Category Archives: Book Review

Mao’s Last Dancer by Li Cunxin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

***I won this book as part of a GoodReads First Reads Giveaway***

I have to say when I first got the notification from Goodreads saying that I had won this book, I wasn’t sure if i would enjoy it. So it got put on the overly full bookshelves with the intention to "get to it eventually" as with most of my books. Then I discovered that I needed a book about immigrant experiences in the United States and found that over half of the book, fit the bill and so decided to read it.

I was pleasantly surprised while reading Li’s authobiography. Having studied through various history courses a bit about Communist China, I sort of knew what to expect but he portrayed it in such vivid detail that those images will remain in my mind.

His experiences when he arrived in the United States, the perceptions of how China lied to him about them being the richest people in the world and the United States being the poorest were poignent. After he decided to defect to the United States, it felt like my heart was being torn-out after reading about his experiences.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in reading a personal experience of living under a communist rule, as well as students who are studying those areas of history.

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The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sometimes the good thing about partaking in a reading challenge is that it makes you push your boundaries and read a book you normally wouldn’t – I read the Cookbook Collector for just that reason. I’d seen it previously in stores, but it just never gained by attention enough that I read it. However, I’m glad that I did. Its a marvelous story about learning who you are and finding your place in teh world, about living each day as it comes and not putting off today what can be done tomorrow. I highly recommend it.

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Title: Soul Bonds; Rush in the Dark; Edward Unconditionally
Author: Lynn Lorenz
Series: Common Powers 1, 2 and 3
Genre: Erotic Romance: M/M
Date Read: October 2010

Review
This was a series of books (only 3 in the series) where I felt the need to include all three in the review, because I sat down at read them 1 after the other over the period of about 2 days. I enjoyed them all, but they definately did get better as the story progressed. The series takes place in Houston, TX, as well as in a small town a few hours outside of Houston and focuses on three couples: Mitchell/Sammi (Soul Bonds); Rush and Brian (Rush in the Dark) and Edward/Jack (Edward Unconditionally). As with other great series, I’ve read, characters from previous books make an appearance in later ones so you can catch up with what has been going on with them. These were the first books that I had read by Lynn Lorenz but they won’t be the last.

Rating
Soul Bonds – 3.5 stars
Rush in the Dark – 4 stars
Edward Unconditionally – 5 stars

Title: Duck!
Author: Kim Dare
Series: None
Genre: Erotic Romance: M/M; BDSM
Date Read: October 2010

Plot (from Goodreads)
Raised among humans, Ori Jones only discovered he was an avian shifter six months ago. Unable to complete a full shift until he reaches his avian maturity, he still can’t be sure of his exact species.

But with species comes rank, and rank is everything to the avians. When a partial shift allows the elders to announce that they believe Ori to be a rather ugly little duckling, he drops straight to the bottom rung of their hierarchy.

Life isn’t easy for Ori until he comes to the attention of a high ranking hawk shifter. Then the only question is, is Ori really a duck—and what will his new master think when the truth eventually comes out?

Review
When I was first recommended this book I was a bit skeptical – I had read a couple of Ms. Dare’s books in the past, and while I had enjoyed them, they weren’t mind-blowing. However, everyone who had read this one so far was raving out it, so I took the chance and I can say that I don’t regret it in the slightest! I loved this book! A re-telling of the old Fairy Tale, the Ugly Ducking with some elements of BDSM, all tied up into a M/M romance. What more could a girl ask for?

Rating
5 stars

Title: Brindisi Bedfellows
Author: Jamie Craig
Genre: Erotic Romance: M/M
Date Read: 8 July 2010

Review
To Follow

Rating
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Title: Inside the Mind of Scott Peterson
Author: Keith Ablow
Genre: Non-Fiction
Date Read: 7 July 2010

Review
To Follow

Rating
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Title: Bareback
Author: Chris Owen
Series: Bareback 1
Genre: Erotic Romance: M/M
Date Read: 7 July 2010

Review
To Follow

Rating
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Title: Case Histories
Author: Kate Atkinson
Series: Jackson Brodie Book 1
Genre: Literature and Fiction
Date Read: 5 July 2010

Review
It is rare that a book takes me longer than a week to read unless it is one that is 750+ pages because I know that I read fast. Yet, while reading Case Histories by Kate Atkinson, I struggled with it. When all was said and done, it took me nearly three weeks to finish the book and yet I never gave up on it and I’m not sure why. It was well-written, but the presentation was a bit confusing. Essentially, the novel focuses on a PI who is working three cold cases. Each chapter is a different case, plus his perspective mixed in, but each of the cases are told through the eyes of a person involved, be it one of the sisters, the father, or other connected character. There was also a significant discrepancy at least to me in the time devoted to the cases…the one took up probably a close to a third of the book and have long chapters whereas the other only had a few pages mixed in here and there.

All three of the cases were solved in the end and I was unable to identify who had committed the various crimes and yet, it wasn’t an ah-ha moment for me when they were identified, but rather more ho-hum, ok, case solved. The book was one of the initial ones I bought for my kindle back in 2009 when I was gone and it has sat for that long…maybe I should have let it sit longer.

Recommended For: I honestly don’t know who I could safety recommend this book to as of right now

Rating: 2 stars

Title: Broken
Author: Megan Hart
Genre: Erotic Romance
Date Read: 5 July 2010

Review
I’ve been pondering my review of Broken for the last two days since I finished reading the book and to say that I am still conflicted is an understatement. It was extremely well-written novel and I connected with the heroine, but there were elements of the book that I had a hard time overcoming. Essentially, the heroine is cheating emotionally on her husband by her weekly lunch dates with her friend Joe. You find out why as the book progresses and I’m not going to post a spoiler here, but that leads me to another interesting thought. Why is it in romance novels, if a man cheats he is expected to grovel to the female to make-up for what he did and she invariably takes him back and yet a woman can do the same thing and it is typically treated as a significantly worse event? Is it because women tend to get emotionally involved in relationships whereas guys are just in it for the sex…or is there something else going on.

This was the first of Ms. Hart’s books that I had read, although I had previously listened to one of her short stories that had been released in audio format, so I had a vague idea of what I was getting myself in for. I haven’t decided yet whether I would keep reading her books or not. As mentioned before they were extremely well-written, but the angst in them was almost too much. I heard someone on Amazon recently term them as literary erotica. They have all the elements of a good erotic romance and yet there is more of a literary element to them.

Recommended For: Someone looking for an angsty and emotional read but a well-written erotic romance.

Rating 4.5 stars

Title: Some Girls Bite
Author: Chloe Neill
Series: Chicagoland Vampires
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Date Read: 4 July 2010

Review

It is very rare that I read a book completely from stop to finish in one sitting. I have what I’ve termed book ADD, meaning that I normally have 4 or 5 books that I am in the middle of reading and I rotate between all of them. Yet, this book drew me in and I completed it in a few hours and then proceeded by buy the next two books in the series.

This was one of my first foray’s in the Urban Fantasy genre, the only other book I’ve read in that one being Magic Bites (Kate Daniels Bk 1) by Ilona Andrews but it is definitely a genre that I will continue reading. I enjoy seeing the same protagonist show up through out a series and the development of their character as well as relationships between the other characters.

My initial impressions of the protagonist, Merit, were one of a kick-ass female. This is a definite trend that I have noticed in most paranormal and UF books that have been released recently and something that I enjoy reading about. One of the quickest ways for me to stop reading a book is to have a weak-willed heroine who submits to the hero. The tension between Merit and Ethan (the Master Vampire) made for some great dynamics and hopefully they continue in future books. The secondary characters including Mallory, Catcher and Jeff made for some entertaining side moments and added overall enjoyment to my reading.

Another key element that I enjoyed was that I did not identify who the antagonist was until they were revealed. There have been some novels where I have been able to identify them or the twist in the novel early in my reading and that ruined it, however, this time I was unable to identify it. It will be interesting to see how Ms. Neill continues to develop the storyline in the next two books.

Recommended for: Anyone looking for a new series to read that has paranormal and urban fantasy elements, as well as high levels of sexual tension without any actual scenes between the main characters.

Rating: 5 stars