The Readers Block

Life Interrupted by Yessi Smith My rating: 4 of 5 stars I read this book as part of a read along/ discussion for the Coffee and a Good Book group. I have to say I think it was a good pick. I was a little iffy during the first chapters, as the writing seemed a little shaky and unsure, but I feel like the author found her voice towards the end. Holly is a bit frustrating at times, but likeable overall, and she, Travis and Derrick balance each other out well, IMO. Kudos, Yessi Smith! You managed to bring tears to my eyes more than once. =) View all my reviews

This is my review of The Doll- Master, which I received from Netgalley for free in exchange for an honest review. It has been over a month now since I finished this book and I still can't get The Doll-Master out of my head. Six stories are told in this book, six. But I could only give you a basic plot summary of the other five if you asked me for one, because The Doll-Master is the one that haunts me. And because it does, I will tell you nothing more about it than this- it really doesn't matter if you can see it coming, because you know you are helpless to stop it. And it made my skin crawl. Out of the other five stories, the one I can recall the quickest and with the most details is Gun Accident. I can relate to Hanna, the shy, quiet girl who can't seem to see that some people ARE just bad, and is picked by her teacher to house sit for her while she is with her husband in the hospital. Things quickly turn bad for Hanna, and the situations she faces are just too real...

The Blood Countess is a fictionalized retelling of the life of Countess Elizabeth Bathory, and the life of her descendant- Drake Bathory-Kereshtur. The story tells of how their lives touch through mysticism, passion, and upheaval- creating passages to each other in the flow of time. Personally, I felt the accounts of Elizabeth's crimes in this book was mild, considering the legends attached to her. I have read other reviews that the book was too gory and the reviewers had to stop reading it, but that wasn't the case in my experience. I feel that the author was trying to show that while Elizabeth was guilty of cruelty, torture, and murder, she wasn't the monster history and legend have made her become. Or maybe she was. In either case, it was enough to get me interested in the history of Hungary and the current situation in that part of the world, so off I go to find more. =) The Blood Countess by Andrei Codrescu My rating: 3 of 5 stars View all my reviews

Today I woke up. And I cried. I ironed my husband's dress shirts, and carefully chose my own clothes, and I cried. I don't want to wear these clothes. I don't want to see my husband in his suit, or see what clothes our family and friends have chosen to wear themselves this day.  More importantly, I don't want to see the clothes that have been chosen for Tyler today,  or think of Sabore's family needing to choose what they'd like him to wear, what his baby is going to wear.  Because they should be here. Tyler should be skating. Sabore should be holding his child.  They should be with their families.  They should be going to work. They should be  laughing. They should be . But pennies are more important than people, so they are not.  And I am angry. http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2015/11/bayonne_man_killed_on_route_440_had_passion_for_sk.html#incart_2box_hudson%22He https://www.change.org/p/mayor-davis-build-a-pedestrian-bridge-on-the-back-hi...

I loved this book! I felt like I've always known poor little toad-like Warren and cheered him on all through his troubles and adventure in his family hotel. I can't wait for it to be released so I can get a copy for my grandson's library. =) Release date is set for November 24th- If you have children, I recommend this title. Thanks to Netgalley and Quirk books! Warren the 13th and The All-Seeing Eye by Tania del Rio My rating: 4 of 5 stars View all my reviews

This is a title I was invited to read for Netgalley, or maybe I requested it... I don't remember now. But that doesn't matter any way. I like dystopian, and I liked the premise, but this pretty short read was a little hard on my brain. Which may be a good thing. Distinguishing between virtual reality and actual reality muddles my brain and if I were Kenders, I'd be living in a state of constant panic attack. The ending brought me right back into the story though, and got me interested enough in what may happen that I'll be looking for the next book. Nirvana by J.R. Stewart My rating: 2 of 5 stars View all my reviews

This book is written by a popular author, someone whose name is familiar to me and whose books I haven't had a chance to read yet, so when I saw a chance to review this book through Netgalley I was excited... (I wanted to love this book, I really did!) But the story line and language usage is a little too familiar. The world The Hunter is set in is great, as are the Hunters themselves and the basis of the story line. While Joy isn't necessarily a Katniss or Tris clone, there are some similarities. But hey, how could there not be a few? My main problem? Annoyance? Yes, annoyance may be the better word, annoyance with this book was the vocabulary of the characters. It reminded me of a certain movie with Sandra Bullock and Sylvester Stallone set in a futuristic world where the citizens have forgotten complete words and shortened versions are now the norm. Things like "vid screen" instead of video or monitor, and other such usages. I was able to get past that, but it m...