Candy's Raves (and Rants)

What is a vow? In olden days, vows were promises that were never broken. Knights made them to their lords, lords to their kings, and kings to their peoples. But is their more to chivalry than just being able to keep your promises? How important is courtesy? Sir Gawain the True takes a look at one knight’s lesson in just what it means not only to be a knight but to also be a friend.

The book combines several legends into one complete tale. The story is broken up into very easy to read chapters that each tell a logical part of the events. If you are looking for a book to read to a classroom, or perhaps at bedtime, this book would be great for either purpose.

I loved how the author cut the violence out of the book without taking away anything from the story. I have always found long, wordy fight scenes took away from a good story. Apparently the author thought the same, and the story of Sir Gawain the True is much better for it! Additionally, the illustrations by Aaron Renier add a lot of flavor and humor to the book, with just enough detail to expand the story without drawing attention away from it.

Overall this is a great book with a lot of meaning to it. It makes a great introduction to the Arthurian Legends while at the same time being humorous and carrying a great lesson for kids.

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Someone (I don’t remember who, thanks to whomever it was!) recommended this book to me and I grabbed a copy of it. I will admit I was a bit hesitant. I read half of Eat Pray Love, which it kind of sounded like. I really didn’t like that book, at all, not one bit.

This was similar, for sure, but also a little more realistic for the rest of us in the world that cannot take a year off and go off to points unknown. The author visits places she can drive to, during her off times at work or on the weekends. She visits with places she might actually be able to eat food from on a regular basis.

I loved the premise of this book. Understanding where your food comes. The good, the bad and the really ugly. I loved her bit about the olives. As a fellow olive freak, I feel her. The roughest part to read was the beef farm, but well, I mean, it happens and it was an important step in her journal. But it was tough.

I’m not sure if she really freed herself from anything and I’m not sure I would call this self help. So, if you’re reading this to lose weight, you’re reading the wrong book. But if you’re reading to learn about the author’s journey, you’re reading the right one. I really enjoyed that part of it.

I also liked that the author kept it real. There’s no BS in here that I saw. She isn’t perfect, she doesn’t know it all, she screws up. It also made me really think about where the food that I choose to eat comes from.

This book is great for those that love memoirs and for those that like to read foodie books. Well done!

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Book count for 2011: 39

I received this book free for review. I actually picked this one out myself because I’m kind of a fan of the Georgia Nicholson series by this same author. It was released today, so grab a copy if you like this author. I didn’t even know she had a new series out, so I was excited to get the opportunity to review it.

For those of you that are fans of the Georgia series, you can expect much of the same. In fact, a lot of the same. It follows pretty closely the same formula, including a funny (ish) pet, wacky dances and weird friends. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. It’s good because you kind of know what to expect, but bad because I’m so familiar with the characters in the other series that it’s kind of a “yeah yeah yeah” type of thing. I’m sure if I put some time in it, I could even match them up… so Cain is this series’ Robbie… etc.

For those of you that never read this author… there’s a glossary in the back of the book. You are going to need it. There’s lots of fun made up words and lots of teenage angst. It’s silly, there’s no real point to it. You spend your time alternatively laughing and wanting to reach through the pages and grab one of the characters and smack them until they shut the heck up already. It’s definitely YA and it’s definitely one of the stupidest books you’ll read this year. But you just can’t stop reading it.

I have no idea why I keep reading these books by this author, I’ll be honest. They are ridiculous. But they are just so funny and endearing that you have to keep going. I can see she’s trying to build her cast of characters for future books in this series, so I’m giving it four stars just for simply making me laugh a whole lot. The craziness just keeps going with this author and well, I kinda like that.

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Book count for 2011: 38

A good friend of mine is giving away a copy of this book. Stop by and enter to win, but hurry, looks like you just have a few days left to enter! I haven’t read it yet, but it sounds interested and I am digging the cover art! You can sigh up via THIS LINK.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a big fan of this series of books. I’ve been following this author for a while – heck, before she even had books, I was a fan of her online work. It should be no surprise that I loved this series.

I read most of the entries a couple of years ago when they were first online, but I love that she’s taken them, given us some background, edited them and put them together in a cohesive collection.

The basics are that she writes about the birth and success of a rock band. Trevor (*swoon*), the lead singer and Mitchell, the guitar guy are the main characters. The depth of the characters always impresses me. Susan doesn’t write, she creates. She has created some beautiful deep characters in a light and funny way that makes it so that I don’t even really realize how much I know about them.

The stories themselves… well, they are what we’ve learned to expect from Susan. Fun, light, deep, intriguing and everything in between.

I highly recommend this series to those that enjoy a fun read and to those of us that still carry around a little bit of the 80s and 90s in our hearts.

Rating:

Book count for 2011: 37

My book club chose this book and I will admit that I wasn’t all that sure about it. It looked kind of… well… weird. I hadn’t even heard of HeLa before. My husband, the Science teacher was so ashamed. I kind of am too because this was absolutely fantastic!

The history on the Lacks family and how Henrietta was just in the right place with the right doctor at the right time is just amazing. I wasn’t expecting it. I even enjoyed the story of the Lacks today and how they are coping with having such an important family member.

With so many medical advances, it’s interesting to me that one woman helped make those advances possible. While this book was part memoir (the author doesn’t talk about himself, but enough that I felt like I was on a journey with him) and part biography, it’s heartwarming.

The author’s writing style was fabulous, her ability to explain complex scientific terms and conditions and condense them down to something that every one can follow is admirable.

I recommend this to science geeks, yes, but more importantly to those about everyone. It really did have a little bit for everyone.

Rating:

Book count for 2011: 36

Last month, this book showed up in my mailbox along with some others and I kept it to the side because (okay, honest here) I liked the cover. I had read a bit of the author here and there, but the cover art kind of grabbed me. So there, you know I judge books by their covers. So, it went into the “maybe read one day” stack.

A week ago, I was going through the stack and I picked this book up and then flipped it over as I was looking through them. Then I caught the name “Beauchamp”. You see, that is MY last name. Which, of course, meant that I had to read it immediately. I do wish I kept envelopes because I kind of want to know who sent it and if they giggled too.

The book itself is really well written. The writing flows very well, and the grammar is superb. It’s very steady writing, there’s nothing here that’s going to send you screaming for a dictionary. I love that the author took time to give us some good background on the Beauchamp Family while still building her story. It didn’t feel as though it was an aside, just a natural progression.

My only real complaint is that the ending was rushed a bit. She tried to tie everything up in one or two chapters and it was just too many loose ends, in my opinion. I would have rather there not been so many to tie up or perhaps leave a few for the next book.

I also kind of fell in love with the people and places in North Hampton, where the vast majority of the book takes place. It was so vividly described and so well done that I could have sworn I visited there one time.

I recommend this book for those that enjoy a good book with light paranormal elements, a little tiny bit of romance and a dash of mythology. Well worth the read!

Rating:

Book count for 2011: 35

I reviewed this book last week and contacted the author for an interview. I couldn’t wait to hear his answers. You see, Miles is a very good author. He wrote such a great book. BUT… Miles is seven-years-old. I’m not kidding. Check out my review from last week! In the meantime, this is what Miles had to say in response to my questions:

Candy Beauchamp (CB): Thank you, Miles, for agreeing to allow me to interview you! This is my first time interviewing an author as young as you are and I’m looking forward to hearing your unique take on things. My 10 and 8-year-old helped me come up with questions. They are big fans of your book!

(CB): How did you come up with the idea for the story in your book?

Miles Pines (MP): I love action books and movies, so I decided to come up with a book that combined comedy and action.

(CB): I think you really succeeded with that. We thought your book was very funny. The name of your fictional town is “Pumpkinville.” How did you come up with that as the name?

(MP): I named the town Pumpkinville because, when I was writing the story, I ate the world’s best pumpkin pie.

(CB): Oh, pumpkin is one of my favorite pies! Yum! In your book, you mention “juice concoctions.” What is YOUR favorite juice concoction?

(MP): My favorite juice concoction is orange juice mixed with a little cranberry juice and some lemonade.

(CB): Oh, I really do love lemonade! Jamie, my 10-year-old son, said to tell you that your writing was as good as what he’s written in third grade! He wants to know what inspired you to write your story?

(MP): I was inspired to write a story that everybody can read, laugh, and have fun with.

(CB): I think you did a really good job – we all had a great time reading your book! Are you going to write more books? Will they also take place in Pumpkinville and have the same characters or are you going to write something completely different?

(MP): I am planning to write a series of another type of funny story that I hope you will enjoy. I don’t think it will take place in Pumpkinville.

(CB): Oh, we can’t wait to see what you write next! I’m sure it will be great! Cassie, my 8-year-old daughter likes that you dedicate the story to your family and to the color yellow. Is that your favorite color? Is it still your favorite color or will you have a new favorite for your next book?

(MP): No matter what happens YELLOW is my favorite color!

I’m so glad you said that – loyalty is an important trait in a young man! Thanks again, Miles, for letting me interview you. I’m sure you have a long career ahead of you as a writer and I hope you continue to work hard on it. I think it’s amazing that a six-year-old has a book – and on Amazon, no less! I’m sure your parents are very proud of you!

When the author sent me this book asking for a review last month, I was kind of excited. A memoir – my favorite. And she’s written more than one book, usually a very good sign. I’m not really sure what to say other than the only reason I kept reading this book is I was waiting for some form of redemption in it. It never happened.

The reason I’m giving this book one star is because it really is badly written. Sentences aren’t complete, the grammar is bad in places, the spelling is horrible (loose / lose and things like that were pretty prevalent). The content is kind of shambled. It’s so obviously self-edited and self-published that it hurts. It’s really a shame because there are SO many absolutely wonderful self-published titles – this just isn’t one of them.

For anyone that wants to try to wade through it… the story wasn’t worth it. There was no redemption (well, except for maybe the students) at the end. The stories are over-the-top and hard to believe. The bitterness that drips off the pages just makes me sad. What is so interesting is that I think she honestly could have been a good teacher. She seems to have good ideas, but the negativity and bitterness just overtakes the entire book. It’s really sad.

The biggest problem I had with this book is there seems to be no point to it other than to allow the author to rip apart the people in her life that seemingly gave her so many chances. There was no big “blowing open the educational system” or some inner redemption that we all crave from memoirs. It was must mean-spirited and bitter.

My husband is a new elementary school teacher and I asked him to read it after me thinking that I was missing something, but no. If possible, I think he disliked it more than I did.

I wish I had something good to say about it, the writing, lack of editing and grammar errors make this a one star book. The actual content just puts in the final nail.

For that reason, I really cannot recommend this book to anyone.

If you are looking for a great memoir by a teacher, I would highly recommend Learn Me Good by John Pearson. It’s well written and honest – with a lot of heart.

Rating:

Book count for 2011: 34

The author sent me this book early this year asking for a review. I thought it sounded interesting, women’s fiction, set near an ocean, etc…

I will say that the story line isn’t bad. It was cute, interesting and I enjoyed that part of it. The characters are very well-rounded and I felt like I got to know not only the people but the area.

The ghost part was perhaps a little overboard, but I don’t think it necessarily took away from the story.

The problem comes from the grammar and spelling errors in this one along with a few content problems. Some parts felt forced and it showed. It really could have been helped with a good editor.

Unfortunately, the editing issues overtook the good and were pretty distracting. I hope the author has taken it through an editor since then and perhaps it’s fixed now. The story itself really was good.

I recommend this for those that aren’t distracted by editing issues and like reading a little southern or women’s fiction.

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Book count for 2011: 33