The Director by David Ignatius
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I won this book on Goodreads and to be honest it is not my usual kind of genre and it was a little tricky getting through it but once I got into the middle it flowed fairly well and I started to get more into it. Def a good read.

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Review: The Paperbark Shoe - Goldie Goldbloom

Genre: Historical Fiction

Format: Trade Paperback/ARC

ISBN: 9780312674502

Pages: 384

Published: March 2011

Rating: 3/5 Stars

I really wanted to love this book. I did, but I didn't. I was up and down throughout the whole book. It truly was a great story about Australia during WWII and the effects on the Italian prisoners and I loved the whole story but there were things that just didn't hold me up. I kept saying "This is great" and I keep going and then I would hit a stump and be saying "how much longer?". I just kept staying unfocused and many points just weren't holding me.

I truly feel in love with Mudsey though and she was the best part of the whole book. I just felt so sorry and so proud of her. She just wanted to be loved and just wasn't getting what she truly deserved. But she said strong all throughout and even though she seemed so strong she had a "kid" moments which was amazing. If you are going to read this just keep in mind that it may fall off at times but it is still a good story.

Review: Half Broke Horses - Jeannette Walls

Genre: True Life Novel

ISBN: 9781416586289 ARC

Pages: 265

Format: Oversized Trade Paperack

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Work Book Club Read for April/May

Can't say I was a big fan of this book. The Glass House was a decent read and it was more captivating then this one. I think this book should have came out first. It seems like The Glass Castle would have been a good sequel to this.

Half Broke Horses is about Jeannette's grandmother and although it is an interesting story I was not all too thrilled to read it. It was kinda flat at times and just didn't make me feel like anything after or even while I was reading it. Her grandmother, Lily, was a super strong women and was way before her time and her life was truly interesting but the written story just didn't seem to so Lily's life justice. I feel that Jeannette, although it would seem difficult, should have written it a little better but I do understand that she is writing the story from a different perspective. I am sure sitting down and talking with Lily would have been far more greater than reading it.

Review: The Tiger's Wife - Tea Obreht

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 338

ISBN: 9780385343831

Format: Trade Paperback ARC

Published: March 2011

Rating: 3.5/5 Stars

Another win from Goodreads! First, i would like to say that Tea is in her mid-twenties and already writes like she has seen it all! She is a great storyteller and can really invite and pull in the reader. I just love how she have real identities to the people in the story. Of course my favorite story were of the Deathless Man.

The Tiger's Wife is about a young girl named Natalia who is a doctor and she is in a Balkan country. She was very close with her grandfather and he passes away and she just goes back and forth from past to present and remembers him and the great and beautiful stories he has told her. I love Natalia and her grandfather's closeness. It is tender and real. The whole book reads like poetry and Tea really has a way with words.

Review: The Kitchen House - Kathleen Grissom

Genre: Historical Fiction

Pages: 369

ISBN: 9781439153666

Format: Paperback / ARC

Rating: 5/5 stars

What can I say? I absolutley loved this book. Every page was jammed packed with intensity and you just didn't want to stop reading. The only thing I didn't like was that it had to end!

The Kitchen Hosue is written in two voices. Belle who is a slave and Lavinia who is an Irish girl who was with her family along a ship coming to America. Her parents died and her and her brother were split up so she went to live with the captian of the ship but she lived with the slaves. I loved all the twists and turns. I was an emotional wreck at some points and otherrs I was angry and happy. It was just a great book to read. I would love to go on and on about the book but you just have to read it but not my copy because mine is autogrpahed by the author and it is one that I want to cherish.

I was lucky enough to chat with the author on Goodreads via TNBBC
Go check it out and chat away!

Blood Harvest - S.J. Bolton

Genre: Mystery
Format: ARC Softcover/hardcover
Pages: 421
ISBN: 9780312600518
Rating: 3.5 Stars

I am at a loss for words. I mean, I really did enjoy this but it seemed a little dragged at points. I did really enjoy the twists and turns and I liked the ending to a certain degree but something didn't quite sit well with me.

It took me some time to get through the book, but no fault to the author, I just had issues because of the missing and or dead toddlers. I have 2 little girls, 1 and 2 years old, so it was a little too close to home but after I pushed through I rather enjoyed it. The ending was a little troublesome to get through too because it was so sick and twisted but it worked. Somethings also didn't make sense to me but I think I may have to go back and read it again because I am sure it makes sense at some point.

Oh well, I gave it 3.5 stars and I am glad that I got a chance to read it and I thank those who allowed me to win the ARC.

The Seven Year Bitch - Jennifer Belle

Genre: Fiction?
Pages: 318 ARC (336)
ISBN: 9781594487552 (in May)
Rating: 4.5 stars

Another one of my wins on Goodreads and this one blew me away. I really think that they picked me on purpose because i have never connected with a book in my life. I never even read books like this. This is strictly a woman's book and I would truly have passed it in a bookstore or anywhere for that matter and I can't tell you how happy I was to read this.

First, I kept looking at the cover wondering where my name was. I must have wrote this book or have helped in someway??? I couldn't relate to her any more. The only difference was having some sort of money. I don't have any and she clearly did but it is nice to know that money can't separate us! Everything she said made sense. It made me feel like I am not alone. the things we shared were:

- Having a sense of humor
- being a working Mom (although she stopped and I can't afford to)
- having an emergency c-section
- having a planned c-section
- always arguing with my husband thinking if it were gonna end up in divorce.
And just some much more. She even talked like me at times.

After reading this book it took a little weight off of my chest. Having 2 kids so close in age is very hard. I work full time, go to graduate school, my girls are 15 months apart, I have c-sections, and money is always super SUPER tight so you can imagine what me and my husband constantly argue about. This just proved that things are hard but you gotta just go with it. I assume things will be easier eventually and I am always making jokes and I try to make light of things but there are still pressures and I was grateful to have won such a book. I was laughing out loud multiple times and other times I had to call my sister or husband to tell them the funny or truthful things that I read. So thank you for my win and I really hope people would pick this up! I have been passing my views on to everyone!

The Last Track - Sam Hilliard

Genre: Mystery

Pages: 272

ISBN: 9780984203512

Rating: 4/5 Stars

First, I have to say that I won a copy from http://www.goodreads.com/ and I am glad that I did. I really enjoyed this book. I usually don't read mysteries, although I used to back when I was younger, but I very much liked this one and here is why:

Everyone was a suspect and you kept going back and fourth wondering who it was and then in the end you kinda knew it but it was a total shocker anyway!

This story was about a young boy, about 15, who witnessed a murder and ran into the woods and the police called in Mike Brody who is an expert in finding people and the events are of him and a police officer who are sent out into the woods to track him down and bring him safely home. The killer is in constant check with Brody to make sure that he is doing as told and had even threatened him if he did not give up the boy Sean, when and if found. Now, Mike was on vacation with him ex-wife and son so it was unexpected to do such a case but who can turn that down? A kid is missing. Anyway the story unfold scandals and truths and you are always going crazy thinking you know who the killer is but you really don't. I am so glad I entered this contest because this is such a great read and apparently there are more to come. So look out for the Mike Brody books!

The Poacher's Son - Paul Doiron

I used to love mysteries then I fell out of love with them and just recently I have decided to give it another go. So after Shutter Island, I got a chance to get an ARC from Barnes and Noble's First Look Book Club of The Poacher's son. I felt that it was not like a typical mystery. There were times that I was a little freaked out or nauseated about the animals but I really think Doiron created a nice picture. I am a city girl so it was hard for me to relate to certain things but I found a lot of it very interesting and I began to understand all those small town country elements. Doiron really creates a clear view of the towns as well as the people. He really allows the reader to picture everything in their heads.

I really think I would pick up another one of Paul's books. He is a very good writer and artist. I gave the book a total of 4/5 stars.

Sleep No More - Susan Crandall

This was another ARC win from www.goodreads.com and i liked it. I wasn't crazy about it but it was nice fluff. I didn't really connect with the characters and Abby just drove me nuts. I loved Jason. e reminded me of my husband who never gives up and always worries about everyone that he loves before he even worries about himself but I kept thinking Abby was just plain selfish. She kept pushing him away and I don't believe it for a second. As for the rest of the story I kept thinking I knew what was going to happen next but it kept taking all these different turns and I did like that about the story. I always thought I knew who it was or who was involved but I was wrong. I got a few things right (I don't want to leave spoilers so I will not say) but most of it was unexpected.

I gave Sleep No More 3.5/5 stars. I liked it for a quick read in between all the other books I read. It was a nice escape. It is definitely not a masterpiece, and I don't think it's supposed to be, but it is what it is and that is a nice beach read.

Truly, Madly - Heather Webber

I won an ARC of this from www.goodreads.com and I gotta say that this is one of those don't-judge-a-book-by-the-cover kinda things. The cover and the title are very misleading. If I would have passed this in a bookstore I would have not even gave it a second look. But because I won an ARC I read it and I loved it! It was such a good read and is something I normally wouldn't have read but I very much enjoyed it. I thought that there was going to be very detailed intimate situations but found that there was just enough romance and that was not even close to be overpowering. Her next book looks the same as this one Deeply, Desperately it is another Lucy Valentine novel and I am most likely going to read it. Truly, Madly is not due out until February 2010 and Deeply, Desperately probably due out in March 2010.

The whole story is about Lucy Valentine who can find items that you have lost by touching your hand. It is like a psychic ability and she wants to put it to some really good use that could help others find more serious things. She searches for a lost boy and a long lost love that enfolds a murder and she also finds romance. As I said this is not something I would normally read but I am glad that I got a chance to and I will read the next of the Lucy Valentine installments. hank you Ms. Webber and I wish you all the luck!