Candy's Raves (and Rants)

Demons, secret societies, and unlawful genetic manipulation join forces to change how you think about paranormal thrillers in this book!

Weaver is 1 part science fiction, 1 part paranormal fantasy, and a whole lot of fun!

Alex is a normal teenage girl with good friends, a doting father, and a nice (if a little overbearing) mother. Then, one nightmare the night before the first day of her 10th grade year turns everything inside out.

John Abramowitz has crafted a wonderful story that is truly a page turner. Each page presents a new part of the puzzle. Just what is the Wells Society? Who are the Runaways and whose side are they on? How far will Agents McBain and Hall of the FBI go to help Alex?

Weaver is obviously meant to be the first book in a new series. While many Book Ones tend to meander as new characters are introduced, Mr. Abramowitz has done an excellent job of pacing both story and character development so that the two are intertwined. There is no extra fluff in Weaver, each and every page advances the story and our relationship with the characters. I hope that subsequent titles can keep up the pace!

Other than a few curse words, I would have no problem with recommending this book to young adults. At the same time, there is enough action to keep paranormal thriller fans engaged as well.

Over all a great first title in what I hope will be an excellent series!

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Let me first say that I met the author of this book about a year ago and see her about once per month at various networking groups. I actually paid for the paperback book and then again the digital copy so I could have a copy available on my kindle as well. I always feel like I’m a little harder on reviews with people that I know personally and professionally because I probably hold them to a higher standard. Having said that, this is THE book to purchase if you are looking good, quality referrals.

Oh, it doesn’t tell you how to get business, but it teaches you to network effectively. When I get rich, I’m buying this book by the pallet and passing them out at networking groups to all those people that you talk to who are just plain doing it wrong (and that could be you because invariably these people don’t know that they are doing it wrong – it’s completely obvious to the rest of us though!).

The layout is fantastic. I think it may very well be one of the most put-together self-published books I’ve read in a while. It’s not so thick with text that you lose the ability to focus, has lots of bullet points to break it up and really hone down on the things you need to be paying attention, and has a pattern so you know what to expect. My favorite part of this pattern was the “why do this work?” section. Ya know, I’ve read a lot of self-help and business books over the years and that’s one thing that a lot of them are missing. The “So what?” factor. Why are we doing this? Who cares? Alas, someone tell us! I realize that sounds ridiculous, but it really helps to tie the point together.

The information that Patti gives us is what she’s culled together, learned, and researched on over the past twenty years or so. This book isn’t coming from some 25-five-year old who just got out of college. It’s written by a professional woman, with professional polish, about how to make yourself, organically, a networker. I don’t really think it can be “taught” per se, if I’m being honest. I think it’s something you do learn, though – and it’s something that you can hone in for yourself. The author does a fabulous job of nudging your brain where it needs to go when you are in business networking situations – and, maybe more importantly, even when you are NOT.

The chapter “Focus on Quality” was a real eye-opener for me. I think I sometimes forget to do this and I’ll be making a few changes in how I handle things myself in the near future.

Honestly, I cannot think of any business owner that would not benefit from reading this book, so I’ll recommend it for those folks – even if you think you know it all… you probably don’t.

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Book count for 2011: 51

I bought the K2 when it came out and then the K3 (now known as the Kindle Keyboard). I was excited to see there was a new device. I knew the difference would be small. I’ve also ordered a Fire and a Touch. So, that’s where I’m coming from with this review. I bought the Basic Kindle with ads just so I could check it out and see if I wanted to upgrade my Kindle Keyboard. The answer is… I don’t know. So, I’ll talk a little about the differences in this review.

The page refresh and time to turn on/off is much improved. It appears to only do a full “anti-ghosting” (for lack of a better term) refresh every 6 or 7 screens. This is allowing it to put up a new e-ink screen faster. Kinda nifty. This is, by far, my favorite improvement over the previous versions.

The on/off button is slightly different. There’s no slide. You push it in. It’s a little annoying at first, but I can see that at least it won’t get snagged on things in my purse like it does now. Of course, it will probably still get bumped around and turn on. So, this is kind of a draw for me. I must have bigger thumbs than the average person

There’s also no hinge. From looking at the photos of the covers coming for the Kindle Touch it looks like it sits in a frame of sorts now, so I’m guessing the contacts on the back is how it will charge from the device if you buy a lighted cover. The cover is a sore spot for me. I like to read in bed. I need a light and I really like having my kindle in a cover. I really want to use this one to see if I like it over my keyboard version, but this will be a tough one. I’ll suck it up and get over it, a cover should be out soon-ish, right?

As I mentioned, I bought the ad-supported version. The ads aren’t obtrusive, they show up as screen savers and also as a little block at the bottom of the menu. They are NOT in the books at all.

I don’t have a library card/overdrive so I wasn’t able to test that out. It does have less internal space than the Kindle Keyboard, but that’s only a consideration if you’re using a lot of books. This kindle also doesn’t have speakers or a headset jack (remember, very basic, entry level!) so it doesn’t have the need for audio files. I think the space is fine unless you must have more than 1400 books on it for some reason. Obviously, no text-to-speech on this one either.

The virtual keyboard is much easier to use than I anticipated, it’s pretty zippy and I was able to type up a note easily and quickly, maybe slightly slower than I can on my keyboard version. The highlighting is slightly different with two other steps put in there from what I’m used to. Most people might not notice this, but I do make notes, so I noticed it right away.

The look is basically the same, same screen resolution. It is a lighter black color around the screen like a shimmery silvery black almost.

Bottom line for me? I’m not sure yet what I will do with this kindle. I LOVE the faster page turns. LOVE. But the lack of a lighted cover right now (not taking off stars for that as I’m assuming that will be remedied pretty quickly). For now, I’ll play with both and decide. Then decide again when my Touch gets here in November.

I’ll update the review when I do decide, but my gut reaction is that, page turns aside, I’ll end up sticking with my keyboard version for a little while longer.

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Update: I found the covers. I couldn’t find them before, but someone pointed them out. So yay! I’ll pre-order one for it (wish they were available now, but at least I’ll have a lighted cover!). However, after mulling it over, I think I’m going to pass this one to my daughter. ONLY because I’ve ordered a Touch though and I don’t see the point and setting up this one with all my books and collections, etc just to have to do it again in six weeks. Otherwise, I might make the switch. I think I’ll stick with the ads on the Touch as well. I don’t mind them and it’s a change up from the same old screen savers.

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The author sent me this book and asked if I would be interested in reading it. Since I enjoyed her first book, Is It Just Me? or Is Everyone a Little Nuts!, I thought I would give it a chance. She did tell me it was completely different, but I was not prepared for just HOW different this book was. It’s a complete 180 from her first offering. And wow. What a great book!

The thing that struck me most about this book was the location. The author does an amazing job of bringing this small vacation town to life right on the page. I felt like I knew the people there, the places, the hideaways, and the “feel” that only that town can probably pull off. While reading it, I found out it’s actually a real place and it kind of makes me want to go visit, spend some time in that small beach community and soak it up.

In some ways this was a “typical” mystery/suspense/thriller in that it has all the inner workings and formulas needed to make it great. In other ways, it’s a bit atypical because of the setting, the characters and the back story. The author, again, does an amazing job of setting us up for what is to come. The characters have a wonderful depth to them; we get to know them and care about them – yes, even the one “whodunnit”.

Which leads me to the next point… this is a great “whodunnit” book. I knew who did it about 1/3 of the way through. Then I knew who REALLY did it. And then I realized that was just a red herring and I knew who REALLY REALLY did it. But then maybe not… I honestly had it whittled down to three people by the time I reached the end… not telling you if it was one of the three or not though! I was disappointed in myself though, I usually can quickly figure out who did it pretty easily, but this one kept me scratching my head a bit.

Overall, this a wonderfully written and edited book, it’s fast-paced, but detailed enough to bring the reader fully into the story.I would recommend this for a Fall beach read or to those who enjoy a good suspense mystery read.

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Book count for 2011: 50

As someone that suffers from food and environmental allergies, when this book became available, I jumped at the chance to read it. Like the author, many foods cause anaphylaxis for me. Unlike the author, mine are all related to Oral Allergy Syndrome and I’m not allergic to near the number of things that she is. So, I’m coming from a place of mostly understanding while reading it. No one can explain the amount of panic that occurs when you realize your throat is closing up and your mouth is on fire from itching.

I’ll be honest and say that I was expecting a real “woe is me” tale here. I expected her to stomp her foot and want the entire world to revolve around her and her allergies and expect that all restaurants should ban beef just because she was in the area. I expected this to be one big whine fest with the author on a quest to ban tree nuts from the entire continent. We’ve all read books where the author is on a mission and I somehow thought this would be one of them.

Imagine my surprise when it was none of those things. Oh, she’s definitely a bit of an activist, but I think Sandra leads more to wanting people to understand and wanting restaurants to give full disclosure. What struck me the most is that while she has some REAL issues with food – seriously scary stuff – she understands that the world doesn’t revolve around her problems. She is understanding when she realizes that a chef cut cantaloupe with the same knife as her strawberries or whatever. Not once did I hear her rail against others, but it was more of internal monologue. She talked about how she needed to adapt her life to fit around others.

At the same time, you can tell that her friends and family genuinely appreciate the way she chooses to live her life. They try to make things that she can eat too, to cook around her allergies. I enjoyed hearing about her life, especially as a child. My allergies didn’t show up until adulthood, so it kind of made me also realize what the parents must go through of children who have serious food allergies – and multiple ones on top of that.

I also absolutely loved that she took time to go through some of the science of allergies – mast cells – proteins, etc etc. While I knew most of it, it felt really nice to have someone explain on it a “real life” level instead of using big words and making my eyes cross.

Most of all, I enjoyed her attitude, as I’ve mentioned. She truly has a great way of handling things and a great way of looking at the way she chooses to lead her life. I’d recommend this for anyone with allergies or for someone with a loved one in their lives that has allergies. It gives you a true look into what it’s like to live your daily life with severe food allergies. It’d be great for a fan of memoirs in general as well.

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Book count for 2011: 49

I have a confession. I have a gadget problem. A REALLY big gadget problem, actually. I love toys. I was expecting the tablet annoucement and had read all the rumors so kinda knew what to expect today from Amazon’s press release. But DUDE. I was not expecting a $79 Kindle. Yeah. You heard me right. I ordered one, it’ll be here tomorrow. I also pre-ordered the Kindle Touch (11/21) and the new Kindle Fire (11/15).

Here’s the links to the new toys:

Kindle Fire – $199 – Ships 11/15 – 7″ tablet, dual core processor, hooks up with all of Amazon’s services, streaming, etc etc. Music, movies, books. Want. Ordered. I also ordered a lime green sleeve for it. It’s wifi only. I suspect the rumored 10″ one for Q1 2012 will have a 3G option, not sure if I will find that useful or not as I have a hotspot.

Kindle Touch – $99 – ships 11/21 – I ordered the one with special offers and no 3G. I’ve rarely ran into a time I needed 3G for this. I will never admit this to my husband, but I ordered this bad boy simply because it has a purple cover that I pre-ordered with it. Oh, and it’s a new toy. Duh.

Kindle – $79 – Ships today – Whoa! I ordered this one just because I’m curious how they will handle the keyboard with no touch screen and no keyboard. And, well, it’s a new toy. I didn’t order a cover with it because I couldn’t figure out what to order, but if they have a purple one, I’m ALL over it.

Toys!!!!!!!!!!!

I ran across this book while trying to find something to read that was funny. I honestly only opened this one randomly. It had come in from the author asking for a review and was pretty far down in my pile. I am SO glad that this one caught my eye on that day. I read it on my Kindle and used that “share” button so much, my Facebook friends were both intrigued and really annoyed with me. But there were so many funny stories and quips in this book that it kept me giggling madly.

This book was about getting older (I think I busted a stitch with the “shapewear” essay) and about various family funnies that happen. There’s nothing here that’s Earth shattering; it’s a cute, funny, and well written collection of essays about being a woman over the age of forty. I’m not quite there yet myself, but I found myself identifying with so many of the first essays.

I think it did lose a little steam towards the last few essays, but they were still funny and heartwarming. Overall, this is a very well thought-out, portrayed and written collection. I’d recommend this for woman over the age of 33 or so. I suspect those in their late 40s would enjoy it even more.

Rating:

Book count for 2011: 48

Cows Can’t Jump is a sweet and endearing book that I truly believe will become a classic of early childhood literature. The book is simply written with colorful illustrations that are guaranteed to keep a child’s attention. While there isn’t a story, there is a moral: we are all different and it is those differences that make us special.

This book reminds me of the simple, colorful books in my grandmother’s house when I was a young child. 1/2 a sentence per page, illustrations that perfectly match the text, and a simple meaning that has a more profound effect.

Cows Can’t Jump is a new title in a classical style of early childhood literature. This book should be a part of every parents library for their preschooler to enjoy.

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What if the world was turned upside down tomorrow? Whether it be by a natural disaster, by disease, or by economic collapse just how much could you count on your neighbors? The government? Your church? What if the change wasn’t just about how people lived but also about what it meant to be human?

This is the story that “The God Virus” tells. The two main characters in this book come from opposing view points: one is a scientist, the other is highly religious. As they change and as the world changes around them they must come to grips not only with the changes, but also how their different beliefs can be reconciled. Religion and science clash, combine, and come out as a sort of understanding of how perhaps the two are not as incompatible as some people believe.

I highly recommend this book for anyone that enjoys a good post-apocalyptic read. Additionally, the thoughts on religion and science would make it a good read for anyone that would like to see just how compatible they really are even with our limited amount of knowledge today.

Rating:

If such a rating existed, I would give this one 3.5 stars. I’m rounding up because I like the way the author has laid out the next book in this series of trilogies. She seems to be taking us on a journey to somewhere.

First, let me say that it’s a bit too meandering for me. I kinda wanted her to get to the point, it was really overly wordy. I think a good content editor could have gotten the book down about 10% and it would have been for the better. While I understand these are stand alone trilogies, I still missed the magic of Cain and Felicity. My hope is to follow the author and trust her to make it all okay in the end. *laughing*

The good news is that, at the end of it all, I did honestly care about all of the characters and am interested enough to want to see where the 5th book is going to take us.

I recommend this book for paranormal romance fans, but know it’s quite long, so get ready to settle in. I could see this being great for those long Winter nights of reading.

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Book count for 2011: 47