Like so many other books I've read lately, I have mixed feelings about this book.

I enjoy sci-fi though I don't read a lot of it lately. I began reading the book & was greatly confused from page one - there's a lot of name, place, technology dropping, some of which is explained (relationships with one another) but most of which is not explained. I kept feeling like I was being dropped into the middle of a series with no warning, but nowhere on amazon or goodreads is there any mention of this being part of a series, though multiple other reviews do mention that it is part of 10 book series. I even did research on the author's blog, and other than a vague mention of this book being part of a series, I don't know if this is true or not.

The book eventually establishes itself, and I was drawn into the world and liked the Christian elements in the book, which were really well done. They are written that a Christian will pick up on them, but for someone who just wants to enjoy a story, they can just enjoy the story.

I really liked Krissa/Trista, but about halfway through the book I started struggling to finish reading the book, as well written as it was. There's just too much cruelity in the book for me to really enjoy it - there's a lot of torture, a lot of experimentation, and a lot of stuff that just doesn't sit well with my sensibilities. If I hadn't specifically requested this book for review, I wouldn't have finished it (and I honestly had to skim some parts or it would've given me nightmares).

I received this book to read free as part of the book sneeze program & was not paid for my review.

I love history & love reading non-fiction, though I don't read as much of it as I'd like to or should. I was interested in this title & got the book to review back in January & started reading it then, but then life got busy & this book got pushed to the back shelf in favor of lighter, faster reads. I was looking through netgalley & saw the title & was reminded of my obligation to read, and picked it up & reread it from the beginning.

Doherty writes about the subject in a fairly lighthearted manner, making this easy to read for those who don't read a lot of non-fiction. Like I said, I love non-fiction but sometimes the language makes it tough for a layperson to read, but this one isn't like that. Admittedly there were some terms I had to look up, such as "hagio-biopic" (still don't know what that means).

Besides the obvious, Doherty gives us inside looks into Hollywood's early history and gossip and the background of Nazi movies (often times in much more detail than I would have liked, but movie buffs will certainly enjoy this). Doherty's other books are also on TV & film, so certainly this is a passion of his. My favorite chapter was on Leni Riefenstahl, who directed two popular Nazi propaganda war films.


I received this book to read and review from netgalley & was not paid for my honest review.

I received a review copy of this book last fall, and it's been sitting on the side of my bed since then. I hadn't written a review, not because I didn't like the book, but because I DID like the book - I had intentions of making up a project from the book, and sharing that along with the review. Well, life gets in the way, and you procrastinate, and I finally accepted the fact that that is just not going to happen, so I better get my act in gear and write up the review!

This is the second book Peggy Gaffney has in her series of animal related patterns. The book is very straightforward - a bunch of animal charts, that you can use for sweaters, bags, skirts, vests, and hats. The items are all straightforward, so that the cute animal charts will shine.

The positive:
* it's dogs! it's cats! it's knitting! and it's intarsia!
* there's a great range of dogs, from from Golden Retrievers, to Siberian Husky puppies, to Bulldogs and German Shepherds - there's also a selection of bonus charts you can mix and match with any of the patterns in the book.
* there's a section on intarsia hints (including how to eliminate holes) and suggestions for making it easier
* there's a section on spinning dog hair

There's a few negatives I see with this book:
* some of the finished samples didn't look very well executed - I suspect a heavy blocking would have fixed this, but because of the nature of intarsia, it's very difficult to keep your gauge steady and consistent & neat looking. Some of the pictures are distorted and this distracts from how cute the dogs are!
* there's not a lot of cats - it's 75% dogs and 25% cats. I expected more kitties!
* There's a brief mention of how you can substitute any chart in any design - just center it. Well, that's great, but I''m not much of a math person & my head began to swim when I tried to figure it out. I'm sure it's easy, but I could've used a hint to get me started.
* the book is just a classic paperback - knitting books with large charts like this one, really need to be published in a spiral bound format so the book will lay flat

I'm a big fan of Charlaine Harris & her Sookie Sackhouse series, & I couldn't wait until I could get a copy from the library to read.

One of the things I like about all of the books in the series, is unlike other vampire series, there's not a lot of rehashing & retelling of past adventures in the first few chapters - no, the book gets going on the very first page.

I was a little disappointed all in all with this book in the series, however - Sookie seems a little flat & not quite her usual bubbly personality, the storyline seems to move a little slower than usual. A woman is found on Eric's front lawn, & of course, Sookie has to help solve the murder.

I think partially, this book fell a little flat because I've gotten so used to the True Blood show, which of course, is completely different from the books.

There's a nice little twist at the end, I didn't really see it coming, though I wasn't really surprised, either, which moves the story line forward just a bit.
--
June 2013 review
This time around - well, ironically, I pretty much agree with most of my initial review, unsurprisingly, though the rehashing of the plot line drove me crazy this time around - I think because I reread the last few books all in the past month or so, so the storyline is much fresher in my mind. The plot was so slow, and I just didn't care about Sookie's internal struggles. She spends so much time obsessing over Eric and her magical fairy device, and then it's all wrapped up in a few pages at the end. It also seemed like this time, the book was just really, really short. I just was getting into the story when it was over. If I was reading this for the first time, I think I'd give the book 3 stars instead of 4.

Leaving Lancaster is the first book in the series, and despite the name, the book has very little to do with the title. The book alternates between first person & third person - something I hate in a book - and makes it hard to get into any of the characters. In the beginning, I thought the book was taking place in the 60's and I was thrown for a loop when I realized it was actually taking place in current times - I also thought one of the main characters, Esther, was a teenager, and was really thrown for a loop when I realized she had a 30-something daughter. Most of the characters continue in that vein - they act so extremely immature, it's hard to like any of them.

The book begins with Ester receiving a letter from her mother, and even though she's ignored her mother's repeated pleadings to come home in the past, this time she decides to go home, admit the truth to her daughter, and drag Holly along. And so begins a novel of whining, lies, more lies, and more whining. Ester's obsession about the past, and blaming herself for things that were out of her control and not her fault, really drove me crazy. I get obsessing - being rather an obsesser myself - but at some point you have to say to yourself to suck it up and move on, and that doesn't happen in the course of this book.

And of course in the end, there's a happily ever after, though little is actually resolved. Yet, despite all of that, I did really enjoy the book and was glad to have the next book in the series at hand, ready to read.



I picked up this book to read for free on amazon, and read it as part of the Pennsylvania Patchwork book tour.

I read this book as part of the Pennsylvania Patchwork blog tour, and is the second book a series. Leaving Lancester I reviewed earlier and is the first book.

In a nutshell, this book is about decisions, how we make decisions and live with the decisions. The book takes place immediately after the first book ends, and the characters are still immature, whining, and self-loathing. The mother, Ester, is especially full of self-loathing and you really wish you were there to smack her in the face and tell her to grow up and move on already. I was really disappointed that once again, the characters do not grow at all. Once again, I couldn't connect with any of the characters, and all the bickering, fighting, drama, and arguing just made me frustrated. And the fact that Larry, a friend, just shows up at random, is so far fetched as to be completely unbelievable.

That being said, I did like the book - I just didn't love it - and I did want to find how everything was resolved, though there's still a lot of questions that are left unanswered, like with any series. I don't think I'll read any more of the series, however, as I just don't like any of the characters.

I actually somehow with 2 review copies of this book - an e-book (netgalley) and a paperback (litfuse tours) copy. Not sure how that happened ;/.

I asked to review this book because I thought it was a slow cooker book - well, it's not, though there are a few slow cooker recipes in the book. I also got it because I'm always on the search for a good, easy, new vegetarian recipe.

Well, unfortunately, there's no real "new" recipes here. Most of them are pretty easy, though when the book starts with a complicated recipe, you start to wonder just how much you can "fix it and forget it". All in all, the book falls short on its premise, and falls shorter with the recipes. One of the few slow cooker recipes, for example, is a basic mac & cheese recipe - gee, I've never seen that before (insert sarcasm) - I mean, who really needs a recipe for that?

I think the book would be good for a beginner cook - say, a college student - or someone who either doesn't have access to the internet or doesn't want to print out recipes from the internet.

I received a review copy of this book for free from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This book is amazing, though perhaps it has limited appeal.

The book is exactly what the title states - it's a snapshot of the various farms in Cape Cod. Gorgeous photography of the farms, famers, crops, flowers, animals, and even pets, are the focal point of the book. The text outlines the history of the farm & the farmer, what crops are grown, where you can buy the crops, if they have CSAs or not, and hints and tricks from the farmers for your own garden.

The book definitely focus on the "pretty" - living art, as "they" like to call it.

Any "good" book review shares the good and the bad, and I had to think a bit to come up with any "bad" comments, and my only negative is that the book in a way reads as an advertisement for the farms, and like I said in my first line, the book has limited appeal. My parents certainly shop farm stands & my dad grew up on a farm & we have our own small garden, and we live in MA, so you'd think they'd enjoy this book, but I can't see them sitting down and reading it, let alone purchasing it - though I think they'd appreciate it as a gift.

The authors are from England, so some of the plants are not available in our area. This is a subject that fascinates me, however, and so I couldn't resist getting the book to review. The books authors have their own company called "Wild at Heart", and this book came about as a result of their own business success.

The book basically has two parts: a section on the plant to forage & how to pick it, and a section on what to make with it. There's both the standard British measurements & what we are used to here in the States, making it easy for anyone to use the recipes.

I was thrilled to see a section on dandelions, something I was determined to pick and harvest this year but didn't because I had no idea what I could actually DO with the flower. Unfortunately, however, the two recipes they included - wine, and marmelade - are two things I could never make - the wine for space reasons, and the marmelade because it includes multiple ingredients I'm allergic to.

all in all, however, there aren't any recipes in the book I'll actually use, but I think it's a great resource and a good place to start with wild foraging.




I received a review copy for free from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I'm a big fan of succulents, and I mainly have succulents in my home - the only non-succulent I own is a spider plant. I've been a fan of succulent since my first Christmas cactus when I got married for how easy they are to care for - and for how simply beautiful they are when they flower, and I've never looked back. I tend to pamper my plants for a while and then life gets busy & I neglect them for a while, and succulents do great with these conditions. Just give 'em water once in a while & lots of sun & they are happy.

As with other books of this type, the book is dominated by the beautiful photography of the plants. The book talks about succulent care, but also what you can do with your plants - from edibles, to crafting, to flowering.

Though the focus is on outdoor plants - something not realistic for most varieties here in MA - there's a lot of information for the indoor container gardener, too.

I received a review copy for free from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.