Updates for 2015 reading challenge!

So I have decided that instead of reviewing my books for this challenge every time I finish one that I will review all my books for the previous month in one blog. 

So for January I will review them at the beginning of February!

The only exception will be when I am reviewing one of them from my blogging for books which the next book will be The Barefoot Queen & I will be starting it the first week in Febuary. 

Happy Reading my Bookworms! 

A bit of my childhood comes back

I absolutely loved the choose your own adventure books when I was growing up. I even pick some of them up now, at least the adult ones, the last being a zombie one which did not  pan out well for me but I loved it. 
I also love Neil Patrick Harris so combine the two and you are in for one hell of a ride that you can go back to time & time again. 

I received this book free from blogging for books for an honest review. 

2015 reading challenge!

I'm doing this! Have 1 book crossed off already starting on the second! Keep it here for all the reviews. I have finished Child 44 & will be reviewing it in the next week when I get a minute. Just know I scored it 5 out of 5 stars!!

Review

It's the new year and like everyone else I've made my resolutions. One being to finally get my house uncluttered! 

I had seen this book pop up on my bloggingforbooks site but it would not open for me to review. 

I waited & waited until the one day it finally did & I snapped it up right during the holidays! 

Perfect I thought. I can go through my house throw away the obvious stuff while I wait for the book to grace my doorstep. 

Well I did not go through my house because it was the holidays & I was busy but no matter once I did get the book I would know where to start. 

So imagine my disappointment to find that the book read like an autobiography and not a how to. 

I came away feeling like I read a book about a woman with OCD that liked to throw away other people shit. 

As a book lover I cringed (she said I would, at least that part was right) at the fact that she wanted you to throw all your books on the floor & only keep the ones that "sparked joy". They all spark joy that is why they are there! 

If I went by her spark joy theory on clothing I would be walking around naked constantly because I would have none left. 

Although I found the majority of the book unhelpful I did find some other parts helpful and may implement them in my decluttering practices. 

For this reason I choose to split the stars down the middle 2.5 out of 5.

I am curious if any of you have already read the book and what your thoughts were? 

I received this book free from bloggingforbooks.org for a fair and honest review.

Quick review of The Secrets of Life and Death by Rebecca Alexander

I highly recommend this book for various reasons but 2 in particular. 

The story takes place in two different times but both times are connected. 

One year is 1585 the other is 2013.

In my reading of this book it also pulled me into two different types of reading. 

What I mean by that is that when I was reading the parts that took place in 1585 I felt a sense of reading a classic like Mary Shelley's Frankenstein or Bram Stroker's Dracula. In terms of it being a bit dry & forcing you to pay attention to every detail which I found odd because the writing was not dry but it was just the way my mind had operated as I immersed myself in the book. 

Then when it would jump to 2013 I was back in time with many of today's writing & still highly immersed in the book waiting to turn the next page. 

The author Rebecca Alexander successful pulls you into these two world, forcing you to dive deep into each of the lives involved. 

It starts with the murder of a girl & a Professor Felix Guichard being called in to examine symbols that have been painted on the body. 

The symbols look similar to those on a metal disc in a museam that go with a "journal" of sorts written by Edward Kelley who was the assistant to a noted alchemist by the name of Dr. John Dee who in 1585 had been summond by the King of Poland to help his dying niece. 

It was a world full of magic that the two were not prepared for and now it looked like it had come about again in the year 2013. 

With the help of a mysterious woman Jackdaw Hammond, Felix tries to solve the mystery of the dying woman that the answers date back almost 400 years ago. 

But like every good mystery the answers could cost them their lives. 

I give this 4.5 out of 5 stars & recommend it for any lover of mystery, occult & intrigue. 

I have received this book free from bloggingforbooks in exchange for my honest review. 

Shovel ready by Adam Sternbergh review

Sorry I have been away for awhile but I was in a writing competition. This is partly  why it took awhile for me to finish this book. I would like to say it is the only reason but as much as I liked the premise of this book the simple things like the lack of using quotation marks drove me bonkers! 

As a writer myself I know the most important thing is to allow the reader to "see" the action. As I reader I also enjoy being immersed inside the pages that takes me along for the journey. Now with that being said I do not like when it feels as though I am reading a screenplay in the wrong form which a lot of this book was written like. 

I get the lead character Spademan has lost his lack of sympathy and it is brought on page in very clipped sentences. But I found between that and no use of quotation marks disturbing for the fact I spent more time trying to figure out is he thinking or actually talking to someone? 

During my journey of reading this book I felt my mind wonder but not into the story. It wondered on things that needed done. This was not a good sign but I needed to finish this book and so as I started reading today being on page 89 of the 243 pages I had to force myself to focus and get through the book if anything just so I can go on to the next one on my pile. I have to say once I got the no quotation/ short sentences in my brain & forced passed them I felt okay about the novel but not great. 

So what is it about: 

It's about a garbage man who turns to a hit man after a dirty bomb goes off in New York.  He has no sympathy and does not want to hear anyone's story as to why they want someone killed (which made me think of the Transporter, don't open the package), that is until he is asked to kill an evangelists daughter who went on the run and the evangelist is the one who wants her dead. 

When Spademan finds her he sees she is pregnant and this makes him think back to the wife he lost in the bombings. 

The evangelist has found a way to give the people a taste of heaven by what they call "tapping in" think in terms of total recall and the matrix. It is what it reminded me of. 

But I did finish the majority of this book in a day and it started to hold my interest but I faultered too much along the way so I gave it a 3 out of 5 stars. 

I received this book free from bloggingforbooks.org to read and give my honest review

Make Comics like the Pros by Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente

So when I got this book I wasn't a hundred percent sure how I was going to blog about it! Fact is I gravitated towards this book because I write novels & I write comics. Novels I have been working on for quite some time so the factors that go into it & how to get on the shelf is easier for me. But when I got into writing comics it was trying to find that balance & I was just lost so I wrote it out as though it was a short story. 
This book made me breath easier. It is a step by step guide filled with examples. Love it & recommend highly! 

I received this book free from Blogging for books to read & review