Sunday, June 30, 2013

The Return of the King - Listen While You Work Book Review

What I listened to ...

cover art for audiobook The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien The Return of the King
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Third book in The Lord of The Rings trilogy
Genres: Adventure, Classic,
   Fantasy, Young Adult
Narrator: Rob Inglis

     Finally! The big epic battle of good vs. evil. Knew it was coming up somewhere in this book. All of the assorted beings we have crossed paths with (elves, dwarves, ents, etc) have put aside their own differences and banded together to defeat the Dark Lord Sauron and his own troop of fantastical creatures. The story is packed full of tension and suspense during this epic battle. Wonderful conclusion to the trilogy but in all honesty, I think this is a series of books that I really need to read on my own before attempting to listen to the audiobook. There is just so much going on that it is really quite easy to get lost.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Dragon Circle - Fun Read Friday Book Review

book cover art of Dragon Circle by Casey Fry Dragon Circle
by Casey Fry
Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy

     Dragons guard the humans of the world. But who watches over the dragons? Throughout history 5 humans are appointed as Guardians to help out the dragons when needed. But when the Guardians were last called upon, one thousand years ago, all did not go as planned. Now, in modern day times, a group of high school students learn that they are the reincarnated souls of the Guardians and are being called upon to set things right.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Inspirer - Book Review

book cover art for Inspirer by Allen Vaysberg Inspirer: Poetic Observations
by Allen Vaysberg
Genre: Poetry

     I try to be fairly eclectic with the books that I review. A little bit for everyone as everybody has their own personal favorite genre. This also helps to keep me fairly well rounded in my own reading and stops me from just gravitating heavily towards mysteries and mayhem. However it dawns on me that I think this is only the second book of poetry that I have ever reviewed.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

The Two Towers - Listen While You Work Book Review

What I listened to ...

cover art for audio book The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien The Two Towers
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Second book in The Lord of The Rings trilogy
Genres: Adventure, Classic,
   Fantasy, Young Adult
Narrator: Rob Inglis

     The Fellowship has parted. Sam and Frodo have embarked upon their own path. Frodo had opted to travel alone and not endanger the others in his company. Sam would not allow for his master to bear this cross without Sam by his side. Gandolf is ... well as usual, no one is quite sure just where Gandolf is, though many mourn him and believe him to be dead.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Beyond Doorways - Fun Read Friday Book Review

Beyond Doorways
by Casey Fry
Genres: Suspense, Horror

     This book is a collection of short stories where Fry shows a remarkable talent for building up suspense and drawing it out until you can feel a shiver creeping up your spine. A wonderful introduction to Casey Fry's writing which does an incredible job of enticing readers to experience more of her books. Errors were few and far between and hardly distracting at all.

Monday, June 17, 2013

The Black Lion - Book Review

book cover art for The Black Lion by Anthony Karakai The Black Lion
by Anthony Karakai
Genre: Intrigue, Action Adventure

     A team of super-secret agents, that don't officially exist, come together to learn that what had originally seemed like a simple case of a missing civilian has incredibly dark roots as they investigate further into a young woman's disappearance. The story is told from the perspective of one of the agents who has gone undercover and infiltrated the band of thugs thought to be responsible for the girl's abduction.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

The Fellowship of the Ring - Listen While You Work Book Review

What I listened to ...

The Fellowship of the Ring
by J.R.R. Tolkien
First book in The Lord of The Rings trilogy
Genres: Adventure, Classic,
   Fantasy, Young Adult
Narrator: Rob Inglis

     I really should have written these reviews as I finished each book. At this point I have finished the series and must admit that the three books are getting a bit jumbled in my mind as to where one book ended and the next began.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Harlow Drown - Book Review

book cover art for Harlow Drown by N.G. Green Harlow Drown
by N.G. Green
Paranormal, Thriller

     Harlow Drown is an incredibly powerful witch and vampire hunter. She assumes the role as the head of the Vampire Division of the supernatural government after her mother's death. It is up to Harlow to hunt down and stop a vampirical monster who loves nothing more than killing and turning children, and creating illegal unstoppable sentry vampires. To add more fuel to the flame, Harlow discovers that the vampire she is after is the same monster which killed her mother.

Monday, June 10, 2013

His Wrath, Her Honor - Book Review

book cover art for His Wrath, Her Honor by E.M. Bryant His Wrath, Her Honor
E.M. Bryant
Genre: Romance

     Usually level headed, Simone Silver finds herself at her wits' end whenever she is around Nick Bates. The guy just gets under her skin and rubs her the wrong way and she can't put her finger on just why. Nick is very similar to the playground bullies that prefer to get girls' attentions by punching them on the shoulder and running away and has yet to figure out that you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

The Hobbit - Listen While You Work Audiobook Review

What I listened to ...

cover art for audiobook The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien
Prequel to The Lord of The Rings trilogy
Genres: Adventure, Classic,
   Fantasy, Young Adult
Narrator: Rob Inglis

     I chose this as the first audiobook to listen to because I had hoped that the fact that I had just seen the movie would help me with visualization. This may have been a mistake. I didn't take into account how different movies can be from the books. I was constantly expecting for such and such to happen and was surprised with entirely different scenes.

Friday, June 7, 2013

The Big Empty - Fun Read Friday Book Review

book cover art for The Big Empty by Ritch Gaiti The Big Empty
by Ritch Gaiti
Genres: Suspense, Thriller

     Rick Wallace is just barely surviving. He's been drowning his sorrows with alcohol for years and is beyond caring if he drowns himself in the process. Just as things are looking bleak for his tottering law office, a wealthy client offers him what appears to be too much money for a seemingly easy job. But his client only gives him a few threads to grasp and as he attempts to unravel the clues he finds he just has a tangled mess that makes no sense. While Rick investigates this bizarre situation, the reader is also trying to fit together the pieces of Rick's past to get a clear picture of why he had fled from New York and spent the past 10 years pickled in a bottle in Tecumseh.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Water and Storm Country - New Release from David Estes!


"Water & Storm Country" (Country Saga #3)
by David Estes.

Quick Facts                                        
                                           
Release DateJune 6th 2013.                               
Genre: YA Dystopian.                                                
Formats:   Paperback (only at Amazon), Kindle, Nook, Smashwords         

The book is suitable for all audiences.

     With each successive book Estes completely amazes me. Every book in this series, and its sister series - The Dwellers, tells a powerful story about each society which managed to survive the destruction of the Earth as we know it. The plots are very poignant, multi-layered, full of surprises and subthemes, and action packed.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Books Influence Daily Life

     I find it humorous how something I've read will pop into my head for different reasons. I find that I can no longer walk a long distance without "pick them up, put them down" floating into my thoughts - a line from Richard Bachman/Stephen King's The Long Walk.

     Normally when I crawl out of bed in the morning, I am in what my daughter refers to as "zombie mode". Like a good zombie I stand in front of the coffee pot and mutter "Grains" to myself while waiting for that first cup to brew. I realize this makes no sense, it is coffee grounds and not grains, but I'm a zombie so don't expect me to make any sense. This morning however, after recently finishing Tolkien's Lord of the Rings series, I found myself in front of the coffee pot repeating the words "my precious".