Is more of the same always a bad thing? Definitely not! Following along with the classic style of Cows Can’t Jump, Cows Can’t Quack picks up where the last book left off.

Preschoolers will love both the simple, easy to understand sentences and the colorful pictures. Parents will love the message embedded: we are all different and special in our own way.

Another great book! I highly recommend both this book and “Cows Can’t Jump” if you haven’t purchased it already.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 9

When this book came to me from the author with a request of review I thought he must be brave. A quick look through my reviews and you’ll notice that while I love short stories, I also hate when they are done badly. Let’s face it, most are done very badly. It’s not enough words to get that deep into the story or the plot and I usually walk away feeling nothing for any of the characters.

Bored one day and in kind of foul mood, I decided to start this “novelette” and hope for the best. Less than hour later, I looked up and realized that I had just read a complete story. A whole one. There was enough information here to have a full story, the author does an amazing job of teaching us about the characters, the place, the situation and the feelings surrounding that with the short amount of writing that he does. It’s truly an excellent job.

My problem with vampire stories that have come out recently is that you have either the cuddle-able cute sparkling vampires or we have the ones that are violent to no end, killing everything in it’s path with no remorse and no storyline to speak of, just blood and teeth and lots of screaming. Seriously? Tell me something instead of just telling me about the dripping blood. This book has neither of these, really – yet, perhaps a little of both.

The author does an amazing job of getting the story set up and quickly getting some traction going. You feel for nearly everyone in the story, even the horrible horrible vampire and you are left wanting more. But not so much that you feel cheated by the story.

Easily one of the best short story/novelettes I’ve read in a very long time.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 7

A friend of mine suggested this book to me after learning I’d been on a fitness journey for the past 9 months. I’ve lost a lot of weight, I’ve gotten in a shape that is a little less “round” and I still have a long ways to go. I was looking forward to reading this book to learn how to get into shape and become an imperfect athlete as a larger woman. There are oddball challenges that I’ve met along the way that smaller people just don’t have. I was looking forward to learning about how to deal with some of these.

I will say that the book is very motivational and I love the author’s attitude of “be yourself and the rest of them can fly a kite.” Reading her book made me want to get off my tail and drag my butt out for a walk or to the gym. It made me want to learn how to run and succeed at this crazy path I have laid out for myself. She excels at this.

I think, however, it’s missing some of the practical advise I was looking for. I was expecting more tips and ideas and less motivation. Granted, I need both of those things, but from the title and description, it wasn’t quite what I was expecting.

Having said that, this is definitely worth a read. If you are not in the best shape of your life and don’t look all that hot in spandex, this is a great book to help get your tail in gear. Recommended.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 6

I am a huge fan of this author. I read Gods In Alabama not too long after it came out after a suggestion from a friend and I’ve been following her work since. She’s known for her sassy Southern fiction. In that regard, this book does not disappoint. There’s quite a bit of Rose May Lolly in this book and she’s got the sass.

This book also deals with domestic violence. The author, sadly, captures the spirit of an abused woman pretty well. I make no secret that I grew up seeing part of this and the hiding, the worrying, the secrets… it’s captured almost too perfectly by this author. I had more than one moment of chills running down my spine. Hats off to the author for bringing this into her books. I think it’s something we turn a blind eye to all too often.

I will admit that parts of this book felt disjointed for me. The different personalities for Rose Mae threw me and the saints got me a little confused, but the overall feeling of the book is fast-moving and very well written. I think the disjointed feeling came from the fact that it was disjointed time in this woman’s life. Leaving her husband, meeting her mother, changing her life. It was breakneck pace and the author threw us all over her shoulder and powered through it.

Highly recommended for those of us who like some good Southern fiction. Ms. Jackson doesn’t disappoint.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 5

I was provided a copy of this book and asked to review it. Because it was such a unique topic and one I was very interested in, I read it pretty quickly. I didn’t know a whole lot about aneurysms but from what I knew of them, I thought they were pretty much debilitating and were nearly impossible to recover from.

I was surprised by this author’s candor and ability to share her journey so openly. She welcomes in to her life, both pre and post aneurysm and walks us through what she felt like. I felt most connected to her when she was talking about what her work life was like after. As a small business owner myself, this is one of my worst nightmares… what happens if something happens to me? What about my family? How will they deal with that? How will I?

I like that she doesn’t have all the answers. I like that she got angry. I like that she got sad. I like that she got frustrated. What I liked the most is that she was able to find her way back. Maybe not exactly where she left off, but to a new life. To a new path. I think that’s a testament to who she is and who she is to become. My hats off to her.

The book is well edited and formatted. A dream for someone that reads a lot of self-published works. I wish all were as well done.

My only reservation is that I felt we were missing some hole in her story. I don’t really know what that hole is or what part of her life, but there did appear to be some gap there. It doesn’t take away from the story and, of course, it may be that she chose to leave it out. Not entirely helpful since I can’t place it, but it still nags me a bit.

Overall, this is a great book. I love memoirs and they are my favorite genre. This one did not disappoint, but also gave me a lot insight into something I didn’t know a whole lot about. I liked that she was able to entertain while informing. Well done, indeed.

Recommended for anyone that likes memoirs and those who want to learn something about brain injuries.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 4

One of my friends chose this for our bookclub book. I will be the first to admit that I was skeptical. I love her dearly (she’s my BFF), but she notoriously picks books that make me want to stick a spoon through my eye. I will also be honest and say that the cover art threw me off. It’s a bit too trite for me. Too… something. I wish I knew what it was that threw me, but it just didn’t gel with me. I am SO glad that she chose this book because I can’t say that I would have found this on my own.

I read a lot of self published books. A lot. Some are good. Some are bad. Some a really really bad and every now and then I run across a gem. This book represents the reason that I keep plodding along doing independent reviews. This type of writing makes me smile. In fact, everyone in our club liked the book. I think this was the first one in a year that we were all in agreement with what a greatly written book it was.

The storyline is engaging. You travel back in time with our main characters, you feel their angst at having to figure things out. You feel them struggling with the change, with how to handle make the past meet the future. The author’s ability to take a piece of historical fiction and throw in a little time travel and a touch of romance and make a group of 12 loud and opinionated women like it… well, that’s remarkable.

Her writing flows off of the page and grabs you by the hair. It drags you along with it and pulls you directly into the early 1900s and you like it. You hold on to the ride for dear life and don’t hold your breath until we reach that fateful day that you’ve been waiting on since you figured out what the time period represented.

The climax of this story takes place onboard the maiden voyage of Titanic. I won’t give anything away here, but I think I read that particular chapter sitting on the edge of my seat with my breath held. I’m pretty sure my kindle has permanent fingernail marks on it. I couldn’t breathe until I knew… the writing is so amazing and I cared so deeply about these characters.

I simply cannot wait until the author releases the next in this series. I love that she ended this book. There was no huge cliffhanger, but it left my appetite open for the next one.

I recommend this for just about anyone. Seriously, give it a read.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 3

I got this book in for review last year and it kind of sat in the back of my head to read. I liked the description and it looked to be something right up my alley. I ran across it again and decided to finally give it a shot. WHY did it take me so long? This book is absolutely wonderful!

The main genre is thriller/mystery but it also has a bit of environmentalism and activism in it. I will admit that I was a bit worried about that. I’ve read books similar to this in the past and it was entirely too preachy for me. I like my fiction to lack holier-than-thou. I shouldn’t have worried. This was so supremely well done! This was interwoven very well into the plot and didn’t feel forced down our throats, just part of the story.

Where the author excels with this book is character development. I felt like I knew Larabeth, like she was my good friend living next door. The author has the ability of empathy. I was extremely empathetic to both Larabeth and Cynthia and their plight. Even the pilot, who played a small part, was so strongly developed that I felt connected with him.

Her writing is amazing. It’s beautiful, almost lyrical at times. She sets up a scene without giving away too much of where she’s going. The only bad I saw in the whole book is that there were a few times that the book seemed to drag a little. Almost as though she was overexplaining a situation. We could have done with a little bit more of a strong editing arm.

Having said that, it doesn’t detract from the story and the story moves along very well.

Highly recommended to those that enjoy a good thriller and just plain excellent writing.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 2

I’m a huge fan of time travel. In a lot of time travel stories you get a glimpse of a believable future, and a reminder (or a lesson) on times long past. In “Blackout” the future seems a lot like the past. The way the characters talk and act remind me more of the late 80′s and early 90′s than what I would think of 2060. Of course, this is a time travel novel, and only the first 1/2, so maybe there is a reason. If so, it is not explained and it left me feeling disconnected from the world of the future.

In the past, the story lines begin to get a bit confusing. However, I love the facts that are thrown in about the time period. We are introduced to both the fear and bravery of a generation that is almost gone. At a time when they were at their peak.

I have to admit, I’ve never read a Connie Willis book. I can’t say that this one makes me want to read another, but it definitely hasn’t crossed her off my reading list. As an introduction to this author, I really don’t recommend it especially after seeing reviews on her other titles (such as The Doomsday Book).

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2012: 1

To celebrate and honor our friend, indie author, L.C. Evans, and her contribution to the Indie eBook revolution, The IndieView is giving away a whole bunch of free books. Linda lost her fight with cancer earlier this month. We lost a friend and a compatriot.

We’d like you to buy her her books, read her books, and make her words live.

In Linda’s own words, from her indieview a year ago…

“I want my books to appeal to everyone, though I understand that men in general aren’t fond of reading chick lit or romantic comedy.”

If chick lit or romantic comedy is not your thing, authors who have been interviewed on The IndieView, will give you one of their books for every one of Linda’s books that you buy. For every receipt you send through, you will also get a lucky draw entry. The winners of the lucky draw will get a bundle of ALL the books – free.

The list of contributing authors and the books they’ve included is below.

All you have to do to claim your free book/s is visit The IndieView.

Indie Book reviewers have graciously lent their time by reviewing L.C.’s books; you can find links to those reviews here.

I love the Dear America series. It is such a great way for older children to learn about history in a way that doesn’t feel like learning. Dear America: Voyage on The Great Titanic continues in this vein, covering the tragic maiden (and final) voyage of the “unsinkable” Titanic.

The main character is a young girl. She is poor and has no family except a brother in America. When the opportunity comes to take a trip to join him, she jumps on it. Told from the girls point of view, the reader gets a great feeling for the awe inspiring splendor of the Titanic.

I highly recommend this book for children age 10 and up. Due to the tragic material covered, I wouldn’t feel comfortable with anyone younger reading this title.

A great book, a tragic story, a wonderful read.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars