Still Life with Murder (Gilded Age Mysteries, No. 1)
Each book is a complete mystery that can stand on its own, but the characters are strong enough that you want to know more about them, which pulls you along into the next book, and the next. Faro's Daughter
This is not my favorite Georgette Heyer because the Hero is such a selfish clod but it is still a good fun read.
Cotillion (Harper Monogram Regency)
I really love how Freddy develops as a character. One of her best.
Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer
I love the story of how she makes friends with the chef. I will always carry the image of her dumpster diving with a miners hat on her head and saying to the chef taking out the garbage. "I really love your dumpster. It has the best food." and his reply "We clean it out once a month." I laughed so hard.
SPOILER ALERT!
Cinder: Book One in the Lunar Chronicles
I should have liked it. Despite the lack of character development, it was well written, the bad guys are very evil and the world was well imagined. Yet it's a retelling of Cinderella so I thought that it was going to to have a happy ending, it doesn't, so I was pretty pissed when I reached the end. But keep in mind there is another book coming out so technically it could have a happy ending but you have to read two more books to get there. Cure Tooth Decay: Heal And Prevent Cavities With Nutrition
Very interesting book. Lots of information. I like how he backs up a lot of the things he says. It is a little dense. He often introduces topics mid paragraph and never references them again. So its kind of difficult to read. I wish I had a paper copy as the kindle version is hard to bookmark. He dose get a little woo woo. But he has a very hands off attitude towards his reader, his basic premise is "this is the information I have, please use it to make informed decisions about your health". I like that.
Food Allergies and Food Intolerance: The Complete Guide to Their Identification and Treatment
I had a hard time deciding if I should say 3 or 4 stars on this. Its not something I read for fun. So 'like' is not really a word I want to apply to it. It's a very comprehensive and easy to read book about a very difficult subject. Also its one of the first books I've read that actually deals with food intolerance in more than an aside (oh yes food intolerance, some people say they have that)There are a few things that kind of bug me, the authors say that food intolerance's generally need more than a small amount of whatever food to set them off. This is not true for me and so I have a somewhat annoyed reaction every time they say it even though I know that they have statistics to back them up and I'm an individual case. The other thing is that often whenever the refer to the symptoms they use words like 'inconvenience' and 'unpleasant but rarely fatal'. After reading that second description I spent several minutes telling myself "they obviously don't dismiss the suffering of people, they wrote a whole book about it for goodness sake" but it still took me several minutes to be able to read again.
Despite those very minor issues I found the book really helpful and informative. I recommend it to anyone who suffers from food intolerance or knows someone who dose. It will give you a much better understanding of it.
The Dirty Life: On Farming, Food, and Love
I love books about food. Cookbooks and memories alike. But often times I get bored with them halfway through because the author expounds on topics that I can't really get into. Not so with this one. The author knew just how to keep me riveted to the page. She makes farming real and not at all second class. Stories of the good times made me laugh and the hard times made me cry. I was sad when the book was finished but I went to bed with a feeling of satisfaction I haven't experienced in a long time. Graceling (Graceling Realm, #1)
I didn't realize til recently that this was her first book. I remember enjoying it, for the most part. Unfortunately I'm writing this review some time after I read it so it might not be as accurate as if I read it yesterday. The story was a bit dark. The main character wants to kill her father, which after you get to know him is perfectly justified. And there are a lot of other things which are not as happy as they could be. Still I remember the book as leaving me feeling better rather than depressed or disturbed after it. Which for me is critical. I read to get away from the world as well as gain some perspective on it so when a book leaves me feeling angry and sad I feel as if I've had valuable life stolen from me. I know a lot of people don't feel this way. They find that books about dark subjects and cruel people make them gain happy perspectives on the world that they do inhabit. Theoretically this makes sense to me but emotionally I don't feel that way. I also loved the world, it was described in such a way that I could see it in my mind and felt full of possibilities. I'm glad I read it.
Burning Water (Tor Horror)
Its good shlock. This book is well written and if you have never read a serial killer/paranormal sleuth/police mystery before I'm sure you would find it very gripping. The murders are pretty horrific and the bad guys are believable. The mystery clips along at a good pace and all the characters are well drawn. Unfortunately I've read a lot of this kind of book and there is nothing that truly sparkled. Good for a night when you need something to distract you from real life.
What Happens in London
This book was delightful. Its very fun and romantic. There's great tension between the two characters and other than a gratuitous sex-in-the-library-scene is fairly chaste. I don't mind when the sex furthers the plot but I get tired of pasted in sex scenes that serve no purpose. So for the most part this book holds to that. I love the two of them leaning out the windows to talk to each other. Its very Romeo and Juliette, without the death.lol
SPOILER ALERT!
The Half-Made World
I spent way too much time reading this book. It was well written. It had great visualizations an amazing set up. It also had not one admirable caricature and was EPICALLY disappointing. Imagine if you will: Frodo (from The Lord of the Rings) is all the way up at the top of the volcano ready to throw the ring of doom into it, after heroically trekking through three books and numerous people dieing, But before he can throw the ring into the volcano a big eagle swoops down picks him up and takes him back to the Shire. And then the book ends.That would be the worst ending ever. And I can honestly say that this books ending is about that bad. I feel robbed.
You've Got Male (MIRA)
Fun. Better written than a lot of these. Unfortunately the main plot thread dose not resolve in this book. I found that very frustrating.
The Changeling Sea
I read this book every so often just because it makes me so happy. All of the descriptions use objects and colors of the sea, so the whole book has a feeling. The story flows along without effort and I fall in and breath in the atmosphere. Its only fault is that it ends.
Bloodring (Thorn St. Croix, Book 1)
The first part of the book made the main character seem smart and together, but as the book progresses she just gets dumber and dumber. Also nothing is really resolved. I understand that there is a larger plot that is not going to be resolved in this book but you never find out if the person who has been kidnapped survives. Or if the town is okay or if shes going to live there after all of the action happens. I found it very unsatisfying. Also I got very tired of the biblical references. It was fast paced and gripping and not bad but I found myself annoyed that I'd spent so much time reading it.