Elizabeth Tai
Very Cinderella, this one! A light, breezy read. It may be tame for readers more used to the over-the-top adventure shenanigans of Eloisa James or Lisa Kleypas, but this book will fill you with warm, fuzzy feelings.
First - thumbs up to the prose which kept me engaged. So engaged in fact that I finished the book in a night. That's rare for me, especially when it comes to fiction, and especially more because it's YA, a genre that rarely keeps me interested. Thumbs up again for the intriguing concept: how does a human survive in a world ruled by vampire-like creatures who, every couple of years hold Hunger Games like tournaments where humans are hunted like foxes and torn apart? Apparently you do so by pretending to be one of them.
Quite a feat for our protagonist, Gene, who needs to Not sweat, drink water, and sleep hanging upside down.
This is where the novel stumbles quite a bit. It makes me wonder if the book was even beta read for logical inconsistencies...
For example, apparently vampires can't go underwater. Yet they have SWIM class in school (yes vamps go to school). How do vamps survive If the human supply is so low? Never explained. And how is it that vamps with such a keen sense of smell (they can sniff blood a mile away apparently) can't even sense a human in their midst? There's a section in the book where Gene is surrounded by vamps who complain, “I can smell a heper. It seems so close. Where is he?” it's almost comical to see them that stupid.
Still, the writing is good enough and the promise intriguing enough for me to want to see the end. I just hope the world building is more solid in book 2. Some background on how the world came to be so messed up would be much appreciated!
Oddly, I was pretty sure I'd dislike this. I haven't read a Suzanne Enoch novel before and some of my friends didn't like the novel, so I was expecting a boring ride. Instead, I met a heroine who may be flawed, but is strong, feisty and determined. She is matched with a man as strong-willed as she is, only he has issues with a capital I. Only a woman with Theresa's temperament could put up with our angsty, pain-filled hero. That's enough for me to forgive the one-dimensional villain and overly dramatic ending.
I had high expectations for this book. Too high, perhaps. I think I wanted a fantasy romp with some romance, not a romance novel spiced up with fantasy elements. Let me explain what I mean.
Fantasy novels are more epic compared to this book, which was more fantasy lite. Fantasy novels often focus on building the world and magic while this one has just light touches of world building. The magic system isn't explained terribly thoroughly, for one. Instead the book focuses on the back and forth between the hero and the heroine.
This pleased the romance reader in me (their interactions are pretty typical of a romance novel imho). But the fantasy reader in me was frustrated with the simple fantasy plot and convenient deux ex machinas at the end.
But what frustrated me most were the villains. I am afraid I have been completely spoiled by works like Game of Thrones, where you actually are torn on which side to support! Winter Kings bad guys are laughably one dimensional, from the evil evil arse of a father, to the jealous admirer - common characters in many romance novels.
Still, I believe many romance readers will find WK a step above many romance novels because of the scope and depth it goes to develop a world. But this book is by no means “epic” to fantasy readers used to more complex work.
[a:Anne R Allen 14626407 Anne R Allen https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png][a:Catherine Ryan Hyde 126447 Catherine Ryan Hyde https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1234946949p2/126447.jpg]I love this book! Honestly, I wasn't sure if I would. After all, I've read a 101 writing books, and I'm not even exaggerating. Catherine and Anne share their ups and downs in the publishing industry with honesty. Their kind and uplifting tone would make some of the tough facts and advice they give out easier to swallow. My favourite bits have to be the chapters about blogging and social media etiquette, though to be brutally honest, their advice sometimes contradict some of advice given by others who claim to be as knowledgeable. So, it could be a challenge to know who is correct. For example, Anne cautions against thanking people for following you on Twitter. Another blogger tells me you should because it's only polite. Who do you believe? Who knows? In the end, both Catherine and Anne's advice is based on their experiences, so consider their words in that light.Anne, for one, had gone through a rough spot of cyber bullying where she was threatened by an overzealous fan of a blogger who disagreed with her. So she's wary of forums such as Absolute Write etc because of her experiences. Maybe overly so. I can't say I blame her. I, too, met a bully on the popular Kindleboards forum for writers, Writer's Cafe. It began very innocently, mind you - I thought I was making friends with a fellow author. But I ended up being pushed around and bullied into helping him fulfill his moneymaking dreams. I am now just lurking in the forums, concerned at times by the herd mentality that I see going on in there. However, I have to say that if you play the game well, don't trod on too many toes, certain forums can become invaluable sources of information and you can make great friends that way. Yes, even Kindleboards. So do take the authors' advice on forums seriously - cyberstalking and bullying, unfortunately, is far too real. And, behave well in cyberspace!What this book doesn't do, however, is to teach you how to write a novel etc. It isn't that kind of book. It will, however, instruct you on how to have the attitude of a writer, how to get your book out there and yes, how to behave in cyberspace so that you don't ruin your career before it begins with a cyber meltdown.Great book, especially if you want to build a digital platform as a writer.
A wonderfully sweet romance (I don't remember a love scene at all) where the hero and heroine has wonderful chemistry. The relationship was wonderfully written and I thought that the family concert was a hoot! Light-hearted, funny and romantic. Perfect read if you're in bed with a headache.
A lot of short stories leave me cold; they may wow me for a few seconds with its technical brilliance but few leave any emotional impact on me. I really connected with the characters in this anthology. Yes, it's short, but it's actually really difficult to create such an impact in a short story, so I congratulate Daron for being able to do that.
Truly pulled me in. Rape is often a tough subject to tackle, and I was really really moved by the story in here.
I suppose if anyone could write a memoir about rearing chickens, it would be Alice Walker. Although the book teeters dangerously close to being mushy and smarmy, Walker's beautiful prose just beautifully conveys her love and infatuation with the fluffy fowls. She calls herself the chickens' “mommy”, and her letters to her “girls” is an, er, acquired taste. But I found them funny and endearing, and at times I actually laughed out loud. The only essay that didn't do it for me is the essay where she talked about how her childhood was ruined because she wrung a chicken's head off for dinner (how's that for imagery). ;)
Yup. I'm a Done. I find myself nodding when I read the book. The information in this book may be confronting to many who are comfortable in the church, especially those at the top who are keeping the machine of the institutional church running. But it's a NECESSARY book. It's important for those in and out of the church to understand this “movement”, because the Dones - Christians who have decided to stop going to Sunday church services but still retain their love for the faith - are often misunderstood, even demonised by their former communities. Hopefully, the church will change accordingly so that the Dones will return their fire to the community. But I'm not holding my breath. Systems are pretty stubborn when it comes to change ....
For so long I just didn't understand myself. I didn't understand why I had such difficulties with church people and the church, I didn't understand why I was the way I am. This book will validate many, many people who are struggling with having the nature and gifting of a prophet.
While reading this book I found myself nodding and saying, “Yup, that happened to me!”, “Oh man, I so had that experience!”
I love how Eckhardt says over and over again that “you're not crazy.” (You don't know how many times people with this gifting wonder that!) He will make you realise that God made you this way, God made you special (everyone is, though apparently the prophet was made DIFFERENT), and there is really nothing wrong with you.
In fact, you have a very special and much-needed function in church. Unfortunately, not many people will understand you or what you do. Hell, some people will just downright dislike you for being YOU. Eckhardt's book prepares and affirms you as God's special creation, and to give you the boldness to be who God made you to be.
It doesn't, however, give you in depth instructions on how to exercise the gift. That needs another book altogether!
There is a lot of advice out there for writers to leave their day jobs and become full-time writers. There's even quite a number of books advising writers how to balance a day job with their creative work. But this a book like no other - Ronda Ormont says that you not only need to have just any day job to support your writing, you need to have a “lifeline career”, a career that would anchor the artist in the “turbulent sea that is the world of the arts by providing him with practical necessities.”
Ormont suggests that many artists have a problem when there's an “imbalance between creative imperative and the need for career security in everyday living.”
Lifeline jobs should be jobs that not just give you money to meet your needs, but also give you some kind of emotional satisfaction and leave you enough energy to pursue your art.
Interestingly, one can choose a job that puts too much weight on creativity. And that's not good.
I learned this the hard way when I quit my too-demanding job for a job that was very physical. I thought that would free my brain to create. And for a while I did, but after a while, the lack of career progression, the unstable pay, and lack of emotional satisfaction got to me. Worse, the job left me isolated. The loneliness, financial insecurity and the frustration of not being able to use skills that took me 15 years to hone made me so down that I couldn't create. How ironic. I took the job, thinking that I'd be able to create more, but ended up short circuiting my creativity!
Now, I have a “lifeline job”, and I'm very happy to have it. It's by no means perfect, mind you, but it was challenging enough to make me feel useful and gives me the social connection that makes the extrovert me happy. I work from afternoon to night, and while many would groan at the schedule, I delight in it because mornings are mine, and I'm far more creative and productive in the morning.
Ormont validated my decision - one that many would consider drastic. (I literally moved countries to make it possible!!) But I'm a far happier writer for it.
3.5 stars. The pain a family member goes through when a loved one goes through dementia is indescribable. When Alex received the bad news that her fiercely intelligent and accomplished mother will be a shadow of herself she copes by preparing her mothers signature dishes - food that she no longer knows how to prepare. Poignant, sad and moving.
3.5 stars. Come on, Goodreads! When are you going to enable 1/2 star ratings? Anyway, I love what the writer has discovered in her journey of extreme minimalism. Being a person who had been traumatised by the fact that life is filled with uncertainties, Clara threw herself into the most uncertain situation of all: Travelling Europe with a man she just met on OkCupid with just the clothes on her back! Gosh golly. It could go horribly wrong, or wonderfully right. Fortunately, she didn't end up a serial killer's victim but neither did she get an Eat, Pray, Love pinnacle moment either. In the end, her confidence that life is uncertain and it's okay is strengthened, and that's something to be celebrated.
The only problem I have with the book is that I wished it was better organised so that her message about uncertainty was better communicated. For a while, I wondered what was the point of her ramblings. Luckily I stayed till the end.
Frankly I wouldn't have read it if not for the strong recommendations of my writing group. The title suggested tips and tricks to get five star reviews. The book, instead, is much deeper than that. Theo is a member of the Amazon review community and he gives an inside view of the review culture that so many authors don't seem to get. I myself am a reviewer (I review books for a newspaper) and I agree with Theo - it's an often thankless job and we do it because we just want to help. Therefore, authors should understand this fundamental reason if they ever want to get reviews. Remember that the reviewer owes u nothing. Be respectful. A fascinating book for every author.
I consider this book a guide of sorts. I really wish I had this book earlier. It would make my early years in the Christian faith less confusing and painful.
I do like the idea as a space opera in general, but I suppose I would have liked it better if the action was better paced. 2.5
3.5 stars. Started out slow but was really heartbreakingly good in the end. Calhoun's much alluded tragedy which made him leave Starfleet was fitting and also well done.
DNFed after 100 pages. 100 very LONG pages. I usually do not review books I gave up on, but my review is very simple:
The end.
Tom Cox just has an amazing way of infusing his feline charges with personality. His wonderful and very funny description and anecdotes of them just delights. it's a rare writer that makes me chuckle, and Cox never fails to do it for me. Of a particular hoot is that chapter where he talks about the neighbourhood cats...
This book definitely got me moving! James A Levine had always been obsessed with movement - measuring it, studying it, performing experiments around it.... in fact, he was so fascinated with the concept as a child that he used to collect snails, let them loose in his bedroom just to see how they move. (And I'm sure creating quite a mess that would've horrified his poor mother).
Other readers found the anecdotes unnecessary. I thought it at first, but realised that they were a colourful way to illustrate his point. So don't hold it against him.
So, Levine is convinced that obesity is directly caused by “lethal sitting”, and I'm actually convinced. I'm a great illustration of that. From 2012-2015, I had a job that demanded that I be on my feet at least 6 hours a day. Once, I measured my steps using a pedometer and discovered to my amazement that I regularly walk at least 6km to 10km a day at my job! On top of that I was lifting heavy weights as well.
Well, fast forward to 2016 and I became a desk jockey. I have piled on the pounds eventhough I have not changed my diet that much. I have lost that daily 6km of walking that I used to do. I need to replicate the “NEAT” movement that I've lost in order to keep my weight down again.
I kept this book at 3 stars only because Levine, while offering ideas and solutions for corporations and schools, do not offer concrete steps or programmes to the individual on how to decrease their sitting time - especially if they are at workinng a desk job at a company that is resistant to the change he proposes. Still, you can get some ideas on how to change your life from the book.
Since reading it, I've made it a point to walk or stand as much as I can, and at work, to get up and walk every hour for 5-10 minutes. Just a few days in, and I'm already feeling better.
when you decide to “just have a look” but end up reading it non-stop because it was written so well. An amazingly good book about a man's search for meaning, and how he found it in the rigours and heartbreak of setting up an animal rescue.
if there's one lesson to be learned from this book it is this: God is enough. sometimes we use the rigours of religion to convince ourselves that we are okay with God and that God is okay with us. Jim realised, after his marriage and ministry collapsed, that the black and white worldview he had was merely preventing him from loving others and himself fully. Filled with wisdom, this is a beautiful memoir that will teach you to see spiritual truths in ordinary circumstances and people.