Review: The Ghost Trap - K. Stephens

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 326 (ARC)

Format: Oversized Trade Paperback

Published: 2009

ISBN: 978098151471

Rating: 4/5

Another great free copy from the TNBBC via the publisher. At first I thought that I wouldn't like it as much as I did but I trust Lori (the super-mod from TNBBC) and she gave a pretty sweet review and how could I pass up a free copy??? SO I gave it a shot and boy am I glad I did!

This book sets the stage for lobster wars in Maine and how small towns function as a whole and the daily lives of it's people and how important it is to them all. These so-called wars are insane and get never let things go but it makes for a great story. Of course I loved Anya and Jamie but I just wish there was more sensitivity on Jamie's part since Anya's head injury. I can totally understand why Jamie gets a little off the handle with her because it can be frustrated. It is hard to handle someone like this especially since he has she her better and happy and now sort incompetent and fragile. But I just felt she was trying and she needed a little more support from him. Things could have worked out better but I don't think Jamie belongs in a small town and even though he made his way to big cities in the past, I don't feel like he is in the right mind set as the rest of the small townees.

I just love the way Stephen writes. She write the way people today talk (tawk). I like how she really describes the community. She has a real sense of description. I saw everyone and everything and then I looked at Stephen's website and there she had images of Maine and her friends and it made total and complete sense. The only negative I have is that some times I was a little lost and confused at where things were gonna go but then after a second or two I started to follow. I just hate to work so hard at books but I still gave it a high rating so my argument is small!

Review: The House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros

Genre: YA Literature

ISBN: 9780679734772

Pages: 128

Format: Trade Paperback

First Published:1984

Rating: 4/5 Stars

I give this a higher rating then I normally would because I am rating in it on my young adult mind. I would have really, truly loved this book when I was younger and although I enjoyed it now I would have appreciated it more so back when. My adult side says 3 but YA me says 4. I like the style writing. It is a bunch of short stories rolled into one and I can totally relate to the author. Esperanza, was different from the beginning and you can hear it and feel it with her words. Artist such as poets, are not in the same mindset as those who are not artists. They see the world differently, even at such a young age you can see Esperanza being of a different world where she was things as beautiful and ugly and just couldn't grasp why things were the way they were. It was a beautiful story but it had it's flaws. I would have liked there to be more to the stories rather than little snippets but I guess that is just the way it is supposed to be and you can please the world!

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.