The Jinx by D. F Lamont

I received this book as a goodreads giveaway.

The overall plot of the story sounded alright and I was hooked by the books synopsis. Then I began reading the book. The hook for me was lost during the first few chapters.

Too much prose and not enough action. I think this will make it hard for children who are not avid readers to finish reading this book.

I set the book down with hopes to go back and finish it and have only found that I have lost total interest in the book.

I give the author 2  out of 5 stars for effort. **

What the Republicans Plan to do for the Elderly and Poor

I got to see this book first hand at my writers' group meeting this weekend and all of us, myself included could not help but laugh. This book says it all with out any hog wash written on the pages. This book was made all in fun and we all agreed it would make a great gag gift.

Spoiler Alert ****
This book contains nothing but blank pages-- Get It!!

I loved this book because of the content.

I give this book 5 out of  5 ****

Everything Soup, Stew, & Chili Cookbook by Belinda Hulin

This cook book of soups, stews and chili has quite the mix. The recipes are written in a simple easy to follow form. I love the facts and tidbits the author included with some of the recipes.

Never thought I would put a cook book on my kindle. Now I am glad I found this one. I can’t wait to try out some of the recipes, especially the Turkey soup, egg drop soup, hot and sour soup, and the barley soups.

I rate this book with 5 stars for the easy to read format and the fact that there is 300 recipes included in this book.

5 out of 5 *****

Helping Teens Stop Violence, Build Community, and Stand for Justice

I would recomend this resource book for those who are involved in teen centers and guidance in high schools of urban and suburban city developments. The book is set up as a workbook with many different exercises for the facilitators, many of which, help put them into the eyes and shoes of today's teen. Issues covered are not only about racial, but also those of sexual choice, religous, body type (ie...over weight), and ethnic background. I won this book in a LibraryThing dot com giveaway.

Earth's Ultimate Conflict by Kathy Porter

Page turner, this is not, at least not yet. It could be a great page turner. I liked the overall plot of the story. Kathy Porter does have a good storyline going with Earth’s Ultimate Conflict. But there were several issues I found with the copy I received from the Author in April 2011 when I won it as a giveaway on the site fReado dot com.

First of all, I sadly could not finish reading this book. I made it 80% of the way before I gave up on the read. It read like a rough first draft and is in need of some real serious editing. Sadly it seems that the author spent the money on the fancy bookmark for marketing and neglected the editing of the book. I personally would have spent the money on a good copy editor instead.

1.       There were many typos in the book. Missing words, miss spelled words, or wrong words. Example, in several places and was used in place of an. This causes the reader to stop and go back over what they just read to make sense of the paragraph.

2.       Several problems in the tense. One minute it is written in present and then the next it is in past tense.

3.       This one was the worse problem I came across. Major head hopping. This ultimately caused me to stop reading the book. It got to the point where I could not tell which character was doing or saying what. Way too confusing. And why would you use the same name in the story for two different people. This caused even more confusion. Tony and Anthony were too close and with the amount of characters introduced in the story, I could not tell which one was which by the end of the story.

I highly recommend the author seek the services of a copy editor before pressing on with more marketing of this book.

I gave this book 1 out of 5 stars    *

Go the F**k to Sleep

I could not help but take the free download of this on audible. I do have to agree, it did bring back memories of when my kids were small and they would refuse to go to sleep.
This is a good read for the new parent. Probably would make a nice Baby Shower gift for that unsuspecting new mother or father. They may appreciate this book when their new little one keeps them up all hours of the night.

I am not one for profanity.

This is why I have only given this book 4 out of 5 ****

Thread Words: A Word Game for Kindle

I just checked out this game for my kindle. It seems to be some what of a challenge. The game consists of taking a block of letters and forming words from it. One needs to connect each letter to form the words.
This seems to be a good game for passing the time away when you are sitting sunning on the beach or at the airport terminal.
I would recommend this game to all Kindle users.

I give this game 5 out of 5 stars *****

Erich's Plea: Book One of The Witchcraft Wars by Tracy Alley

Slade is captured and he with the help of some unlikely allies escapes the clutches of the Dark One.

The book is pretty good, but the story line is kind of drawn out. This fantasy book could become a favorite of World of Warcraft players after the author gives it a couple more edit sessions. It has many grammar errors. The biggest flaw is all the missing commas.

There was one chapter in the middle of the book; I almost had to skip because the words seemed jumbled. This chapter was very difficult to read.

I enjoyed the plot of the book and the characters were colorful, but the book ended too soon. It really did not have much of an ending. Yes the characters escaped, but the book was only just beginning when it ended. There was way too much head hopping with the characters making this a difficult read – very hard to follow where the story was going.

I give this book 3 out of 5 stars - ***

I received this book from the game site fReado.com

English Composition and Grammar : Complete Course [Hardcover] by John E. Warriner

I received this English Text book today and I was very pleased with it. There is a chapter about Writing and Thinking and Composition (Which consists of writing and revising sentences). There is even a section on writing fictional stories and poems, research, public speaking, letter writing, and completing forms.
When I ordered this book, I did not expect some of the content included in the book, like the section on writing poems. I originally was buying this book with the need for the section on the Grammar.
I recommend this book to anyone looking to better their writing skills. It contains a lot of information, information most Independent Authors are looking for.
With this book there is no real need for any other book on writing, besides you friendly dictionary.

Given 5 out of 5 stars *****

Winning Mr. Wrong by Marie Higgins

I normally do not read LDS Novels. This one I won as a Goodreads Giveaway. I found it charming, sweet and cute.
It is a story about a woman who follows a list to try and win the heart of a guy she thinks she has a crush on. In the end she learns the right one for you could be staring you right in the face and not know it.
I would recomend this book to read, even if you are looking for a general romance novel.

Starred 5 out of 5 Stars.

I received this book in a Giveaway on Goodreads.com.

Now and Then by Jacqueline Sheehan

I struggled through the first six chapters, after which I was glad I kept reading. A good story in all. Made we wonder how many people are walking around with curses on them, going so far back in history.

I gave this book 3 out of 5 ***

This Book I purchased from the Author who happened to be a speaker at my Writers Group I belong to. The Monadnock Writers Group

Review of Night World - Volume 1 by L. J. Smith

Night World Volume 1 consists of 3 Novels. This book seems to have made a come back on the market. I bought my copy at Walmart. It was sitting amongst the other volumes of Twilight.
The cover caught my eye. It was clear and not too busy with too big of a picture. I was enticed to look some more at this book.
I noticed the first story in this novel was published in 1996. I guess I missed this book. I'm glad it came back on the market.
The first story, Secret Vampire is pretty good. It was an easy read and moved along pretty fast. I liked how L. J. Smith grew her character, Poppy all the way to the end of the book. It was also nice to see that vampire could be good guys too.
There was not alot of emotion in this story. Even though it did have a bit of romance at the end of the book. I would definately recomend this book to ages 9 - 13. Even a slow reader would find this book would hold their attention long enough to finish this book.
I give this part of the trilogy 4 1/2 ****
The next story in the book called Daughters of Darkness is a bit more fast paced. I liked this part even more. I had a hard time putting the book down after the very first chapter.
This book has a very strong character, Mary-Lynnette. But, I'm not really clear about this character in the beginning of the story. But, by the end, I do know enough about her to begin to really like her.
This story has some mystery to it. A nice attempt by Smith. Maybe next time she will be able to write a better mystery. It is a pretty good story for ages 9 - 13.
I give this part of the book again 4 1/2 ****
The last part of this book is called Spellbinder. I really liked this story most of all. It is a story about two teenage witches. I really liked the tension she used between the two girls. It was on the idea of sibling rivalry. The plot is very strong in this book. One can almost guess where the story is heading. It is another fast paced story. I like how it is more about witches and less about vampires. But, the over all Night World concept is well thought out.
I will be looking forward to reading the next two trilogys in this series of books.
I give this part of the book 5 *****

I purchased this book from my local Walmart Store.