http://birdienl.livejournal.com/ (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
birdienl.livejournal.com) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
christianreader2014-12-06 12:38 am
birdienl.livejournal.com) wrote in christianreader2014-12-06 12:38 am
Entry tags:
My November reads
Kristina O'Grady - Debutantes don't date 2/5
Grace Lancaster is an event manager organising the 2013 New Year's ball of a countess. When the clock strikes midnight, she finds herself kissing a handsome stranger, but suddenly everything around her is weird: the language, the customs. Grace has landed herself in the Regency period and is entangled with Jasper, the Earl of Bingham. Jasper offers to marry her to avoid scandal and without a way to get home, this seems the only thing Grace can do.
I like a good time-travel story, but this one was so botched up. Grace did so many silly things, you would think she had absolutely no idea about history. Most of the other characters had no depth at all, and there was way too much sexual content in here....
Liz Trenow - The poppy factory 4/5
Jess has returned home from a tour as a medic in Afghanistan. She can't wait to start up her 'normal' life with her boyfriend again, but she discovers she has changed and memories haunt her. When her life collapses, Jess' mum gives her the diaries of her great-grandmother Rose, whose husband Alfie came home from the battlefields of WWI almost 100 years ago and also forever changed. Can Rose's story from so long ago still help Jess?
Two great and captivating stories in one book, what more can you want? Books blending the past with the present can be tricky, but when with this book both stories were equally interesting and well-written and did not lean on each other unrealistically. When I was reading about Jess I couldn't wait to get back to Rose's story, but it also worked the other way around! Trenow does not shy away from painful details, which makes the story realistic, but there's a hopefull message in the book overall.
Cathleen Armstrong - Welcome to Last Chance 3/5
Lainie Davis literally strands in the small town of Last Chance when her car gives out. She has no choice but to stay in town, although the kindness of the locals scares her. But in spit of herself, Lainie feels more and more connected to the people she meets: the kind elderly lady who gave her a place to stay, the bartender who is really a painter and the single mum in whose diner she works. Could she really make a home for herself in Last Chance?
A sweet story of second chances and small towns. It had all the right ingredients, but for some reason it didn't quit 'click' with me. I didn't really like Lainie, couldn't identify with her and the other characters seemed almost too perfect and godly. I'm a hard person to please when it comes to contemporary!
Ann Gabhart - Love comes home 3/5
World War II is finally over and the Merrit sisters Evie and Kate welcome their soldier husbands home. But will their homecoming be everything the girls dreamed of? Their sister Tori has to go through life as a young widow, her husband Sammy will never come home. A friendly farmer shows interest in her, but Tori doesn't want to let go of the memory of her husband.
A good story with a large cast of well-written characters. A lot is happening, but is generally well-balanced between different storylines. Character development felt realistic, though the novel sometimes dwells a little too long on certain points (repeating them over and over) and the writing can be a bit stilted in points. This is the third book in a series and though you could read it stand-alone (as I did), you do feel as if you're missing background to the characters.
Books read in November: 4
Books read in 2014: 62
Grace Lancaster is an event manager organising the 2013 New Year's ball of a countess. When the clock strikes midnight, she finds herself kissing a handsome stranger, but suddenly everything around her is weird: the language, the customs. Grace has landed herself in the Regency period and is entangled with Jasper, the Earl of Bingham. Jasper offers to marry her to avoid scandal and without a way to get home, this seems the only thing Grace can do.
I like a good time-travel story, but this one was so botched up. Grace did so many silly things, you would think she had absolutely no idea about history. Most of the other characters had no depth at all, and there was way too much sexual content in here....
Liz Trenow - The poppy factory 4/5
Jess has returned home from a tour as a medic in Afghanistan. She can't wait to start up her 'normal' life with her boyfriend again, but she discovers she has changed and memories haunt her. When her life collapses, Jess' mum gives her the diaries of her great-grandmother Rose, whose husband Alfie came home from the battlefields of WWI almost 100 years ago and also forever changed. Can Rose's story from so long ago still help Jess?
Two great and captivating stories in one book, what more can you want? Books blending the past with the present can be tricky, but when with this book both stories were equally interesting and well-written and did not lean on each other unrealistically. When I was reading about Jess I couldn't wait to get back to Rose's story, but it also worked the other way around! Trenow does not shy away from painful details, which makes the story realistic, but there's a hopefull message in the book overall.
Cathleen Armstrong - Welcome to Last Chance 3/5
Lainie Davis literally strands in the small town of Last Chance when her car gives out. She has no choice but to stay in town, although the kindness of the locals scares her. But in spit of herself, Lainie feels more and more connected to the people she meets: the kind elderly lady who gave her a place to stay, the bartender who is really a painter and the single mum in whose diner she works. Could she really make a home for herself in Last Chance?
A sweet story of second chances and small towns. It had all the right ingredients, but for some reason it didn't quit 'click' with me. I didn't really like Lainie, couldn't identify with her and the other characters seemed almost too perfect and godly. I'm a hard person to please when it comes to contemporary!
Ann Gabhart - Love comes home 3/5
World War II is finally over and the Merrit sisters Evie and Kate welcome their soldier husbands home. But will their homecoming be everything the girls dreamed of? Their sister Tori has to go through life as a young widow, her husband Sammy will never come home. A friendly farmer shows interest in her, but Tori doesn't want to let go of the memory of her husband.
A good story with a large cast of well-written characters. A lot is happening, but is generally well-balanced between different storylines. Character development felt realistic, though the novel sometimes dwells a little too long on certain points (repeating them over and over) and the writing can be a bit stilted in points. This is the third book in a series and though you could read it stand-alone (as I did), you do feel as if you're missing background to the characters.
Books read in November: 4
Books read in 2014: 62
no subject
I had to smile with Last Chance: On my way to visit my mother's house, I do worry about having car trouble over an hour away from any hotel or car rental opportunity, and absolutely no public transportation. Car trouble can really strand one if you don't have friend or family to come rescue you!
I looked up The Poppy Factory. It seems hard to come by in the U.S. right now--apparently not yet published here, not even electronically. There are a few copies that could be ordered from used bookstores, though.
no subject
Pity you don't live closer, I'd gladly lend you my ARC copy of The Poppy Factory