Lauren Henderson

There are some good parts of this book. But in general I found it extremely long and drawn out. Also, Harry doesn't even have to do anything for himself in this book. It's all just an accident. He just happens to have good luck and other people who tell him what to do. Meh.

Before you all get mad at me... 3 stars does mean that I liked Me Before You, but I wasn't overly enthralled. I just thought that it felt flat and cliché by the end. I mean, it was a good story of an impossible love and the inspiration to truly live your life well. But there was still a lot of emotion lacking in this book - it should have made me sob. But it didn't. And I was left thinking... aww that was cute.

I loved Will's character. He had so much emotional depth to help you understand his constant battle with reconciling his life that was and his life that is. And Louisa had some depth but I found her character development lacking. I never really felt everything, I just understood the motions as she went through them. I wanted to be a little more inside her head, I guess.

Also, I absolutely hated Louisa's family... they are the most self-centered people, almost unrealistically so. They constantly berate her, and I almost stopped reading because I hated them so much at the beginning.

But I'm not mad that I read this book. Do I think I would have been missing out if I hadn't read it? NO.

OH MY GOSH!!! The last chapter just blew my mind. My brother warned me that I shouldn't read this book until the 3rd one came out, but I didn't listen. Now... I'm warning all of you. Do yourself a favor and wait so that you can go straight the next book. NOVEMBER IS SOOO FAR AWAY!!

So much sadness... but so much goodness. This book was amazing and has a very important message. I was sucked in from about page 5.

You know I really love a book when I start pushing it on all of my reader friends. I keep telling everyone that Red Rising is a mix between The Hunger Games, Ender's Game, and Age of Empires - and that's really the best description I can give. It has a little bit of romance but not the kind that get annoying or ends up being the main focus. It has a little bit of warfare but not the kind that's overly boyish and hard to understand. And it has the fight for power that shows a society's weakness and builds upon the hope of civilization. There's so much emotional turmoil and action in this book that seamlessly winds together in a fast-paced twisty-turny story. I absolutely loved everything about it.

I almost didn't read this because I thought it was going to be just another YA dystopian series (blah)... but it is definitely unlike any of the other dystopian craze books. Give it a chance. You won't regret it.

I cannot give a fair rating for this book, since I haven't ever finished it. I've attempted twice and gotten half way. There's this one really long drawn out part. But I will try again.

I love the musical so much, and the book does add more depth into the story of Elphaba and Glinda (of course pictured as Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth in my head when I read), and I like what I've read so far. It's written like a classic, and we all know what that can mean. Who knows.. maybe I've gotten two pages from the book picking back up. I really enjoyed the beginning about Elphaba growing up and being sent to school. But then when you get into all the clock stuff, it starts slowing down for me. I hate to be the one to never finish a book though, so I will. I freaking will.

I think I have changed my rating of this book about 10 times since I finished reading it. But I have finally settled on 4 stars.

In hindsight, this is a very good story. There is good world building and character building. There is a lot of adventure, a lot of emotional depth. Overall, I wanted a little more from Claire, but this is only the first in a very long series, so I'm sure I will get a lot more.

The one problem I had with this book was the monotony at times. The action scenes where things are actually happening are great, but there was sooo much in between that really slowed me down. I would read several pages sometimes and realize that I wasn't even paying attention... thus it took me about 5 weeks to actually finish this book. I would put it down for a whole week at a time to read another book and refresh myself before continuing. Since this is the first book, I'm chalking it up to still trying to get to know the characters. I understand all the extra was there for character development, so I'm hoping that now that I know them, the second book will be easier to get through.

On a positive note, I absolutely love Jamie - his stubborn manliness, but also his romantic protectiveness. Probably one of my favorite male characters of all time and definitely the reason that I am going to read on in this series.

I liked this one a little more than the Sorcerer's Stone... mostly because of Dobby. I love Dobby. And Ginny... I love her too. Also, I haven't watched the second movie more than 2 or 3 times, so I didn't quite remember the story for this book and wasn't comparing it to the movie in my head. Yay!! On to the next one..

Never shall I forget that night... which has turned my life into one long night... Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever. Never shall I forget that nocturnal silence which deprived me, for all eternity, of the desire to live. Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.”

I recently visited the Holocaust Museum in DC. This quote was written on the wall above a mound of actual shoes that were taken from Jews immediately before they were burned alive at Auschwitz. Talk about heavy. I've grown up learning about the Holocaust in history classes, but this was my first real look at the true horror of the Holocaust. I picked this book up because after seeing that quote, I felt the need to learn more about the tragedy that the Jews went through. This is Elie Wiesel's memoir of his time spent in concentration camps. It has extremely horrific actions explained in detail and is hard to get through, but I still believe is a very important book. I am distraught upon finishing this book - just learning about the timeline in history classes gives you the ability to glaze over and not actually think about what the Jews might have suffered, but this book brings everything right to the front, where you cannot help but form the picture and weep along with them.

I actually did not know until now that this is part of a trilogy. I will definitely be reading the other 2.

I didn't make it all the way through this book. It's way too boring for me.

I don't know how I missed the boat on this book when I was younger... It was first published when I was five, so maybe it was just before my time - when I started reading longer books, I was all about Nancy Drew and only Nancy Drew. I had actually barely heard about The Giver until it was being made into a movie. I didn't make it around to reading the book until after I watched the movie... and that was really only because I really like the movie. I guess I stalled with reading this because it's labeled as a children's book. But it is far from juvenile. It is extremely insightful into human emotions and what makes life meaningful but also has the chance to make it painful. I love the message in this book. It's a heavy children's story, but an important one. I'm dying to move on to the next books in the series.

January 2015: I finally did it!! Emma does become so good about halfway through. I think I was working on the first half for about 3 weeks, but the last half I read in 3 days. This is my first Jane Austen book I've read by choice... I think that's a lot of the reason that it took me so long to get into. I find that when I read classic authors, they each have such a unique language and style that it does take some time to get used to. So hopefully my next Jane Austen book won't take so long to get into. Or maybe they just drag at the beginning. We will see. Either way, they story in Emma is lovely. I mean we've all heard of Mr. Knightley, but I do truly love him in this story.

Previous: I love Jane Austen's writing style. This is the first Jane Austen novel that I read by choice and not in an english comp class... and that wasn't until I was about 21 (don't judge me). I really like Emma. She's a strong female character. I always love those type. But there's a part where the book just gets slow. I've started reading it twice and never finished. I will not give up though. I will try again so I can give a real review.

Another book with the Waverleys!!!! Is it January yet!??

Loved it. Super funny, cute (but not too cute) story of discovering your own worth and discovering a person who sees it too. I loved all the nuances of the way that people think when they are interested in someone and the things that they will do instead of actually talking to that person. Because let's all be honest... who hasn't done some of these things? (Maybe not going through personal emails... but you know you've done something somewhat creeper-ish at some point in your life.)

Surprisingly great. Dropped to 4 instead of 5 stars because it ended up being ever so slightly predictable.

Running my complete review on my blog on Dec. 10 for TLC Book Tours. Check it out!!

REVIEW:
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review!

Woman With a Gun starts with the story of Stacey Kim, a talented writer, who is having trouble with ideas for her first novel. She dropped everything to move to New York and become successful, only she hasn't been able to do that yet. One day, on her lunch break she goes to the Museum of Modern Art and stumbles upon the photo, “Woman with a Gun” by famous photographer Kathy Moran. Stacey is immediately intrigued and inspired to write a novel loosely based on the story behind the photo – the only problem is that no one knows the story. Stacey eventually finds out that the photo is of Megan Cahill, the wife of Raymond Cahill who was brutally murdered in their home on the night of their wedding. So begins her journey to learn more – Stacey interviews the lead detective on the Cahill murder, Jack Booth, and the story quickly jumps back to the Kilbride case, which happened several years before the Cahill murder, and explains Kathy Moran's background and Jack's connection to her. As Stacey is uncovering the truth about these cases, she begins to put the puzzle together that no one has been able to before and ends up finding herself in danger also.

So we have three main plots: the present where Stacey is investigating the photo, the Cahill case, and the Kilbride case. However, unlike a lot of books with subplots in different timelines, Woman with a Gun does not jump back and forth incessantly. For this reason, I loved it. The fact that each story is told almost independently adds a lot of suspense and keeps you guessing who the Cahill killer is until the end.

I've seen other reviews that say this book was difficult to get into and that it didn't keep the reviewers attention since it is difficult to see how the different crimes are connected until the very end. Yes, the connections are not there in the beginning, but the stories are written without fluff, almost like a detective is presenting you the facts. So, in my opinion, the writing style is perfect for this story.

Throughout the entire book, I was prepared to give a 5-star rating – The premise of the story being based on a photo is amazing; the story keeps your attention; the characters are developed just enough to make you interested in all of their outcomes but not too much to detract from the actual whodunit plot. I did slightly lower my rating at the end though because I'm a snob when it comes to mystery and I don't like when I am able to guess who the killer is. Although, I only guessed in the last couple of chapters.

If you want a quick mystery (this book literally took me less than one day to read), then I highly recommend Woman with a Gun. This was my first time to read Phillip Margolin, and I was definitely not disappointed.

Review to come.

I absolutely loved Sarah Jio's last book, Goodnight June. But unfortunately, The Look of Love just didn't work for me. I thought the idea of actually seeing true love sounded really interesting as a magical realism aspect, and at first it was. But the side plot of this gift possibly being caused by a scientific anomaly instead of by magic really distracted from the rest of the story.

The other parts of the story: all of Jane's friends, their love lives, and Jane using her gift to help them navigate through their relationships were all well done, and if the story had been left there, I would have really enjoyed it.

However, the whole identifying the 6 types of love kind of got lost in the story. It is set up at the beginning of the book as being the whole point of the story - Jane has to identify and record all the types of love before her 30th birthday or lose the ability to ever find true love for herself. And technically, as you are reading, you can tell that she has found all the types of love, but it is never wrapped up at the end. I mean Jane's love story is wrapped up, but she never actually talks about finding the 6 types of love and what they all meant to her.

I just found this story way too surface level and did not enjoy it nearly as much as I thought I would.

Review to come.

I have a confession... I've always been somewhat anti-romance – not necessarily a romance basher, but just someone who always passed by the romance section in search of better books. I've only read a couple in my life, and I thought they were poorly written and super cliché/cheesy. I, therefore, assumed that the entire romance genre is not for me. So when Lisa from TLC Books Tours asked me to join the tour for Beyond Coincidence, I was hesitant but eventually decided that I should maybe give romance another try. And well... I learned that I should take it a little easier on the romance genre. So thank you to TLC Book Tours and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Beyond Coincidence is the story of Lucy who takes a solo trip to France after being heart broken by the man that she thought was the love of her life. While there she discovers that she is the only person who can see Freddy, a dead soldier whose remains have recently been dug up and who needs help having his remains identified so he can finally be laid to rest and have peace. He says to Lucy that he doesn't quite know why but he feels like she was meant to be the one to help him. Freddy goes back to Australia with Lucy and begins the journey of learning about the life he never got to have. Lucy is able to track down Freddy's last remaining relative, Nate – his great grandson, who has recently had some heartbreak of his own. They are immediately drawn to each other and up being inspirations to each other and to Freddy.

From the summary on the back of this book, I was somewhat scared that Lucy was going to fall in love with a ghost and then end up with a tragic, cheesy love story that would just make me gag. But it's apparent after the first couple of pages that that is not the case. Also, after the first chapter, it's pretty easy to guess what's going to happen, but then again... that's what I'm looking for in romance – a feel-good story, but one that's real life without the romantic scenes being forced. Jacquie Underdown does a wonderful job of focusing on plot development while still delivering the romance. She also does a fantastic job with the magical realism of Freddy's ghost – I completely believed that Lucy speaking with Freddy was something that was absolutely normal.

What really kept me interested in the entire story was the slight suspense of what Freddy's and Lucy's actual connection would end up being and if Freddy would find the rest that he was seeking. And everything connected beautifully in the end. This is definitely a cozy story of different types of relationships that make us who we are and enrich our lives. The only reason I give this book 3 instead of 4 stars is that the dialogue seems a little bit forced at times, but not so much that the story still didn't feel sincere.

I will definitely be giving Jacquie Underdown's other books a shot whenever I need to take a break from all my long fantasy series and read something a little lighter. I would recommend this book to anyone who is overwhelmed with a longer series or needs a quick genre switch to break up the monotony.

There has been a very severe and sad decline in the amount of time I have had to read lately because of my new job, but I did have time to read this one after being accepted to join TLC Book Tours. I otherwise would not have even known about this new release, and I'm so glad that I did find out about it. So thanks to TLC Book Tours and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

GI Brides is the true and personal story of four very different brides of WWII veterans – Sylvia who was excited to serve the “Yanks” as a Red Cross volunteer, Margaret whose family was extremely suspicious of the yanks, Rae who was a tomboy and herself served in the English army, and Lyn who was a shy and naïve younger woman as the war began. All of these women fell in love with men who were stationed in England during the war and eventually followed them to America when the US government transported upwards of 60,000 GI Brides. The chapters switch back and forth between their stories of how their marriages and lives changed after moving to America. Ultimately, this nonfiction story ends up reading like fiction because of the details and dialogue included in each woman's story.

I'm not normally a person who picks up non-fiction unless it is labeled as a memoir, and the only reason I chose to be on the tour for GI Brides is because I am a military spouse and thought I would be able to identify with it. I did not expect this book to be so narrative based and to draw me in the way that it did. By the end, I was so invested in these women's lives and cried with them in the happy moments and the sad. This definitely is my kind of non-fiction!

I love how the authors took the time to seek out some of the GI Brides who had different experiences, who led very different paths after they left England, and chose to tell their stories in a way that a lot of women can identify with and can enjoy reading about. I've read several historical romance fiction novels written in the WWII era, and I think this book rates right there with some of the best of those. It's insightful and afterwards heartwarming and inspiring because you know that you have read about real people's lives. I actually learned a thing or two that I didn't already know about WWII, how the Americans reacted to the influx of GI Brides, and the difficultly that some of the women had with transitioning cultures.

I would recommend this book to any of you who like to read about love stories, especially those set in wartime, and to anyone would also like to be surprised by a non-fiction story.

Check out the GI Brides website for more info on the brides in this story and some new brides featured in upcoming short stories, author bios on Nuala Calvi and Duncan Barrett, and pictures and blog posts from the GI Brides.

Review to come.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I would never have known about this book if it weren't for NetGalley. And I'm so glad I found it. I noticed it because of the cover and title. Then I did a little research and discovered that Martha Woodroof is affiliated with NPR. I love love love NPR, so that's all I needed. I requested and read it right away.

Small Blessings could definitely go into the literary fiction category, which isn't usually my bag. But in this case, I really liked it because it wasn't overly dramatic and drawn out.

This is the story of a cast of characters at a women's college - Tom Putnam is a loyal, gentle-hearted man who has been taking care of Marjory, his mentally frayed wife, for 20 years; Agnes, Tom's mother-in-law is a quirky, stubborn lady who is searching for her new beginning; Russ Jacobs is a callous, egotistical alcoholic who hides behind his sarcasm and anger; Iris is a spunky red-head who likes to stir the pot but has no real friends. In walks Rose Callahan, an independent, wanderer who is so sure of herself that she makes others sure of themselves, but she is too guarded to let anyone really know her. Within the first few days after Rose's arrival, Marjory dies, and Tom's 6-year-old “son” that he never knew about turns up in town. (Don't worry... not a spoiler... these happen at the very beginning.) What follows is a discovery of self for everyone involved and small blessings that some never thought they deserved.

This book was so beautifully written. Each and every character is so well developed, and the story line is also extremely well-developed but succinct. There are a couple of small surprises, but mostly you can tell where the story is going and where it will end up. In this case, though, the point was not the ending, the point was the journey. And it was a truly inspiring one. The title is perfect... this is a story about people saving each other, facing your demons, and finding the small blessings.

And to add to that, what I love most about books are the small nuances that just make them different from all the rest, where the author puts some of their personality in. In this case, there are a lot of moments obviously dedicated to NPR. Here's a little peek:

The Rolling Stones obligingly began should in her head about not always getting what you want but, provided you try, sometimes getting what you need.

As Van Morrison had put it: It ain't why, why, why, why, why; it just is.

There's just a lot of good old-fashioned wisdom sprinkled throughout this story too, with some slight humor to it:

“When the going gets tough, the tough suck it up,” Agnes said. “The rest get run over.”You'll always have a chance to give up, so why do it now?

I think what really makes this book so great is that it's real life. It really could be someone's true story. It's not cheesy, it's not far-fetched. It just is.. simple and true.

I definitely recommend this book!! And you don't have to wait too long - it comes out on August 12th!! And for anyone in the Richmond, VA area, I found out that Martha Woodroof will be at Fountain Books on September 23 for a signing! Get excited!!

I had a lot of hope for Someone Else's Love Story because (1) I've heard great things about Joshilyn Jackson, and (2) I really liked the short story intro in My Own Miraculous. So HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT is an understatement.

According to the synopsis, Someone Else's Love Story is about Shandi Pierce being held up in a gas station and falling in insta-love with William, who puts himself between the gunner and her 3-year-old genius son, Natty. William is a genetics genius and he agrees to help Shandi discover who Natty's father is. This is all true, but the entire first 25% of the book goes back and forth between Shandi's and William's thoughts about the hold-up situtaion, the exact actions of the gunner, etc. Although this is a life-changing moment for both of them, it's extremely irritating because there is absolutely no story development. We get it, both of them have lost things and had a hard time in the past couple of years... I just wanted the story to move on to what actually happens after.

Then it finally did... and blah, ick, gag... The events that unfold are extremely chick-flicky cliche. Shandi is caught in a love triangle between her long-time best friend, Walcott, and her life-saver (but she doesn't know if she's unknowingly been in love with Walcott for her entire life.. oh really?). William is caught in his anger at his wife's accident in which their daughter was killed and his inablity to have faith unlike his wife. And it becomes apparent pretty early that Shandi was raped but has not acknowledged that she was.

This story is all about banging around inside of two indecisive people's heads who have been lying to themselves (Shandi about her “rape” and William about his wife's “existence”). And then everything is wrapped up in a cushy ending. Once again... GAG.

There are details about the other characters who were held up in the gas station, about Shandi's parents, about Walcott's parents, etc. that are just completely unnecessary and ultimately annoying because their storylines are left incomplete.

I picked up this book because I have a weakness for science geek socially awkward love interests... in the end that's all this book had going for it. The story was really not a bad idea, but the execution was just not good.

However, I still like Joshilyn Jackson's writing.. she uses unique phrasing that adds a lot of emotion. So I think I'll try another of her earlier books and just hope that this one was a fluke.

I've never read Joshilyn Jackson, but I've had her on my list for ages. I checked out Someone Else's Love Story from the library, and this is free on Kindle... so why not?

My Own Miraculous was a great introduction to Shandi's relationship with her son (Natty), with her best friend (Walcott), and with her mother. Natty is a very gifted 3-year-old that has taught himself to read and can solve a rubik's cube in a couple of minutes. In this story, Shandi learns the importance of letting him be whoever he is, even if that means extremely different, and helping him along the way.

Even after such a short story, I can already tell that I absolutely love Joshilyn Jackson's writing style. It's full of emotion and description. I caught myself laughing and smiling along with the characters, as well as getting mad and teary eyed at times. Jackson really knows how to make you feel.

Now, on to the Someone Else's Love Story!

Thoughts Immediately After Finishing:
I heart J.K. This one was even better than the first.

Real Review:
Every time I read a J.K. Rowling book I fall more and more in love with her... she's such a great, concise, and imaginative story teller... She makes you think you know what's going to happen and then completely surprises you over and over. She gives you details that are always completely relevant to the entire story and not just filler. I'm obsessed. (Confession: I'm not saying this as a Harry Potter lover... because... well, I never actually finished the series. I read the first 2 books in 6th grade and never picked up J.K. again until The Cuckoo's Calling. Yes.. I'm ashamed. I will redeem myself in the near future. Promise.)

In The Silkworm, Cormoran Strike and his assistant, Robin, are once again investigating a murder that the police think they have wrapped up in a nice neat little package. Owen Quine, an author with a twisted imagination and a habit of insulting people through making them characters in his books goes missing. Strike finds Quine's body mutilated in the exact fashion that the main character is murdered in his newest, not yet released book. The police are able to pin the murder on Quine's wife, but Strike believes she is innocent. Thus begins a search for the killer out of the vast amount of people in the publishing industry who had access to the pre-print version of the book. Since Quine has managed to make many enemies throughout his writing career, there are plenty of people with the motive to kill him.

The plot is extremely fast moving. I read this 500 something page book in a day, if that says anything. It's never dull. Most of the story focuses on the murder investigation. But some chapters show Strike's and Robin's personal lives and provide more character development for the them individually. Strike is trying to get over his ex-fiance, and Robin is trying to help her fiance to understand her love of her job.

This story honestly reminded me of And Then There Were None because it has a classic mystery feel and keeps you wondering until the very last chapter who the killer is.

I'm pretty sure that a lot of J.K. Rowling's underlying feelings about the publishing industry are expressed through this story, but then again... I can't really say what her motives are. Just a thought I had while reading, since the plot thickens heavily around corruption with Quine's agent and publishing company. Sneaky, J.K., very sneaky. But then again, I think she made it pretty passively apparent.

Either way, I truly enjoy the Cormoran Strike books. This one was even better than the first, and I'm interested to see where Strike and Robin's relationship will end up. Because we all know, J.K. never does what you think she's going to.