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 noticed this book earlier this year, but – and I’ll be honest there – the cover was just uninspired and uninteresting. It wasn’t until I saw the description somewhere that I realized that it was totally something I would read. I purchased it early last month and earlier this month the author contacted me asking for a review. I took that as a sign and told her I’d already purchased it on my own and would read it – figured I’m supposed to read it since it kept catching my eye…

Wow. This is such a well written book. As a child that grew up in a family with domestic abuse, it’s almost cathartic at times, as strange that may sound. At times, though, the authors make me cringe. It’s obvious they either have never experience what they are writing or haven’t done their homework. This author hit it on the head. The feelings that Joy exhibits at a child are right on. Happy that her mom is letting her “get away” with something and guilt when they get caught. Her actions as an adult further show this author’s homework was well done – the trust issues, the forced isolation, the burning need to help others in the same situation, etc. I think this was the stand out for me for this book. How true it felt. I kept reminding myself that it was NOT a memoir. It was fiction.

The story is sweet, but very very predictable. This isn’t a mystery and the author pretty much guides you where she’s going. In some ways I kind of was hoping for some sort of shift there so that it didn’t go how it was obviously heading, you know?

I saw a few grammar/spelling errors, but nothing too awful terrible. If there were others, I was entirely too wrapped up in the story to care – which I suppose is the whole point anyway.

The author handles the subject of domestic abuse well, nothing is too graphic, but it’s graphic enough to feel real and make you follow the storyline. None of it is gratuitous and the vast majority of the story takes place once the main character is an adult and revolves around her life today. And, yes, it’s a romance.

It’s really sad that this book has this cover – I’m not sure what it should have been, but this one makes it fade into the background of other books – it really deserves something that reaches out and grabs the reader. Let’s face it, we all pretty much judge books by their cover.

I would highly recommend this book to those that enjoy women’s fiction with a warning that it does have some tough subject matter, but is mostly an uplifting (yet not religious) story of hope — and of joy.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 32

I have a real love/hate relationship with horror. I love it, I love that feeling of disgust, the thought of “seriously, this author is so beyond twisted”. I hate that feeling of “I want my husband home NOW”. *laughing*

A true master of horror can suck you in so you cannot stop reading it, all the while waiting for some maniac with a sharp (or worse, dull) knife to come stalking into your room and cutting you up into bits. I still have nightmares from some of the best horror novels I’ve read. This one has not only given me nightmares, but has also ensured that I will never pick up a hitchhiker. Ever. Ever. EVER. In fact, I will not make eye contact with a hitchhiker. Ever.

The stories written separately are wonderful. Separately. The problem that arises is the patchwork way it was interwoven. I really was expecting a more polished togetherness product from these two authors. Instead, the voice was very defined through each storyline. After I finished the book, I read an article that said that they each wrote their parts separately and I think it showed. It really could have used some sort of editing to make it more cohesive and give it the same voice throughout.

I did, however, love how it all culminated. That… genius.

This is highly recommended for hardcore horror fans. It is NOT for the faint of heart, it’s gross, it’s inappropriate and it was totally awesome.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 25

I can’t say that I would have read this if not for a book club member choosing this one. It was an interesting choice and I didn’t hate it, but I can’t say that I loved it either. The story was a bit far-fetched. I found that while I wanted to like the Flavia, I really didn’t like her. I found her constant know-it-all attitude to be a bit grating. I feel at times the book was over-written. It could have been awesome, but instead it felt like too much.

Aside from the bad, it was a very cute story at it’s core. I didn’t have a few little laughs (many at various character’s expense, I will admit). I liked the overall premise of the book and I enjoyed several of the secondary characters. It was an easy read that didn’t take too much hard thought processes, which I definitely appreciated at the time.

My biggest problem was the meandering middle of the book that seemed to have Flavia floating around, annoying nearly everyone in her path and basically making a nuisance of herself. Many in my group didn’t find her to be as annoying, so your mileage may vary, as they say.

Overall, I’d recommend this for someone that enjoys cozy mysteries and quirky little reads.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 23

If you were to cross a rich man who has managed to get his fingers into nearly all facets of the government, research and more with the coming end of the world, you’d get New World Orders by Edward Talbot. This intriguing novel of science fiction and government cover up is not only fast-paced, but very well written. I blazed through this one in just a few days and lost quite a few hours of sleep staying up late to find out “what’s next”.

The books is very well polished. There is no confusing dialog and I didn’t see any glaring issues with the timeline or grammar. If the author had not contacted me with a gift copy of this book, I would not never guessed it was independently published. Well done, Mr. Talbot.

Where this books shines and shines brightly is in character development. By the end of this novel, I felt like I knew Jack and why he was driven. All of the characters have such rich personalities, yet each very distinctive. None of them ran together for me. I also liked that while this appears to be a first in a planned series, it was a complete story. No big cliffhangers, but just enough of a tease to make me look forward to reading the next one.

The only real problem I had with this book was how the fast forward of time occurred. While the author handled it well, it felt a little too “dumped”. Like “okay, let’s stop here and just pick right up – the readers will have to fend for themselves.” However, I’m not sure if it was entirely a bad thing because it did make the big shock an even bigger shocker. I’m a bit torn on that one.

Overall, I love conspiracy theories and while this one was a bit far-fetched (too far reaching), I am still half convinced it’s true

I would recommend this book to those who like a good suspense reader as well as light SciFi fans.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 20

This was an interesting book for me to read. I’m a fan of Picoult’s books, although I consider them fairly light. They deal with heavier subjects, but the writing rarely gets deep into character study or anything like that. When I saw there were some new “short” stories to read out by her, I grabbed them and immediate read them.

They are fairly short. On Kindle, it’s less than 800 locations for all three stories. I thought this would be enough for the author to get her point across, but I was both disappointed and elated at the same time.

The first story is a story about the loss of a child. Something that I consider the absolute worst thing that can happen to a parent. I cannot pretend to understand what they go through. The fact that she tackled this difficult subject, I think, is commendable. I think she lost me a bit in some of the symbolism. I got it, but I think it was unneeded. I think this may have been a bit of an experiment for her. I don’t think it failed, but for what she was doing, it needed more length (even though it took up the first half of this short story collection).

The second piece is a letter she wrote to her son as he left for college. I will admit this chocked me up a bit. What a beautiful letter to prepare for your child that tells them so much. I’m sure as a mother, she must be so proud and I loved her voice here, the “cheering on” without a lot of preaching was really well done. I think I’ll just xerox this to give to my kids when they go off into the world (they are still in Elementary school)… I’ll just cross out her name and put mine there. *laughing* Seriously, this was very well done and I loved getting a look into her “real” life.

The third story is a story about a mom that takes a vacation, she just up and leaves the family to fend for themselves. I think all of us have had that urge to get in the car and get away from those people that keep yelling “Mom!!!” so I was sitting here cheering for the mom a few times. However, I think there was more going on and with the length, it was simply not able to be explored. While I am not sure it could be a whole book, I would like to see more about what was going on, the father mentioned a few things that made me think there was more to it. Having said that, I took away a little message from this piece about my own “hurry up and work work work” attitude. Sometimes you just need to leave it.

Overall, a decent undertaking by this author. I liked the format and it gave me something to read of hers while waiting for a new novel to be released.

Recommended for Picoult fans and other who enjoy short stories.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 8

I absolutely did not see this one coming. What a wild ride of twists and turns and general insanity. The story line for this book is really wonderful. Fairly unique and it opens up at a nice pace, I didn’t feel rushed and I didn’t feel like he was dragging it out. The pacing is perfection.

It falls a little left of believability. The author had me completely on his side until a final “reveal” and then he kind of lost me. I felt slightly cheated because there really was no foreshadowing there, it seemed to come out of left field. This doesn’t distract from the book itself, just one thing I noticed.

The writing is, as I’ve come accustomed to with this author, superbly done. The grammar and flow of words is fine, but the dialogue is where I think we get bogged down a bit. There’s a LOT of it. I really think we could have done with some narrative as far as finding things out. While it didn’t feel stilted, it just seemed overly explained at times and I kind of wanted the characters to just shut up.

I found Mateo’s character to be very sympathetic and even liked the wife. My problem came with the husband. I absolutely hated him. He seemed kind of wedged into the family and story itself, kind of a non-entity. I could have done without him all together *laugh* At one point, I told my husband that if they didn’t make this guy come through in the end, I was going to write hate mail to the author. I won’t tell you if the author got a letter made out of magazine letters or not…

Overall, the story is really good – really good. The writing is fabulous and the storyline is unique enough to have kept my attention. Where this novel truly shines is the pacing – not a dull moment in the bunch.

Recommend this book to everyone that enjoys a good thriller.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 5

Over the past year, I’ve started to really dig dystopian science fiction. Futuristic mayhem and out of control politics makes for good ride. BUT only if it’s done well. And Mr. Royle can weave a story very well indeed.

The book is nothing to sneeze at, as far as length. I was a bit intimidated and was wondering if the author would be able to keep my attention the whole time. I will admit that I think part of it was a little overwritten but now that I see this is part of a series, I can understand the author may be setting up for the next book, which I’m looking forward to immensely.

The story is really well done. VERY well done, this could easily be a mainstream story at the local grocery store line. It reads very smoothly and the descriptions are top notch; I was totally there with the characters, I was rooting for the good guys and angry about having the Tag Law forced upon me, gosh darn it! I really did enjoy the descriptions and the world that the author created for us, it felt realistic. The dialogue didn’t feel forced and the narrative was smooth.

I didn’t see a single grammatical error. Whether that is because there weren’t any or because I was absorbed in the story, I’m not sure.

I’m interested to see where the author takes us now… I’m not sure where it could possibly go, but I also see that as a hallmark of a good book in a series. It’s a story in and of itself. Even if I don’t read the 2nd the book, I feel like I got a total storyline. Awesome.

I recommend this book to those that enjoy books written about futuristic societies. There’s a lot of information about how the world works in this world and it transports you there.

While I did take away one star because of the overwritten sections (again, this could be setting up the 2nd book), I’m still making this part of my “must read” books for this year.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2011: 3

I usually choose my yearly 100th book to read based on it meaning something to me, but this year I couldn’t come up with anything, but then I remembered this book. I have a few friends, one in particular (hi, Lisa!), who have been hounding me to read these for a while. Honestly, it’s YA, it’s somewhat SciFi and the description just didn’t seem to grab me. But I decided that my 100th book would be a nod to my friends and family that are always telling me “Oh, you HAVE to read this book”. So, then…

I got about 5% into the book and was completely disgusted. I think I may have called Lisa a very bad name. You see, I could NOT PUT THE BOOK DOWN. It was darn well nearly physically attached to my hand. I lost sleep, I gasped in certain places, I yelled “no!” a few times, I was, in short, insane for the day it took me to read this one.

The author completely sucks you into this world of the future. Of kids dying as sacrifices to the capital. Of a love triangle. Of family bonds. Of humanity. There is so much going on in the book that it seems like it would be confusing, but in reality, you are so caught up in the entire story that it doesn’t matter. It’s all-encompassing. It’s all-consuming. It’s, as Lisa told me, un-put-down-able.

There are scenes that rip your heart out in this book. I had to remind myself when I was done that it was YA (Young Adult) because I enjoyed it immensely. Most YA material I can take or leave but this had me hitting the “buy” button for the next in the series within 2 minutes of finishing it.

This one makes my must-read list for 2010. I also do not know how to recommend this for, I simply cannot come up with anyone that might not enjoy it. I am not sure I would let my 7-year-old read it, but my 10-year-old would probably enjoy it just as much as my mother or my 70-year-old grandmother would. Read it. Seriously.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2010: 100

When asked to review this one, I was very intrigued by the description. The idea that someone cannot swallow food is beyond my overweight brain’s ability to understand. *laughing* Seriously, though… it’s a very real and very scary condition and the book did make me go look up stuff about it because it really does sound horrible.

The writing is excellent. The author’s narrative voice is outstanding. I think the downfall comes with the dialogue. It’s a bit stilted and at times I felt like I had no idea what was going on. If Sophie said “um” or “ah” one more time, I swear, I was going to jump through my kindle screen and REALLY give her a problem swallowing/breathing. Dude, SPEAK. That’s why the author is giving you a voice. Use it. In that same vein, I had a hard time believing in the character. She was a Yale grad with all these credentials, yet she seemed like a big old mess. That’s not to say that I think she should have been perfect, but there were several times that I just found myself not believing her at all. Personally, I was fine with her being meek and a little left of center, but professionally, I felt with her kind of education and training, she should have been a little less ditzy. Having said that, the descriptions of what Sophie was going through during her swallowing episodes rings very true (and made me get a bit of a lump in my throat I had to swallow down too!)

I did, however, really like the storyline. I even enjoyed the odd relationships she had and how she managed to untangle herself into her true self and less of someone else’s possession. I especially enjoyed how the author wove her relationship with her father, his career and his downright self-centered-ness. The secondary character development in this book is so outstanding that it makes the entire book worth reading – right down to the very last “um”.

Overall, I’d recommend this to people that enjoy heavier chick-lit. It’s definitely chick-lit, but seems to be a sub-genre I’ve seen lately that comes with a bit of a message and might make you learn something.

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Book count for 2010: 99