4 Stars. What an inspirational story! William and his family have almost nothing by Western standards but they do have each other and William has dreams and the willingness to teach himself and try. That takes him farther than he could even dream of. The part describing the famine was extremely difficult to read. People starve […]
When I first finished this book back in January, I rated it 3 stars. I roughly translate that to “good enough but forgettable.” Yet here I am in April, going for walks on the beach every morning, mesh bag over my shoulder, picking up every tiny piece of litter I see along the water line. I don’t want whales to accidentally eat […]
Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share ten “Books I’d Throw into the Ocean.” I interpret this to mean books that are just so terrible (in my humble opinion) that I think they belong at the bottom of the ocean. A few weeks ago, I shared ten books I gave away and Continue Reading…
Welcome to my weekly update for April 4, 2021! Happy Easter to all who celebrate! I got my first COVID vaccine on Wednesday! I truly thought it would be summer before I was eligible but Florida opened up to everyone age 40+ so I jumped at the opportunity. Florida’s law requiring that I prove seasonal Continue Reading…
Hosted by Books Are My Favourite and Best on the first Saturday of every month, this meme asks us to start with one title and create a chain of bookish connections to see where it takes us. This month we’re starting with Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart and I’m ending at Room by Emma Donoghue. I haven’t Continue Reading…
4 Stars. I don’t even remember why I added this to my library wishlist but I’m so glad I did! I’m not a very good swimmer, much less a diver, but I still found Heinerth’s experiences fascinating. She writes beautifully about what keeps her going back in the water, even after many of her friends have passed away on dives. She […]
3 Stars. This book was an obvious labor of love for Mr. Twitty and his passions shine through the pages. Unfortunately, I don’t particularly enjoy cooking or genealogy so the book fell a bit flat for me. I glanced through quite a few reviews on GoodReads before I decided to check this out and saw others frequently complaining […]
Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl invited us to share “ten places in books where I’d love to live.” This is a fun prompt! I decided to focus on fantasy books. It was surprisingly hard to choose! I didn’t want to choose a place like Westeros, where I would probably be killed in a war Continue Reading…
Welcome to my weekly update for March 28, 2021! My husband and I met his parents at a park for a picnic last Monday. Everyone except me is fully vaccinated and the park was largely empty so it felt pretty safe. It was nice to see them and catch up! We haven’t seen them since Continue Reading…
3 Stars. I read The Other Boleyn Girl and The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory years ago and enjoyed them both. I have some understanding of England’s history under Henry VIII though and I know pitifully little about the Wars of the Roses. That lack affected my enjoyment of The White Queen a bit. There’s a family tree at […]
3.5 Stars. I really enjoyed this concept and these characters, but I wish the storyline had been tightened up a bit. Alice’s whole first mission (Or maybe two? I’ve waited a bit too long on my review) ultimately felt like filler. There’s some setup for the main conflict and the worldbuilding element but that part really could […]