julianne review

"Julianne" (Book One in Coastal chronicles) by Rebekah Lyn is a novel about a woman in her twenties living on the East Coast who has finally finding herself.  Julianne is a telemarketer who is a Public Relations wanna be.  She has the degree, now she needs the opportunity.  She is also surrounded by men.  All love her and want to take care of her.  Julianne grows up in this story both in the career and the man department.  She is also introduced to God, Whom she knows little about, but is interested.
This is a pretty quick read.  The Julianne character is fairly well developed, but the men tend to blend.  It is also well researched.  I didn't realize how little I knew about the theater.  I would recommend this book for a young adult: late teens, early twenties, leaning more towards women.  I would classify it as a beach read.  Easy to read and yet entertaining. I received this book for free from the author through www.bodyandsoulpublishing.com. 

All My Children

As everyone knows, today is the day that All My children has been risen and brought back to us.  It started playing online on Hulu.  I started watching this show at birth and watched on and off throughout my life.  As far as the new online version I must say it is something like, the Count got a hold of a '57 Chevy and souped it up big time.  The show has everything that made it a classic plus a lot of chrome and flames to make it a show piece.  Here is the scoop: Pine Valley has jumped 5 years ahead, with all of the kiddos having grown up and ready to do the heavy lifting.  It runs half an hour instead of one; it still has commercials, but not as many or as long. It still has the big guns (David and the Hubbards), but has weeded out all of the characters that were filler before. The down side is there is no Erica, but Adam is back, so hey.  Since they are online, you can watch anytime, you don't have to wait for 12 or Soapnet.  They also don't have to stick to the daytime rules.  They can be as sexy as they wanna be and have artistic freedoms (cussing and innuendos), yet still classy enough not to get carried away with it.  Oh, and Petey.  Yes, Petey is my new boyfriend. 
I will definitely be watching this daily.  Probably at my lunch hour, just for old time's sake.

north of hope review

"North of Hope: A Daughter's Arctic Journey" is a memoir written by Shannon Huffman Polson reliving the author's grief and recovery after her parents having been killed by a bear in the Arctic while camping.  After the killing of her parents, Shannon, an Alaskan, decides to follow the route her parents took during their last trip in the Arctic.  She gets to know her parents better and settle her grief.
Though this is an amazing story, and really, how could she not have written a book about such unusual circumstances; it isn't all that good.  She goes into overkill with the descriptions.  She also goes off on off-the-wall analogies.  Shannon, the main character, is hard to get to know.  Rather than getting to know her personally, she presents herself to the reader in a melodramatic fashion that is a bit unnerving.  It's not poorly written; but it is distracting.  The writing style makes it hard to care about the characters.  I would recommend giving this book a try, for the storyline alone, however, it just wasn't my brand of book. C+
I received this book for free from Handlebar Publishing.

Mary review

"Daughter of Jerusalem" by Joan Wolf is a fictional novel based on the biblical stories of Mary (of Mary and Martha fame) and Mary Magdalene.  In the novel, Wolf combines the two women into one and tells her story from childhood to the resurrection of Jesus.  The first half of the novel is the story of Mary from the age of 10,  to her forced marriage, and onto her reuniting with her sister Martha and brother Lazarus.  Then in the second half it follows her to meeting Jesus and learning of his teachings. 
If you have done much studying of the bible, this will be hard to swallow.  It is more of an introduction, or story bible for grownups.  It helps if you think to yourself "this is just a woman who lives in the Greater Jerusalem area during the Roman era."  That aside, it is well written, and entertaining.  I never really bought her as Mary Magdalene; I felt her more of the Mary/Martha Mary.  The novel brings possible answers to the questions that are there in the bible concerning the women.  I wouldn't recommend this to a die hard biblical scholar, but to a history buff, or to someone interested in the characters on a personal level.  I received this book for free from www.netgalley.com. 

cindy Woodsmall's new book

I have reviewed Cindy Woodsmall before and have always enjoyed her Amish Fiction.  Here is a trailer on her new book "The Winnowing Season."  Give it a try! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oNgHdwg9Jg  And here is a sneak peek at the first chapter!  http://www.scribd.com/doc/122230567/The-Winnowing-Season-by-Cindy-Woodsmall-Sneak-Peek#.UW1qao7Q678

the hatfields and mccoys review

I listened to "The Hatfields and McCoys" written by Otis Rice and read by Dick Hill while I was at work.  This is a very interesting and extremely well researched story.  I love the whole family feud saga and the time in history in which it happened.  Anything you want to know about the Hatields and McCoys is in this book as well as history of that area and political issues of the times.  Very good book.  However, I would not recommend listening to it.  Not Dick's fault, he is great as a narrator, but there is so much detail in this book that it is hard to follow in your head.  There isn't a lot of imagery.  I have recently watched the mini-series on TV with Kevin Costner (you must watch that BTW) and that helped with the imagery in my head.  I would highly recommend reading this book.  I received this audio for free from www.edelweiss.abovethetreeline.com. 

the tutor's daughter review

"The Tutor's Daughter" by Julie Klassen is a novel that takes place in 1812 England.  In classic Klassen style, Emma is an educated woman during a time when education on women was considered a waste of time.  Emma was considered a "bluestocking".  She was smart as well, and assisted her father in tutoring young men in preparation for university.  At the age of 21, Emma and her father close up the school for boys and move to a manor to be the private tutor to a pair of spoiled, wealthy twins, Julian and Rowen Weston.  While there Emma is surrounded in mystery, challenges, discrimination, and violence. 
Klassen's books usually involve the same time period and a feminine empowerment of sorts, not typical of the time.  I really enjoy Klassen and this book is no different.  It is not a masterpiece, but it is a well written and enjoyable book.  Emma is a clear character; Lizzie is a great contrast to Emma's straight and narrow.  It is a long read, but with the mystery build, the action, and then the climax, I am not sure what could be cut out.  I give it a B-.  I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers.