by: Robin Jones Gunn
Publisher: Robin's Nest Productions
Dates Read: Jan. 28 - Feb. 2
Pages: 262
Source: Own it.
Why did I read it?
The Christy Miller series is one of the best on the planet.
Home of our Hearts picks up just a couple months after the first novel. This book is basically Christy and Todd travelling to two weddings. That's right, this book doesn't have one wedding, but two. It is fantastic.
We also get the magnificence of reconnecting and finding out what happens with some of Christy's old forever friends. Doug and Tracy are back in the picture long-term. We find out what is happening with Katie since leaving her at the end of her own book Finally and Forever. We even catch up with Todd's dad in the Canary islands.
I don't want to give spoilers (because I hate spoilers) but I was reading this book in a Tim Hortons while my car was at the mechanic. At the end of their visit with Katie in Kenya I was sitting at my table nearly in tears. It was just so beautiful. Suffice it to say I left the Tim Hortons and walked back to the mechanics a block away so that I wouldn't embarrass myself in the Drayton Valley Tim Hortons. I'm so glad we got to experience this moment with Christy and Katie and the whole gang.
Anyway, when I was thinking about their being Christy & Todd: The Married Years, I thought how is Robin Jones Gunn going to get around talking about a very important marital activity. Young teenage girls will read these books! Let me say, I never knew there were so many sneaky, poetic ways to say "and then they had sex." Good for you Robin.
This book also had a bagillion typos in it. Robin, let me edit your books!
Rating: 4.5/5
Two weddings! Katie is back! Two weddings! What's there to complain about (besides the poor editing)?
Recommendation:
I think that if you have read Christy Miller this far you don't need my recommendation to read it. If you have not read Christy Miller this far, just do it.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Forever with You
by: Robin Jones Gunn
Publisher: Robin's Nest Productions
Dates Read: Jan. 18-26
Pages: 265
Source: Own it
Why did I read it?
Two years ago my friend Katy sent me a link to Robin Jones Gunn's blog post call "I'm in." I read it and jumped and squealed and smiled for hours straight. The Christy Miller books are some of my favourite books of all time and the saga was continuing, finally, with The Married Years.
Forever with You picks up pretty much where we leave Katie in the final book of her series. If you're not a Christy Miller fan this probably means nothing to you, but to the rest of us it soo means something. In Forever with You we are plunked right into the wonderfulness that is Christy and Todd's marriage. What could be better?
Robin Jones Gunn always writes good stories with a good lesson to go along with it. It's one of the reasons I think every girl should read Christy Miller. There is always something to learn through Christy or Todd or Katie or Sierra or one of their other friends. This time around it was trusting God even when it seems like nothing is ever actually going to happen.
There was only one thing I did not like about this book. Holy typos Batman. In Katie in Waiting I guessed there were maybe 5-10 mistakes in the whole book. In Forever with You there seemed to be at least one per chapter. It was terrible. It really takes away from the book. This is the issue with self publishing (which she basically did). Robin, please let me edit your books for you. I will do it 100% free of charge and I won't tell a single soul what happens in the books. Please. If not me, someone else. Someone else who is as bothered about this as I am so they won't miss anything.
Rating: 4.5/5 = Really liked it
It's Christy Miller. Married to Todd Spencer. There is seriously nothing about this book (plot wise, not grammar wise) that could get better.
Recommendation:
I always say that every girl should read Christy Miller. If you are a female, go buy all the Christy Miller books and read them. If you're a boy I highly doubt you'll like them. I would never tell a boy to read these...but go ahead if you want.
Publisher: Robin's Nest Productions
Dates Read: Jan. 18-26
Pages: 265
Source: Own it
Why did I read it?
Two years ago my friend Katy sent me a link to Robin Jones Gunn's blog post call "I'm in." I read it and jumped and squealed and smiled for hours straight. The Christy Miller books are some of my favourite books of all time and the saga was continuing, finally, with The Married Years.
Forever with You picks up pretty much where we leave Katie in the final book of her series. If you're not a Christy Miller fan this probably means nothing to you, but to the rest of us it soo means something. In Forever with You we are plunked right into the wonderfulness that is Christy and Todd's marriage. What could be better?
Robin Jones Gunn always writes good stories with a good lesson to go along with it. It's one of the reasons I think every girl should read Christy Miller. There is always something to learn through Christy or Todd or Katie or Sierra or one of their other friends. This time around it was trusting God even when it seems like nothing is ever actually going to happen.
There was only one thing I did not like about this book. Holy typos Batman. In Katie in Waiting I guessed there were maybe 5-10 mistakes in the whole book. In Forever with You there seemed to be at least one per chapter. It was terrible. It really takes away from the book. This is the issue with self publishing (which she basically did). Robin, please let me edit your books for you. I will do it 100% free of charge and I won't tell a single soul what happens in the books. Please. If not me, someone else. Someone else who is as bothered about this as I am so they won't miss anything.
Rating: 4.5/5 = Really liked it
It's Christy Miller. Married to Todd Spencer. There is seriously nothing about this book (plot wise, not grammar wise) that could get better.
Recommendation:
I always say that every girl should read Christy Miller. If you are a female, go buy all the Christy Miller books and read them. If you're a boy I highly doubt you'll like them. I would never tell a boy to read these...but go ahead if you want.
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Pride and Prejudice
[Audiobook]
by: Jane Austen
Narrated by: Rosamund Pike
Publisher: Audible Studios
Dates Listened: Dec. 30 - Jan 20
Source: Audible.com
Why did I read it? I heard that Audible had a recording of Rosamund Pike (the actress who portrayed Jane in the 2005 film) reading Pride and Prejudice. I had to listen to it. There was no question about it.
Listening to this book was such an experience I took the time to go to Audible.com and write a review about it. I entitled this review "One of the Most Magical things I have Ever Experienced." Listening to this novel read by Rosamund was pure felicity.
The story itself is timeless and perfect. Felicity. It's a story about two people slowly falling in love without realizing it's happening until it has already happened. This is romantic in all the right ways. Jane Austen is incomparable when it comes to storytelling.
I'd just like to say though, for the record, lots of women say they are waiting for their Mr. Darcy. Let's be real though, we should really be waiting for Mr. Bingley. He is hopeless and adorable and so in love he doesn't even notice the improprieties of Jane's family. That's all Mr. Darcy can see for much of the novel. We all fall for Mr. Darcy in the end but please: who we should all really strive to be is Jane and Bingley.
Anyway, audiobooks can be made or ruined by the narrator. This book was brought to a whole new level of perfection being narrated by Rosamund Pike. To start shallowly, having a classic English novel read to you in a true British accent is something everyone should experience (those who are actually from Britain are blessed with this every day of their lives). It's magical. Knowing that she is/was Jane Bennet adds even more levels to the magic and perfection. Forgetting her accent and her filmography though, she reads it perfectly. You can discern which character is talking by merely listening to her - including the men which I think is quite the feat. She was perfection.
Rating: 7/5
This audiobook was beyond perfection. I more than loved it. I want to listen to it over and over again. I want to hear it read a million times. There are only two words to summarize the whole experience: magic and perfection.
Recommendation:
Everyone should give this a listen. I mean everyone. Old, young, male, female - everyone. I've always had a theory that every woman should see Star Wars just to know what most men go on and on about (plus it's awesome). Well, every man should read Pride and Prejudice so that they know what we are going on and on about.
by: Jane Austen
Narrated by: Rosamund Pike
Publisher: Audible Studios
Dates Listened: Dec. 30 - Jan 20
Source: Audible.com
Why did I read it? I heard that Audible had a recording of Rosamund Pike (the actress who portrayed Jane in the 2005 film) reading Pride and Prejudice. I had to listen to it. There was no question about it.
Listening to this book was such an experience I took the time to go to Audible.com and write a review about it. I entitled this review "One of the Most Magical things I have Ever Experienced." Listening to this novel read by Rosamund was pure felicity.
The story itself is timeless and perfect. Felicity. It's a story about two people slowly falling in love without realizing it's happening until it has already happened. This is romantic in all the right ways. Jane Austen is incomparable when it comes to storytelling.
I'd just like to say though, for the record, lots of women say they are waiting for their Mr. Darcy. Let's be real though, we should really be waiting for Mr. Bingley. He is hopeless and adorable and so in love he doesn't even notice the improprieties of Jane's family. That's all Mr. Darcy can see for much of the novel. We all fall for Mr. Darcy in the end but please: who we should all really strive to be is Jane and Bingley.
Anyway, audiobooks can be made or ruined by the narrator. This book was brought to a whole new level of perfection being narrated by Rosamund Pike. To start shallowly, having a classic English novel read to you in a true British accent is something everyone should experience (those who are actually from Britain are blessed with this every day of their lives). It's magical. Knowing that she is/was Jane Bennet adds even more levels to the magic and perfection. Forgetting her accent and her filmography though, she reads it perfectly. You can discern which character is talking by merely listening to her - including the men which I think is quite the feat. She was perfection.
Rating: 7/5
This audiobook was beyond perfection. I more than loved it. I want to listen to it over and over again. I want to hear it read a million times. There are only two words to summarize the whole experience: magic and perfection.
Recommendation:
Everyone should give this a listen. I mean everyone. Old, young, male, female - everyone. I've always had a theory that every woman should see Star Wars just to know what most men go on and on about (plus it's awesome). Well, every man should read Pride and Prejudice so that they know what we are going on and on about.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
The Fault in our Stars
by: John Green
Publisher: Penguin Books
Dates Read: Jan. 14-17
Pages: 313
Source: Own it
Why did I read it? The hype. Also, I found it brand new at Value Village for $4.
I put off reading this books for a few reasons. For starters, I don't like reading books mid-hype. Hype is often too much to live up to and I like to be as removed from that as possible. Also, my first ever night of camp with my first ever group of campers ruined the book for me. They told me a plot twist and I have since spent 2 years trying to forget it. I didn't.
I don't think much of the world will like me for this, but The Fault in our Stars was just okay. The book itself talks about how cancer books are always so "cancery" but I felt like this book was trying too hard not to be cancery. I appreciate trying to write a novel that is about teens who have cancer instead of a book about cancer but it is about cancer. One of my favourite parts is the title: The Fault in our Stars. The "fault" is their cancer. They have every reason to be in love and be together except their cancer won't allow it. It's alluded to right in the title! You can't make it not about cancer.
Anyway, I also didn't get that gushy love feeling that I get with other books. I didn't feel the love. This is supposed to be an epic teen romance for our time. I didn't feel it. The ending did not bring me to tears. In fact, none of it brought me to tears (this is rare). I was unsatisfied. This was no great romance. This was angst.
Also, I didn't like or really see the point to the whole Peter Van Houten plot line.
Most females ages 15-30 (and other people too) probably don't like me very much right now so I'll just stop.
Rating: 2.5/5 = meh
This book was meh. It was okay. It wasn't bad it just wasn't good. I really think the hype did it in. It didn't deserve as much hype as it got and it put my expectations way too high. This is like Twilight all over: way way way too much hype (except that book had a bad plot AND bad writing so who knows how it got it).
Recommendation:
Everyone else seems to love this book. Maybe you will too. I'm just not sure why...
Publisher: Penguin Books
Dates Read: Jan. 14-17
Pages: 313
Source: Own it
Why did I read it? The hype. Also, I found it brand new at Value Village for $4.
I put off reading this books for a few reasons. For starters, I don't like reading books mid-hype. Hype is often too much to live up to and I like to be as removed from that as possible. Also, my first ever night of camp with my first ever group of campers ruined the book for me. They told me a plot twist and I have since spent 2 years trying to forget it. I didn't.
I don't think much of the world will like me for this, but The Fault in our Stars was just okay. The book itself talks about how cancer books are always so "cancery" but I felt like this book was trying too hard not to be cancery. I appreciate trying to write a novel that is about teens who have cancer instead of a book about cancer but it is about cancer. One of my favourite parts is the title: The Fault in our Stars. The "fault" is their cancer. They have every reason to be in love and be together except their cancer won't allow it. It's alluded to right in the title! You can't make it not about cancer.
Anyway, I also didn't get that gushy love feeling that I get with other books. I didn't feel the love. This is supposed to be an epic teen romance for our time. I didn't feel it. The ending did not bring me to tears. In fact, none of it brought me to tears (this is rare). I was unsatisfied. This was no great romance. This was angst.
Also, I didn't like or really see the point to the whole Peter Van Houten plot line.
Most females ages 15-30 (and other people too) probably don't like me very much right now so I'll just stop.
Rating: 2.5/5 = meh
This book was meh. It was okay. It wasn't bad it just wasn't good. I really think the hype did it in. It didn't deserve as much hype as it got and it put my expectations way too high. This is like Twilight all over: way way way too much hype (except that book had a bad plot AND bad writing so who knows how it got it).
Recommendation:
Everyone else seems to love this book. Maybe you will too. I'm just not sure why...
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Katie in Waiting
by: Erynn Mangum
Publisher: Self-published
Dates Read: Jan. 5-12
Pages: 277
Source: Own It
Why did I read it? Erynn Mangum is my favourite author. AND she actually released it in paperback (she has this terrible habit of only releasing to Kindle and since I loath e-readers I am missing out on so many good books by her. Wah.)
Erynn Mangum is my favourite author. I bought her first series because a Christian bookstore was closing, they were $4 a piece, and they had attractive covers. I fell in love.
Erynn usually writes light books about females in their early to mid twenties who are single and addicted to coffee. She changed it up a bit this time and Katie, the title character, is 31, single, and appreciates coffee. Honestly, Erynn's books always follow a girl-meets-boy storyline but I appreciate them because real life is mixed in. In every book the main character is learning a new, realistic lesson that helps me learn one of my own. It was no different in this one.
The lesson: being contentedly single and seeking out time with God instead of filling a void with a man. It was well and realistically taught.
Here is my peeve about this book: it didn't really end. I went to finish my book one night and when I picked it up I realized I had already finished it that morning. I couldn't remember the book was over! I don't think that's the greatest sign.
I also wish that Erynn had asked me to proofread her book. Most novels have one minor mistake in their first printing - this one had a lot. A lot being at least 5...maybe 10. Erynn, I will gladly proof you next book and all I'll ask for is a free copy. I'm serious. Call me.
Rating: 3/5
I'm giving Katie in Waiting a 3 because I just liked it. It just wasn't as good as Erynn's other books. I understand there are still two more books in the series but the ending should satisfy a little more than that. I liked the plot and characters, but it left me a little unsatisfied.
Recommendation:
I absolutely think this book is worth a read for any female who needs a light, comedic, mildly deep thought provoking novel. I just won't be reading it every year or two like I seem to do with Erynn's other novels.
Publisher: Self-published
Dates Read: Jan. 5-12
Pages: 277
Source: Own It
Why did I read it? Erynn Mangum is my favourite author. AND she actually released it in paperback (she has this terrible habit of only releasing to Kindle and since I loath e-readers I am missing out on so many good books by her. Wah.)
Erynn Mangum is my favourite author. I bought her first series because a Christian bookstore was closing, they were $4 a piece, and they had attractive covers. I fell in love.
Erynn usually writes light books about females in their early to mid twenties who are single and addicted to coffee. She changed it up a bit this time and Katie, the title character, is 31, single, and appreciates coffee. Honestly, Erynn's books always follow a girl-meets-boy storyline but I appreciate them because real life is mixed in. In every book the main character is learning a new, realistic lesson that helps me learn one of my own. It was no different in this one.
The lesson: being contentedly single and seeking out time with God instead of filling a void with a man. It was well and realistically taught.
Here is my peeve about this book: it didn't really end. I went to finish my book one night and when I picked it up I realized I had already finished it that morning. I couldn't remember the book was over! I don't think that's the greatest sign.
I also wish that Erynn had asked me to proofread her book. Most novels have one minor mistake in their first printing - this one had a lot. A lot being at least 5...maybe 10. Erynn, I will gladly proof you next book and all I'll ask for is a free copy. I'm serious. Call me.
Rating: 3/5
I'm giving Katie in Waiting a 3 because I just liked it. It just wasn't as good as Erynn's other books. I understand there are still two more books in the series but the ending should satisfy a little more than that. I liked the plot and characters, but it left me a little unsatisfied.
Recommendation:
I absolutely think this book is worth a read for any female who needs a light, comedic, mildly deep thought provoking novel. I just won't be reading it every year or two like I seem to do with Erynn's other novels.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Prologue
Hi, my name is Beth and I suffer from Bookitus.
Bookitus (boo k-ahy-tis): the addiction and deep love of books
where one often finds themselves wandering bookstores and libraries for hours
on end; symptoms include: eyestrain, over-filled bookshelves, and endless
adventures
There will be no 12-step program but I’ll let you know my
progress as I move along.
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