book reviews and stuff

As you know, I've been reading lots of books this summer. So I've decided to post a few reviews, especially since I've been trying out some new authors.

"The Blue Zone" by Andrew Gross - I really enjoyed this book. Andrew has been writing along with James Patterson, and this is his first book writing alone. The story is a mystery with underlying tones of family and trust. It had some VERY interesting plot twists that I didn't see coming. And I usually see everything coming, so this was a nice surprise. There was some of what I consider to be unnecessary language, but I guess that's a given in most secular books. I would recommend this book if you like a good mystery.

"Heartstopper" by Joy Fielding - I had never read anything by Joy Fielding, so I had no expectations when I began this book. It's another mystery; I love mysteries! Anyway, right from the start she gives lots of clues as to who the murderer is...but then she gives more clues that allude to someone else than who you previously thought...and then even more clues pointing to someone else. I really liked this. At one point, I thought, "OK the murderer could be any of these people..." And then I went on to name like 15 people, and then I realized that I had just named practically every character in the book. :-) I loved that. But as it got nearer the end, I said to Brian, "I think the murderer is (a person who I won't mention here)." And I was right, even though the author TOTALLY tried to throw you off that person's scent.

This book was not a difficult read - in fact, the writing was a bit elementary for my taste. I like something a little more sophisticated. But I did enjoy it and I will probably read her again. (Even though there was also unnecessary language in this book, too.)

"Where Are the Children?" by Mary Higgins Clark - Disclaimer: I've loved everything I've read by this author. She really has a knack for storytelling, and it's often hard to guess what will happen next. I had NO IDEA who the killer was in this book until she revealed it. It was really a great read, and none of her books have any language in them, which I appreciate. What's interesting about that: she creates some really nasty characters who, in real life, would probably use profanity. But she manages to make them evil without using unnecessary language; I think some other authors (ahem, James Patterson) could take a lesson from Mary. I would totally recommend this book and anything else written by this author.

"The Sixth Target" by James Patterson - Speaking of Patterson, I might as well go ahead and review this book. I should start by saying that I am a fan of James Patterson. I've read every book he's written. It's hard to beat his "Alex Cross" series. I practically RUN to the library whenever I hear he's written something new. This book is the 6th book in his "Women's Murder Club" series.

With that said, I was pretty disappointed in this book. I felt like it was lazily written and there was lots of "filler." In other words, there were big sections of the book that didn't have anything at ALL to do with the story, and they were boring and could have totally been cut out. Maybe he was trying to make a word quota, who knows. But there were many times when I looked at Brian and said, "I don't CARE!!!! What's going on in the court room??!! Who is the killer??!! What has happened to (name of character, don't want to give anything away)??!!" I couldn't possibly care less about the main character's love life, her walks with her dog, or the details of her dinner. *rolling eyes*

I don't know if I would really recommend this one. I would, however, recommend his "Alex Cross" series and most of the other books in the "Women's Murder Club" series.

"Divine" by Karen Kingsbury - Another new author for me. This is a Christian author, so I was excited to read her. But I'm pretty picky when it comes to books, and her prologue was so long, drawn out, and boring, I almost gave up on the book. But I'm glad I didn't because it was a great story.

The main complaint I have about this book was the author's writing style. (I told you, I'm pretty picky!) This is a modern-day Mary Magdalene story. Well, this was a Christian writer trying to tell a "difficult" story and she just didn't do a good job with parts of it. At one point, there was this horrible drug-dealing pimp, and he would say things like, "Be quiet, little girl." I mean, come on. Drug dealing pimps don't say that! They slap people around, scream "Shut up! Shut up, or I'll give you something to cry about," or something.

Again, that said, this was a great story of grace and forgiveness and there were points of suspense that were well-written and exciting. I would recommend this book if you can stand a childish (my opinion) writing style.

"Body Surfing" by Anita Shreve - This is the second book I've read by her, and while she's not on my "favorite authors" list, I have enjoyed her books. Interestingly, the family in this book lives in the same house as the family in her other book I've read, "The Pilot's Wife." Several times in the book, they speak of buying the house from that family. Anyway, this is another story of family, love, and loss. It is a pretty good read. The plot was predictable at times, but I still liked the story.

-------------------------------------------

In other news, life has just been pretty normal around here. I've been working away at getting my Kindermusik business going. It costs a LOT for advertising and to order all the instruments and stuff! I wish it would hurry and start so I could MAKE some money to pay back all that I've been using to get everything going!

Oh, I almost forgot to say...Brian and I are going be an aunt & uncle AGAIN! For the FOURTH time! Jason (Brian's brother) and his wife Angela are expecting. We are SO excited at the prospect of a new niece or nephew to join Emma, Will, and Braden.

In a few weeks, I'll go visit Mom and Dad in KY. Mom and I are going to clean out, organize, throw away, and clean out some more. I'm hoping to get a good look at all her pictures. :-) I'm also hoping to get to Dayton for a day to see sweet, precious Braden (and I guess Brad and Kari too, ha!)

And lastly, I've been scrapping a ton! Scrapfest at LM REALLY SUPER motivates me! I will attach a few more recent pages: