Notable Quotes

Notable Quotes

Favorite books of 2017

As the year begins to come to a close, I look back on the books I have read throughout the year.  Some I enjoyed, others not so much, but the love of reading and the love of books remains strong as ever, if not stronger.  I was able to interview and meet some awesome authors as well as attend a great literary convention here in Pittsburgh.  Looking back through the year of books, There are some that became favorites that I will turn to time and time again as well as share with others, such as you all wonderful people.  Here are some of my favorite books I had the honor of reading this past year:

Beautiful Storm:  This was one of those books that I was expecting one thing based on the title and got something else.  I highly enjoyed reading this murder mystery, but would have liked to have had more with lightening, but the story was still very engaging, I liked the characters, and I couldn't put the book down.  I liked that the characters seemed to have their own demons they wrestled with which made it easier to relate to them.


Woodcutter: Woodcutter was probably my favorite book of the year.  I love fairy tales.  Everything about them brings me back to my childhood.  I love reading retellings and other author's takes on the different stories. The title is a little off putting because it's not about a typical fairy tale woodcutter, but about one who protects the fairy tale like characters.  It was also interesting that Danley incorporated some mythology in the tale with the use of Odin and the hellhounds.


The Rogue Mountain:  I am not a horror type of reader, and I honestly read this one simply because a friend of mine had written it.  I was captivated from the very beginning.  It was a horror novel that reflects on the unknown creature lurking in the shadows.  There are so many things in this novel that I want more of, and after some discussions, readers will see these creatures again in other novels.  YAY!


Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: The cover just drew me in and then when I read the blurb I thought: "lets give it a shot".  I was greatly surprised and happy that I did step outside of  my comfort zone to read this book. Sometimes it's good to grab a book outside of your normal genre, it helps you find new authors and new books to fall in love with, and this was that book for me, just fell in love with it.


Alice: This book is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, a morbid, grotesque version.  Christina Henry has a way of writing some of the most horrific scenes in an utterly beautiful way.  There are topics that might be a trigger for some such as rape,  but Henry does it in a way that gives strength to Alice. I love Alice in Wonderland retellings and this is one of the top favorite ones for me.


What are some of your favorite books that you read this year?  Let me know in the comments!


Happy Reading

Inheritance: Judith MIchael

Inheritance: Judith Michael
Source: Hardcover
Rating 4.5 out of 5 stars

Summary: When their parents pass away, Laura and Clay Fairchild are taken in by their step brother Ben, who trains them in the art of thievery.  Ben formulates this plan to set up the owners of a hotel chain in order to avenge his father.  Unfortunately Laura strikes up a friendship with Owen, the family patriarch.  Owen takes Laura under his wing and is rewarded with her undying devotion.  Laura finds everything she is searching for; including the love of a good man, Paul.  When contesting the Owen's will Felix Salinger (a family member of Owen's therefore owner of the Salinger hotels) tries to use Laura's dark past as a thief to thrust her out of anything Owen may have left for her.

In order to regain her reputation and legacy, Laura strives to make her own hotel chain that rivals the Salinger chain.  Ben does a little more to make his mark among the family, though his means are not as noble and honorable as Laura's may be.  A sudden twist of fate changes everything and threaten to ruin everything they have worked towards.  Is Laura going to lose everything she has ever loved and desired throughout her life?  Will she be able to regain the love of an extraordinary man?

Review:  I found this novel on my mom's reading shelf.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to read a romance novel my mom had, somehow that seemed a little creepy.  But I decided to read it anyway, and boy am I glad, it helped begin my love for romance novels.  It isn't the typical romance novel that centers around sex, it is one that centers around the actual relationship between two people.  I also love that Judith Michael is actually a husband/wife team.

There are times when the plot seems to be predictable, but it is a good kind of predictable.  The characters and setting are so vivid and precise that it seems as though you are there beside Laura as she goes through her trials, happiness and lose.  You will not want to put it down because it is so eloquently written.  We witness Laura's character literally change from a young woman willing to do anything to survive, to a strong woman willing to do anything to remain devoted to her legacy and honor.  She does everything in her power to overcome her dark past to rewrite her future.  This writing team does a amazing job at creating a main character the readers both love and hate.  There are times when you cheer and root for her, but then they are times when you just feel so disappointed in her actions and choices.

There are a lot of twists and turns in this novel some are expected some are not.  It will have you awake at night turning the pages not wanting to put it down.  It leaves you wanting more from all the characters not just Laura, Ben and Paul.  Granted it is a novel that was published several years ago, but it is also one of those novels that are timeless and will continue to entertain readers for years to come.

More From Judith Michael:


                                                                                

Graveyward Shift

Graveyard Shift (Reapers Inc series; book 1) by Angela Raquet.  Source: Kindle edition.  Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 stars


Lana is a reaper, I wouldn't call her a lousy one, but she does as little as she can without causing troubles, sometimes.  She spends most of her time hanging out with Gabriel, yep the archangel himself, at a local bar called Purgatory.  But while at the annual ball, she learns of a shocking promotion and information that could change the very fabric of Limbo, even Inferno itself.  She now needs to scour the earth looking a perfect soul, one that would save the realm as they know it.  Without the soul, all could be lost, but Lana and her team are not the only ones searching for the soul.  There are others who want nothing more than to see her mission fail.  What is so special about Lana, that only she can be able to find this soul?

I highly enjoyed reading this book.  I downloaded it as a change of scenery so to speak as lately I have been reading a lot of the same genre.  I was interested in it from the beginning.  I enjoyed the take on the afterlife as being set up as a small realm of its own with its own residents interacting with each other and specific faiths having their own "island" so to speak.  No pantheon is left out in this one and I love it.  The main character is one we can all love for many reasons, one being that she bends the rules so that she may be able to help the souls she has harvested.  The development we see in this character is fantastic.  In the beginning Lana despises her job and does the bare minimum, she doesn't consider herself much of anything special.  But as the story progresses and she learns about her quest; the true story of Limbo,  and herself; she changes quite a bit and becomes a strong courageous character.

The Grim Reaper, I found to be an interesting character, I never imagined him as a corporate big wig. His personality wasn't what I would expect of the Grim Reaper, but then again I have never met the creature so how would I know what it's personality is like.  He seemed to be standoffish, reluctant to inform his employees of the dangers they are getting into with the mission he provides.  The book portrays him as only caring about the money and not where the souls go after they care collected, even seems reluctant to pay his employees their fair share of profits. Almost like he wants to stick to a minimum wage.  But I liked his character.  I liked that he was something different than what has been done in the past with a character of similar standing.  At first he seemed to not like Lana, but she grew on him as the time progresses and he begins to actually care about her well being (so we think, but then are proven otherwise). He seemed to almost have had a soul himself and that is not normally an aspect of Grim that one includes in Grim Reaper characters.

There are plenty of things throughout this novel that make it unique from other novels that I have read in the past and recently alike.  Each character has their own personalities, opinions and characteristics that make them their own even if we have seen them in other things such as the Grim Reaper and even Gabriel.  She makes them her own characters, I almost forgot Gabe was an archangel which was refreshing in its own right.  The way she describes things is its own.  She doesn't spend time focusing on describing everything, but when she does it is precise and to the point, and yet in such vivid detail that you can almost feel as if you are here beside Lana the whole time.  Her battle scenes with the pirates, I felt like I was on the ship with Lana fighting them off and the fear of getting demon acidic blood on me, the ship or anything else.  Made me want to be there and be a reaper or even at least meet her.

This was a fantastic read, I didn't want to put it down for a minute.  I cannot wait to be able to download all the other books and read the series to see what is next for Lana and her crew.  Pick it up today in kindle version or even in paperback.

MoonGlow

Moonglow: Kristen Callihan; Darkest London series; release date 2012
                    paranormal romance: source: Paperback
Rating 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: With the death of her husband, Daisy Ellis can finally live the life she desires, one with freedom to do as she pleases.  Until suddenly a series of mysterious murders come knocking on her door causing her to narrowly miss being attacked by a creature thought to be lore: a werewolf.  This causes her to fall into the arms of someone even more mysterious for safety: Ian Ranulf.  Ian tries to live his life hiding from society, almost in a hermit like nature. He is the Marques of Northrup, but there are times when it seems as though he wishes he could be of a different heritage.

But the murders that are sweeping through London are threatening to expose his deepest secrets he longs to hide. Ian and Daisy work together to quickly find the source behind the dreadful murders: the identity of the werewolf.  As they do so and are in close proximity to one another, they being to fall in love.  Although both are hiding things from one another, could those secrets be more dangerous to each other than the terror that threatens the night?  Daisy's sister Miranda and her husband Archer (formerly a good friend of Ian) know the secrets Ian is desperately trying to hide. Could their knowledge expose Ian to Daisy before he is ready to reveal who he truly is?


Review:  This is a novel I won from a giveaway at Goodreads; and I have to say if I did not win the novel I would have gone out and bought it. I went out and bought her other novel Firelight right after I read this one.  Callihan takes us into the darkest streets of London (hence the series name duh).  Both of her main characters have a secret and their own horrid past they are desperately trying to hide from the world and in turn each other.  Ian, himself, fights a daily war with himself regarding his secrets and his past.  But could that be his ultimate downfall?

The plot to the story was rather interesting in itself.  Murders being done by a werewolf we have seen before in different formats.  Werewolves are nothing new, and I admit I thought "not another werewolf story." She takes something so familiar and changes it into something of her own, and makes it seem new.  In "Moonglow", this werewolf's motive is simply killing women who have the same scent.  One that he is drawn to for one reason or another (and no I won't tell you because that just takes away from you reading it).  It was well written and well thought out, she stands her own ground in this genre and does a phenomenal job at it.

The story she creates captivates her audience from beginning to end, and then leaves them wanting more.  She had added to my addiction to not only reading, but also paranormal romance.  Once you open the book you step into a new world, or rather a new London.  I enjoye reading this novel and suggest it to others and look forward to reading more of her work.

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Book Discussion

Not too long ago I had dinner with some old friends and had a great time catching up on life and things.  We talked about books we have been reading and discussed a few things about them.  But there were moments it felt like awkward as the book discussions got more in depth and "intellectual," and felt there was small judgment for some of the book I have read such as Harry Potter series.  A question was posed of "What is there that you can discuss about Harry Potter?"  There are plenty of things one can discuss about this novel and more.  I think you can make any novel into an intellectual discussion if you wanted to not just novels like "Atlas Shrugged."

It felt like regardless of the book you read, if it wasn't able to be discussed it didn't count as something intellectual.  Which I don't think is the case.  You can find things to discuss about any kind of book including "Hop on Pop" if you so desire.  If you put your mind to it you can find something in any book that can be applied to life or says something about society.  And that is what my friends wanted to book discussions to be, highly in depth and intellectual.  Where as I am content at reading my books for the shear fun of it.  The need for an in depth intellectual conversation tends to take away from the joy of reading, although sometimes having that is nice, but not with every single book we read.

We can't make everything we discuss or do intellectual and in depth.  There needs to be something to take our minds off of things, something to relax, distress, and just allow our minds to escape.  Reading tends to do that, but when we try to force discussion topics into our reading it tends to take away from that effect and turn reading into something completely different. A book discussion should be fun and enjoyable, not always highly intellectual and in depth.  Enjoy the book and time with friends.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintence

I have to admit when I first started to read this book I had a very difficult time getting past the first few chapters and when I did, I was beyond glad I stuck with it.  Robert Pirsig explores how we live, and meditates on how to make our lives better while pursuing our passions.  The novel is through the eyes of a father on a cross country motorcycle ride with his son.  The novel become a personal exploration and a journey through philosophical questions.    Pirsig delves into the question of what is Quality, and what gives our live Quality?

This novel is perfect for anyone to read because of Pirsig's use of something personal and fundamentally universal.   This novel won't  have you debating Kierkegaard or Nietzsche, but provides you with questions and something to reflect on and question yourself.  Never have I read a book more thought provoking and rises questions about my own life I have never thought to ask or investigate.  Pirsig address the idea that we live in a world of both Romantic and Classical, or simply put, form and function.  One of the problems with the world that Pirsig presents is that function is essential to life, but it is form that is emphasized.   When form and function work together equally then the desired Quality is obtained.

Pirsig does an excellent job presenting his thoughts and ideas to his readers.   He draws them in with a very personal story of a father and son trying to reconnect.  Through his story we see an imperfect father striving to be perfect, to discover Quality for both their lives.  It is beautifully written and a novel should be read.

Pros: Thought provoking and compelling insight
Cons::It can be difficult to begin the novel
Bottom Line: Incredibly thought provoking and interesting.

Rating:  4 out of 5 stars