Spin Results and Review

 I am only two days late in finishing and three late in posting my progress on the Classics Spin results that ended on May 15th. It has been quite a few spins since I was able to finish a book. My book for this spin was The Railway Children by E. Nesbit. So what are my thoughts for this book? It was ok wasn't the best book but wasn't horrible either. This is of course a child's book and I can see how it would be appealing to children who loved trains or a little adventure. Basically, the story entails about a few siblings who for unknown reasons to them, are made to leave London with their mother and move to the country. It is then about the people they met and a few adventures, which as an adult become rather predicable, but to a child might not be. Even though later on you find out why they moved and how come the father was no longer involved in their lives, one issue isn't quite resolved for sure, they give you a hint who you assume is correct later on but never say for sure. I give it a 3 out of 5, perhaps if I was younger it would have been given a higher rating. The next book I will be reading for the Classics Club is Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

Grace's Pictures Book Review

I am reviewing this book for Tyndale publishing and received this book for free for an honest review. Grace's Pictures tells the story of a young Irish immigrant in the early 1900's to America. Her mother and stepfather are still in Ireland. It told of the thoughts and some stories of people arriving to a new land, which I thought was interesting. Grace with the help of an agency that tries to arrange jobs with newly arrived Irish immigrants gets a job becoming a nanny to children whose own mother isn't interested in them. Grace also is intrigued by photography and gets her own small camera to take pictures of New York City. This then lands her into trouble when some people think she took a picture of something she shouldn't have. Grace has a large distrust of police officers which goes back to her childhood in Ireland. However, she becomes somewhat friends with an Irish officer in NYC. I like those parts of the book, the part I didn't enjoy were the people who supposedly thought Grace was a threat, I thought that part of the story was usually in the background, almost to the point that I would forget about it. The few times they were in the forefront I thought it was not believable once they found out more information about Grace. I did have a hard time finishing this book, I would read a few pages but it down for quite a long time and then eventually pick it up again. I think this book would have been better if it just focused on the coming to america story. I never did quite understand Grace's fears of police officers as an adult, ok as a child I could understand.

I rank this book 2.5 out of 5

My Hope is Found Review...

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through blogging for books for free, for my honest review of the book. This is the third book in the Cadence of Grace series. I really enjoyed the first two books, and did enjoy some of the parts of the third. Gideon and Lonnie are forced to be separated from each other again, in what may be forever in the third book. While Lonnie and Gideon area no longer together, she wonders what Gideon is doing, while at the same time starts to have feelings to Reverend McKee. Choices at times in our lives are not easy, but in this book at the end I felt that Lonnie didn't really make a choice it was made for her. I had a few issues with this book; how involved both of the Reverends were in the Cassie/Lonnie/Gideon marriage scenario, Lonnie couldn't write her aunt to find out information every once in awhile? (which in previous books she did exchange letters in), Lonnie after a few months of being separated from Gideon, suddenly has feelings and possible fell in love with someone else. These were just a few things that I didn't quite believe. Especially, if Lonnie loved Gideon I would think that she would still be grieving too much to even think about another relationship. Yes, I know that during this time period women still had to rely on men for their livelihood (especially if one had children), but she lived with the Bennetts and it wasn't like they would kick her out on her own. Then at the end she doesn't even make the choice really herself, it is made for her, perhaps because she couldn't decide by herself? I want to know though what happens more to the man who didn't get her in the end. If you have read the other books, you will want to read this one as well, but not the best one out of the series.

Rank: 3.0 out of 5

A Little Princess review...

  This is my sixth review now for the Classics Club. I had never read A Little Princess before, but of course seen the movie as a child. I vaguely remembered certain scenes, but couldn't remember the exact ending. The book takes place during the 1800's and the main character Sara is a very imaginative child. She was born in India, her father is a British Captain, her mother is deceased, and she is sent to a seminary school in London for her education. Her father has money and spends lavishly on her, and Sara not really having any friends before in India, pretends that she is a Princess (this continues after making friends with others). Certain events happen and she has to end up being the help at the school instead of a prized pupil. I liked Sara's character, although at sometimes thought she was a little too 'perfect', at being the ideal child. Even though the book was very short, it seemed to me that it could have been quite a bit shorter. It was disappointing that at around the middle of the book you find out certain information, that none of the characters are aware of, this would be ok but for the fact it gives away the ending, thus the end of the excitement of the book for me. Probably if I had read this as a child, it might not have been the case, and thus I would have still been anxious and excited to see what would happen to Sara.

 

Rating: I liked this book but can't see myself rereading it, so it will be given a 3 out of 5.

 

Once I watch this movie, I will also review it as well.

 

Next book: Heart of Darkness & Other Short Stories by Joseph Conrad

Light Between Oceans Review...

This past month for a book club I belong too, we read Light Between Oceans. Everyone enjoyed the book, and it does bring out a variety of emotions. It is the first book by M.L. Stedman and hopefully not the last. Tom who happens to be a lightkeeper along with his wife live by themselves, except for the few times a year that supplies or sent to them. One day a small boat with a deceased man and baby appear. In reading this book it reminds us that all of the decisions we make, not only change our own lives, but several others as well. That is all I am going to say, as I don't want to give away spoilers. I ranked this a 5 out of 5, and the other people in the book club either ranked it a 4 or 4.5. Everyone enjoyed it, even if we didn't agree with some characters decisions. I am counting this book towards my fourth review for the Outdo Yourself Challenge.

 

 

The next book that I will be reading, that has been chosen for this book club

Review of Oliver Twist

I think there is so much to learn about society in reading Oliver Twist. The poor tale of Oliver in his upbringing, how some things have changed in the world while some have remained unchanged. There is still poverty in the world, criminals, people of higher power abusing their authority (in thinking they are above the law), etc. It does give one a lot to think about. I often thought perhaps if Dickens himself could see and relate to Oliver as he was writing this book, I guess this maybe answered if I read Little Dorrit. Everyone's life experiences shape who we are in same way, this can of course be either good or bad. Oliver Twist I think also shows the resilience of humans, as far as Oliver never giving up, even though he was not treated kindly by a great majority of people and didn't have much of a support system in several instances. In reading Oliver Twist I wanted to keep reading to see what occurred, and I enjoyed knowing the end of all the characters in such detail. This is a definate reread. I rate this book a 5 out of 5. This is my third book review for the Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge, second for Historical Fiction Challenge, and fifth book for Classics Club.

My next book to read is The Little Princess. I still plan on having movie reviews for Ivanhoe and Oliver soon.

Classics Club Group Check In #2

This is the second group check in so far, and the first for this year of 2013. I feel that I have been able to read more this year, hopefully I will be able to continue this. I have read four books so far, since joining the club in Aug. 2012:

1. Pat of Silverbush by L.M. Montgomery - Finished 10/8/2012
2.The Children by Edith Wharton - Finished Nov. 2012
3. The Cossacks and the Raid by Leo Tolstoy - Finished Dec. 2012
4. Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott - Finished Jan. 2013

Currently I am reading Oliver Twist and really enjoying it. I only have about 80 pages or so far to go, I am determined to read the rest of it over the weekend. In the past, I had tried to read Great Expectations but was never a fan and couldn't finish. Since I have various other works of Dickens on my classics club list, it is a good thing that I am enjoying Oliver Twist. My original goal of each book on my classic club list is to also watch any movies based on  the books. I have yet to watch Ivanhoe but hope to do so soon so then I can watch Oliver (my husband is a fan of both the book and film). I will end up doing reviews on the films to try to compare them to the books. Once I am done with Oliver Twist the next book will be A Little Princess, never read the book but watched the film growing up. If you enjoy reading books and finding new ones, I highly recommend joining the classics club!

A Season for Tending review..

I finished reading A Season for Tending by Cindy Woodsmall. This is my second review for my outdo yourself reading challenge. I have read books by Cindy Woodsmall before and am a huge fan of amish books. The main character in this book is Rhoda who  is a young amish women who lives with her parents and siblings (along with sister in laws and neices/nephews). She loves to have a garden and help people with her herbs. However, she has a unique gift that make some Englischer's and amish alike afraid of her. She ends up meeting Samuel King who along with his family own King's Apple Orchards. You actually find out more and feel more connected to Samuel's family, and his girlfriend Catherine than Rhoda's family (they are more in the back ground). I do wish that there was more in depth characters in Rhoda's family. At first I wasn't too much of a fan of Leah, Samuel's sister, but she grew on me. I never did care for Catherine's character and am still leery of her. There are a few secrets that several characters have, some you find out and others you don't find out everything. I can't wait for the second book in the series to see what will occur. I give this book 4 out of 5.

Dirty God Book Review

I finished reading Dirty God: Jesus in the Trenches by Johnnie Moore. I was given a copy of this book free from the publisher by BookSneeze, and am in no way obligated to give a positive review. These opinions I express are my own. This book is about Grace, and follows the author around the world where he talks about Grace and in some cases other religions. I didn't reallly think the part of him talking about the other religions added to his topic that much (it just seemed to be added as an afterthought in my opinion, and I was unsure about his views towards other religions). I really enjoyed this book though, the first part of the book is about getting grace was a little long. The second part of the book consists of giving grace to others, which I really enjoyed reading about. I did wish the book was a little more in depth or that there was a sequel. I may not agree with every opinion this author had but it did make me think about things that I sometimes had never thought of and at least see anothers view (others may have found the same but I think it is a book that a believer especially a new one may enjoy). I am giving this book 4 out of 5.

 

The Cossacks & the Raid Review

This is my latest review for the classics club. The Cossacks and the Raid is the first book by Leo Tolstoy that I have read. Actually, the book consists of two stories and not just one, they are also part of his earlier works. While I didn't dislike either story, at the same time I didn't love them either. The first in the book is The Cossacks, which tells the story of a small village of the everyday life, soldiers lives, and the people of it as well. Since I am not that familiar with the history and different groups that make up Russia, it was a tad confusing trying to figure out the various people (who liked who, what side was fighting against the other). Some parts there was long stretches with no dialogue, which normally do not bother me, but in some areas it was very repetitive. The ending was a let down I thought, as I felt there was more that could be said. The Raid is a very short story (50 pages or so), and in some ways I enjoyed it better than The Cossacks. In the beginning it made you think about courage and war, but mostly focused on a battle and a few soldiers. One character got on my nerves with his attitude. This story was another that did in some ways leave more questions than answers. I hope this isn't a trait of Tolstoy's work, in that the endings seem short, as I have a few of his other works to read. I am going to rate both books 2.5, as I am glad I read them but do not see myself reading them again. I feel that a author does a disservice to the reader when they leave so many things unanswered. Next book to read: Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott

Pat of Silver Bush Review

I have finally finished reading Pat of Silver Bush by LM Montgomery. I have mixed feelings about the book, first off it took about 100 pages in for me to start enjoying it. The book starts out with Pat being 7 and living with her family in a rural community from Prince Edward Island. Besides her immediate family she has no friends. She believes in fairy tales and such almost until the age of around 12 or so, even after getting a few friends named Jingle and Bets. The latter half of the book was a lot more interesting, as it focuses more on Pat's relationships. There is a sequel to this book called Mistress Pat, but I am unsure if I will read it or not. Although I do want to see what happens to Pat in the end, so perhaps I will.