bookwormdigest-blog

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Monthly Recap: July 2013

These are the books I read this month. I wrote book reviews for most, but not all (click on names to read book reviews).

“God’s Psychiatry”

“The First Rule of Swimming”

“A Study in Scarlet" (from “The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes")

“Fear Has a Name”

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One Sentence Description: "Fear Has a Name"

"Fear Has a Name" by Creston Mapes:

In times of fear, we choose if we will remain victims to fear, or to become conquerors and overcome fear.

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Bookworm Digest: "Fear Has a Name"

The story does have its fictional elements; basically the mystery and suspense elements in the story. But the story also has real elements that we face in our lives. For example, we do face danger in this world and sometimes fear will make us forget everything that we believe in and act in an opposite manner of what we are used to behaving.

I had never read a Christian Fiction book before, so I did not know how this book would be. I like how this book was written. The story is not boring at all, there is always a quick pace and so much mystery and suspense. And there is also the realism in the way the characters behave, ex. praying to God when they face trouble.

I think that there can be so much more material for other books in the series, especially dealing with development of the characters. I thought that there would be some sort of conclusion to Pamela's mother in this book (ex. dealing with fear on a better level), but maybe this will appear in another book.

I like how both of the "stories" in the book ended up turning into one. I did not foresee that happening. I actually thought that the story would end up somehow with the characters of Granger, Pam, and Pam's mom dealing with the situation together. 

I can't wait for the next book in the series; "Poison Town".

To read my general book review for “Fear Has a Name”, go to: http://bookwormconfidential.tumblr.com/post/56729117258/bookworm-confidential-fear-has-a-name

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One Sentence Description: "A Study in Scarlet" (from "The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes")

"A Study in Scarlet" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (from "The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes"):

At No. 221B, Baker Street, Dr. Watson and Sherlock Holmes decide to reside and here they work on solving their first case together; a man murdered in an abandoned house with no wounds but with blood found around him.

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Bookworm Digest: "A Study in Scarlet" (from "The Greatest Adventures of Sherlock Holmes")

I had never read any of the Sherlock Holmes stories, and I'm glad to have been able to start with the very first novel.

I like that the reader sees through the perspective of Watson. I don't think the story would have been as good if the reader would view it from Holmes' perspective.

The writing is very descriptive and detailed. And I like reading a story written in English from some time ago (I think this novel was written in 1887). I think that is what kept me entertained and intrigued, because the writing and dialogue is a bit different to now.

The story is a good detective-fiction, with elements of mystery and suspense. I like that Holmes uses deduction to come about with an answer. There were some things which I didn't understand how he got at, but then it's because of when the story was written (ex. we use cars now instead of hansoms).

It was good to have the inclusion of the back-story for the characters in the crime. This added more intrigue to the overall story, because at least the reader is better able to understand the crime.

To read my general book review for “A Study in Scarlet”, go to: http://bookwormconfidential.tumblr.com/post/56447003491/bookworm-confidential-a-study-in-scarlet-from-the

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One Sentence Description: "The First Rule of Swimming"

"The First Rule of Swimming" by Courtney Angela Brkic:

No matter if we try to run away from our problems, they will follow us wherever we go until we confront them.

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Bookworm Digest: "The First Rule of Swimming"

The story was a bit boring for me up until the point where Marin appears. I don't know exactly why I found the story to be boring. After Marin appears, the story was intriguing. The story also got more interesting when Magdalena finds out the Katarina was hiding Jadranka's paintings and copying them. After all that, I really wanted to find out what was going to happen.

While I was nearing the end of the book, I thought that the book was going to end on a sad note (for instance Jadranka never being found). I figured that a sad ending wouldn't be so bad, and it wouldn't necessarily ruin the book. But I am really glad that the story ended on a happy note.

To read my general book review for “The First Rule of Swimming”, go to: http://bookwormconfidential.tumblr.com/post/55035843482/bookworm-confidential-the-first-rule-of-swimming

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Bookworm Digest: "God's Psychiatry"

The title of this book caught my attention. The book is not what I expected though. I'm not sure what I thought the content of the book would be like, but the book has explanations for what four different passages of the Bible mean.

I like this book because I now am able to better understand what those four passages (The Twenty-third Psalm, The Ten Commandments, The Lord's Prayer, and The Beatitudes) mean. The writing was simple and understandable, and there was inclusion of other Bible verses throughout the book.

This book was published in 1953, and the material is still relevant to this present day.

To read my general book review for “God's Psychiatry”, go to: http://bookwormconfidential.tumblr.com/post/54458939554/bookworm-confidential-gods-psychiatry

To read my daily reflections on "God's Psychiatry" visit: http://readingbeforethelight.tumblr.com/tagged/God%27s%20Psychiatry.

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Monthly Recap: June 2013

These are the books I read this month. I wrote book reviews for most, but not all (click on names to read book reviews).

"Smile, Baby, Smile"

"Walt Disney’s Peter Pan"

“The Curiosity: A Novel”

“Four Red Diamonds (Lady Marmalade #1-4)”

“The J. M. Barrie Ladies’ Swimming Society”

“Don’t Ever Get Old”

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One Sentence Description: "Don't Ever Get Old"

"Don't Ever Get Old" by Daniel Friedman:

An eighty-seven year old former homicide detective searches for a criminal and some alleged gold with the help of his grandson.

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Bookworm Digest: "Don't Ever Get Old"

The character of Buck seemed a bit cliche, but it's okay though. Buck is a former detective who likes to smoke, is rude, and has no filter. So it's seems a bit cliche to make Buck a grumpy old man. But it works for this book.

The mystery was really intriguing. The story seemed to be taking forever though when I got more than halfway through the book. I didn't know how the story would conclude. But the story did conclude in a good manner. I thought that Buck was actually going to stab Jennings with the pen that he had with his notebook.

I didn't guess who was responsible for the killings though. And that twist towards the end of the book (Tequila being framed) was pretty interesting.

To read my general book review for “Don't Ever Get Old”, go to: http://bookwormconfidential.tumblr.com/post/54205430376/bookworm-confidential-dont-ever-get-old

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One Sentence Description: "The J. M. Barrie Ladies' Swimming Society"

"The J. M. Barrie Ladies' Swimming Society" by Barbara J. Zitwer:

A woman learns what friendship means from a couple of ladies who are inspired by the author J. M. Barrie and who like to swim in an icy pond during winter.

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Bookworm Digest: "The J. M. Barrie Ladies' Swimming Society"

The characters of the ladies who swam in the pond, Aggie, Viv, Meg, Gala, and Lilia, did not seem to have much differences between them. I only focused on the characters of Aggie and Lilia. This was because these two ladies seemed to play a more major roles with the character of Joey. And of course for obvious reasons of Aggie being Sarah's mother-in-law, and Lilia being Ian's mother-in-law. But the rest of the characters, I never knew who was who. I know that there was some mention about their younger lives, but there wasn't enough information to distinct them from one another.

I got a bit bored while reading this book, and I think it was because I was expecting the story to include much detail about the restoration of the house. But there wasn't much about the house, it was actually thrown into the background. Towards the end of the story when talk about the house reappears I thought, "Oh, yes, that's right, the house".

After I finished reading the book, I re-read the description. I think that the description could have been written a bit differently. When I read the description of the book, before reading the book, I thought that 1. the story would focus solely, or mostly, on the house and it's restoration, and 2. that Joey was going to have a very difficult time with the caretaker. But this does not occur in the book. Like I said before, the story doesn't focus that much on the house. It is mentioned that someone is working on the house during some time, but the story focuses more on Joey's actions, like going to the pond, talking to Sarah, etc. And also, the story did begin with Ian not really wanting to work for the restoration of the house, but then this changes. Ian never made things so difficult for the restoration. I was imagining (before reading the book) constant bickering between Joey and the caretaker, and scenarios of distress where the caretaker kept making the restoration difficult to accomplish, but the story didn't actually turn out that way. I think that the description might mislead some readers.

To read my general book review for “The J. M. Barrie Ladies' Swimming Society”, go to: http://bookwormconfidential.tumblr.com/post/54055826697/bookworm-confidential-the-j-m-barrie-ladies

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One Sentence Description: "Four Red Diamonds (Lady Marmalade #1-4)"

"Four Red Diamonds (Lady Marmalade #1-4)" by Jason Blacker:

"Poisoned Heart":

Lady Marmalade investigates the murder of a maid for which five possible culprits appear each having a motive pertaining to the maid's actions of having an affair, blackmailing, abandoning her son at a young age, financially supporting her drunk ex-husband, and refusing the advances of the butler.

"Loose Lips":

Lady Marmalade investigates the murder of a woman responsible of a confectionery that was killed in her home's study possibly by someone from her family, work, or friendship that could have been either outside of or already inside her house.

"Heartless":

Lady Marmalade investigates the murder of a Major that occurs during the dinner held on the train riding to York in which all of the diners, excluding Lady Marmalade, had good reasons for hating the Major and wanting him dead.

"Misery's Company":

Lady Marmalade investigates the murder of a woman through the recalling of the tale by her friend during a dinner held in her home in which everyone wants to outsmart Lady Marmalade and figure out who killed the victim and how.

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Bookworm Digest: "Four Red Diamonds (Lady Marmalade #1-4)"

I loved reading this book. The mysteries just got better and better. I was so enthralled trying to find out who had committed the murders.

I liked all of the mysteries, but I especially liked the last two mysteries; "Heartless" and "Misery's Company". I could totally visualize the story in "Heartless". I could see it being portrayed as a T.V. show. The idea of solving the mystery on a train was great, because this added an extra dose of adrenaline. And the story-within-a-story concept for "Misery's Company" was genius. Once again, I could visualize this mystery as a T.V. show episode.

When I read the first mystery ("Poisoned Heart") I was not able to figure out who the culprit was, and I was a bit disappointed. But then I learned how to look for the clues in the mysteries. I was able to figure out who the culprit was for "Heartless", and I was so excited. I sort-of figured out who the culprit was in "Misery's Company"; I had narrowed it down to two individuals and once I was nearing the end of the story, I realized exactly which one was the culprit.

I noticed that there was always mention of food in the mysteries, which I don't mind. And also, I like how there was mention of events pertaining to the time setting (late 1940s). This was enough distraction from the mysteries and it shows that the book contains good writing and great attention to detail (I can't mention that enough; the attention to detail).

To read my general book review for “Four Red Diamonds (Lady Marmalade #1-4)”, go to: http://bookwormconfidential.tumblr.com/post/53322425509/bookworm-confidential-four-red-diamonds-lady

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One Sentence Description: "The Curiosity: A Novel"

"The Curiosity: A Novel" by Stephen P. Kiernan:

A frozen man who becomes reanimated learns about the present world, and faces different treatment from people, from being seen as a subject of science, a friend, lover, and generally, a curiosity.

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Bookworm Digest: "The Curiosity: A Novel"

The first thing that I thought when I read the description of this book was: "This seems like a modern day "Frankenstein"". This book does have a similar feeling as "Frankenstein", but not always. I think what is similar between the books is that there was someone who was being mistreated. In "Frankenstein", the monster wasn't considered human, yet he did have human emotions. In "The Curiosity: A Novel", Jeremiah is sometimes treated as a scientific subject, and his emotions are not taken into consideration. But I think that other than that, the book is quite different from "Frankenstein".

I like how this book was described as something written by Michael Crichton and "The Time Traveler's Wife", because after I read this book, I thought that this was a very good way of describing the story. I have read novels by Crichton (two actually), and the scientific aspect of this book does sound similar to the scientific aspects found in novels written by Crichton. I have not read "The Time Traveler's Wife", but I think the book is a Romance novel (or at least contains a strong romantic storyline), and in "The Curiosity: A Novel", a woman does fall in love with someone who has "traveled in time". So like I said, this description of the book being a mix of Crichton and "The Time Traveler's Wife" is fitting.

The character of Jeremiah noticed many things that our current society has, and which most of us don't notice because we face it everyday. But if we would take time to really focus on our ways of living, we would notice it too. I think this was what I liked best of the book, that the story focused on how society has changed.

After reading the book, the cover doesn't seem completely right. The cover is applicable to the story, but there are some changes that I think could make the cover better. I think that there should have been boots instead of dress shoes depicted with the outfit. The boots that Jeremiah wore were a very significant item throughout the story. Maybe a yellow tie could have been used too instead, since Jeremiah would always use that yellow tie, and if I'm not mistaken, that tie was also a significant item in the story. And the cane seems weird, because I can't recall Jeremiah ever using one.

To read my general book review for “The Curiosity: A Novel”, go to: http://bookwormconfidential.tumblr.com/post/52653925842/bookworm-confidential-the-curiosity-a-novel