred the movie to the book.

      posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Bunnitaz

    Bunnitaz (edited)

    Save Changes Cancel

    A to Z Challenge
    Book Around the States
    Loyalty in Death by J. D. Robb
    3.5 stars
    A radical group calling itself Cassandra is determined to bring down the government starting with New York. During the course of the investigation it is discover that this group is connected to a similar group from years past. In fact the leader of Cassandra is the daughter of the leader of the original group.
    There’s love, deception, murder, bombings all while the lead detective deals with struggles in her life both from the present and her past. The story is based in the future.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Bunnitaz
    Save Changes Cancel

    A to Z Challenge
    Book Around the States
    A Gangster’s Girl
    3stars
    This story is a pampered young woman who is so accustomed to wearing the latest of everything that she finds herself escorting on the side of her day job. While out on her first “date” she meets Vegas. At first everything is fine, great in fact but Vegas is a drug dealer and as with all drug dealers the life will catch up with you. The fairy tale rapidly becomes a nightmare. This novel has lust, love, fast money, and death. It didn’t end the way I thought it would either. Definitively not a happily ever after.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge (Historical Fiction)/War Through The Generations

    Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet Jamie Ford

    5 stars

    Henry Lee, an American born Chinese man, who lost his wife of cancer 6 months earlier, is now just getting out of the house and going on with life. He happens to pass a crowd at the Panama Hotel, an old boarded up hotel that has been closed since the Japenese Internment of the 40's. Stored in the basement is belongings of several Japenese that had been taken when Henry was a child, including Keiko Okabe, Henry's first love. This takes Henry back to his childhood, and how Keiko and her family was rounded up to internment camps, while his father disowns him for being friends with a Japenese family.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
    show 1 reply
    • KimBear
      Save Changes Cancel

      This is on my list to read this month!!!

      posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F

    Tenia F (edited)

    Save Changes Cancel

    Themed Reading Challenge/Southern Reading Challenge

    The Land Of Mango Sunsets Dorothea Benton Frank

    4 stars

    After her husband left her, Miriam Swanson found herself at the bottom of New York social registary, renting out the upper floors of her house for rent, estranges from her sons and grandchildren. Her upstairs renter, keeps telling her that she needs to put Charles, her ex-husband, out of her life. Miriam goes to visit her mother and knows something is wrong but her mother keeps denying it. Miriam decides she needs to reconnect with her sons, and forget her troubles.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge (Author author group)

    Where Are You Now? Mary Higgins Clark

    3 stars

    Charles "Mack" Mackenzie JR was 21 years old when he walked out of his college dorm and disapeared without a word. Ten years later, his mother and sister receive a phone call from him on Mother's Day. In that ten years, Mack's father was killed on 9/11 and even then there wasn't a call from him. When the phone call is received this year Caroline informs Mack she is going to find him. It isn't long until a note is delivered to there Uncle a Priest that says to warn Carolyn not to pursue it. Ofcourse, Caroline is more determined then ever to find out if her brother is really alive or someone is playing a cruel hoax.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Bunnitaz

    Bunnitaz (edited)

    Save Changes Cancel

    Number Challenge; Chick Porn Challenge; Book Around the States; Pick a Continent; A to Z Challenge
    Finger Lickin' Fifteen by Janet Evanovich 7cds
    4 stars

    Lulu witnesses a celebrity chef get his head cut off. The two guys are determine to get rid of her. Meanwhile someone is robbing homes that Rangman has security systems at. Ranger asks Stephanie to help him try to find out who behind it. The story centers around a BBQ sauce company. As usual there's a love triangle between Stephanie, Morelli, and Ranger. Lulu is getting shot at. And Stephanie continues to walk around with the bad luck cloud over her managing to ruin 2 of Rangers vehicles in this story.

    Very funny and entertaining.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Challenge (author author)

    The Third Angel Alice Hoffman

    2 stars

    Three intertwined stories are brought together to make a story. It actually goes from the story that happened first to the 1950's and I think it would be better if it was the other way around. Unfornatley I'm not very thrilled with this book and hope to find a better book by the author.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Erin S
    Save Changes Cancel

    Summer Reading Bingo

    The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
    3 stars

    It's kind of difficult to review a book that isn't really about anything. Basically a group of friends living in Paris take a trip to Spain to fish and watch the bull fighting. The book is narrated by Jake Barnes, who moved from America to Paris after the end of WWI. Also included in the group are Lady Brett Ashley and her fiancee. The most interesting part of the book is the love between Jake and Lady Ashley that cannot be due to an injury that Jake sustained in the war. The book was interesting enough that I wanted to keep reading, and I actually did enjoy Heminway's simplistic style of writing. However, I did find myself skipping over the endless descriptions of what street they were walking on or where they going to eat or what they were drinking, etc. I'm sure smarter people could find more profound things to write about this book, but for me it was just ok.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Summer Vacation Reading Challenge/In Their Shoes/Presidental Reading Challenge/999 Reading Challenge

    Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid Jimmy Carter

    5 stars

    Former President Carter writes about his dealings with Palestine, Israel and Egypt before, during and after his presidencies. He has always believed that peace in the region is necessary and has given his opinion to Presidents that have came after him. He is deeply respected by members of the Israel and Palestine Governments, and have been asked to oversee elections several times to make sure things are fair.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    End Of The World Challenge

    White Noise Don Delillo

    1 star (because I can't give it negative)

    It took me over half of the book to figure out what was happening, and when I thought I had it right, the first part made no sense to me. Sorry that's the best I can do....time to move on.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • KimBear
    Save Changes Cancel

    Just finished this one...

    - Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay.
    (5) stars

    Dexter Morgan is a Miami blood spatter analyst. He loves donuts, he likes to ride his boat early in the morning while the world is still quiet, and, oh yeah, he likes to kill people! You see, Dexter is a serial killer (though he's a good serial killer). He only kills the bad guys...the ones who deserve it. And he absolutely hates criminals who hurt children. In this book, Dexter meets a murderer who is very much like himself. He thinks like him, he acts like him, and he even looks like him...could it be him? Is Dexter finally going crazy? Tag along with him as he tries to figure out the mystery of the ice truck killer, as well as tackle the mystery of his haunted past. I loved this book!

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Bunnitaz
    Save Changes Cancel

    A to Z Challenge, Book Around the States, Chick Porn Challenge
    Hittin' the Bricks by Noire
    4 stars

    Eva Patterson was turned out and turned on to drugs by her mother and her mothers boyfriend Jahden after they held her down and injected her with heroin. Why? So that Jahden could rape her without a fight. Soon her mother got jealous and made her daughter come up with her own money to buy smack. So, barely into her teens, Eva began doing whatever she had to do to get money. After getting kicked out of the house she went looking for a place to shoot up only to have a son inside the industrial size dryer. Leaving the baby in good hands she went to live with her aunt.

    Her cousin Fiyah ends up going to jail on a mandatory gun charge for her. While locked up he becomes indebted to King Brody. Brody wants Eva. Knowing the rep that Brody has she wants nothing to do with him. Plus she's in love with her man Mello. Fiyah not wanting to die because he surely knows that if Brody doesn't get what he wants, Fiyah and Eva both are walking targets.

    Brody works his own special evil on the family and anyone else he feels like it. When it's all said and done people are murdered, lives are changed forever and those who were able to survive the aftermath is left to deal with the guilt of their part in the tragedy.

    If you like urban/street lit then you'll love this book. If you like a happy ending then you will not. I don't usually get emotional over a book or a movie but I really felt empathy for Eva. All I can say is this, no one knows how they will handle certain situations until they are faced with them but talk about a disappointment of a man we are shown in Fiyah.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Erin S
    Save Changes Cancel

    Summer Reading Bingo

    A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
    4 stars

    Bill Bryson recounts his attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail. He mixes his personal (and often entertaining) experiences with some history of the trail. It has to be the mark of a good writer and good book that I was completely entertained reading about a subject that was only mildly interesting to me. It also helps that I actually learned a lot while reading it. I will certainly be reading more of Bryson's work.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Erin S
    Save Changes Cancel

    Summer Reading Bingo

    Some Kind of Wonderful by Debbie Macomber
    1 star

    In an updated version of Beauty and the Beast, Judy agrees to travel to a Caribbean island to be the companion of a ruthless businessman in order to save her father's company. They fall in love, blah blah blah.

    This read like a clean version of a bad Harlequin romance. I was completely bored. Luckily it was short!

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge/In Their Shoes

    American Creation Joseph J Ellis

    4 Stars

    Joseph Ellis once agains brings the American Revolutionary and it's founding fathers to brilliant life. Unlike other history books on the Revolution, and the Founding Fathers, Ellis shows that they really didn't know what they were doing and didn't pretend to. They wanted freedom, and though they didn't all agree on how to go about doing it. He also goes into detail on how the Founding Father's writings helped with freeing slaves, giving women equal rights. Ofcourse none of them had any idea that they would be credited for things in the future.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge/Mystery Readers Challenge

    Blood and Ice Robert Masello

    5 stars

    Michael Wilde, a photographer and journalist, and a life long adrenilline junkie had cut himself totally off from the world after an accident left his girlfriend in a coma with no hope of regaining consciousness. When Michael's boss at Eco-Travel magazine shows up on his doorstep with a month long assignment to the South Pole, Michael feels the adrenillen pumping into his blood. When first arriving at the outpost, things start off normally, if not boring. But it does not stay that way for long. On his first deep sea dive and while taking pictures he discovers a woman chained in a block of ice. When he returns to base and reports his findings, ofcourse he is met with skeptacism. But the next day he returns with a salvage crew and finds "Sleeping Beauty" is chained to "Prince Charming." The block of ice is brought up and the incredible find is photographed and left to be defrosted. It is obvious that the frozen specisims are from a differnt century. The scientists leave the ice to defrost which they estimate will take 24 to 48 hours.

    Elanor Aames and Lt Sinclair were from Victoria England. Elanor was a nurse for Florence Nightengales. Sinclaire a soldier for the fable Light Brigade. Sinclaire was brought down on the battlefield. While laying waiting to die, he is attacked by creatures thought to be mythical, but he finds out that they are not. When he is brought back to life, he inflicts Elanor with the disease.

    Being frozen for over a century, they find themselves in a new century among people who would not understand what they are. Elanor herself does not understand it nor does she like it.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
    show 1 reply
    • KimBear
      Save Changes Cancel

      This sounds really good!

      posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Summer Vacation Reading Challenge

    Unearthing Atlantis Charles Pellegrino

    4 stars

    Is Atlantis myth or was it real? Archeologists believe that it was real and have found facts that date to the time Atlantis would have existed. It's location is known as Thera, and there is alot of proof that this is the Lost City of Atlantis. Located offshore of Crete, it is most certainly the lost civilization of Minoan Crete, an Egyption naval empire. In the center of the city stood a Volcano which destroyed the city. Could this be the mythical Atlantis?

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge/War Through The Generations

    The Caine Mutiny Herman Wouk

    5 stars

    Willie Keith didn't start out as the perfect Naval Officer, he almost got kicked out of the Naval Acadamey. When he got his assignment, it was one of the worst assignments the navy had, a communications officer on The Caine a WWI ship that was turned into a mine sweeping vessal. His first commanding officer rides him hard thinking that he was using family influence to get out of duty. With the arrival of Lt Commander Lieutenant Commander Phillip Francis Queeg comes on board, he informs the crew "There are four ways of doing things: the right way, the wrong way, the Navy way, and my way. If they do things my way, we'll get along." It is soon obvious that the Captain isn't exactly working on all cylindars. When the exec officer, Maryk takes over during the middle of a battle, the crew backs him.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge/Thriller and Suspense reading challenge

    Saving Grace David Baldacci

    3 stars

    Faith Lockhart is under the protection of the FBI but when an agent is killed, and she is shot at, she must rely on Lee Adams a private investigator that she's never met before. The FBI, hitmen and local cops are after them, and when Faith tries to split from Lee at the airport, she draws attention of the FBI and makes Lee more of a target. Especially when the FBI thinks Faith is responsible for the death of the agent.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Themed Reading Challenge/Southern Literature Challenge

    Swine Not? Jimmy Buffett

    5 stars

    Rumpy is a pig, but not you're run of the mill pig. She likes pizza, cotton candy, and is a soccer goalie. She lives with her human mom and Basil and Maple, twins who take care of her and play with her just like she's a human. When the family moves to New York, Rumpy hopes to find her brother in the big city, but first she has to keep away from the chef at the hotel where they are staying, or she'll be the main course.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
    show 1 reply
    • Bunnitaz
      Save Changes Cancel

      ewwwww! What chef would serve up a family pet? Sounds fun but a little morbid with chef.

      posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Summer Vacation Reading Challenge

    In The Woods Tana French

    4 stars

    In 1984 in a small town in Dublin Ireland, three children went out to play in the woods but only one returned. The other two, Peter and Jaimie were never seen again. Twenty years ago, the police are called into the woods because of a dead body, a 12 year old girl named Katy. One of the detectives on the case Rob Ryan was the boy that was found over twenty years ago. Being back in the same woods brings back memories for Ryan and makes his partner ask can he do this job?

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Cora R
    Save Changes Cancel

    Themed Reading Challenge (Classic Fantasy)
    Once Upon a Time Challenge

    The Last Unicorn - Peter S. Beagle

    5 stars

    The Last Unicorn is the classic fantasy story of a unicorn who discovers that she is the last unicorn left in the world. All of the others have been captured by the mysterious Red Bull. The unicorn begins a quest to find her fellow unicorns and return them to the world. Along the way she meets up with a magicless wizard and a woman who lived with a band of thieves who help her along the way as they also search for something missing. I really enjoyed the story. Although it has classic fantasy elements (a quest, magical creatures, magic, an imposing villain) it is unique and fresh. The characters are interesting and different and they show growth throughout the book. It is also a book that makes you think about real world issues such as finding happiness, love, and standing up for what is right. Good fantasy tells a great story, great fantasy tells a great story that has meaning in our world - this book did that.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
    show 1 reply
    • Bunnitaz
      Save Changes Cancel

      I'm sorry but the first thing i thought of was the drink. The Red Bull was trying to get rid of the unicorn because the Red Bull can give you wings! Oh Lawd...I'm just too much. Anyway it sounds a little like a take on the Wizard of Oz (meeting up with others that are searching for things too).

      posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge/Royal Romance Reading Challenge/Suspense and Thrillers Reading Challenge

    All the Queen's Men Linda Howard

    5 stars

    John Medina, an undercover CIA agent, never lets anyone get close to him or break his concentration. But when Neima's husband is killed on a mission, John promises to take care of her and get her out of Iran. Five years later Neima has taken a quiet intellegience posiiton, John keeping tags on her without her knowing. But when John's and Neima's paths cross, and he talks her into going undercover once more, sparks fly. And it may cost both of them there lives.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • KimBear
    Save Changes Cancel

    A to Z Challenge / PBT Challenge

    - The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver.
    (5) stars

    Taylor "Marietta" Greer is out of here...she is ready to leave Kentucky and begin her new life. Little does she know that her new life contains an abused Cherokee girl named Turtle, a friendship with an illegal alien couple, and a roommate who is the biggest worrywart on the planet. And this makes Arizona better than Kentucky? It sure does. This was a wonderful story with memorable characters. The writing is almost musical, and you are definitely left wanting more. I loved it!

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge

    The Women of Brewster Place Gloria Naylor

    5 stars

    Seven women living in a rundown housing project make up the Women of Brewster Place. Told in seven short stories, there individual lives meld into one common struggle. Gloria Naylor does an amazing job bringing struggles of African American women to the forefront of this story. It's a very quick read, but very powerful.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
    show 1 reply
    • Bunnitaz
      Save Changes Cancel

      I love the movie. I really need to get the book. When the little girl die and the mother lost all hope for awhile was very emotional.

      posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Cora R
    Save Changes Cancel

    Books Around the States Challenge (Nebraska)
    A to Z Challenge

    O Pioneers! - Willa Cather

    4 stars

    O Pioneers! is the story of the Nebraska prairie at the turn of the century. It follows Alexandra Bergson from a young lady, whose father leaves the failing family farm in her hands, to a successful, mature business woman. Along the way, the author describes the people who settled and tamed the land. The story is uplifting and tragic at the same time. Cather writes some strong, yet flawed, female characters. I felt if I really knew the characters, even those with smaller rolls in the novel. I definitely recommend the book to anyone with an interest in American history and westward expansion.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Mystery Readers Challenge (Challenge finished 18July09)

    The Summons John Grisham

    2 stars

    I know alot of people like Grisham, but I find his writing slow and not really suspensful. This was my 2nd try at a Grisham novel, and I just don't get what's so great about him. I had the 'mystery' solved in less then half of the book.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
    show 1 reply
    • Cora R
      Save Changes Cancel

      Congratulations on finishing the Mystery Readers Challenge!!!

      posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge/Southern Literature Challenge/Book Around the States

    Hell at the Breech Tom Franklin

    4 stars

    This historical fiction novel is taken from a real even in history. In 1897, in a small rural town called Mitcham Beat in Alabama, an aspiring politician is killed. His friends, poor cotton pickers, want revenge and they form a secret society called Hell a the Breech to punish the town people they think know who killed there friend but are hiding it. They wear hoods and go on a year long terror campaign, that leads to murder.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge/In Their Shoes

    From Baghdad, With Love Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman

    5 stars

    What a hearttouching emotional story! Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman was serving in Iraq when he went into an abandoned building and a bundle of fur came out of nowhere at him. Kopelman, a marine and a member of a platoon called Lava Dogs, knew it was against the rules to feed and adopt a pet, but he could not leave "Lava" alone in that building. Him and the other Lava Dogs took turns caring for Lava and Kopelman went through hoops to get Lava back to the states.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
    show 1 reply
    • KimBear
      Save Changes Cancel

      That sounds like a wonderful story!

      posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Erin S
    Save Changes Cancel

    Summer Reading Bingo / First in a Series Challenge

    The Amulet of Samarkand (The Bartimaeus Trilogy) by Jonathan Stroud
    4 stars

    Nathaniel is a young apprentice magician in London where magicians control the government and are constantly out for more power. When Nathaniel is insulted and humiliated by a well-known magician, Simon Lovelace, he decides to get revenge. He secretly begins to teach himself spells only mastered by more accomplished magicians and then summons the powerful demon, Bartimaeus (a djinni). Nathaniel orders Bartimaeus to steal the Amulet of Samarkand from Lovelace, not realizing that the simple act of revenge will him to uncover a murderous plot that must be stopped.

    I like fantasy books, but this was more fantasy than I am used to. The story was good, and the use of magic, imps, demons, etc. was interesting. The book switches between the third-person narration of Nathaniel and the first-person (or demon) narration of Bartimaeus. The parts told from the perspective of Bartimaeus were much more entertaining. His disdain for magicians and his sarcastic personality added a lot to the story. I gave an extra star just for his footnotes! I will continue to read the rest in the series.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Cora R
    Save Changes Cancel

    Books Around the States Challenge (DC)

    The Camel Club - David Baldacci

    4 stars

    The Camel Club is a political thriller about a group of misfits that have a club where they try to uncover conspiracies and force the government to acknowledge truth. The leader of the Camel Club calls himself Oliver Stone and keeps a vigil in a tent in the park across from the white house. During one meeting of the Camel Club, the members witness a real murder and conspiracy to cover it up. The group begins to investigate what they witnessed and becomes mixed up in a conspiracy that threatens to result in World War III. This is the first political thriller I have ever read and I was pleasantly surprised at how well I liked it. The beginning was a little slow and there were a lot of characters (and political agencies) that I had a hard time keeping straight, but once the based picked up I really got into the stories and the interesting characters. I will probably add the next book about the Camel Club to my TBR pile.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Cora R

    Cora R (edited)

    Save Changes Cancel

    1% Well Read Challenge

    A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

    4 stars

    A Christmas Carol is the classic Christmas story of the redemption of Ebeneezer Scrooge. Scrooge is a stingy man with no family or friends. The ghost of his deceased partner appears to him and warns him that he must change his ways or suffer for eternity. To assist the change, Scrooge is visited by three ghosts who show him images from Christmas past, present, and future. I have seen so many movie adapations of the novel that the story felt like a reread. It is a heartwarming story and a bit idealist, that a man like Scrooge could be moved to change his ways overnight and that by doing so all of his past sins may be forgiven. I enjoyed reading the novel and would like to pick up more Dickens in the future.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    In Their Shoes/Summer Vacation Reading Challenge

    Reading Lolita In Tehran Azar Nafisi

    5 stars

    In the Islamic Republic of Iran, a inspirational teacher named Azar Nafisi held secret meetings in her house for 7 of her female students for two years. While Islamic morality squads staged raids for no reason, the women risked coming to there former professor's house and removing there veils and robes. They threw themselves in the worlds of Jane Austen, F. Scoot Fitzgerald, Henry James and others. This is an amazing book.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Royal Romance Reading Challenge/Book Around the States

    Murder List Julie Garwood

    3 stars

    Regan Madison goes with her best friends to a 'self help' seminar to get the goods on the man who is running it. When they are told to make a murder list and then they will burn it, her friends put down fake names, but she doesn't. Before she gets a chance to burn it her cell rings and she puts it in her purse. The next day she discovers the first name on her list, a police investigator, is dead, and then she is sent an email with his picture then a copy of her murder list. She is protected by a detective who finds himself falling for her.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Cora R
    Save Changes Cancel

    Book of the Month

    Dawn - Octavia E. Butler

    4 stars

    Lilith awakens from a deep sleep in a bare room where a disembodied voice asks her questions. Her last recollection prior to her captivity is Earth ravished by nuclear war with only few survivors. She soon discovers that she is in an alien space ship with a strange alien species who has gathered up the last remaining Earthlings. She must discover what they want from her and her fellow humans and whether they are saving humanity or destroying it. I really enjoyed this novel. It raises a lot of questions about identity, both individual and as a species. It was interesting how Butler predicted how different types of people would react to this extreme situation and what her characters reveal that she thought about human nature. I will definitely read the rest of the Xenogenesis series (it is a trilogy).

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Summer Vacation Reading Challenge

    The Sun Also Rises Ernest Hemingway

    3 stars

    The Sun Also Rises centers around 6 Americans in Paris in the 1920's. Jake Barnes, a WWI Veteran, is in love with Brett Ashley but because of a war wound is unable to take the relationship to a more personal nature. None of the characters jumped out at me, or made me care about them.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge

    A Witch's Book of Dreams Karri Allrich

    4 stars

    Have you ever wondered what your dreams meant? Have they been so powerful that you wake up and felt like you needed to call someone and warn them about something? Or you just wanted to stay in bed with the covers pulled over your head because you had a feeling that something was going to happen that day? The Witch's Book of Dreams helps you understand that feeling and helps interrupt what things mean.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    In Their Shoes/War Through The Generations(Finished Challenge 26July09)

    Auschwitz: A New History Laurence Rees

    5 stars

    Laurence Rees, a reporter for the BBC, had a life long fascination with Auschwitz. He wanted the opprotunity to do what few had done before and talk to the guards who ran Auschwitz and he knew that it wouldn't be long until there wouldn't be anyone to talk to. He was able to get the former guards to talk as well as former prisioners. A very heartwrenching book.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Book Around the States/999 Reading Challenge

    Nemesis The Final Case of Eliot Ness William Bernhardt

    5 stars

    Based on actual facts, this fictional novel looks at the case that ended the the career of the famed Eliot Ness. After bringing down Al Capone, Ness is offered the job of Saftey officer in Cleveland Ohio, where the mayor needs some good publicity. Ness, who was a crime fighter not an investigator went into the job with the same mind set that he had in Chicago. But a new kind of criminal has made his apearance in Cleveland, the first serial killer. The public doesn't care about traffic lights, or illegial gambeling and Ness backs himself into a corner by saying he will bring the killer in.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Summer Vacation Reading Challenge

    The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon David Grann

    5 stars

    When David Grann stumbles across lost diaries of Percy Fawcett, an adventurer who along with his son was lost in the Amazon over 80 years prior, Grann wonders if Fawcett had been able to really find the lost city of Z. Grann decides to follow in the famed adventurers foot steps to see if he can locate the lost city, and hopefully not suffer the same fate as Fawcett and his son.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    In Their Shoes/Presidential Reading Challenge

    Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan legacy Has Distorted our Politics and Haunts Our Future Will Bunch

    3 stars

    Political journalist Will Bunch looks into the presidency of Ronald Reagan. How much is based on fact and how much is based on myth? While he was in the White House, American's believed that the United States was heading down the wrong track. The 1981 tax cut, which favored the rich, did not do alot to boost the economy. The 'mythmakers' as Bunch calls them also doesn't give Reagan dues in areas he was popular in, such as his willingness to talk to the Soviet's and his desire to end nuclear weapons.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge

    The Devil In Massachusetts Marion L. Starkey

    4 stars

    Marion L. Starkey, born in 1901 in Massachusetts, grew up surrounded by stories of the infamous Salem Witch Trials. She was interested in dealing in more depth into what happened and she takes a very in depth look at the participants and the accusers.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    End of the World Challenge

    Daughters of the North Sarah Hall

    2 stars

    In not to distant future, England is in a crisis, both environmental and economic. The census takers have herded all the citizens into urban centers and reproduction has become a lottery. A girl escapes to Carhullan, a place of un-official northern farm for women.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Summer Vacation Reading Challenge

    Slipping Into Paradise Why I Live in New Zealand Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

    5 stars

    Jeffrey Masson describes New Zealand and what it is like to live there. It's isolated, the people are friendly, and the scenery amazing. Masson and his family were immediatley entranced by the beauty of New Zealand, and decided to move from California to the far away paradise of New Zealand. Masson describes it as a "Utopia" but ofcourse every utopia has problems.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge

    Harm None M.R. Sellars

    5 stars

    Rowen Grant and his wife Felicity are practicing witches, and they know the stigma that comes from that. When a leader of a coven, a friend of Rowen's, is found murdered, another friend, a police officer, Ben comes to Rown for help. A second murder happens, more vicious then the first and Rowen is getting contacted from Ariel, the first murdered victim. The press and FBI are lumping Rowen in with the murderer, just for being a witch. Rowen must trust his dreams and find the killer before a child is killed.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Thriller and suspense reading challenge

    Fever Robin Cook

    4 stars

    Charles Martel is a cancer researcher, he already lost his first wife to cancer. When his daughter Michelle is diagnosed with cancer, he goes off the deep end. But he realizes that another child, a friend of his daughters, dies of cancer he suspects the water supply being poisioned by illegial dumping. He tries to fight the company, but soon realizes that his company is owned by the same people.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • KimBear
    Save Changes Cancel

    Mystery Book Club\

    - The Poyson Garden by Karen Harper.
    (3) stars

    This is the first in the Elizabethan Mystery series by Karen Harper. I read it as the BOM for my online Mystery Lovers Book Club. It's the story of how the feisty Princess Elizabeth (daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn) discovers a poisoner among her. She fears her half-sister, Queen Mary, may be behind the plot to get rid of her. So, using her courage and her wits, she goes after the poisoner on her own...with a little help from her friends. A slow start, but it got better towards the end. I will probably read the next in the series at some time.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge (Historical Fiction Finished 2Aug09)/Historical Reading Challenge/Summer Vacation Reading Challenge/Summer Vacation Reading Challenge

    Hood Stephen R Lawhead (England)
    5 stars

    The legend of Robin Hood is redone in the first of a trilogy. Taken out of the Sherwood Forest and moved to a forest of Welsh borders, a new twist is given to a legend. Bran ap Brychan, heir to the throne Elfael, has abandoned his fathers kingdom and fled to the forests. Having missed a military movement with his father, in which all was killed but one, Iwan, later to be known as Little John, Bran goes to get his land back from the King but finds a heavy price put on it.

    Marion is the daughter of a King of another providence, and had been lovers with Bran. Now that he is reported dead, she is bound to do her duty to her father to save his land. She is surprised to find that Bran is indeed alive and is the famed "King Raven" that is stealing money from the rich. Marion's story will be told more in the 2nd book Marion.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Themed Reading Challenge

    Strip Tease Carl Hiassen

    3 stars

    This wasn't the best book by Hiassen that I've read. As usual, it takes place in Florida, this time in a strip club, where a single mother is working to get the money for lawyers to get her daughter back from her no good ex husband. While she's on stage dancing for a bachelor party, the guest of honor grabs her, and passes out. Another patron of the club jumps on stage attacking the patron with a bottle of champagne. Problem is the attacking patron is a member of congress and can't remember a thing, but he is recogonized by another patron. When the 3rd patron tries to blackmail the congressman, he turns up dead. And the congressman is now infatuated with Erin the stripper.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Cora R
    Save Changes Cancel

    Serial Readers Challenge

    Equal Rites - Terry Pratchett

    4 stars

    In the Discworld, wizard are men and witches are women. That is just the way it is, until a wizard accidentally passes his magical power to a baby girl instead of a baby boy. No one is sure what to do with the girl, Esk, who is manifesting wizard magic. Granny Weatherwax, the local witch, takes the girl under her wing and tries to train her to be a witch. Soon it is obvious to Granny that the girl's magic is different than witch magic and she reluctantly decides to take Esk to Unseen University to be trained by wizards. Unfortunately, they have to convince the wizards that a girl could be a wizard.

    I really enjoyed this Discworld book, even more than the first two I read. While there is a feminist undertone to the story, it is done in a fun and playful manner, which is refreshing in a book that deals with women's rights. I liked how Pratchett had the characters in the book realize on their own that Esk should be a wizard despite all of their feelings otherwise. I wish that more people in the real world were open to reexamining their beliefs when faced with evidence that they may be wrong. Overall the book was a fun easy read and I look forward to continuing reading novels set in Pratchett's Discworld.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge

    Book: Sarah's Key Tatiana de Rosnay
    Pages: 293</B>

    5 stars

    In July of 1942, Sarah a 10 year old French Jew was living with her family in an apartment. They had heard the French police was going door to door arresting male Jews, so her father hid in the apartment. But one night, the police came and took Sarah, her mother and father away. Sarah put her little brother, Michael, in there hiding spot in a cupbord and locked him there. She promised him she would return.

    July 2002, Julia Jarmond, an American born reporter living in Paris, married to a Frenchman and raising her daughter Zoe in Paris, is detailed to report on the 60th anniversary of the round up of French Jews. Julia discovers that her husband's family home, the one that they are redoing and going to move in to, was Sarah's and her families. Julia, who finds out she is pregnant and that her husband is still having an affair, is determined to find out what happened to the ten year old Sarah, who was a year younger then her daughter Zoe is now.

    Have a hankerchief when reading this book! It's heartwrenching and you just want to skip to the end and find out what happened to Sarah now.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 reading Challenge

    Cold Case Squad Edna Buchanan

    3 stars

    Craig Burch a Sgt in the Miami Cold Case Squad division, is dealing with being seperated from his wife and kids, and trying to keep his unit from being disbannded. K.C. Riley is the head of the department and is fighting tooth and nail for her small department intact but needs a big story. In walks in a leggy blond who thinks she is seeing her ex husband everywhere. Not to unusual right? Except he's been dead for 12 years.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Requim Challenge/999 Challenge

    A Witch's Guide to Faery Folk Edain McCoy

    5 stars

    What a wonderful guide to faeries. It includes a dictionary of 230 faeries and how to recognize them. It even tells you which ones to avoid, and which ones are helpful. This book tells you what you need to know to establish a working relationship with the faery folk, including the mythology and place in the astral realm.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Eco Challenge

    Pagan Visions for a Sustainable Future Various Authors

    5 stars

    Pagan spirituality was about nature and survival and this book takes a look at how various people take care of our planet. Pagan writers and scholors explore topics as magical ecology, feminism, globalization, sacred communities and environmental spirituality. The stories are environmental social and political. It is a much needed book for Pagans.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Southern Literature Challenge

    One Mississippi Mark Childress

    3 stars

    Daniel Musgrove and his troubled family moves to Mississippi right before his Junior year of highschool. He is not happy, and on top of this, he has to learn to say 'y'all' just to cover up his yankeeness. Or he risks being made fun of. His lonliness fades when he makes friends with Tim Cousins, another outsider. The two become inseperable, sharing a fascination with ridicule and Arnita Beecham, the most beautiful girl at Manor High. Arnita, who is black, is elected prom queen, and in 1973, this was a first. That night Tim, Arnitas and Daniel's life changes.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Summer Vacation Reading Challenge

    The Poet of Loch Ness Brian Jay Corrigan
    Pages: 302
    4 stars</B>

    Perry Miggs told his wife that he got a scholorship to study Loch Ness for the summer and would she accompany him to Scotland. His wife, Perdita, had went to college in Scotland and was excited to join him. Unbeknowst to the other, both were hiding secrets from each other.

    If you were doing something to bring joy to your spouse, who you knew was dying, would it be ok to lie? Could you lie even if you knew that lie would take her to an ex boyfriend she never got over? This book was a bit slow at the beginning but it was powerful.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Cora R
    Save Changes Cancel

    Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
    Pick a Continent Reading Challenge

    The Dragon King's Palace - Laura Joh Rowland

    3 stars

    This is part of Rowland's Sano Ichiro Mystery series. The novel takes place in the late 1600s in Feudal Japan. The shogun's mother decides to take a trip to Mount Fuji and invites three women to be her traveling companions. The women are Reiko, the wife of Sano Ichiro - the shogun's Most Honorable Investigator; Reiko's friend Midori, the wife of Sano Ichiro's chief retainer; and Lady Yanagisawa, the wife of the shogan's Chamberlain. The three women are reluctant to accompany the shogun's mother, but they have no choice but to obey her wishes. On route to Mount Fuji, the party is attacked by ruthless warriors who kidnap the four women and kill everyone else. Political enemies, Sano Ichiro and Chamberlain Yanagisawa must work together to find out who kidnapped the shogun's mother and their wives and what the kidnapper wants. In the meantime, Reiko does not want to wait to be rescued and begins to try to find a way to escape.

    I had a really hard time getting into the book. Part of the problem may have been that this is the eighth book in the series and I have not read any of the others. While the earlier books weren't necessary, I think that having a familiarity with the background and animosity of Sano Ichiro and Chamberlain Yanagisawa might have made the political maneuvering and forced partnership more interesting. I found that the characters were not fleshed out as much as I would like, and I think that is because the reader is expected to have a lot of the characters' background information from previous novels in the series. Overall the book was just OK, I am not sorry that I chose to read the book but I will probably not read any of the other books in the series.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge/Political History Challenge

    Stupid White Men and other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation Michael Moore

    5 stars

    Basically this book takes place after the 2000 Presidental Election, and the debacle in Florida. Moore makes his feelings quite known that he believes Bush was never really elected President and that Gore was a President in Exhile. Stupid White Men expresses the anger and will of all the Americans searching for a way to get their voices heard.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Book Around The States/In Their Shoes

    Columbine Dave Cullen

    5 stars

    Dave Cullen was one of the first reporters on scene in 1999 at Columbine highschool after the massacre. In the years following, he has done alot of investigating, including backgrounds on the two families. This is the one of the first books about Columbine that goes deep into the two killers plans. He also looks at what happened in the years to the survivors and how they've struggled to survive.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F

    Tenia F (edited)

    Save Changes Cancel

    Southern Reading Challenge/Book Around The States

    Big Stone Gap Adriana Trigiani

    4 stars

    Ava Marie Mulligan is an orphan, a 35 year old orphan. Her father died 13 years ago and her mother just a month or so ago. While setteling her mothers estate, she finds a letter from her mother to her, informing her that the man she thought was her father wasn't and her father is really a man from Italy. Now the whole small town, who calls her a spinster, is gossiping behind her back. Her father's sister is demanding the house and business back from Ava Marie, since she isn't really blood. Ava Marie decides to get back at dear old Aunt Alice by selling the business (and the house with it) for a dollor to a poor girl who works for her. And then there's Ava's love life, or lack of it. But in less then 3 months she has two proposals. Something is definatley up.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Book Thief Challenge

    Bone Thief Thomas O'Callaghan

    4 stars

    Serial killers keep trophies, and the new one in New York City is no different. He is keeping the bones of the victims, and disgarding what is left for the cops to discover. For Lt John Driscoll, whose life is already in shambels, this case hits home when one of the victim's is a young girl who reminded Driscoll of his deceased daughter. It hit even closer when his partner starts dating a dr, who Driscoll feels could be the killer.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    A to Z Challenge (Challenge finished 11Aug09)

    X-Treme Latin Unlease Your Inner Gladiator Henry Beard

    3 stars

    Ever wanted to learn Latin? If the answer is yes, then this is not the book for you. If you want to just read some funny in your face phrases then this is the book for you.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Summer Vacation Challenge

    P.S. I Love You Cecilia Ahern (Ireland also humor)
    470 pages
    5 hanky stars</B>

    Holly and Gerry were a team, they were supposed to have a lifetime together. They had planned the what if's and didn't plan on being alone. But at the age of 30, Gerry was dead due to a brain tumor and Holly didn't know how to live with out him. Then the list started coming. From March (the month after he died) to December, Gerry left notes for Holly. The first one was buy a nightstand so you don't bump your leg. P.S. I Love You. With each letter, and each mission, Holly learns to live her life, by letting Gerry go a little bit each more while having fun.

    The book was totally different then the movie, as the book was set in Ireland and alot of things were changed. But I enjoyed the book greatly.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge (bookshelf is falling finished 14Aug09)/Eco Challenge/Themed Reading Challenge (finished 14Aug09)

    Prodigal Summer Barbara Kingsolver

    3 stars

    I had heard so much about this book that I had high expectations, unfornatley I think I had to high of expectations. Set in the Appalachians, and the people and the wildlife. Survival is the main theme of this book, of people and the wildlife. Lusa, Deanna, and Garnett are the three main characters each dealing with there own problems, while trying to perserve the wildlife and the land.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    21 Cultures Challenge/Summer Vacation Challenge

    Plante India Mira Kamdar
    Country: India
    4 stars


    By the year 2034 India will be one of the most populated country on Earth with 1.6 billion people. India's middle class is already larger then entire population of earth. It's home to the biggest youth population, 600 million people are under the age of 25. It is the largest arms importer of the world. Tweny nine of the population speaks English, that's 350 million people.

    This is not a boring facts book. It is very informative and I enjoyed it. It was a very fast read, and I learned alot.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Political History Challenge/Bang Bang Challenge/ In Their Shoes

    Final Salute A Story of Unfinished Lives Jim Sheeler
    5 stars

    It starts with a knock by two uniformed officers that noone wants to see. When the door is opened to these two officers, they are not greeted with hello's but with anguish because they are informing the people at the home that there loved ones will not be returning. They stay with the family until there loved ones are buried, and help them get through the grief, and even becomes friends.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Eco Reading Challenge

    The Eternal Frontier An Ecological History of North America and It's People Tim Flannery

    4 stars

    The Eternal Frontier takes a look at the geological formation and evolution of North America. It starts from the asteroid strike that ended the dinasour age 65 million years ago to today. Tim Flannery is a scientist and historian and he literally takes you on a journey of time, describing the devolpment of forests, and tracking immigration and emigration of animals to and from Europe, Asia, and South America. He also shows you how the animals has either adapted to there environments or became extinct.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Political History Challenge/In Their Shoes/Presidential Challenge

    Hail to the Chiefs Presidential Mischief Morals and Malarkey from George W to George W Barbara Holland

    4 stars

    A funny look at little known facts about the presidents from George Washington to George Bush (the last one). President Pierce was arrested for running down an old lady on a horse, he was probably drunk. Andrew Jackson threatend Captain Lewis Robarbs to cut the ears out of his head if Robards trepeated a complaint that Jackson was stealing Robarbs wife from him. But Jackson was in fact doing that very thing. President Jefferson had a trained mockingbird that followed him around the white house. John Quincy Adams was swimming naked in the Potamac at dawn and was surprised by a female reporter.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge/In Their Shoes

    My Life in Jokes Bob Hope
    5 stars

    A very short quick read. Broke up into decades, Bob Hope tells his life, well in jokes. Written with his daughter, right before his 100th birthday (and death) he takes an amazing look back at his life. It is a very quick read, but it is funny as anything. I was wiping tears away from my eyes.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Reading Challenge

    All The Other Things I Really Need to Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek The Next Generation Dave Marinaccio

    5 stars

    Dave Marinaccio is a couch potatoe, and a self described Trekkie. He had wrote a book previously called 'All the Other Things I Really Need To Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek.' He takes a hilarious looks at the cast of TNG, calling Dr Crusher the most irritating person in the 24th century. He also takes a look at the planets of Next Generation, and how Gene Rodenberry's vision is clear.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Erin S
    Save Changes Cancel

    1st in a Series Challenge / A-Z Challenge

    Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay
    4 stars

    Dexter Morgan is a blood-splatter specialist for the Miami Police Department with a side hobby as a serial killer. His foster father, Harry, recognized Dexter for what he was early on in life and had taught him to follow certain rules. The most important rules were to be careful and to only kill those who truly deserve it. Dexter has been able to hide his true self from his coworkers and his only remaining relative, his foster sister, Deb. Soon a new serial killer is on the scene, and Dexter seems to be inexplicably drawn to the killer. He finds himself torn between helping Deb to solve the case in order to advance from Vice to Homicide, and finding the killer on his own.

    I love the TV show, and the book was certainly no disappointment. Dexter's dry humor and inner thoughts are what makes this book so entertaining. His struggle to figure out human emotions so that he can act like other people is oddly hilarious. This was such a fun, twisted book. I ca't wait to read the rest and to watch the third season of the show on DVD soon.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
    show 1 reply
    • KimBear
      Save Changes Cancel

      I enjoyed this one too! I think I want to watch Season 2 before I read Dearly Devoted Dexter...we'll see...

      posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F

    Tenia F (edited)

    Save Changes Cancel

    Eco Reading Challenge

    The Everglades: River of Grass Marjory Stoneman Douglas

    5 stars

    Marjory Stoneman Douglas classic book is celebrating it's 60th year. Reading this and working there, I see so many differences, especially the way she describes the wildlife. This book was first printed the year that Everglades became a National Park, thanks to main part of Ernest Coe. Becoming a National Park was supposed to keep the Everglades safe from development, but it has not, and it's in danger of more development.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Eco Reading Challenge

    The Rarest of the Rare Vanishing Animals Timeless Worlds Diane Ackerman
    4 stars

    Diane Ackerman traveled to the Amazon, and the coast of Japan in the 90's. She suffered from broken ribs to being beaten by a very angry seal. She tells of her adventures, and how animals mate, feed and migrate. She listes to there 'talks' to each other and watches there mating dances. Monk seals were vanishing at an amazing rate, and males outnumber females 5 to 1. The males sometimes injure the females in trying to mate.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Southern Literature Challenge/In Their Shoes

    Patrick Swayze: One Last Dance Wendy Leigh
    5 stars

    Patrick Swayze was born August 18, 1952, 6 weeks premature and his mother Patsy was told he probably wouldn't make it. But Patrick was born a fighter, he struggled but managed to breat on his own. From that moment on, Patsy knew her 'angel' was meant for something special. Patrick who grew up trained as a dancer imagined himself as a famous ballet dancer. It became obvious that this was not going to be but fate once again interviened. He went to Hollywood and after years of struggling made a break out performance as Orry Maine in Noth and South. He's had some hits and misses in his 30 year career but now he is fighting for his life.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F

    Tenia F (edited)

    Save Changes Cancel

    BangBang Challenge/In Their Shoes/Book Thief Challenge/21 Countrie Challenge

    Thieves of Baghdad Mathew Bogdanos
    4 stars

    Mathew Bogdanos is a lawyer in New York with a young family, lived less then 10 blocks from Ground Zero, and a Marine. He knew immediatley that he would be serving in Afghanastan then later in Iraq. Though his mission started out tracking down terrorists and Al-Queda, it later became tracking down priceless treasures. He and his team, mostly civilians, tracked down the missing treasures all through out the world. Definatley a mystery lovers book even though it's true!

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Ghostly Challenge/Relique Challenge/999 Challenge

    Susannah Morrow A Novel of Salem Megan Chance

    5 stars

    Susannah Morrow arrives into Salem just as her sister Judith, who she hasn't seen in about 16 years, was dying of child birth. Charity, who is 15, is heart broken at the death of her mother, and it doesn't help that her father, a very strict man, pulls away from Charity, and her two sisters, Jude and baby Faith. Susannah takes over the household, much to Charity's irritation. Charity starts seeing her mothers ghost who tells her to be aware. Charity thinks this is aimed at her Aunt who seems to have bewitched her father, made Jude behave and the only one who can comfort baby Faith.

    Charity, against her father's wishes, once again starts visiting Mary Walcott, Mercy Lewis and others. Both her Aunt and her father forbid her to go near them. When some of the girls start accusing people of Witchcraft, Lucas tries to keep his family protected. But it isn't long until Charity becomes one of the 'afflicted' and accuses her Aunt. When her father recants his testimony against Susannah, he is also accused. Now Charity must think not of herself but her sisters. Could her mothers ghostly warnings be for what is happening in Salem and not her Aunt?

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Challenge

    Dream Magic Night Spells and Rituals for Love Prosperity and Personal Power Sirona Knight

    3 stars

    Sirona Knight takes you on magical dream journey. She lists spells and the materials that you need to perform them to make your dreams come true. There are over 100 spells in the book, something for everyone.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    999 Challenge/Ghostly Challenge

    Wildwood Road Christopher Golden

    2 stars

    On the way home from a Holoween party, Michael thinks he's hit a little girl. He goes to pick her up and she shows him home. He becomes fascinated by her, and must find her. When his wife starts acting wierd, he knows that he must find the little girl to save Jillian.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F

    Tenia F (edited)

    Save Changes Cancel

    Eco Reading Challenge/Political History Challenge

    Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why Noone Saw It Coming Paul Hawken

    5 stars

    Blessed unrest is the story of different groups who are trying to protect the earth and it's resources before nothing is left. There is no one set group, no one set leader, but they are all fighting for the same thing. There are groups who take on the big companies, groups for green movement, groups for recycling. They are not recognized by politicians and the media but they are bringingabout what one day may be judged the single most transformation of the human world.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Political History Challenge

    Sent By Earth Message From the Mother Spirit Alice Walker

    4 stars

    There isn't alot to say about this 50 page book except that it deals with feelings about Sep 11, 2001. It's a very short book with poems that express the feelings of the Authors.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F

    Tenia F (edited)

    Save Changes Cancel

    Eco Challenge/Book Thieve Challenge

    Stolen Water Saving The Everglades From Its Friends Foes and Florida W. Hodding Carter

    5 stars

    Working at Everglades National Park, I have heard alot about the restoration project and know we are still in trouble. Carter takes a canoe trip down the Everglades, and adopts an injured mantatee until he is able to be rescued. He describes how Florida is using the Everglades to get water to other places.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • KimBear
    Save Changes Cancel

    Finished this one on Friday...

    - All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris.
    (5 stars)

    The seventh installment of the Sookie Stackhouse series serves up a fun ride! Things are going well for Sookie. She's got a fantastic new boyfriend, Quinn, and she is planning for her big trip to Rhodes to work as Queen Sophie-Anne's personal telepath at the big Vampire Summit. Well, as usual, Sookie ends up in a pile of trouble, and once again Eric is there to save the day...or does he? Then, it happens that Eric is the one who needs saving. Can Sookie muster up the courage to do what needs to be done? And will new boyfriend, Quinn, understand? I am looking forward to the next one already!

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Book Thieve Challenge/Political History Challenge

    Thieves in High Places They've Stolen Our Country and It's time to Take it Back Jim Hightower

    4 stars

    This book is very much in the same vain as Michael Moore. Jim Hightower is from Texas, and he's not to happy with the way President Bush is (was) running the country. He lays out the Bush and Company agenda, and tells us, the people, what we need to take back our country.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • KimBear
    Save Changes Cancel

    Finished this one yesterday...

    The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman.
    (4 stars)

    The Ice Queen was my first Alice Hoffman book in over 20 years. It's the story of a loner librarian who has carried the burden of thinking she was the cause of her mother's death. When she was eight, she wished her mother dead...and the wish came true. The Ice Queen (her real name is never given) continues to punish herself even wishing she would be struck by lightning. Well, in a freak moment while swatting a fly she is...
    As a result of the strike she is forced to take help from her estranged brother, and she is asked to take part in a lightning strike study in Florida. During the study she meets some interesting characters which lead her in a direction she never wanted her life to go.
    This is wonderfully written story, sad at times, but also uplifting at others. I will definitely try another of Hoffman's books in the future

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • Tenia F
    Save Changes Cancel

    Eco Reading Challenge

    Planet of Slums Mike Davis

    4 stars

    According to the United Nations, more then one billion people live in slums, mostly in third world countries. These slum villiages can be erraticated without notice and people left homeless, more then they were. But they always come back, because they don't have anywhere else to go. It is amazing that in the 21st century, how many people live in squalor.

    posted 3 years ago. ( permalink )
  • To reply to this discussion, please sign in.

Return to top