The Looking Glass Wars (Audio) by, Frank Beddor~~Review

The Looking Glass Wars #1 by, Frank Beddor Narrated by, Gerard Doyle

This was a fun twist on the Alice in Wonderland story Frank Beddor brings us characters that come to life in an enchanting way. This is a bit darker than the version you are used to but it’s written so well that it was hard to put down.

The characters and the weaponry are pretty fascinating the hatter had the best weapons and then there’s General Dopple and General Ganger which in the audio version was done with an echo so you heard both voices at once which was a neat effect you wouldn’t get from reading the book. Redd is the baddest of baddies with the Cheshire cat not the smiling helper but a hitman extraordinaire.

And then there is Alyss which as she told Rev. Dodgson AKA Lewis Carroll is the correct way to spell her name. When she ends up in the real world of course no one believes her stories of Wonderland or that she is a Princess she think the Rev. does but when she sees the mockery of her life he writes she won’t speak to him again.

There is war and romance and spies and a great story that will grab you and not let you go.

Loved the bonus song on the audiobook. The narrator Gerard Doyle did a Fantastic Job; I will be looking for other books narrated by him!

4 Stars

The Wake of Forgivenss by, Bruce Machart~~Review

Description: On a moonless Texas night in 1895, an ambitious young landowner suffers the loss of “the only woman he’s ever been fond of” when his wife dies during childbirth with the couple’s fourth boy, Karel. From an early age Karel proves so talented on horseback that his father enlists him to ride in acreage-staked horse races against his neighbors. But Karel is forever haunted by thoughts of the mother he never knew, by the bloodshot blame in his father’s eyes, and permanently marked by the yoke he and his brothers are forced to wear to plow the family fields. Confident only in the saddle, Karel is certain that the horse “wants the whip the same way he wants his pop’s strap . . . the closest he ever gets to his father’s touch.” In the winter of 1910, Karel rides in the ultimate high-stakes race against a powerful Spanish patriarch and his alluring daughters. Hanging in the balance are his father’s fortune, his brother’s futures, and his own fate. Fourteen years later, with the stake of the race still driven hard between him and his brothers, Karel is finally forced to dress the wounds of his past and to salvage the tattered fabric of his family.

My Review:

Beautifully and lyrically written but very dark. I had trouble getting into this book at first because it was dark and depressing but the writing was so beautiful that I kept reading and I’m glad I did. In the beginning I didn’t think I’d feel compassion or empathy for anyone in this book but that changed as the book progressed.

Vaclav Skala and his boys are alone since the death of his wife when she gave birth to Karel. People say Vaclav was a good man when he was with his wife but we don’t see that man we see a cruel man without feeling who uses his sons as horses to plow his fields.

The story skips around in time from 1895-1924 at first this was a bit jarring but after awhile you come to understand the flow the author was trying to convey.

I don’t want to give too much of this story away because this is a book you need to “feel” as it unfolds. It is a story of family, abuse, loneliness and lastly forgiveness. It is beautiful and haunting, dark and lyrical and worth reading. This may not have been a book I would have picked up but thanks to B&N First Look I read it and am glad I did. I would say to those who may think this isn’t their cup of tea to go ahead and give it a try the prose will grab you and the characters will stay with you even if you don’t like them.

4 Stars
Thank-You B&N First Look for the opportunity to read this book

Little Madhouse on the Prairie by, Marion Elizabeth Witte~~Review

Little Madhouse on the Prairie: A True-Life Story of Overcoming Abuse and Healing the Spirit
by Marion Elizabeth Witte
This is the story of Marion the child who grew up in a farmhouse in North Dakota; it was far from a happy home. It is also about Marion the grown-up dealing with the after-affects of being abused. What sets this book apart from other books about abuse is it doesn’t detail all the abuse she suffered, yes she tells us about some of it, but it is more about her journey to recovery.

This book touched me in so many ways one, because it is set in my home state of North Dakota the farmhouse she describes is so much like the one my grandparents had although luckily for me our farmhouse was full of love.

The journey to self-awareness Marion goes on is powerful and heart wrenching, the pain she suffered at the hands of her mother, brother and alcoholic emotionally absent father follow her through everything she does even when she doesn’t realize it. As we go on this journey with her, to psychotherapy, hypnotherapy and even a shaman to help her deal with the demons left inside by years of physical and emotional abuse. We finally meet the amazing woman Marion becomes, because of what she has gone through. We see a woman who has come to self-realization, healing and forgiveness and came out of it a better person.


If you were touched by the books Child Called It or The Glass Castle this is a must read.

5 Stars

Full Disclosure- I won this book through Goodreads Giveaway

Mockingjay by, Suzanne Collins~~Review

Mockingjay by, Suzanne Collins

Wow what a powerful book! It is sad and moving filled with action and sorrow. Katniss has come a long way since the first Hunger Games when she steps up to take her sisters place and goes into the games herself. After she wins the games things go from bad to worse when in Catching Fire she is seen by the Capital as a rebel and the rebel’s have decided she is going to be their poster girl. In Mockingjay Peeta has been kidnapped by the Capital and Katniss and Gale are with the rebel troops in the long forgotten District 13. She agrees to be the rebels Mockingjay but with many conditions including that all the past tributes including Peeta ,who the Capital is using to get to Katniss ,are given immunity.

This book is raw with emotion and beautifully written. The changes that Katniss, Peeta & Gale have gone through are so powerful that you feel so much for them all. This book made me cry and made me think, could this actually happen one day? In our world of reality tv could a show like the Hunger Games happen? This was a great series that will stick with you long after you have finished reading it.

5 Stars

Teaser Tuesday~~Soulless by, Gail Carriger

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

Grab your current read
Open to a random page
Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

She whacked the vampire right on top of the head with it as he tried to extract himself from his newly intimate relations with the tea trolley.The buckshot gave the brass parasol just enough heft to make a delisiously satisying thunk.
"Manners!" instructed Miss Tarabotti.

~~~Page 3 Soulless by, Gail Carriger

New Books This Week & Upcoming Happenings

If you are interested in taking an Intro to Computers class give me a call at 947-5540 once we have enough people we'll set the date and time for the class at the participant’s convenience. Also if you are interested in learning about Ancestry Library Edition let me know and we will look into having a class on this.

New Books this Week:
In Adult Fiction:
The Postcard Killers by, James Patterson & Liza Marklund
Private by, James Patterson & Maxine Pietro
Olive Kitteridge by, Elizabeth Strout
Deadly Deals The Sisterhood #16 by, Fern Michaels
Heat Lightning by, John Sandford
Medusa by, Clive Cussler
The Wednesday Sisters by, Meg Waite Clayton
The Elegance of a Hedgehog by, Muriel Barbery
The Plague of Doves by, Louise Erdrich
Murder is Binding by, Lorna Barrett
Misfortune by, Wesley Stace
The Arcanum by, Thomas Wheeler
Adam by, Ted Dekker
Lethal Genes by, Linda Grant
Gravestone by, P.M. Carlson
Heat Wave by, Richard Castle
The Ever-Running Man by, Marcia Muller
The Dogs of Babel by, Carolyn Parkhurst

In Adult Non-Fiction:
Where Men Win Glory by, Jon Krakauer
1776 by, David McCullough
Notes from a Small Island by, Bill Bryson
A New Earth Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by, Eckhart Tolle

In Audio:
Freedom by, Jonathan Franzen
Bones by, Jonathan Kellerman
Critical Condition by, Stephen White
A New Earth Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose by, Eckhart Tolle

In Adult Fantasy:
Changeless #2 in the Parasol Protectorate by, Gail Carriger
The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by, Douglas Adams

In Young Adult:
Mockingjay- the final book of the Hunger Games Trilogy by, Suzanne Collins
Linger #2 in The Wolves of Mercy Falls by, Maggie Stiefvater
The wake of the Lorelei lee Bloody jack #8 by, LA Meyer
Ice by, Sarah Beth Durst
Kit’s Wilderness by, David Almond
Just One Wish by, Janette Rallison

In Juvenile Fiction:
Sebastian Darke Prince of Fools by, Philip Caveney