Sasifras

Read this as a teen and reread recently. The first few chapters were just the kind of crazy I was into at the time. The humor and Jack's character kept me interested as they must have before. There are scenes in it that had stuck with me despite the lack of connection to the book itself later on. I wouldn't mind my children reading it when they are old enough.

Not usually a fan of green teas but I enjoyed this book. It was the first to discuss the three waters, give Chinese names for the teas, and give me a good run-down of Japanese greens (I am a fan of Hojicha.) The reason she only gets four stars is because she promotes Lipton. Thankfully, this was towards the end of the book or I would have lost all credibility for her. Instead, I enjoyed the personality of the book and learning more about tea.
Now, perhaps, I may be able to make Dragon Well correctly. It has always been a challenge even when I am not the brewer.

Delightful little book on different tea gardens, both for visuals and consumption. Is it a great resource for gardening purposes? Only for the beginning idea. The blends in the back were also pleasant, as most books I pick up have every other blend with lavender. This is a nice afternoon read with enough description for a fanciful day dream.

My biggest gripe is that everything is in roumaji and alphabetical as such. It was what I was looking for, however. I will be organizing the grammar as I see fit. I have been on and off studying Japanese since my middle school years so for an advanced beginner like I have (shamefully) become, this was structured to where I had an easy time navigating through it. And now, I can start to play. :)

It really grates my gears every single lesson is in romaji with absolutely no kana or kanji except in the vocabulary list at the beginning. The first few lessons are acceptable for this but not all thirty. Most patients outside of Japan who speak Japanese will most likely know the language of the country they have settled in. Excluding the writing system is excluding a critical part of understanding the language itself. The book makes no attempts to foster the learner to use anything but romaji, which sets them up for failure.
As for users who already know some Japanese, this book becomes a slog to make usable. I am still struggling to write all the dialogues in kanji and kana and extract what pieces I need to use. I am tempted to tear out what I need but I don't have enough whiteout for the diagrams and it would be easier to find a stock photo.
I give two stars because it can partially function as a medical term dictionary and the order of the lessons makes sense for building up to a patient interaction for most members of the medical team. I have not listened to the CD yet (though that is due to loaning out my CD player.)

I kept making fun of this book to a coworker. I read through the first one almost glad to see a passage from the stuffy politics of the castle. I liked the thought of magic coming from dragons and the world we were introduced to was nice...until we meet our female lead. Love happened too fast, they somehow had threesome sex starting while two of them were sad their friend was nearly gone from a drug OD, and it took a woman who was afraid but proud to be on her own and flipped her into loving two men she barely knows to letting that all collapse over the responsibilities one of the men had to his name. Then, from what I read of the second book, we seem to pick up where we left off except there is a big time skip and she's pregnant and knows who the father is and the evil guy wants to control her feelings through her fetus. And the cat is now the spurred man's love interest as if he wasn't devastated from the rejection from the love of his life a few months (maybe?) ago.
I bought this back in 2012 and it had been sitting on my shelf. If I had read it when I bought it, it may have gone over better because I was in a different state of mind. I was slightly disappointed to find I had not purchased a trilogy when I looked up the book here but I kept reading. Tried to get over horny-man and over-emotional-woman. Perhaps I am too spoiled with strong female leads as of late. Or at least plots that I can't see a mile away. (The threesome was the only thing to come out of left field for me.)
It maybe your cup of tea but it is not mine. I will skim and put it in a donation library.

Edit: Skimming through, the third book seemed to have a decent plot. I wasn't invested enough by the first one and a half to give it a chance. Sorry, Jack. Glad you found your family though.

He was right when he said he wasn't a good writer; there were a few places he repeated the same sentence twice in a row.
The first two chapters were the best and the rest started to feel like he was talking in circles. However, he did make me feel like slowly learning about the real estate market. I have bumped up my investing just before starting this book but it has inspired me to try for a bit more. I will look on YouTube for advice on stocks and which books to read up on them.

Enjoyed this one thoroughly. Loved the scenes with the Indians, loved the intertwining of the other time-traveler (who was right but would never be able to accomplish his goals,) and loved our new couple. It is nice to see a relationship progressing from parenting to grandparenting while still being so full of life and love. Just enough realistic magic.

I read a spoiler before. Still, it did not prepare me for the disappointment of the “strange and catastrophic” moment only to be turned into a cliffhanger. And Elloren is progressing at a reasonable pace for character development. Sadly, I am less interested in what happens to Vogel (as in how) and more interested how her heart will decide between the two male leads. Because if the author does something to one of them, she has surely left room for the other to do the same. The first book established possible relationships, the second built up one, and now the third has invested in the other.




This is a spoiler down here:
(P.S. I one-hundred percent think Jarod will want to be with Aislinn regardless. I see him accepting her for leaving everything behind and wanting to turn Lupine to retrieve her dignity back.)

It was nice. It is not my preference to have stories from multiple viewpoints, especially when there is no distinction from one to the next until you are perhaps a few paragraphs in. The parents were...shallow characters and trust was as easily forged as broken.
I did like that the girls were set up to hate on each other but looked past it immediately. Oh, and not the first nor second eligible man we meet is the actual suitor. A bit refreshing, though still does the love at first sight thing.

I was taking notes at first. Then, I was running out of time on my loan from the library and had to get creative with my reading time. This book was interesting and made me appreciate some of these languages more. Though it was entertaining, there were parts where it felt like the author was birdwalking to the point I forgot what language I was reading about. I may read it again at a later date when I finally have a firm grasp on my second (or third) language.

Great finish. I could see Sasha dying since the last book but I thought maybe the author would also try Vasya and the twins would agree to bring her back. Really glad they brought back her best friend.
My only wish was for a bit longer and into her future with her niece. And, well, knowing her heritage with her great grandma, I would hope for a bit of life out of the death god. I guess my own imagination will do just fine.
I had a good time and may return to this series. Not quite sold on ownership.

This book was given to me by a friend many years ago and I never picked it up until recently. I thought Sunday school stopped being fun when they got rid of arts and crafts and looking at the copyright date, this book was sadly not in existence when that event occurred in my life. Had it been, I might have enjoyed it more, as it was an easy read with its Christian values not too overwhelming.

If your child enjoys fantasy, dragons, and reading and you want to put some chivalry into their life, this is the book for you. The Christian themes are a firm part of the storyline but considering the times of knights and dragons, it is easy to keep it from being overwhelming. It also covers loss in a way that lets you appreciate how life can be horrible but can improve even from a young age.

I will not be continuing the series, as I am far from its target age. However, I hope I have made it clear my reluctance shouldn't keep you from trying the whole series.

I didn't fully connect to the world. Maybe it was because this is the third or fourth book in a row I have read that is part of a series. Or maybe because I don't find court intrigue interesting, when it happened in this book. It was vague when it appeared and it remained through to the next scenes. I am interested in what all the clothing, food and accessories described as part of the culture. That is where one of the stars comes from.