Why is everyone drunk or drinking all the time? I can’t tell if this part was intentional to draw out the recovering alcoholic character perspective, that she the character is noticing it so it is being made extremely obvious to you as the reader, over explained in some parts of the story even. I kept wondering to myself am I supposed to notice all this use of alcohol or is it just page filler…

Anyway. It took some getting used to the back and forth between the timelines and I had a hard time getting into the book because of it at first, but after the first few chapters and perspective switches I got into the flow of the story and it was easier to follow. My husband said the same when he was reading it. When you’re about one-third of the way through the book the threads start to tie together a little more and then you reach those “can’t put it down right now” parts. [Read more…]

I want to start by mentioning that The Light of the Fireflies as I’m reading it is a translation from another language. I do think the translation was done very well, the sentence structure and word order all makes sense and flows well for the most part. I’ve read some translations in the past that were just plain confusing and frustrating in their English versions, so bonus points for this.

One thing that sort of bothered me is that no one in this story has a name. Everyone is nameless. The boy. Father. Mother. Brother. Sister. Grandmother. Grandfather. The baby (sometimes referred to as nephew). At certain parts of the story it would have been much easier to follow if everyone just had a name.

Then to call further attention to the lack of names, at one point one of his siblings refers to the boy as “the boy” and one of the parents says, “He has a name you know.” Well, no, no we don’t know, because you didn’t tell us anyone’s name. It’s not a big deal, but it did sort of drive me crazy at several points throughout the book. I think it might be an attempt to dehumanize the people, or maybe the author just doesn’t like names, I can’t be sure. [Read more…]

Part-time sleuth and full-time owner of the needlework shop Crewel World, Betsy Devonshire prepares for a chilling holiday season filled with mistletoe–and murder.

I love the Monica Ferris Needlecraft Mysteries line of books ~ combines two of my favorite things ever, great mystery novels and great needlework! what’s not to love?

This book – or any book in this series – makes a fantastic gift for the needle-crafter on your holiday shopping list (or of course yourself) The details the author goes to in order to capture the world of needlework are astounding, she picks up lingo, fiber specific detail, and more in each and every book.

Murder is in the air everywhere–even at a needlework show. Betsy Devonshire, owner of the shop Crewel World, finds herself snowed in at the convention hotel in Nashville along with her policewoman friend, Jill, and employee, Godwin.

When another shop owner, Belle Hammermill, falls over the railing, plummeting down nine stories into the middle of the atrium, even the most avid sewers look up from their tatting.

Everyone, of course, assumes the fall to be an accident. However, as Betsy, Jill, and Godwin start talking to the show’s attendees, they begin to learn that a selfish and devious Belle had plenty of enemies–and they are all in the hotel.

This is the first short story in a series of shorts. Despite being short, it actually took me a lot longer than usual to read. The pacing of the story was all over the place and I was having a hard time staying focused on it. It’s not that I didn’t like the story, it had great elements and interesting angles on magic, I just didn’t feel sucked into the world as much as I would have liked.

The whole hunting through a person’s heart while their heart isn’t inside their body thing went on for ages, it’s most of the book, and I just didn’t enjoy it I guess. Some parts of the book also seemed rushed, while others felt excruciatingly slow to me. Still the magical concepts and ideas were very interesting, and I liked that there were limitations on each person’s magic.

I’m not sure if I’ll read The Glass Magician (the second book in the series) or not. I might pick it up on Kindle Unlimited if I get bored one weekend, but I don’t feel the need to mark release dates for this series on my calendar right now. Actually, I’m sure curiosity will get to me eventually, because I often find the second book in a series like this can sometimes be better than the first.
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Last night I finished reading Alone (A Bone Secrets Novel) by Kendra Elliot.

This was a pretty smooth read and I enjoyed the story. It’s a combination of mystery, thriller, sort of drizzled with romance. There is one sex scene in the book, but it’s pretty mild. In other words, the book is 98% story, no smut.

I didn’t realize this was the fourth book in the series – but fortunately each book in the series focuses on a different character, so I can go back and read the other three novels at another time and they’re all standalone stories that link together in small ways.

I kind of like that concept, little stories in their own universe that go together but don’t necessarily need to be together. Reminds me a little bit of comic book crossover stories, but in novel form.
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