The Last Fall review

I received "The Last Fall" (e-book) by Glenn James http://www.librarything.com/ for free.  This is my second Glynn James book and I liked it much better than the last.  This book is more of a novella.  I read it in one night.  Little longer than a short story.  "The Last Fall" is about a man on Earth that has decided to commit suicide when he is interupted by Joshua and given a new purpose in life in another world.  Xeno, which is his new name in his new world, has been given the job to find out where and how the last stand of humans occured before they were wiped out by Nua'Lath.  He and his sidekick, Bailey, travel for 12 years to find out what happened.  (They never age.)  The story is narrated by Xeno and told to his son.
Science Fiction really isn't my favorite genre.  Usually avoid it all together.  This one is futuristic and has man eating zombie like things.  However, as far as science fiction goes, this is a  pretty good book.  Well written and interesting.  It is easy to follow and not so annoying with all the weird huha that usually accompanies science fiction.  I would easily recommend it to someone who enjoys science fiction and maybe even someone who doesn't and is looking for something short and different.

In the Nam

Frank Loveless is a self-centered jerk and he is in Nam. I received "Loveless in the Nam" by Jim Boersema from Dorrance Publishing. Boersema is a former military man and this strikes as a biographical book, though it is fiction.  This is unlike any war book I have ever read.  There is no deep message.  There is no good versus evil or making a man out of Loveless.  He doesn't grow or mature due to his situation.  He joined and fought and continued to be a self-centered ass.  And I LOVED it!!!!  Loveless is the Erica Kane of Vietnam.  No one would ever want him watching their back in the jungle.  I wouldn't want him watching my back on the football field.  Heck, I would put my hand on my purse if he was watching my back in an elevator.  He is a screwball.  And yet, you keep rooting for him and hope he gets away with it.  This is an awesome book.
It is 1968 and Frank Loveless has been drafted and sent to Vietnam.  Though is a college graduate and an officer, he is sent to infantry.  Mostly due to his own horniness.  He takes us through basic and officers school, the jungle, R&R, and POW camp.  Strangely, this book is a hoot.  I don't think I have ever laughted so much during a war novel, much less a Vietnam one.  In the prologue it is implied that this is the beginning of a series.  Man, I hope so.  I received a complimentary copy of (Book Title) as a member of the    

    Dorrance Publishing Book Review Team.  Visit dorrancebookstore.com

    to learn how you can become a member of the Book Review Team.

london blitz diary review

I received "World War II London Blitz Diary Vol. 1" by Ruby Side Thompson for free from Goodreads.com.  This book is an as-is diary written by a middle aged woman living in London during Sept 1, 1939- December 31, 1940.  During this time World War II starts for England and progresses.  Ruby writes of daily things at first: shopping, reading, her husband.  She writes about her husband a lot.  She really gets with complaining about her husband.  About half way through the book she takes an abrupt switch to writing primarily about the war and her situation in it. 
This book lets on like it is a World War II diary and in the second half that is the case, but not the first. The first half is mainly her bitching about her husband.  All The Time.  She does talk of other things once in awhile, but really, the book should have been editted to cut out some of it, just to let the reader know the writer, but not bombard them with complaining.  It is a diary.  The point of it is to complain.  But that doesn't make for good reading.  The second half is war, raids, isolation, rations, and of course complaining about her husband.  However, with as little sleep as she was getting and the whole "am I gonna die" thing she had going I am surprised she could write as well as she did.  It seemed such an exhausting life!  Interesting read.

civil war reinactment

I received "A Sound Among the Trees" by Susan Meissner for free from Waterbrook Press.  Let me start off with I love this author and I love this book.  Meissner tends to parallel history and the present into brilliant literature.  In this one she maintains the present for most of the book leaving the reader in the dark and constantly guessing at what is going on.  Building the suspense up more and more as the story plays out.  About 2/3 of the way through she brings the reader to the past through letters that have been hidden for over 100 years.  This is one of those read all the time till it's gone books.  Love this!
Holly Oaks is a house in Virginia dating back to before the Civil War.  The house holds several generations of women, all of whom leave their mark on the house and what is considered "ghosts".  Merrielle marries Carson, a widowed father with two children, whom she meets online.  He lives at Holly Oaks with his deceased wife's grandmother. The story follows the two women as they get used to each other, the situation, and the "ghosts".  Then the story leads to the Civil War era where Holly Oaks houses Susannah, her grandmother, mother, and slave girl.  This part of the story explains who is indeed haunting Holly Oaks.  Is it the house itself?  Is it Susannah?  Or is it just life working out in a lousy coincidence?  Something is haunting these women.

abundant life review

I received "Abundant Life Day Book: 365 Blessing To Begin Your Day" by Nancy Guthrie for free from Tyndale House Publishers.  This book is a devotional.  Each day has a short bible verse followed by a message from "God", and ending with a prayer from you to God.  This book is a little hard to follow at first.  The first day I read I could not figure out who the "I " was in the daily blessing.  Then it dawned on me that it was a letter from God.  Which kind of threw me.  Since actually it is a letter from Nany Guthrie, obviously, it made me feel a little weird reading what was supposedly words from God.  Then she turns it around and writes the prayer from me to God.  So then the "I" is me.  So I didn't really like the way it was written.  It was weird and too back and forth.  I did like the messages.  They are aimed to make one feel better about oneself.  God probably would say those things to someone.  I would say read it and after awhile the whole flip-flopping the "I"s wouldn't be so hard to follow.  Some may not ever take to the letter from "God".

the mercy review

"The Mercy" by Beverly Lewis is the third book in a trilogy, The Rose Trilogy.  Rose, of course, being the central character.  Rose is an Amish (Old Order)  girl.  She is getting dangerously close to becoming too old for marriage, but cannot seem to find the right man for the job.  In this trilogy, you must read all of the books and in order to follow along.  In this review I will try and stick with the third book but give you a little background information so that you can also know what is what.  Rose has a mother who is wheelchair bound and in severe pain.  In this book she deals with surgery to correct her pain.  (She is allergic to pain meds.)  This goes on through out both parts of the book.  In the first part, Hen, Rose's sister, is coming to terms with her decision to leave her Englisher husband and move back to Plain life.  She is starting to rethink her all-or-nothing stand and hopefully her husband (now blind) will back down on his.  Part two is Rose's love life.  Who will she chose?  Will she chose anyone?  Can she live a fullfilled life without a man in her life?
I usually am not fond of Amish books.  I am however, fond of Beverly Lewis and her Amish books.  Her books are like a soap opera in that nothing is what it seems and life is full of surprises and choices and what is God gonna through at you next.  This book has such a good ending.  You are gonna love it.  I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers.