Truth be told since Briggs started writing paranormal romance she hasn't had a novel which isn't five stars. This is the first novel about Charles and his new mate Anna. It won't make as much sense unless you have read the prequel Alpha and Omega. Anna is an Omega wolf, a rare wolf who can calm the beast, who was beaten and abused by her old pack. Anna is still coming into her own as a character in her novel, something we begging to shine further into the series.

We have been reading this book before bed together as a family. The reason we started this tradition was because my children had difficulty reading a book all the way through. As such I have an obligation to finish every book we start. That is the only reason that this book was finished. Even though it was paused on several occasions because I just couldn't take reading it any more.

The best part of this book....it manages to put my daughters to sleep, something no other book has accomplished.

The writing is dry and boring. The entire story was told without emotion. Half way through the book I was still wondering g how anything related together. The last half of the book was a long drawn out eight hour battle. In real life it felt more like two months.

Yet, my son loved this book. He is eleven with Aspergers, preferring non fiction over fiction. Upon finishing he asked when we were getting the second book....when his sisters start suffering from insomnia.

When it comes to Autism I have a unique perspective. I am a mother raising both a boy and girl on the spectrum. I am Autistic. I have a M.S. in Dev Psychology where I studied ASD. Coming from all three perspectives I understand that they are very different ways of approaching Autism. As an Aspie I would approach the same situation differently then I would as a parent of an aspie.

I think this is an important point to make when reviewing this book.

This book was written by a mother to a son with autism.

This mother may also, potentially, be a bit disordered. If nothing else she has a perspective and approach to life that is very different. I think that it was very brave and refreshing that she shared this part of her life with the world.

As a parent of autistic children you understand that you world is anything but normal. You share an "everyday" story about your children and you realize that your everyday is so far out of everyone else's understanding. The only people that get it are other parents of autistic children. Even adults who are autistic do not understand what it is like raising an autistic child. It is two very different perspectives. Coming from both I understand this.

The author's lamenting on her son reproducing, his ability to live independently, his over friendliness with strangers are all very legitimate concerns. As she said in her book the internet is filled with autistic individuals who would never wish for a cure, and parents who hope for one.

I think she was very fair in her representation of both "sides". I also think that she was very fair in representing autism as a spectrum disorder. However, in the end this is her story. I think the author must be a unique individual.

The writing is great. This should not be unexpected since she makes her living as a journalist. However, the structure of the book is extremely scattered. It goes from one topic to another without much reason. There is some connection with her son's ages, and some themes that seem to run through a few chapters. Mostly it seems to be more of a stream of conscious. She wrote whatever was in her head when she sat down to the computer. Overall, it still made for an interesting read. Although, some of the autism history rants could have been best be left out. She did not approach them in a very good manner. I understand why some readers would be upset. I also think that they did not read or understand that her point was about not following the dark path of the past.

This book will not teach you about autism. It will teach you about the author's personal experience with autism. This experience has value, I wish more people would tell their story - the uncensored truth.

To be honest the whole reason I wanted to read this book was because of the cover. I think it is one of the most beautiful covers I have seen. I am glad that I did pick it up. The inside of the book is just as good as the outside.

The story is about Josie, a 17 year old high school student, orphan, and possibly crazy. Her life is about as bad as it can get. She is about to get kicked out of school. She has no family and no friends. To make it worse she is terrorized every night. Things start getting better for her fast, as she starts to realize that she is more important than she can imagine.

This book is extremely well rounded. The writing is wonderful. It flows really well and was very engaging. It is writing a lot more like an adult urban fantasy book than a young adult one. The only reason I would put it as young adult is the age of the main character.

The plot is well crafted as well. There was some flow issues. Things go from extraordinarily bad to good extremely fast. In some ways it is to be expected, in others it was a little not realistic. Josie is also just a little too sweet for the tough character that she is suppose to be.

This book did have one cringe factor for me. The main character is 17 and her main love interest is practically immortal (we don't know his actual age). Most of the relationship is really sweet, but they do have sex. It is tastefully written, but as a reader I question if it really needed to be included in a young adult book. Although, at least they did wait until she was officially 18.

I enjoyed this book and am glad that I picked it up. If you enjoy fantasy, urban fantasy, or a good romance then I would highly recommend this book. Even if you typically stay clear of young adult books it is still worth picking up. I do plan on reading Conway's other fantasy series.

Bel Canto
by Ann Patchett

Rating: **** (4 stars)
Genre: Litterature, fiction

I truthfully had no idea what to expect when picking up Bel Canto. The title was a bit intimidating and I was afraid it was going to be some fluffy classic piece of work. However, Bel Canto is nothing like I expected.

The book was first published in 2005, so it is still a relatively modern piece of work. The title comes from the opera which is a central theme in this novel. You could probably summarize the entire book as opera is life. Except that I am not a big fan of opera and I did enjoy this book.

Bel Canto is a character novel. It is the characters more than the action that moves along the plot. The male characters are portrayed in such detail and with such depth that I could not help but fall in love with the book. The female characters, however, are cartoon characters only described by how they impact the males around them. Most of the wives are just random people who happen to raise their children. The main female character, the opera soprano, is just an idol for male affection. Everyone loves her yet she never becomes real. This is emphasized by how the story ended. The only female characters that are ever seen as people are the two female terrorists. Yet, they both start and end the book being categorized as boys, which seems to be the only way that this depth is acceptable.

The story is a very romantic idealization, that actually makes sense from a psychological standpoint. When you spend a lot of time with a person you start to see them as actual people. They no longer are just filtered by your stereotypes. There is an entire syndrome characterizing individuals who become devoted to those who are holding them hostage. This novel is an entire fictionalized account of Stockholm syndrome in beautiful prose.

As reviewed on The Book Recluse Review

I had originally purchased this book for one of my daughters. The only type of book that she would even look at were those that involved horses. While my daughter read this book long ago, it has just remained sitting on my digital shelf.

This is not a type of story that would attract me. If I venture into children's chapter books I usually stick to the worlds of science fiction or fantasy. However, there is no doubt that this is an amazing book.

The writing is splendid. The storytelling is vivid capturing both the horses and the humans so well that it is easily to picture them in your head. The plot is simple, it is a children's book, but well developed with conflict and anticipation. I was surprised that this book would evoke an emotional response in me. The ending was beautiful, but also bittersweet. In a way, it was inevitable.

The book was first published in 1947, so it does talk about a different time. There are not equal gender roles between the children. Boys were allowed to do some tasks, and girls others. However, for the time I am actually surprised at how liberal the book is. Also, the older characters smoke pipes and one of the children fed tobacco to a horse. I did not feel like this took away from the story at all, but it is values that may have changed from the setting of the piece. That being said, this book is still very worthy of being considered an amazing children's book.

Things Fall Apart
by Chinua Achebe

Rating: ***** (5 stars)
Book Length: 181 pages
Genre: Fiction, Historical Fiction, African Fiction

I do not have the appropriate historical knowledge to critique this book on African culture or the accuracy of the British invasion into Africa. Although I am certain that how it was presented in the book is very much how it happened. One culture came to the country of another and decided that it's way of seeing the world was correct and everyone else was ignorant. As such people needed to be reeducated and punished.

The story is about Okonkwo who wants to overcome the disgrace of having a lazy father by becoming a strong warrior and a good provider. He is not the most lovable of characters. He does not speak much and he is very concrete in his own views. He strives to be a strong leader in his community and he works very hard to get there.

Even within his own culture, Okonkwo is not a flexible character. He has little love for his oldest son. He helps with the killing of his adopted son because he needs to be strong. He works hard and expects everyone in his family to do the same. He even expected his four-year-old son to understand a conversation about being a man.

Yet he is also a very real character. When his only daughter of his second wife is taken he circles the village looking for her and then stands outside the cave waiting for her exit. Although, I still have no idea what that was about, except to help show his devotion to his tradition that he would allow his favorite child to be taken and just stand and wait for the outcome. When he helps kill his adopted son he is sick by the action. When he goes to his mother's tribe he is grateful for their aid even while he regrets the necessity of being there. He is not exactly a likable character, but he is a very real character.

It is because he is so strong in the tradition of his ancestors that it is guaranteed that there would be conflict with the invaders. Okonkwo can do nothing except continue to fight for the ways of Africa. When he fights and kills one of the white men his people do not back him up. He knows that he is fighting alone, and as his uncle had said prior, a man is nothing without his kin. He has no choice but to keep to his tradition and hang himself. By keeping with his tradition he also kills his tradition.

Things Fall Apart is a very moving book. It is well written and seems a bit simplistic, yet the story that it tells is extremely powerful. It is not something that I would normally have read, which is something that I need to remedy in my own reading habits. I am extremely glad that I picked up this book.

As reviewed on The Book Recluse Review