The Chance - A Review

At the age of 15, Ellie Tucker's life is forever changed when her parents' marriage falls apart and her father moves her from Savannah, Georgia to San Diego, California. The night before she leaves, her best friend, Nolan Cook, convinces her that they should write letters to each other, bury the box, and open them together 11 years later. Their reasoning is at least this way they will have one chance to find each other again if they some how don't stay in touch. Eleven years go by, and Ellie is a single mom struggling to make ends meet while Nolan is playing basketball professionally. Neither has forgotten the promise they made at the age of 15. Will they meet up again?

Let me just say that this is very similar to the classic Karen Kingsbury books I've loved for years (When Joy Came to Stay, Oceans Apart, and On Every Side). While I did enjoy the story, I didn't relate to it the way that I did to some of her other books. This book didn't grip me the way that some of her previous titles did. Truthfully, I felt very indifferent about the book. Here is what I liked about it. I loved the message of forgiveness. Karen has always been able to create flawed characters who recognize that they are sinners and seek forgiveness. I loved how Ellie struggled. I loved her daughter (she was actually my favorite character). What I didn't like is this. Nolan was too perfect. It didn't appear that he had any flaws and his life was just too perfect. I can admire the fact that he stayed strong in his faith, but he didn't seem "real". Not with his faith, that obviously came across as genuine, but the depth of his character felt off. After the Bailey Flannigan Series and the final book in the Baxter drama, Coming Home, I was almost ready to stop reading Karen's books. My friend suggested I request this one via NetGalley, and I'm glad I did. I've been able to give Karen another chance at restoring my trust in her as an author. This book was my giving her another chance. It may not make my read again list, but it was good.

I received the Kindle version of this book from Howard Books via NetGalley for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book is due out March 5, 2013.

Recommended to fans of Karen Kingsbury's classic books, Christian fiction, contemporary fiction

Rating - 3 stars, though it's really more of 3.5

A Memory of Light - A Review & Notsalgia

This post is a little different than my normal format for my book reviews. It'll be set up with my long nostalgic walk down memory lane of how I came to discover the Wheel of Time series, then it'll be my normal set up of brief synoposis and review.

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How I came to discover the Wheel of Time Series

I was first introduced to this series in the Spring/Summer of 2000. My co-worker, Laura, had told me that I just had to read this series. I remember her loaning me the first book. And before I'm too far into it, she loans me books two and three as well. So I was like ok, I'll give it a shot. I typically liked the same sort of things that Laura would read and if she was recommending it, it had to be pretty good.

So that summer, I first discovered the world of Robert Jordan and what jokingly became known as "Randland." At this time, books 1-8 were out, so I didn't have to wait for them to read. Sometime around mid July that summer, I told Laura that I didn't think I'd want to read the rest of the series because I wasn't too interested in it. She asked me to try to get through the first three books, and if after that I didn't like it, then ok. So, I'm in the middle of reading the Great Hunt (book 2) when I told her I wasn't too interested in it. But I finished reading it and started the Dragon Reborn (book 3). I was set to head back up to school within a few weeks for my final semester of college and I wanted to decide on whether or not to ask Laura if I could borrow the rest of the books and pack all of them to read at school. All of a sudden things started happening in the book and it was one of those that I couldn't put down! Laura laughed when I asked for the rest of the series to take with me to school.

Once school started, I found myself very little time for reading. I was student teaching and was very busy. I think during that semester, I managed to finish the Shadow Rising (book 4) and Fires from Heaven (book 5). Of course I'd have questions. So I would email Laura pretty much weekly with questions as to why did Rand do that or which Forsaken was still alive. Or what did Min's viewings or Egwene's dreams mean. Things like that. I have to admire how patient Laura was with me as she answered what questions she could. Others she'd tell me that I'd find out later in this book and to just wait. That was really hard for me - the waiting that is. I'm the girl who likes to read the ending first because I want to know what will happen!

Thankfully for me, since I got into the series late, books 1-8 were already out when I started reading them. Winter's Heart (book 9) came out shortly after I graduated from college. Laura read it, and then passed it onto me.Then the waiting began. Crossroads of Twilight (book 10) came out in 2003. I'd forgotten everything I'd read in the other books and had to reread them - though I started with book 3 when I reread them. After the excitement of Winter's Heart, I found Crossroads of Twilight to be a disappointment. I mean nothing happened (at least nothing really major)! Book 11, Knife of Dreams, came out in 2005, and once again I had to reread. By this point, my favorite character of the three ta'veren (Mat, Perrin, and Rand) was in fact Mat. He just a lot more interesting to read about after what happens to him in book 3 and then again in book 5! So when he got left in a very critical situation at the end of book 7 and he didn't make an appearance at all in book 8, I was like REALLY!!!!

Then Robert Jordan died. I knew that there was supposed to be only one book left in the series when Jordan died. Like many fans, I wondered if somehow, someway, the series would be finished. Or would the fans never know if Rand was successful in the Last Battle. Or if Mat's luck stayed with him. Or just what was happening with Perrin and the rest of the characters we'd come to know over so many books. Then word came out that Brandon Sanderson was going to be working with Jordan's widow, the publisher, and using all of Jordan's notes to finish writing the series. I couldn't be more thrilled. One of my friends had introduced me to Sanderson's books, and I loved them. Then word came out that the final book of the Wheel of Time Series - A Memory of Light - was going to be split into three books - The Gathering Storm (book 12), Towers of Midnight (book 13), and Memory of Light (book 14). Knowing that Sanderson wasn't Jordan, and couldn't be Jordan, I was just grateful to have the series finished (at last) that I was happy to read the books. I think that Sanderson did a good job in writing the final volumes of the series and filling in the gaps that were in Jordan's notes.

This time, when the books came out, I didn't have to do a massive reread. I'd found a site online that offered the summaries of the books, so whatever I'd forgotten, I was able to catch back up quickly and enjoy the books.

Now onto my review....

Book synoposis and my review

 The Last Battle has arrived. The forces of the Light gather on the fields of Merrilor while Rand al Thor, the Dragon Reborn himself, heads to Shayol Ghull to face the Dark One in a battle for the world. Perrin heads to the wolf dream to fight Slayer. Mat heads south, away from the upcoming battle, to the Seanchan troops in Ebu Dar to reunite with his wife. The Aes Seadi under the leadership of Amyrlin Egwene al 'Vere are prepared to throw all they have the behind the Dragon Reborn. Never has the world been so desperate and hope for survival depends solely on the outcome of Rand's fight.

This book was full of action. And deaths. The Last Battle itself really does fill the majority of the book. There were several things I was happy to find out. Demandred's location was finally known. Several of Min's viewings come to pass and it was great to see Mat, Perrin, and Rand all fight on different battlefronts, each tailored to his own strengths. Yes there are some deaths. Quite a few actually. Of the three major character deaths, only one of them really surprised me. And the way that character dies is pretty awesome! Where all the loose ends tied up? No. But the major threads were tied up. And I'm ok with that.

I read this book for pure pleasure. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of fantasy, Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, George R. R. Martin, Brandon Sanderson

Rating - I've debated between four and five stars for this. Mainly because the 5 star reviews are trying to counter the 1 star reviews of it not being out on the Kindle right now. In my opinion it's really a more of a 4.5 star rating than anything else. So for amazon purposes, 4 stars.

Broken Wings - A Review

Brielle's life changed forever when she learned that she could see through the Terrestrial Veil into the realm that only angels and demons can see. Now just a few months after her encounter with forces of evil, she's seeing her life fall apart around her. Her father has started drinking again. Her boyfriend is keeping something from her. And there's a mystery surrounding her mother's death. Brielle encounters giant angels with knife blades on their wings. But she's not the only one who can see them. The Terrestrial Veil is thinning and once again Brielle must fight. But she's so broken that she can't fly. Will darkness overcome?

The second book in the Angel Eyes Trilogy, picks up a few months after the conclusion of Angel Eyes. Brielle's grown quite a bit in this book - both in her faith and as a character. I think my favorite character in this book is her spunky friend Kaylee. Kaylee really developed into her role and I loved seeing it. There didn't seem to be as much action as in the first book, but overall this was still a great book.

I received this book for free from Thomas Nelson's booksneeze program for the purpose of reviewing. My thughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of Frank Peretti, Heather Burch, parents seeking an alternative to Twilight.

Rating - 4 stars

Picture Perfect - A Review

Hannah McDermott wants to be Galveston Island's premiere wedding photographer and the one that Bella Neely refers to her brides. The problem? That spot is currently held by the handsome Drew Kincaid. As Hannah deals with a bridezilla,  she and Drew find out that they have more in common than just photography. Toss in the Italian Rossi family, the gang from Splendora, a best friend, and a movie star, and Picture Perfect will delight the reader with humor and grace.

It was so much fun to revisit Bella and the gang at Club Wed in this brand new series. I actually enjoyed seeing how Hannah struggles with her feeling of inadequacy and seeing Bella (who struggled with some of those same feelings in the Weddings by Bella series) talk Hannah through those issues. I found Drew to be delightful. While this particular book wasn't quite as funny as some of the other ones in either the Weddings by Bella series or the Backstage Pass series, I did find myself thoroughly enjoying it. It was a fast read for me.

I received the Kindle edition for free from the publisher, Revell Books via NetGalley for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of romantic comedy, Krista McGee, Mary Connealy, and chick-lit.

Rating - 4 stars

Available February, 2013 at your favorite bookstore from Revell Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group.

Rebekah - A Review

When her father dies, Rebekah's hope for a husband rests with her brother Laban selecting one for her. Yet as time passes and he does nothing, she wonders if she's meant for something else. The unexpected visitor from Abraham arrives seeking Rebekah for a wife for his master's son Issac. Rebekah departs to marry a cousin she'd never met. As she begins her life as wife to the promised one, she has no idea just how much her life will change. Or how deeply the birth of her own twin sons will tear a rift between Issac and herself. Will Issac forgive her?

The story of Issac and  Rebekah is told in the book of Genesis. Yet anytime that I read Biblical fiction, I enjoy getting a glimpse into the details that we aren't told in Scripture. Details are left up to the author's imagination. The author did a good job of describing how life might have been like living in tents and moving from field to field as a community of shepherds. The book helps to give life and breath to Biblical characters that we really only know from what we read in the Bible.

Was the book good? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Yes again. But to be perfectly honest, and this has nothing to do with the author's writing or the story itself, I wasn't in the mood to read this genre once I'd gotten about a fourth of the way finished with the book. So I put the book down for several days and read other things. Even when I picked it up again, I still wasn't in the mood to read it, but I finished. And I'm pleased to say that I did not let my mood hamper my review of the book. I just know that I'll be taking a break from Biblical fiction for a long time.

I received this book for free from the publisher Revell Books for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of Biblical fiction.

Rating -4 stars

Available in February 2013 at your local bookstore from Revell Books, a division of Baker Publishing Group.




Join the author, Jill Eileen Smith, on Tuesday February 19th at 7:00 pm EST for a live interactive video chat session to chat about the book. Additional information can be found below.

Join best-selling author Jill Eileen Smith as she presents ten facts and/or possibilities you might not know about the Patriarch Isaac's wife Rebekah. Do you have a question about the people in the Bible you've always wanted to ask? Jill will take questions about biblical characters, biblical fiction, and about any of her books in the Wives of the Patriarchs or Wives of King David series. So please, plan to join us!

Please RSVP here. 

Fundraiser for Anna Joy

Hello my wonderful blog readers. This month, I am not going to do a giveaway. I have something else in mind that will bless you far more than me giving away a book. Plus it's a chance to help out a child receive a miracle.

Meet Anna and the miracle she needs

My cousin Amy has a 5 year old daughter who joined our family this past summer. Anna Joy was born in China. Anna is such a sweetheart. I've only met her one time, but she's precious! Anna is deaf. In fact, she has a very rare form of deafness called bilateral Michel's Aplasia which is where her inner ears did not form properly before she was born.

There is a surgery, called Auditory Brainstem Implants, that may help Anna be able to hear. Anna is a candidate for this surgery, only she just missed the age cut off to have it here in the United States. There is a doctor in Italy who preforms this surgery on children, but does so only twice a year, and there was an opening for this February. Through an amazing and miraculous turn of events, God has provided the funds for the travel to Italy and the initial payment for Anna's surgery! My uncle, Amy, and Anna are in Italy right now as I write this.

The miracle that is needed is the funds for Anna's surgery. The surgery is very expensive and without help, there is no way that Amy or her parents could afford it. One of Amy's friends has set up a fundraiser of t-shirts for sale with the proceeds all going into a fund for Anna's surgery.

You can follow along on Anna's story here. 


I wanted to do something to help out too. I purchased one of the t-shirts, but also wanted to help out beyond just that. The idea I describe below came to me and together so quickly that I know it was from God. Having never run a Mary Kay Fundraiser, I didn't know what to do. I have a friend who has just successfully completed a fundraiser with lip glosses and a donation to her local battered women's shelter in memory of a co-worker who was murdered. I texted my friend to get the details of how she did it. This was late last night. She texted me back to tell me what all she did, and I thought "I can do that too. Only I'll sell hand cream instead of lip gloss."

Here's how you can help

I will be selling Mary Kay Fragrance Free Hand Creams for $12 each. This price includes tax and shipping if I need to mail it to you. $5 from each hand cream will be donated to Anna's Surgery Fund. I am making no profit off of these.

Provides 24-hour moisturization in a fragrance-free formula.

• Luxurious formula absorbs quickly.
• Provides a protective layer on hands that lasts through several hand washings.
• Clinically tested for skin irritancy and allergy.
• Dermatologist-tested.

The hand cream is one of the best selling items Mary Kay has in it's line. The fragrance free hand cream is great for men, women, or children.

The hand cream is great for you or as a gift for someone else. 

My goal is to raise $300 for Anna's Surgery. Which means I need to sell at least 60 hand creams.

To order one (or several), please leave a comment with your name and an email address I can reach you. Or if you want, you may email me directly at dawn(dot)janis(at)gmail(dot)com.

Do not order these from my website as this is something I am offering out of my own personal inventory and not directly through Mary Kay.

I will take cash, check, or credit cards. If you are worried about your credit card being secure, let me assure you that I run the cards through a secure connection and if you want to pay via credit card, then you can let me know when I contact you.

If you are local (Houston area) I will be delivering the hand cream personally. If you are out of town, I will ship it to you. I will deliver to you, arrange to meet you somewhere, or ship to you once my current order 60 hand creams arrives, which should be the early part of next week as the order was just placed this afternoon.

I will run this fundraiser until March 14th (so I can make deposits at the bank), and will place a final hand cream order with Mary Kay on March 15th.

Remember that I am not making any profit off of this! All proceeds will go towards Anna's surgery!

Please feel free to share this on FB, Twitter, etc. And please prayerfully consider how you can help.

A Year in the Life of a Hogwarts Student - Task 2 Diagon Alley

Continuing on in the saga of the year in the life of a Hogwarts Student, the second task we were given was our trip to Diagon Alley.

Here is the prompt we were given.

I remember the day my mother took me shopping ahead of my first year at Hogwarts. Of course I had visited Diagon Alley before but I had been impatient to go to Hogwarts for such a long time... finally the school year was looming ahead.

It's now time for you, future students to make the trip to buy school supplies.

Pick one of the prompts below

Prompts

• You go to Ollivander to buy your wand. Write about how the wand chooses you and what it means to you. You may use your Pottermore wand if you have one.

• Describe an unexpected meeting with a known HP character on the street. You may use characters that are dead by the end of DH.

• To find the perfect pet you visit Eeylops Owl Emporium & Magical Menagerie.

Requirements

• Number of words: between 500-1050
• Entries should be anonymous, so don't use any identifying elements in your story.

And here is my entry. I'm continuing the story of the girl from the first entry -the Letter.

Prompt – to find the perfect pet, visit Eeylops Owl Emporium & Magical Menagerie

Words 500-1050

I was still in shock about everything Mom told me about Dad. He was a wizard. And that made me a witch!  Mom told me to reply back to the school that yes I would be attending Hogwarts. I wrote the letter and sent it with the owl that appeared to take it back to the school.

“Kaylee,” Mom announced over supper one night. “We have to go to London. This list of items you need, there’s no way we can find that here. Besides I know it’s what your father would want for you.”

“London,” I exclaimed. “You mean I actually get to go to England?!” I was excited. The furthest from our home I’d ever been was my grandparents’ house in Seattle. Of course, that wasn’t too far as we lived in a small town in Oregon.

I spent the rest of the week packing things to take with me to school. We’d decided to make a vacation of the trip. We’d go to London a couple of weeks before I had to leave for school and be tourists. Then we’d try to find this place, Diagon Alley, where I needed to buy my supplies. Mom was hoping that there would be someone around who could help us.

Our first few days in London were a whirlwind of activities. We visited Buckingham Palace, Dickens House, and all of the other tourist attractions. Of course Mom turned it into an educational trip for me by making sure that I visited the homes of some classic authors as well as a couple of museums. I was fascinated. This was a whole new experience for me.

The day to get my supplies finally arrived. I was set to board the Hogwarts Express in 3 days. So we knew it was time to figure out how I was going to get my supplies. There was a sweet old woman at the hotel we were staying at who gave us directions to this pub called the Leaky Cauldron. She told us that Muggles couldn’t see it. I immediately was concerned that Mom wouldn’t be able to come with me, but the lady reassured me that as my parent, my mother would be able to see it as well.

The Leaky Cauldron wasn’t like any other pub we’d seen so far in London. It was dark. And inside, all sorts of strange people were talking and laughing.

“Excuse us,” Mom said as she went up to the bar. “We’re trying to get to Diagon Alley to get the school supplies my daughter needs. Do you think you can help us?”

The old barman looked at my mother and then looked at me. He studied us for several minutes and then said, “The entrance is through that door over there. But if this is her first time, you’ll need to use your wand to tap the bricks.”

“Oh my,” Mom said with a worried expression. “Kaylee doesn’t have a wand. And I’m not magical. My late husband was a wizard though. I’m not sure how we’ll be able to tap the bricks.”

“Hey,” the barman called to a gentleman heading towards the door. “They’re doing ‘ogwarts shopping and need into the Alley. Let’em come with you.”

The gentleman nodded and Mom and I followed him into a room of bricks. The man pulled out a stick and tapped lightly on the bricks and we watched in awe as a doorway opened.

“Wow,” I muttered as I gripped tight to Mom’s hand. It was a little scary to suddenly be away from all that I was familiar with.

“Thank you sir,” Mom told the man and he grunted in response.

“Now, let’s see,” she continued looking over the list of items on my school list. “Robes, books, cauldron, potion ingredients, wand. I know! Let’s start over there!”

I followed her hand in the direction she waved. A sign caught my eye – Eeylops Owl Emporium and Magical Menagerie.

Mom knew me so well. I loved animals of all kinds. I’m sure was remembering how I approached the owl that brought my letter to me and was afraid of it. She always said I’d grow to be a veterinarian or something like that.

“All right sweetheart, you go on in there and look for a pet. Remember you’re allowed a cat, a rat, a toad, or an owl. Find the animal you like the best and wait for me there. I will go over to that bank over there because I’m pretty sure that the dollars we exchanged at the airport for pounds won’t be good here,” she told me. I was already moving towards the shop.

There were animals everywhere! I was thrilled to be around them. Mom hadn’t really let me have a pet of my own at home, but we still had animals around. I wandered around the shop contemplating my decision as to which pet I’d like. I didn’t care for toads. And rats scared my mom. An owl would be practical. Because then I could use it to write to Mom. But for some reason, I didn’t want an owl. I didn’t want to be practical.

Almost of their of violation, my feet carried me to the corner where the cats were. Small ones. Big ones. Striped ones. Cats with funny colors. Some with tails. Others without.  In a matter of minutes I was on the floor and had several of them in my arms.

“Have you found one then,” the salesclerk asked me after about 45 minutes.

I looked up from the orange calico in my lap and smiled when I said, “Yes. This one.”

“What a great choice,” the woman said as she put the others back in their boxes. “Cats can be a great companion for a Hogwarts student.”

I followed the woman to the front of the store and found my mother waiting for me.

“A cat,” she said with a smile. “And a cute one too. What are you going to call it?”

“Truffle,” I said as my new kitty snuggled up to my neck purring loudly. “She looks like a caramel truffle.”

Mom laughed, paid the woman for the cat, the basket, and food. We then headed back out into Diagon Alley to continue my shopping.

************************************

So there we go. Entry two. I'm having so much fun with this series of tasks. When I think about it, I'll post my third entry. Since on the Harry Potter site, we're up to entry 8.


Please feel free to leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers!

Getaway Girlz - A Review

Vivian Taylor is shocked when her marriage collapses. So what does she do? She calls one of her best friends. Before she knows it, Vivian, and her best friends - Lucy, Kate, and Wendy are on a plane headed for a much needed girls getaway in Mexico. Planning to spend a week on the beach, the girls aren't expecting to be drawn into an investigation of the murder of a young man they'd met on the beach, let alone have one of them be accused of the murder. Determined to clear the name of one of them and to find the real killer, the girls begin an investigation of their own. They have a list of suspects, but the authorities don't take them seriously. Will they be stuck in Mexico indefinitely?

Let me just say that if I hadn't been asked to read this book by the brother of one of the authors, I probably wouldn't have read it. It's not my typical style and genre. That said, I was drawn into the story pretty quickly. The characters are fun and quirky. I love the friendship between the girls. I also love how they are determined to make sure that they take care of each other. The plot twists were intriguing. I loved how the girls were determined to find the killer and gave everyone nicknames on their suspect list. There is quite a lot of humor in the book. Yet there is also a lot of language and drinking in the book too. So if language and drinking offends you, then I don't recommend this to you. However, if it doesn't bother you, you may just enjoy this book. Would I read other things by this author? Maybe. I did grow a bit attached to Lucy, Kate, Wendy, and Vivian.

Recommend to fans of a good beach read, adventure and suspense, and chick lit.

I read this book at the request of a childhood friend of mine, the brother of one of the authors. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Rating - I struggled with deciding how many stars to rate it. In my opinion it is really, for me at least, a 3.5 star rating. So for Amazon purposes it's 4 stars.

Clouds - A Review

Flight attendant Shelly Graham moves back to her childhood home because of downsizing at the LA offices of the airline she works for. Her move back home opens up a Pandora's box of memories of her first - and only - love Jonathan. When Shelly accompanies her sister Meredith onto a trip to Germany, she doesn't expect to run into Jonathan again. Yet she does. To her surprise, he's engaged. Lost and confused, Shelly reconnects with God in a way that she never had before. Shelly begins to wonder if there is someone out there for her. Can she trust that God can make even the impossible seem possible?

I've read this book several times. In the past, this has been my least favorite of the Glenbrooke books. Yet I read it with different eyes this time. Maybe because I'm older, I can appreciate Shelly's soul-searching more. There is a very nostalgic feel to this book that is different than the others in the Glenbrooke Series. I still love Robin Jones Gunn's books and am always thrilled to read - or reread - them! This time around though, I picked up on the dynamics between Shelly and Meredith. Meredith told Shelly how she felt that she pushed others away and Shelly took that to heart and tried to change. It's probably still my least favorite of the Glenbrooke books, but it is a relaxing read.

I received this book for free from Waterbrook/Multnomah's Blogging for Books program for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommend to fans of contemporary romance, Christy Miller, Robin Jones Gunn, Karen Kingsbury.

Rating - 4 stars

Please rank my review.

Bible Stories that End with a Hug - A Review

75 beautifully illustrated Bible stories that are very very simple. Each story contains a memory verse, a very short story, and a couple of questions that can help children understand a specific concept about God. Each story also has a spot to hug your child and let them know that God loves them.


I was captivated by the pictures from the first story. The stories are simple with only a few verses to it. They are written in a way that young children should easily understand them. I loved how this book actually encourages parents to read the Bible to their children. Some of the questions may be too hard for the youngest children to understand, but when a parent is able to start laying spiritual foundations, I think that the children will begin to grasp it.

I received this book for free from Tyndale for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommend to parents of young children, Sunday School teachers.

Rating  4 stars

I gave this book to my best friend and her family so that they could read it to their daughters. Here is a video that is a typical Bedtime Bible Story night. Thanks Doug & Lynnette for allowing me to show the bedtime routine.

Quandary

Ok so I'm in the midst of a quandary. I'm reading several books right now, and one of the ones is one I'm reviewing. Doesn't sound like too much of a problem right? Well here's the problem. I'm not in the mood to read that particular genre right now. Obviously I will have to finish the book - especially since I've got a certain date to post the review by - but I'm going to have to try really hard to not let my mood affect my review. And that's my quandary.

What am I reading right now? Well there's one secular fantasy book, a Christian fantasy, a beach read, and a Biblical fiction one. Plus I'm about to start a contemporary romance to review. So which one is giving me trouble?

Secular Fantasy - A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

I'm really enjoying this final volume in the Wheel of Time saga. I started reading that series 13 years ago and finally we're going to find out the answer to one of the most important questions - Will Rand be successful?

 Christian Fantasy - Judge by R.J. Larson

Book two in the Books of the Infinite Series, find Kien and Ela heading in opposite directions. It's fun to see the Old Testament prophets appear as some of the character traits of both Kien and Ela.

Beach Read - Getaway Girlz by Joan Rylen (Kindle book)

Four college friends take a trip to Mexico when the marriage of one of the four falls apart. The sister of one of my elementary/jr high/high school friends is the author. So I'd promised him ages ago that I'd read his sister's book and review it.

Biblical Fiction - Rebekah by Jill Eileen Smith

Book 2 in the Wives of the Patriarchs Series tells the story of Isaac and Rebekah. I'd just finished reading Sarai, the first book in this series. I'm not very far into it, but it is nice to see these Bible characters have more personality than what we get in Scripture.

Contemporary Romance - Clouds by Robin Jones Gunn

Ah Glenbrooke. I still plan on moving there someday. It's my favorite fictional town. This is Shelly and Jonathan's love story. It's been a while since I read this and I've not actually started it yet.

So do you think I'll be able to review the book, Rebekah, without letting my mood of being so done with that genre not get in my way? I hope so. I really do. Because it's not fair to the author for me to not attempt to give the book my total and complete honest opinion. But I can promise that it will be hard to do. I do know that I'll take a break from most historical fiction/Biblical fiction for a bit and maybe then I'll be back in the mood to read it. So how do you be fair in a review when you're not in the mood to read that genre anymore? That's my biggest quandary.