Sarah Norton

I got this free through Kindle and I am glad I downloaded it. This follows Regina as her family tries to escape the looming Nazi threat in Poland, but are ultimately captured and she is sent to Auschwitz. It's written as if she is just telling her story and it has been put straight into print. So it's not very polished. It reads like she is just telling you her story. I did not mind that considering the nature of the book. It makes it more personal. The horrors she has endured are disturbing and heartbreaking, and I know that her story is just one of millions.

I am not sure if there is an actual rise in numbers of those that deny the holocaust and its devastation, or if the internet just gives them a louder voice. It seems like I am hearing that idiocy more and more. That is why stories like hers, and all the others are important. As she states in the book, she is an eye witness to the atrocities that the Jews and others suffered under Hitler's reign. Her story stands as another testimony against that regime and those that try to rewrite history.

There is another shorter story at the end. It is that of a man who was a young German boy during the rise of Hitler. That story was a bit more disjointed, but you could tell that he genuinely feels remorse for he inaction of his people while others were being tortured and killed. It seems like he is trying to explain why the German people let this happen in their back yards, but he takes responsibility for their purposeful ignorance. It is an interesting view from a citizen of a nation that was swept away by Hitler's cunning propaganda.

It's a good start. It's apparentl  influenced by Slavic lore, so the world had a different feel from what I am used to reading. I had some difficulty relating to the MC and some of the conversations that the characters had. There were also times the plot was muddy. I understood the main trajectory of the plot, but some smaller plot points were confusing. I had to reread some sections over and things still weren't as clear as I liked. I was left wanting enough that I want to see what happens.

It was a sweet story, and it kept me interested enough to read the it all the way through, but it's just an ok book. Not great, not bad. I found the characters a little hard to relate to, as they made some very bad decisions. The author tried to write it so would you would understand why Allie (a teen runaway) and Bea (an elderly woman) got themselves into these predicaments, but I just couldn't relate. I had trouble feeling much sympathy for Bea after she tries to scam a little girl. It also seemed like the author was trying to make a point at times, and that tends to annoy me. The one thing that Bea couldn't get over was the attachment to the expensive phones that people have today. Yes, as a whole we are too attached to our phones and electronics, but few parents are going to shrug off a child losing 3 or 4 phones a year. Also, if an elderly person comes and asks for help, people are going to let her make a call without a fuss, but they are going to dial for her. Have you seen the majority of octogenarians (I'm assuming) try to work an iphone? No one is just handing it to her. She sounded more like a grumpy old lady ranting on Facebook, than anything else. I see and hear enough of that already. In the end the story was sweet and it was an ok read, but forgettable and not something I would recommend.

The Author writes well, but the story was nothing more than an episode of SVU or Criminal intent. I also doubt that Blake Pierce has actually ever been to Nebraska. I have Nebraskan roots and have probably been there more than the average non-resident. Now my visits usually take me to actual rural NE (not Omaha, Omaha is the largest city in Nebraska), but it is not filled with backwards sexist morons who wouldn't know a religiously motivated crime when it slaps them in the face. The main characters boss calls looking at obvious clues “outside of the box thinking.” No wonder she has risen up in the ranks so quickly, the well worn male detectives don't know enough follow up on a code stamped into the pole. An obvious code at that. Half naked lady whipped and bound to a wooden pole? It's not a stroke of genius to check the Bible. Plus the verses and motivations did not make any sense. She doesn't even have any character development. Hard as nails female cop with a tragic past and bad relationships (familial and romantic.)The only thing she does is prove herself to these backwards “small town” men, she is flat and boring. The only reason I finished it was because it is so short. I can hang in there for sub 200 pages, much longer and I may have put it down. The bad guy was written decently, until his motive was spelled out. It just didn't make sense.

This a very personnel story of a guy who ended up homeless for a little while. How he survived and the connections he made. It really gives you insight into what life can be like when you have no place to go. You see the trap some people are caught in and how hard it is to get out. He does a good job of narrating his story and showing what his and other's lives are like. I would recommend his story.

An interesting story from a woman that has experienced a few psychotic episodes, but seems to have found stability. She has a dysfunctional family life and it seems (though it's never explicitly stated) that her father may have suffered from his own mental heath issues. I found her viewpoint enlightening and I think it's good to get a look at how these episodes may feel to a person and this diagnosis effected her through out her life. I recommend Louise's story.

I've read a few books lately that i have not enjoyed. I could feel my slump coming back, so I picked up the Sanderson book I just bought. He has yet to fail me. This book is in a world where super humans pop up, but there are no heroes among them. It centers around an 18 year old David and a resistance group. Once again Sanderson is able to create a power system with rules and limitations that I could understand and believe. There are still a lot of questions left unanswered, but I am pretty sure they are meant to be answered in the sequels, and I have faith that the rest of the books will be as good as or better than the first.
David does seem a little immature at times, but I am not really the target audience, so he may not seem that way to younger readers. There is also a good bit of gore right off the bat, so if you don't want to read about some nasty things happening to people, and even infants, then you may want to steer clear. It's not too prevalent throughout the book, but it does have it's moments. All in all, the story kept me interested, and he had a few good surprises, though there are a few hints along the way. I plan on recommending this to my 14 year old step-son, I think he would really enjoy this.

The only reason I got this is because it was free for Kindle. The same day I downloaded this book, I downloaded “Holocaust: A Jewish Survivor Testimony: The Truth of What Happened in Germany of World War 2 - 3rd Edition” for free as well. I read that first, I suggest that everyone who reads Hitler's “side of the story” do the same. The book is written under the pretense of showing what the other side was thinking as WWII played out. As a fair view of the opposition's mind set. It's basically a translation of Hitler's various speeches or writings and a summary of what his position was, but there is pro-Hitler undertone to the whole thing. I do agree that the war was partly due to the treatment of the Germans after the first World War. A lot of what Hitler calls for (at least publicly) is to reunite Germans who were being persecuted in other countries. I will be honest and say I do not know much about the treatment of Germans in the surrounding countries prior to the war. If they were being treated has Hitler states, then that should be taught better. I also think that we are not taught about the Asian side of the war sufficiently. The Japanese may have been ever more sadistic to the Chinese than the Germans were to the Jews, but we don't really hear much about that.

The issue I have is that it only shows Hiter's side to the actual war, and none regrading the atrocities he ordered. In fact, even the title of the book was a little too cutesy for subject that deals with the torture and murder of millions of innocents. The structure of each section is as follows: a brief summary of what is happening at the time of the speech, what the “official record” is, “Mien Side of the Story” (what Hitler's view of the situation was), then the speech itself. If WWII was only about a war, this would be fine. But the Nazis (and Japanese) meted out some of the worst horrors known to man. Per this point of view, Hitler invaded Poland due to some of the worst torture he had ever seen and he condemned the treatment of innocent women and children vowing that they will not go after women and children, but will only attack military objectives - then he establishes Auschwitz.

My point is, you cannot write a book about Hitler and ignore the Holocaust. And yes, for any deniers or sympathizers, it did happen. My grandfather had to clear away the bodies. The problem is you can't write a “Mein Side of the Story” when it comes to using babies as target practice, gassing women and children, or experimenting on mentally and physically ill. If he wants this to be taken seriously as an objective study, then it can not leave out the first thing that comes to ones mind when you think about Hitler or WWII.

I don't read much historical fiction, but I enjoyed the story about a f figure I didn't know anything about. The author was able to keep the story engaging while writing about the historical events. The war of 1812 is one of those periods that I was aware of, but didn't really have a firm grasp of. I'm sure I memorized facts for a test or two about this era, but nothing really stuck. With this story about Betsy Bonaparte, you really understand the entanglements between the US, France, and England, and how the Napoleonic wars could cause rifts over the ocean.

This has been on my list for a long time. I'm glad I finally got to it. Wecker does a fantastic job of I interweaving Arab and hasidic lore with the immigrant communities where the golem and the jinni reside, showing the 2 MCs' difficulty adjusting to the human world against the backdrop of different cultures creating a new home in the US. 

This has got to have one of the worst beginnings of any book I have actually finished. I was so close to putting this down and it took me forever to finish. I get that this is narrated by someone who is the historian of his group, but there is very little context to what is going on. If he could have adding thing like, we sailed to this place and have been working for The Lady for this amount of time. Something to tell me what is going on. I kept rereading sections to see what I was missing, but it wasn't me, it was the information that was missing. Also, I thought these were Croaker's Annuls, but at the end there are things he is not going to put in the Annuls, so are these his writings or are we just in his head?

It does get better half way through, but there is a lot of casual rape going on. The main character even congratulates one of his buddies on the woman he is abusing. I get that rape and pillaging is pretty common for soldier type conquests, but still.

I did end up liking the last part of the book, and it has intrigued me enough to consider continuing on. I got the 3 book omnibus, so I already own the next 2. I will see if I feel like picking them up. Definitely taking a break from the world.

It's probably not a full 4 star for me, but since I am well past the ya stage I'm bumping it up. It has a good story and kept me engaged. I found it a little predictable with a good bit of plot armor, but it ends the way you want it to end and I was satisfied at the end. It's a nice palette cleanser.

It's a solid book in the series. Yes, Butcher can get a little redundant, but I can skim over his descriptions of Dresden's beetle, dog, and brother. It was nice to have some more insight into his past, that aspect of his story has been ignored since he found Thomas. It feels like the story is moving forward a little more. Butcher does a good job of keeping me interested in and caring for his characters. It hasn't gotten stale for me yet.

All the other reviews rave about this book, so there is not much more to add. The writing is incredible and really draws you in. THIS book deserves 5 stars but I recommend the it with 2 caveats.

1. There is no telling when the 3rd book is coming out. After Wheel of Time, I did not want to pick up another epic series without knowing I could finish it (thank you Brandon Sanderson). I didn't really do my research and just saw that there were 3 books in there series, so I thought it was complete. The third book is just a novella about a minor character. So read it knowing you don't know when you'll get a conclusion.

2. The second book is awful. I know it has 4.5 stars, but I do not understand the reviews. Unless you want to be stuck in a 16 year old's wet dream for what seemed like half the book... The only place the plot goes is to the bedroom. I understand that Kvothe is just telling his story, but there's only one day left and whole lot of story left to tell. The writing and the world is still great, It gets it's second star from me for that.

Like I said this book is great, and it gets and deserves 5 stars. I have difficulty recommending the series. I will probably read the 3rd one whenever it comes out, but my expectations are much lower than were before.

I struggled through this book, it is very sliw. It took me a year to commit to finish it. It reads kinda like a biographical history, and while it was enjoyable, I fell asleep multiple times. It is very character focused, so you become well aquanted with everybody's motivations and ideals. It wasn't until part three that the plot really took off. I recommend it, but not after a long day.

I do not understand the ratings for this book, yes the first book was amazing, yes Rothfuss knows how to write and draw his readers into his world, but this book was a massive let down. The plot goes nowhere, and there is only one day left for Kvothe to tell the rest of his story. Maybe he will make it up in the third book. There were some inconsistencies in the world, but that could be explained by Kvothe's point of view, I guess. The first part of the book is good, but then it comes to a stop, and you spend like 10 chapters in a some mythical demon-fairy sex fantasy. If the author wanted to go there, fine, but nothing happens except Kvothe becomes a Casanova. It was the stereotypical male adolescent fantasy. I skimmed through that section looking for something that reassembled plot, there were like 2 moments of interest. The rest was him romping around with a blowup doll in the glade.

I was ready to forgive him for that, but then came the Adem. I have read other people's criticisms of the book and I am surprised that no one seems to bring this section up. The Adem are basically the Aiel from The Wheel of Time, except stupid. Why are they stupid? Here's an excerpt:

“Are you not making a joke?” she asked, one hand still half-covering her smile. “Do you truly believe a man puts a baby in a woman?”“Well . . . yes,” I said a little awkwardly. “In a manner of speaking. It takes a man and a woman to make a baby. A mother and a father.”“You have a word for it!” she said, delighted. “They told me this too. With the stories of dirt soup. But I never thought it a real story!” (fyi, she calls the concept of a father “man-mother”...)

That's right, there is an entire supposedly “wise” and “enlightened” society of people who don't know where babies come from. I read this passage like 10 times to make sure I was understanding it correctly, I am. It's a society of free love (so ya know, Kvothe gets plenty), with no consequences. Kvothe and his lady of the day go on with the conversation and end up with a conclusion that is suppose to convince you that, yeah it is entirely plausible that women magically ripen like an apple in the fall - actual argument given. No wonder the Adem have to rent them selves out as warriors, they don't understand pollination and probably slaughter all their rams and bulls then wait for the cows and ewes to magically ripen with child. (yes it includes animals, she doesn't understand how cats get pregnant either.)

Now it's common for me to roll my eyes at how some authors think women would act if there weren't any social constraints or emotions placed on sexuality (WOT again), but this section takes the cake. Obviously enlightened women, who have no fear of consequences, are going to go into the bushes with any man they find slightly attractive. This is helped by the fact the Adem never contract any STDs, that is something that only comes from the barbarians (aka people not in their society and who thing that men and women have equal roles in reproduction) and the men are not responsible for any children that come from their little escapades. Once again, what I see is a stereotypical male fantasy. Being able to go off with any women you want (who are always raring to go) without any fear of consequence. There's even a special herb Kvothe chews that keeps him from bestowing any children, however the Adem seem to be unaware of such a plant or the need for it.

There is no way any advanced civilization does not understand the basics of the birds and the bees. If they are unaware of concept of biological fathers, believing that humans are actually asexual and only need the mother for reproduction, then family is only traced through the mother, then they are completely unaware of who their brothers/sisters/DAUGHTERS are. Since there are no silly emotions or biological consequences tied to sex, why would there be an issue with a 40 year old man messing around with the daughter of a women he had a thing with 20 years ago? Why would the mother have any issue with something as silly as that? Sex is just needed for release, needed for warriors to be better warriors. For men to release their “anger.” The mother probably barely remembers it happened. There was no importance tied to the time when she conceived and no need for any familial ties or emotional relationship, only barbarians think like that. Now this special girl gets to give birth a daughter/unknown sister. Then when the daughter/sister grows up she finds her uncle/brother, from another woman, exceedingly attractive (hey, her own father/grandfather is only 60! I doubt there are any age prejudices). Now her child gets to be his own cousin! Maybe one day, he too can find enjoyment with the daughter/sister/whatever he never knew.

So basically this old, wise, strong, enlightened race was revealed to be a bunch of in-bred imbeciles with an honor code. Maybe Rothfuss' intention was to “empower” women so that they are not beholden to man for any reason, but no woman is empowered if she doesn't understand how she got pregnant. It's like Brooke Shields in Blue Lagoon, she suddenly has a baby and doesn't know how it got in there. The only difference is that this is not a single extremely isolated young girl. This is an entire “intelligent” society that has not figured out one of the most basic elements of human knowledge. Believe me, women everywhere understand the basics of fertility and have to deal with the effects of fertility constantly.

There is also the issue that the men have zero importance in the society. I know that's what people think women want, but it's really not. I gave up on “Girls Rule/Boys Drool” after 3rd grade.

I guess maybe he could reveal that this is a magical people that have all the same sexual-reproductive organs as normal humans, but are really asexual in reproduction. So, a whole society of blow up dolls. I am pretty good at suspending my disbelief, but this was too much.

I really don't remember much after that, but the ending was pretty blah. I finished the book, but I stopped caring about it.

This is a good book, but let me put a couple warnings out there. This book is very dark and can be pretty gruesome (gory) and explicit in places. There is also a lot of profanity, in the prologue especially. I am used to the made up cuss words in a lot of fantasy, so this was a little jarring. I understand that this sets the mood for the world, but I just wanted to let others know that if this were a movie, it would be rated R.

I had trouble getting into this book. It is split into 4 parts and goes back and forth in time with “interludes” throughout the book, those are little snippets of what happened with Locke and his crew as they grew up, or sometimes events that are outside of the main plot. I enjoyed the interludes, especially the parts about Locke and his friends growing up. What I had trouble with was “Part I's” tendency to go back and forth between what Locke et al. were doing in the present and what they were doing earlier to get ready for their undertakings. It was like one of those retrospective episodes of Bones or NCIS. It completely broke the flow, and it took my brain a minute to catch up. It took me forever to get through that part, and I was afraid that it would continue in the same vein. Thankfully after the first part ended, the back and forth calms down and you really get the meat of the story.

For me, once the story picked up, it was very good. It keeps you on edge and wanting to know how/if the gang is going to get out of situation.


Also in regards to the prologue, was anyone else picturing Fagin every time the Theifmaker spoke?


Just me?

This book is definitely leading the reader up to something big. Dresden is basically facing all his foes at once in someway or another. Butcher really likes to load up on issues. The book definitely has everything coming down on Dresden's head all at once, but we're used to that. There are some added players at the end, so it will be interesting to see how this all comes together. The book did it's job, it kept me interested and wanting to find out what is going to happen next.

This book was great, I enjoyed it more than the first. It definitely kept me more engaged throughout. I think what makes me the most happy is that Sanderson avoided writing a dud for the middle book. So many authors just use the second book to make way for the finale, so nothing really happens. Plenty happens in the book, and it keeps you on edge. I wasn't surprised with everything that happened, but it is all just so well written. Once again, he makes the fantastical believable. This is how YA should be written.

[bc:Dealing with Dragons 150739 Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1) Patricia C. Wrede https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385526967s/150739.jpg 1178402] was my favorite book when I was little, however I was never able to get the sequels till I was older. I read the second book a few years ago, but I just now read this one. I have been rating these how I think I would have if I was still a 9 year old little girl. I Enjoyed this book, but I don't think I would have liked it as much as I would have the first 2. The adventure to find the sword, was a little more muddled, but it still had all the silliness and characters that I adored. Still a solid book for an elementary girl.

[bc:Dealing with Dragons 150739 Dealing with Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles, #1) Patricia C. Wrede https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1385526967s/150739.jpg 1178402] was my favorite book when I was little, however I was never able to get the sequels till I was older. I read the second book a few years ago, but I just now read this one. It's about Cimorene's son (Daystar) who goes off on a quest, but doesn't know what sort of quest he is on. I have been rating these how I think I would have if I were still a 9 year old little girl. I will admit that I uttered the phrase “Girls rule, Boys drool” a few times at that age, so while liked the book, I would have been a little disappointing that this is not about Cimorene. Plus the Shiara, a fire witch and Daystar's travel companion, was so annoying. While I am fine with authors, (especially children's authors) adding lessons and moral to the stories, the whole “always be polite” motif was a little heavy handed. Even as a little girl I think I would have gotten a little tired of it.While I didn't like this as much as I did the beginning of the series, it is still a great children's book with a fun adventure. It ended up being a nice finish to great series.Ok, so I never knew that this was actually written first. I just read some reviews and saw that the other books were actually prequels. So a some of my critique may not stand. I can see how this would work actually work well without prior knowledge of the other books. You would be learning everything at the same time Daystar is. It probably is better to be as clueless as he is about his quest. There are a lot of “surprises” that would not be surprises to anyone who has read the other books, and that would have made it more fun. However, if that is the best way for this series to be read, then this shouldn't be marketed as book # 4. Not sure if that was a publisher's decision or not, but maybe they should make it more obvious that this book was originally the first in the series.

I read this in 3rd grade, it's what I considered my first “real” book and it is the book that started my reading obsession. I really had some difficulty with reading before this book. After “Dealing with Dragon” I remember it kind of clicking.
I just read it again and it has not lost it's magic for me. It was turning fairy tails upside down before it was cool. I wouldn't be surprised if the makers of Shrek had read this first. Cimorene is a princess who doesn't want to be a princess so goes to live with a dragon. At age the of 9, I was enthralled. As a child of the 90's I was already in love with “The Little Mermaid,” and “Beauty and the Beast” (my personal favorite) was just coming out. So this was a perfect anti-princess to go along with the head strong Ariel and Belle. If you have a little girl that you want to get interested in reading, this would be a great place to start.
Unfortunately this was before Amazon, so I wan't able to get my hands on the rest of the series until I was an adult. But the rest of the books are not necessary (though they are recommended as well.)