First Date

First Date

by Krista McGee

2 stars

336 pages

Published Jan. 10, 2012 by Thomas Nelson 

 

If you like christianity being shoved down your throat and all things "The Bachelor," this book is clearly for you.

Now, I am a christian, but this book is just not my cup of tea. Every page has some religious ideology and prayer on it. Religion for me is a personal thing. I go to church - I enjoy it, but I don't want my beliefs turned into a YA romance filled with saccharine, eye-rolling and lack of plot. It may have helped if the writing was better and the relgious down-the-throat-shoving was toned down to just "religious overtones."

The only reason I gave it two stars is because there is no swearing, sex or bad stuff. And it obviously touts the benefits of christian thinking - forgiveness and love.

And I finished the thing. I guess that counts for something.

Serendipity

Serendipity (Only in Gooding #5)

by Cathy Marie Hake

2 stars

336 pages 

Published Nov. 1, 2010 by Baker Publishing Group

I was in the mood for a romantic novel, but I don't like all the graphic sex scenes, so I opted for a Christian version. I was quite happy with the lack of swearing and sex, but that's basically all the good I can say about this book.

It was booooring. And the ending was abrupt and did not satisfy many loose ends. But what bugged me the most was the mother-in-law. She was a horrible, horrible person. And for a Christian novel, I was surprised that the author did not offer any glimmer of kindness or charity in this character. All she did was berate, insult and degrade the woman her son had married.

I was confused, too, at the development of the love between the two main characters. It was choppy and terribly written.

I will not be reading any more books by this author 

Time to downsize

As I am coming up on my 1-year anniversary of this blog, I have realized a few things.

First, there's a lot of spam that comes with creating and writing a blog. It sucks. I try and ignore it.

Second, not many people read my blog. And that's OK. I do it not for the fame (obviously), but for an outlet for my semi-creative side. I'm not a good writer - I like things short and sweet. But I do love to read and recommend/condemn books. And this is a great forum to do that.

Third, because of the above two things, and because I am going to be VERY busy the next 7-8 months with a move and a new baby, I am going to be downsizing the number of posts I publish. I am thinking one per week will be sufficient to balance my desire to write and my need to take care of family.

I will keep publishing. My blog will stay active and simple. It will still provide my opinions on books. It just won't be as often.

Just think - now you'll have more time to read books!

And after you've read all those extra books, if you would like to submit a review for me to publish on this blog, I'd be happy to oblige. Just send me the text and title and I'll do the rest.

Falling Fast

by Lucy Kevin

1 star

 

147 pages

Published Jan. 16, 2011

 

 

I should have stopped while I was only a third into the book, because this book was dumb, dumb, dumb. It is a literary (I use that word loosely) version of TV's The Bachelor.

Please, don't waste your time.

Waterfall

Waterfall (River of Time #1)

by Lisa Tawn Bergren

3 stars

369 pages

Published Feb. 1, 2011 by David C. Cook

There was so much unbelievable stuff in this book, I hesitated to give it 3 stars. Like: Gabi being able to speak medieval Italian or sword fight with no problem. Plus the "romance" was a bit cheesy - I'm so tired of love triangles! But the premise was interesting, and I wanted to see how the author imagined life in the 1300s to be like. Also, the writing was decent, and the author knew how to move the plot along.

I doubt I'll read the next in the series, though. This book just didn't hold that much interest for me.

The Accidental Bride

The Accidental Bride (Summer Island #2)

by Christina Skye

3 stars

 

376 pages

Published Sept. 18, 2012 by Harlequin

 

I wasn't overly thrilled with this book, but it was a sweet story without all the yucky sex scenes. A bit of an unbelievable plot, with the main characters falling in love the moment they see each other - call me jaded, but it usually doesn't happen that way. I guess that's why it's a "romance" book - the idealized version of love.

I was a little bugged by the blatant use of puppies and knitting and cooking in the book - it was as if the author thought of three things that women love and stuck them in the book to appeal to the widest range. I'm surprised that kittens and rainbows did not make an appearance, although reading in front of a sunset did (which is my personal favorite). See! It caught me, too!

Doubt I'll read another one in the series. But it was a good experiment.

The Actor and the Housewife

The Actor and the Housewife

by Shannon Hale

2 stars

352 pages
 

Published June 9, 2009 by Bloomsbury USA (first published Jan. 1, 2009)

Sometimes YA authors should stick to their genre. (Kathy Reichs, I'm not talking about you! I adore your YA books!)

Here, Shannon Hale, author of the popular Princess Academy books and Books of Bayern series dives into adult fiction. It's not a happy dip.

I've read 8 out of Hale's 10 published books, and there is an obvious trend - her YA books outshine her adult fiction books. So be warned.

The book starts out as every housewife's dream: meeting and having dinner with their movie star "crush." But from there, it just kind of got unbelievable - the two becoming best friends and all. That NEVER happens.

But what really bugged me is that Hale uses cancer to force some emotion into the book. Not cool.

Plus, her dialogue and repartee seemed just a bit too clever for its own good. Who talks like that? Who can come up with one-liners like that on the spot? It got old after a while.

Another thing, if you're not Mormon who has spent any time in Utah, you will not get half of the jokes.

16 Lighthouse Road

16 Lighthouse Road (Cedar Cove #1)

by Debbie Macomber

3 stars

377 pages

Published Jan. 1, 2001

I read this purely because I used to live in the town that is featured in this book - Port Orchard, WA. I loved the town when I lived there and miss it now that I'm away. I wanted a little reminder of my time there - and this book was a good answer to that.

Although it helped my home-sickness a little, the story was much like a soap opera. Drama everywhere, and a few love stories thrown in for spice. Not fantastic literature, but I can see how people can get hooked on it. 

I will probably read more in this series, but only when I am in the right mood. Which won't be too, too often. I know the books are there whenever I want them.