Saturday Scribbles Vol 2.2

Happy Saturday morning my friends! I learned something new yesterday at work. I learned how to set a specific folder on a specific drive to be the default when the program (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) is opened. You see, one of the computer classrooms at work got new computers for the entire room. So that meant that all of the defaults were now back at factory settings. And in these computer classrooms, we don't want the students hunting through the network drive to find the files or to save things. So I learned how to do that. It was really rather simple to do too.

I've been stalking my mailbox all week. I was expecting to get Jody Hedlund's newest book, Undaunted Hope, in before January started. But they were delayed at the publisher. So everyday this week, I've had fun conversations with my mail carrier. I stopped by yesterday and she told me she's got the package I was waiting on. Needless to say, I was excited. She proceeds to hand me not one, not two, but six packages of books! And UPS had left notices on my door that I had packages in the office both Thursday and Friday. So that's 8 packages of books! I really wasn't expecting them to all show up the same day. Here's my haul.

From the author:

• Jody Hedlund's newest Undaunted Hope
• Regina Jenning's newest At Love's Bidding
• Karen Witemeyer's newest novella in the collection With This Ring

Those three are all ones that I'm part of the author's influence team for.

The prize I won during the Seekerville (one of the blogs I follow) New Year Eve's bash:

• Julie Lessman's Isle of Hope. See, I've already read this one. The actual prize was an ebook of it, but since she knew that I'd already gotten it, she agreed to let me have a paperback copy so it can join her other books on my shelf. This is the book that she named a character after me in too.

My normal books to review that I actually requested:

• Brooklyn on Fire from  Waterbrook. This one's a mystery and it'll be a new to me author. So I'm looking forward to reading it.
• Irene Hannon's newest Thin Ice from Revell. 
• Tracie Peterson/Kimberly Woodhouse's new one, Beyond the Silence from Bethany House
• Susan May Warren's conclusion to the Christiansen Family series, You're the One that I Want from Tyndale. 

It's been a long time since I had this many books arrive on the same day! I'll probably start with Jody's first. I have a feeling my mom and my cousin will probably want to read Susan's and Irene's.

So my library books I have out will either take a backseat or become a priority. I've not decided yet.

Until We Meet Again - A Review

Published - November 2015, Sourcebooks Fire
Author - Renee Collins
Title - Until We Meet Again
Format - ebook, hardcover
Find on Amazon

Cassandra has no choice but to spend the summer with her family at beach house in Massachusetts. She craves adventure not garden parties and country clubs. When she meets a mysterious young man on her family's private beach claiming that the property is his, her world is rocked. Cassandra and Lawrence find themselves swept into a mystery that is 100 years in the making. He's from 1925 and she lives in the present. As the two get to know each other, they discover the dangers of messing with time. Cassandra finds out that Lawrence's life is in jeopardy, but if she changes the past what will the effects be on the future?

I don't read a lot of time travel novels, but this one piqued my interest. It was a quick read and I found myself engrossed in the story pretty early on.

The time travel concept was unique in this story from any I've ever read. I actually kind of liked it that way. It made the book more fascinating. One of my favorite scenes was when Cassandra recognized the danger of her association with Lawrence and the ripple effect it had on her timeline, and she tried to stay away. I did enjoy the research she put into attempting to save Lawrence. And the parts that were told from Lawrence's point of view reminded me of an elegant time that is no more. I guess that was the point.

I did feel that Cassandra could have used a little more depth to her. But if the author's intention was to have her come across as a bratty teenager, she succeeded. I'll admit that the book didn't end the way I was hoping, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't good!

I'd recommend this book to fans of young adult literature and time travel novels.

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

Recommended to fans of young adult, time travel

Rating - 4 stars

Friends and Enemies: A WWII Romance - A Review

Published - January 2016, HopeSprings Books
Series: Promise for Tomorrow Book 1
Author - Terri Wangard
Title - Friends and Enemies
Format - ebook, paper
Find on Amazon

Heidi Wetzel's life changes forever when she receives word that her husband's submarine was sunk and that he was killed. Already wary of the Nazi Party, Heidi has to be careful. Her parents send her to the farm of a family friend to help care for the evacuated children in rural war-torn West Germany. There she finds new life in caring for the children, but still must be careful as neighbors delight in reporting activities to the Gestapo. Paul Braedal's wife dies suddenly while he is training for the US Army's Air Corps. When he returns to duty, he begins training as a navigator having lost his zest for life. Other than causing his parents grief should he be killed, he really doesn't care whether he lives or dies. When he and his crew are shot down over Germany, Paul evades capture and for the first time since his wife's death, clearly hears God's voice telling him to find Heidi. Setting out to find the woman who was the best friend of his late wife, Paul manages to find Heidi. She agrees to help him, and together they come up with a plan to get him to France and then back to England. Yet when they are betrayed, Heidi realizes she must go with him or risk the lives of all she has come to love.

This book was good. It was very easy to read. I thought that it was probably written at a lower level than most WWII books I've read. I honestly wasn't too invested into the characters until about a fourth of the way through. Then I wanted to know more.

It's not the typical WWII book I've come to expect. But that is probably because the author is one who is new to me. She does lace her writing with humor. And her research was well done. I'll probably read the next one in the series.

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

Recommended to fans of WWII fiction

Rating - 3.75 stars, rounded up to 4. It got better as it went along.

Top Ten Tuesday - Top Ten Bookish Resolutions for 2016

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke & the Bookish

This week is the first Top Ten of the new year. And like any new year, this one is about resolutions whether they are personal or book related. I mentioned in my Saturday Scribbles that I don't really do resolutions, I do goals. So I decided to list my top ten book related goals for 2016.

1. Read (and record on Goodreads) 200 books this year. Last year I read 188, that I remembered to track. This year, I want to track all of them. You can follow my progress by watching the tracking bar on the left of the blog. 

2. I will not request any other books off of NetGalley until I have finished the 10 books I requested last year and forgot about. This does not include the NetGalley copies I get from publishers I already review for.

3. I will utilize my library more. Even if it's just requesting ebooks, I really do forget about my library. 

4. I will read at least one book a month that's just for fun. What I mean by that is that I won't read only books I need to review. I need some down time just for me and to read something that I want to read (not that my review titles aren't ones I want to read). Which means, chances are those books will be rereads.

5. I will offer one giveaway every quarter. And remember to mail the books off.

6. I will venture out of my comfort zone this year and attempt (key word here is attempt) to read one nonfiction book this year. Maybe Lynnette and I can read one together?

7. I will try new authors. I love discovering new to me authors, so I'm willing to try some more. Because my favorites are the ones that I typically request to review or end up buying.

And there you have it. My top ten, well seven rather, bookish resolutions. 

Saturday Scribbles Vol 2.1

It's the first Saturday of the new year! Happy New Year my friends. This is going to be short today simply because I forgot what I wanted to write about.

I'm working on a blanket for a friend of mine. I've been working on it for months, and I'm almost finished with it. I should finish today. I'd meant to have it to her BEFORE her baby was born in October or November, but that didn't happen. Why? I wasn't in a mood to crochet. I am right now, at the moment. So I was watching Stargate SG1 yesterday and worked on it. Evidently Season 4 is one season I can crochet through.

I've come to the realization that I don't make resolutions. I don't keep them. I've learned to set goals instead. Small goals, large goals. In fact right now, I've got a couple of Mary Kay goals I'm working on. The big one is to earn enough stamps in my passport to go on the cruise next November. So I'm focusing on a minimum of 15 faces each month to do so. I've managed to figure out how to do it. This month, I want 30 faces. I've got a new customer booked for a facial on January 10, so I'm excited about that.

Anyway, happy New Year!

Winter - A Review

Published - November 2015, Feiwel & Friends
Series - Lunar Chronicles Book 4
Author - Marissa Meyer
Title - Winter
Format - ebook, hardcover, audio
Find on Amazon

Princess Winter sees things that no one else does. She's crazy, and so Levana's court find her entertaining and harmless. Yet the people love her, despite her beauty being marred by three scars on her face. Since she's not of the royal line, Levana doesn't see her as a threat until her popularity with the people begins to threaten Levana's already precarious position as queen. After all, she's got enough on her hands - a wedding to Earth's Eastern Commonwealth emperor, a galaxy to take over, and a rebellion to stop - that she plots to do away with her stepdaughter. Only a determined palace guard can keep Winter from harm, but she has to trust him with not only her life, but Scarlet's as well. Can Winter escape the palace in time to assist Cinder with the revolution?

Talk about a dramatic conclusion! The stories that began in Cinder, Scarlet, and Cress come to a beautiful conclusion in this final book in the Lunar Chronicles. While this volume is really the retelling of Snow White, the stories of the others are continued as well. At last we learn if Cinder's attempt to reclaim her birthright is successful.

While I wish that this book had more of Scarlet and Wolf (my favorite couple), I didn't mind it too much that they were more minor characters. After all, they each had a purpose to fulfill in this one. I loved both Cress and Kai in this book. I loved how Cress was determined to do her part even though she was separated from the others. And Kai. Well let's just say that I came to really like the young Earthen emperor.

Like the others in the series, the chapters are short. There are various points of view (Cinder, Winter, Kai, Jacin among them) and they each together told the story. The fairy tale elements of Snow White are in it too - the poisoned apple, the huntsman who couldn't kill her, the young princess more beautiful than her wicked stepmother, and this is stretching it slightly the seven dwarfs (meaning Winter's friends of Cinder, Kai, Scarlet, Wolf, Cress, Thorne, and Iko). Yet while the elements of the fairy tale are there, I loved the way that the author made it her own. The characters are strong and developed.

There was action. Lots of action. Battles. Weddings. Coronations. Plans that went wrong. Because after all, Levana won't make it easy for Cinder to claim her rightful throne. But what I picked up more in this book than in any of the others was that Luna seemed similar to Panem by the way it was arranged in sectors (think districts for Panem). Each sector provided the capitol with a different resource, and Cinder had to unite all of them together.

This was an easy series for me to enjoy. I ADORE fairy tales. While the covers of the books reminded me of the Twilight Saga (that was probably done on purpose), these books are a much higher caliber than Twilight. And while the ending is one I can live with, I'm thrilled to know that in February, there will be a collection of short stories called Stars Above which will include the ever important epilogue for Winter that is the wedding of the century! Whose wedding? Well, I know which one I'm hoping for.

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

Recommended to fans of Hunger Games, fairy tales, Marissa Meyer, young adult

Rating - 5 stars

Heirloom Brides - A Review

Published - November 2015, Barbour Books
Authors - Tracey Bateman, Joanne Bischof, Kim Vogel Sawyer, Mona Hodgson
Title - The Heirloom Brides Collection
Format - ebook, paper
Find on Amazon

In this collection of four novellas, four different women find love while each has a "heirloom" item.

Something Old by Tracey Bateman
Summary: Betsy and her grandfather are at the general store when an ice storm delays them. When her grandfather slips on the ice and has to recover, Betsy is forced to admit that her grandfather kept secrets from her that include the fact that she's now homeless! Wanting to reclaim her grandfather's watch, she begins seeking work to repay his debts. Along the way, she's forced to admit her feelings for the son of the mercantile's owner.

My thoughts: This was ok. I've read better. I've read worse. I really enjoyed the secondary characters. Still it was a quick read. Rating - 3 stars.

Something New by Joann Bischof
Summary: Wren's family has had to take in boarders to make ends meet since her doctor father passed away. When the young man who stole her heart years ago returns, Wren is determined to let him go. Only she doesn't realize that he's building her a new home and hoping to marry her!

My thoughts: I think I liked this one the best of all of them. I loved getting to know Wren. I loved that her heirloom item appeared to be the seeds from her British grandmother, when in fact it was a home of her own. Rating - 4 stars

Something Borrowed by Kim Vogel Sawyer
Summary: When Clara's father is injured felling a tree, she must seek help from their neighbors. Painfully shy, and already assuming that she's a spinster, Clara must learn to set aside her fears and reach out to her community, even accepting the "borrowed" help from her nearest neighbor. And of course love happens when she lets down her walls.

My thoughts: This one was different. I loved the fact that the something borrowed was a person and not an object. But watching Clara struggle to  join into her community tore at my heart. Rating - 4 stars.

Something Blue by Mona Hodgson
Summary: Darla arrives back in Cripple Creek hoping to start fresh. She's a nurse now, and while she expects there to be bad feelings between one of the doctors at the hospital, she's hoping that she can just go about doing her job. She doesn't expect to be sent on home visits. Or to be utterly captivated by three little girls and their widowed father, who happens to be a patient of hers. Yet she is. But when her past rears its ugly head, will Darla let go of it once and for all?

My thoughts: It was nice to return to Cripple Creek. I can't say that I really cared much for Darla, though the children stole the show. It was a quick read. Rating - 3 stars

Overall thoughts:
Novellas are a hit and miss with me most of the time. Some are better written than others. Some I'll enjoy more than others. But for people who enjoy quick stories, then novella collections are for them. I do enjoy them, don't get me wrong. But sometimes I like a little more meat.

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

Overall book rating - 3.5 stars, rounded to 3