Dawn Gerrity

Funny, open and entertaining and read by NPH. Loved it.

A great and intriguing read

I loved her writing style. This was a great and informative look into the bee industry. After seeing articles about colony collapse it was very intriguing to read about all the various issues that gives run into and possibilities of what might be causing it.

This is my first Joshilyn Jackson book, which was recommended by Modern Mrs. Darcy's Anne Bogel. The novel THE ALMOST SISTERS has many moving parts, but they all fit together very nicely, and you can follow the story easily enough. It was the audible version read by Ms. Jackson and I absolutely fell in love with her accent by the end of the book.
There are some good twists, turns and secrets revealed. Some parts were easy to figure out and a bit predictable, but the characters—especially Leia, are well drawn and they kept me entertained and engaged until the end. There are funny moments in the book that I genuinely chuckled out loud at parts. I loved that Leia is a nerd and imperfect, I love that her perfect sister isn't as perfect as she appears, and her grandmother and Wattie could easily have stolen the book if Leia and Rachel weren't rendered so realistically.
The author portrays race and social class relationships in the south, both past and present, though I found Leia's nativity about racism still existing a bit of a character flaw, especially at the age of 38. Endings are always the big issue with me, but I liked how it ended. While neatly tied up, it was not unrealistic and more importantly it wasn't rushed. I only gave it 4 stars because while I really enjoyed it, it did not leave me totally wanting more and regretting that it was ending.
”The South I'd been born into was all sweet tea and decency and Jesus, and it was a real, true place. I had grown up inside it, because my family lived there.”

”The second South was always present, though, and in it decency was a thin, green cover over the rancid soil of our dark history. They were both always present, both truly present in every square inch.”

I truly enjoyed this book. Loved the characters, the mystery, and the way it ended. It didn't just flat end it fully ended and I don't think it cheated.

Great ideas

Good main plot. Good characters even if the mains were a little to perfect. Ok writing—too much explaining and some of the descriptions were done all that well. But I did enjoy the book. I give 3 stars for good books, 4 for great and 5 for exceptional.

Overall, the book is entertaining, if not very believable, and a bit predictable in spots. Interesting to think of a first year lawyer being this smart and having this much responsibility. It was fun for the most part, with a few areas where it did drag (and I did think about abandoning it). I am glad it was free with Amazon Prime membership.

Quirky characters and a journey both physically and mentally for the characters. It was a fun book, though it wrapped up a bit too neatly.

Short but full of great information! Helped me a lot in my class.

This was a fine book, not great but ok. It was difficult to see how this family who had grown apart actually ended up coming together. The characters were slightly quirky, but not quirky enough, and I wasn't sure I really liked any of them. It wasn't because they were flawed (I love flawed characters when done correctly), it just wasn't deep enough into any of them to find the redeeming qualities. I guess that's the problem–a bit too shallow (but not in a fun, quirky way).

I generally liked this book, it was cute and a bit funny. I got confused a bit with the characters, but no big deal they all kind of meld together anyway. It was entertaining, but a bit shallow and one note. I gave it 3 stars because it was entertaining and I do like Star Trek, plus after watching the latest season of Black Mirror it felt like a good follow up.

I really liked this mystery. While it moved along at a good pace, it wasn't a heart racing thrill ride to the end, and I think that is why I truly enjoyed this. It's the type of mystery to enjoy on the couch with a cup of tea on a blustery, snowy day. The type to sink into and just feel immersed in it's world, and from what I have heard the whole series is much like this.

You can read more of my review at: http://bit.ly/2EoqML3

This was my first Scalzi book (which might be scandalous considering I'm a sci-fi lover). I liked how he randomly included homosexuality, race and sex without making a big deal about any of them and how the main character is never identified with a sex.

I listened to this book on Audible and chose Wil Wheaton as my narrator because, c'mon it's Wil Wheaton!! It came with the Novella about Hadens which I didn't listen to until after the book. But I got the gist of the The Lock In plague (which is pretty scary–it reminded me of the book/movie “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) fairly quickly, and while I had some questions about details about the disease it didn't interrupt my enjoyment of the story.

I loved the fact that it was actually a mystery/cop novel/thriller set in a sci-fi world which is always a perfect mix, just enough explaining of all the sci-fi stuff to enhance but not enough to be a distraction from a great story.

I loved this audio book. I only wish there was more to it. I did not want it to end. Magical and light and dark. Perfect.

While I think there is some useful thoughts in here I don't believe in some of the premise. Also much of it was repeated and some is stuff I've read before.

“Once upon a time, there was a woman who discovered she had turned into the wrong person.” Such an enticing opening that the book fully delivered upon.

It was ok. I liked the beginning better than the ending, lots of questions unanswered and a few glitches, but I did like parts.

Really enjoyed it.

Ok, I have a confession to make, I only made it about half-way through this book. I just couldn't take any more of it, and I don't take abandonment of books lightly. I know there are many people out there who love David Sedaris and love this book (at least there are on Amazon) but I am not one of them.

I give this book one star because I couldn't give it zero stars for being offensive, unenlightening, boring, and just humorless in general. If you want to read my reasons why you can at: https://collectedstoriescom.wordpress.com/2017/12/22/book-review-holidays-on-ice/

I didn't like this one as much as the first one. It got sidetracked and lengthy for no reason. I'm hoping the next one is better.