When I volunteered to be a book blogger, I had all these wonderful thoughts and ideas. I’d get to share my love of books with others who loved books at an established, fun website. Naive, right? I mean, I talk books all the time with family and friends, how could writing about them in a forum be any different? I’m more than naive, I’m pretty much delusional.
It sounds like I’m ready to throw in the towel, not by a long shot. I love books too much. I recently had my first case of reviewer’s block and it made me think about what I was actually writing in my reviews. Seriously, I’m a 56 year old, fairly independent woman, pretty well read, articulate and with an opinion (just like everyone else). I served 20 years in the Air Force and wrote reports and projects for generals and stuff. How could writing about books be a big deal. It feels like a big deal for me.
Initially I thought, hey no one’s gonna care about my OPINION but some people actually do. Uh ho. How about if I write a review about a favorite author and it’s not necessarily a great review? How’s that going to make me feel? Like crap, by the way. Or what if, I write a scathing review of an ARC and the publisher reads it and doesn’t send Pure Textuality any more ARCs. Wow, I could shut down the website or something. So not happening!!
Then, I started doing the very worst thing possible. I was reading every book like I was going to write a review. I was highlighting and making notes on my Kindle Fire like crazy. About a week ago, I wasn’t having any fun reading a book (by one of my all time favorite authors), I received a month before release because I was not reading as a reader but as a reviewer. Smack my head!!
I know this all seems pretty silly. To me, it wasn’t. Did I mention delusional already? I had a talk with self. Just read the book, dammit!! Forget about everything else, that’s why you like to read. You’re making this out to be school or something where you had to read Animal Farm (I ended up using Cliff’s Notes). But remember the time you read Seven Days in May and went back and read all the author’s other novels.
Seriously, I’m not on medication, well, not too much. None for delusions though, honest. It’s ALL about the love of books. You’re going to end up reading some stinkers to find the diamonds. I’ve found many more diamonds than stinkers. I’ve reached out to authors and would you believe it, they reach back. Hey, they’re normal, regular people with an amazing talent.
Reading is what you make it. I decided I’m making it FUN again!!
And will still share my opinion with no pressure.
I’m off to read an extraordinary book by an author I love, even if it receives a 3 Star review (or more).
About Me
- Dolly
- Just my thoughts on what ever pops up. The kids are more or less on their own pursuing various degrees. My hubby does take a bit more of my time But that's as it should be. We have 3 dogs and they are my daily company. In my spare time I love to cook. I'm retired from the U. S. Air Force and am enjoying playing homemaker. (I take my hat off to the real homemakers) You'll probably get a mixed bag from my blog so be prepared for whatever may pop up in the conversation. Family is my touchstone.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Monday, April 2, 2012
Thinking about Family
On March 26th, my Mom would have been 78 years old. She's been gone almost 12 years and I miss her every day. The hurting is not so bad but the lonely feeling is always there. Yes, I know she's watching but I can't talk to her. I can only hear her laugh in my head.
Mom was one of 10 kids. Her Dad worked in the coal mine and it killed him at 48 years old. My grandmother never remarried. Three of the four youngest went to the Masonic Home in Louisville, Kentucky. My Mom was fourteen but went with her two younger brothers to kind of keep an eye on them. Good thing too, because she met my Dad there. He had been there since he was 4 years old.
What brought me to writing this post is the oldest of the 10 kids, my Aunt Dolly is in the hospital right now. You have to know Aunt Dolly. For her to stay in the hospital, that is not a good thing. She has pneumonia. She also had 10 kids. The first 7 were boys. Her oldest daughter is her best friend. Aunt Dolly is Teresa's best friend. I adore them both. So, I'm praying very very hard that He will give them some more time together!!
God Bless
Mom was one of 10 kids. Her Dad worked in the coal mine and it killed him at 48 years old. My grandmother never remarried. Three of the four youngest went to the Masonic Home in Louisville, Kentucky. My Mom was fourteen but went with her two younger brothers to kind of keep an eye on them. Good thing too, because she met my Dad there. He had been there since he was 4 years old.
What brought me to writing this post is the oldest of the 10 kids, my Aunt Dolly is in the hospital right now. You have to know Aunt Dolly. For her to stay in the hospital, that is not a good thing. She has pneumonia. She also had 10 kids. The first 7 were boys. Her oldest daughter is her best friend. Aunt Dolly is Teresa's best friend. I adore them both. So, I'm praying very very hard that He will give them some more time together!!
God Bless
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Where Does The Time Go??
I can't believe I keep forgetting to post. Not that a lot was happening. I've enjoyed having this week with my oldest son. Sometimes you take family for granted and I guess we shouldn't.
Last night was a bit of an adventure. I was having some pain going to the bathroom and then ended up with a bit of blood in my urine. That will wake up real quick. Went to the emergency room at midnight and got home about 4 am. Seems I have an urinary tract infection. Never had one before and boy it came on so very fast. I'm fine but I lot tired. The doctor and nurse were steadily busy but they were very good. Can't often say that about an ER.
Hope all is well with everyone.
Last night was a bit of an adventure. I was having some pain going to the bathroom and then ended up with a bit of blood in my urine. That will wake up real quick. Went to the emergency room at midnight and got home about 4 am. Seems I have an urinary tract infection. Never had one before and boy it came on so very fast. I'm fine but I lot tired. The doctor and nurse were steadily busy but they were very good. Can't often say that about an ER.
Hope all is well with everyone.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Review: Job Offer by Edmond Barrett
The synopsis for this novella is low key for a pretty interesting work Some people might pass by Mr. Barrett’s little gem. Thank goodness I’m curious and the book was very reasonable priced.
The Job Offer starts with a scene titled, “The past”. You know it’s gotta be important for it even to be mentioned. Then the book starts right in with the heroine, Jennifer, enduring a dead end job and poor living conditions. Enter the stranger, Douglas (whose real name turns out to be Collin), with a sexy British accent and a mysterious job offer.
Along the way, Jennifer learns there really are monsters living along side the ordinary people and some monsters are hunted but other less troublesome ones are not. Confused? Jennifer sure is and can’t figure out why some International “Organisation” (the author writes with the British spelling and unique verbiage) wants her to work for them policing and controlling paranormals. The sales pitch for the job is a little disturbing…
….” Alright I’ll start with the down side. It is a dangerous job; there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be seriously injured and some chance you’ll be killed before you hit thirty.”
The job has great benefits though, really. Jennifer takes the job for whatever reason. I’m not telling; read the novella. It sounds a bit corny writing this out. Let’s just say the book is much better than trying to describe the premise.
With the exception of getting used to the British writing style, I quite enjoyed the story which I believe is the lead in for a series. I learned a bunch of new British words. The story is not overly complicated and moves along enough to hold your attention. The biggest mystery is trying to figure out when Jennifer is going to show any “talents” that brought her to the attention of the Organisation.
My rating: 3 Stars
The Job Offer starts with a scene titled, “The past”. You know it’s gotta be important for it even to be mentioned. Then the book starts right in with the heroine, Jennifer, enduring a dead end job and poor living conditions. Enter the stranger, Douglas (whose real name turns out to be Collin), with a sexy British accent and a mysterious job offer.
Along the way, Jennifer learns there really are monsters living along side the ordinary people and some monsters are hunted but other less troublesome ones are not. Confused? Jennifer sure is and can’t figure out why some International “Organisation” (the author writes with the British spelling and unique verbiage) wants her to work for them policing and controlling paranormals. The sales pitch for the job is a little disturbing…
….” Alright I’ll start with the down side. It is a dangerous job; there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be seriously injured and some chance you’ll be killed before you hit thirty.”
The job has great benefits though, really. Jennifer takes the job for whatever reason. I’m not telling; read the novella. It sounds a bit corny writing this out. Let’s just say the book is much better than trying to describe the premise.
With the exception of getting used to the British writing style, I quite enjoyed the story which I believe is the lead in for a series. I learned a bunch of new British words. The story is not overly complicated and moves along enough to hold your attention. The biggest mystery is trying to figure out when Jennifer is going to show any “talents” that brought her to the attention of the Organisation.
My rating: 3 Stars
Monday, February 20, 2012
Review: WitchLight Trilogy by Debora Geary
I’ve done the review on the first three books in A Modern Witch by Ms Geary and now am reading the the WitchLight Trilogy which (no pun intended) focuses on the journey of two witches and their mentors. I’ve read the first two of the spin off and am actually finding myself a bit more involved in this series. This spin off was very cleverly done. The author took a pretty good character from A Modern Witch Series and made her an outstanding lead with added depth and parts of her story into the trilogy.
The lead characters are developed in depth. You appreciate them and can’t help getting drawn into their stories. The premise of this series is helping witches who are having issues even if they don’t want to admit it. There are 3 mentors and two students. The main mentor, Jenny, is tasked by her mentor to get involved and help two very different witches find their way.
These two witches are extremely different and have individual problems they don’t willingly recognize. The younger witch, Lizzard, is extremely gifted and smart but very insecure. Her hopes and dreams seem out of reach so she hides behind a smart mouth and getting into trouble. She has had a very tough life and when faced with putting up or shutting up, she runs away. The witches pull some strings to keep her out of juvie and try to help her grow and provide some stability in her life. Elsie is a professional and thinks she is just burned out and needs some time away from her practice to focus on charitable work. In other words she needs a new perspective and thinks she can devote some time to helping witches when she is the one who really needs the help. She’s a bit of a know it all and is completely blinded to her needs. She is rigid in control and just won’t let go.
Jenny as the head mentor knows she cannot handle these two on her own. She enlists some additional mentors, Lauren, (the lead in the first A Modern Witch) a new witch and her best friend, Nat, not a witch at all. Nat has other skills and is eerily able to read people. The whole witching community introduced in the Modern Witch Series ends up involved. The author combines the two series effortlessly.
When you begin this trilogy, have a Kleenex handy. You become so invested in the characters, their feelings, and awakening there is no way you CAN’T not feel for them and their mentors. Jenny is constantly questioning herself and how she can help her students. The following is one of my favorite passages in the novel when Jenny turns to her own mentor for advice and help.
Melvin looked off into the distance. “Why don’t you use a tripod when you take portraits?’
Twenty-five years together and he could still confuse the hell out of her. “too rigid. I need the freedom to move the camera to where it needs to be. If I lock it into place, I always miss the best shots.”
“Indeed.” He smiled softly. “Teach your students not to be tripods, then. Show them the difference between truly supporting someone and merely propping them up.”
There is a lesson in there.
While are plenty of things happening in the series, the thing you need to know is this series deals with people. Their hopes, their dreams, learning to trust themselves and others with their feelings, are beautifully portrayed by Ms Geary. I don’t want you to think you are going to cry from sadness and empathy. There is laughter and joy and even some tears to spend on the laughter and joy. I don’t think my feelings have run the gamut in a long long time. It was extremely refreshing to do so.
This is a trilogy and a spin off, so my advice is to read the first books in the Modern Witch Series, Modern Witch and Hidden Witch; then read the first of this trilogy, Witches on Parole: Unlocked, the third in the Modern Witches Series, A Reckless Witch, and THEN read Witches Underway (Book 2 of the WitchLight Series). If that’s not enough, the final WitchLight Series book, Witches in Flight, is planned for release in March 2012 and the fourth in A Modern Witch Series, A Nomadic Witch, in late spring. That’s a coven of Witch books, sorry couldn’t resist!
From visiting Ms Geary’s website and her Facebook page, I gather she doesn’t tweet but does have a lot of interaction with her fans on FB and on her website. You should stop by.
My rating for the first two books in the WitchLight Series:
4 Stars (This is a very solid four, no weaknesses)
The lead characters are developed in depth. You appreciate them and can’t help getting drawn into their stories. The premise of this series is helping witches who are having issues even if they don’t want to admit it. There are 3 mentors and two students. The main mentor, Jenny, is tasked by her mentor to get involved and help two very different witches find their way.
These two witches are extremely different and have individual problems they don’t willingly recognize. The younger witch, Lizzard, is extremely gifted and smart but very insecure. Her hopes and dreams seem out of reach so she hides behind a smart mouth and getting into trouble. She has had a very tough life and when faced with putting up or shutting up, she runs away. The witches pull some strings to keep her out of juvie and try to help her grow and provide some stability in her life. Elsie is a professional and thinks she is just burned out and needs some time away from her practice to focus on charitable work. In other words she needs a new perspective and thinks she can devote some time to helping witches when she is the one who really needs the help. She’s a bit of a know it all and is completely blinded to her needs. She is rigid in control and just won’t let go.
Jenny as the head mentor knows she cannot handle these two on her own. She enlists some additional mentors, Lauren, (the lead in the first A Modern Witch) a new witch and her best friend, Nat, not a witch at all. Nat has other skills and is eerily able to read people. The whole witching community introduced in the Modern Witch Series ends up involved. The author combines the two series effortlessly.
When you begin this trilogy, have a Kleenex handy. You become so invested in the characters, their feelings, and awakening there is no way you CAN’T not feel for them and their mentors. Jenny is constantly questioning herself and how she can help her students. The following is one of my favorite passages in the novel when Jenny turns to her own mentor for advice and help.
Melvin looked off into the distance. “Why don’t you use a tripod when you take portraits?’
Twenty-five years together and he could still confuse the hell out of her. “too rigid. I need the freedom to move the camera to where it needs to be. If I lock it into place, I always miss the best shots.”
“Indeed.” He smiled softly. “Teach your students not to be tripods, then. Show them the difference between truly supporting someone and merely propping them up.”
There is a lesson in there.
While are plenty of things happening in the series, the thing you need to know is this series deals with people. Their hopes, their dreams, learning to trust themselves and others with their feelings, are beautifully portrayed by Ms Geary. I don’t want you to think you are going to cry from sadness and empathy. There is laughter and joy and even some tears to spend on the laughter and joy. I don’t think my feelings have run the gamut in a long long time. It was extremely refreshing to do so.
This is a trilogy and a spin off, so my advice is to read the first books in the Modern Witch Series, Modern Witch and Hidden Witch; then read the first of this trilogy, Witches on Parole: Unlocked, the third in the Modern Witches Series, A Reckless Witch, and THEN read Witches Underway (Book 2 of the WitchLight Series). If that’s not enough, the final WitchLight Series book, Witches in Flight, is planned for release in March 2012 and the fourth in A Modern Witch Series, A Nomadic Witch, in late spring. That’s a coven of Witch books, sorry couldn’t resist!
From visiting Ms Geary’s website and her Facebook page, I gather she doesn’t tweet but does have a lot of interaction with her fans on FB and on her website. You should stop by.
My rating for the first two books in the WitchLight Series:
4 Stars (This is a very solid four, no weaknesses)
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Life is Happening
Well, I had planned to post a blog at least every other day but as you can see, that's not been happening. For some reason the past week just flew by. Then on Thursday, I over did it with appointments and running around town taking care of stuff. I had gotten up at 3:45am. After my appointments and some personal stuff, I was exhausted but couldn't get to sleep until midnight. Needless to say I've spent the last couple of days as a zombie. Oooo, I like zombies but don't like feeling like one. So I am taking today off. No chores!!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Lazy Sundays
Well maybe not so lazy. The hubby and I are making our biannual batch of chili. We usually end up using two or three stock pots but a friend of mine made a wonderful suggestion. I have an 18 quart oven I bake turkeys or very large roasts in and that's what we made the chili in. Can you believe it?, 18 quarts of chili. Maybe we won't need to make it again for 3 years. It sure smells good though. The best part, we made it together. I sliced and diced and he did the browning and put it all together.
Hope everyone is doing well.
Hope everyone is doing well.
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