Tuesday, May 12, 2015

A Book Review for the Thriller Eeny Meeny by M J Arlidge 5 Out of 5 Stars.....

The international bestseller that “grabs the reader by the throat" (Crime Time).
First in the new series featuring Detective Inspector Helen Grace.

You have to check out this book!


My Book Review:

Eeny Meeney is a book that starts out with a massive bang and draws you right in for one hell of a scary ride. Imagine waking up, not having any idea where you are and the only way to escape is to kill the person you’re with. No spoilers here. I’m not a fan of long chapters in books, which is a plus here. It has short chapters. It reads quickly. You’ll find yourself turning the pages without let up. I found that once I began reading this book, I didn’t want to put it down. It is well written with drawn out characters you will sympathize with. If I didn’t have to sleep and work the next day, I would have stayed up all night to read it through. As it was I consumed over one hundred pages in just a couple of hours. It is an English novel written in Queen’s English, but Americans should have no trouble figuring it out. If you’ve been to England for any length of time, you’ll have no trouble at all.

Overall this is a great thriller that I have no hesitation in recommending to others. It even includes a preview of the next novel in the Detective Inspector Helen Grace series, Pop Goes the Weasel.  I look forward to the next book in the series with great anticipation.

Disclaimer: I received a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Excerpt:
Two people are abducted, imprisoned, and left with a gun. As hunger and thirst set in, only one walks away alive.

It’s a game more twisted than any Detective Inspector Helen Grace has ever seen. If she hadn’t spoken with the shattered survivors herself, she almost wouldn’t believe them.

Helen is familiar with the dark sides of human nature, including her own, but this case—with its seemingly random victims—has her baffled. But as more people go missing, nothing will be more terrifying than when it all starts making sense....
 
PENGUIN GROUP Berkley, NAL / Signet Romance, DAW
Pub Date: Jun 2 2015  |  Archive Date: Jun 2 2015                                        
About the Author:
M. J. Arlidge has worked in television for the past fifteen years, and he lives in England. His debut novel, Eeny Meeny, has been sold in twenty countries.
 
 
 
 Until next review, stay safe. Smile! Show compassion to others. Be nice to one another. Read a book and pass it on. Review it. Cheers!
Regards,
S.J. Francis
In Shattered Lies: "It's All About Family."  Coming in 2015 from Black Opal Books.
 
 
And now for some legal stuff: Copyright 2015 by S.J. Francis. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the author, S. J. Francis and are meant to entertain, inform and enlighten, and intend to offend no one.
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Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Wildflower by Janine Carbone 4 out of 5 stars for this debut novel....

 
Wildflower by Janine Carbone                          An Intriguing Debut New Adult Novel…
 

Book Description:                             Publication Date: January 1, 2015
Faith desperately tries to hold on and fit into the mold of the "typical" college student, but her life quickly spirals out of control when visions of a dark past consume her. When these repressed memories begin to resurface, she relives the devastation of dealing with abandonment, death and betrayal. Faith soon realizes she never did escape the dangers of the past, her battles are real and present. With a sadistic stalker lurking around campus while she painfully struggles to hold onto her newfound romance, Faith finds herself fighting to survive all over again. 

My Review:
First off, allow me to say that I read everything and anything, as long as it is well-written, interesting and not predictable. Most importantly, for me anyway, the book must have an ending that resolves the story.

Wildflower is such a book that does that, for me anyway. I’m not into New Adult books, as a whole, but as I said, I will read anything. I was given an ARC copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. That being said, I enjoyed this book. I felt for and enjoyed the protagonist Faith. The book is believable and works. The book starts out strong and makes you want to read more, not just to see what happens next, but to enjoy spending time with Faith. I do agree with another reviewer that in the first fifty pages or so, there is more telling than showing, but fortunately it works. One can’t say that about many stories. The story makes it do that.  There is also in that same span a bit too much description that could have been left out without any detriment to the story. All in all, Ms. Carbone did a worthwhile effort with her debut novel and I look forward to her next book. If you’re looking for a New Adult story that will draw you in, you have to consider Wildflower. Why this book was entitled Wildflower is a good question? I guess you’ll just have to read the book to see why.
  
About the Author:
Janine Carbone, a Philadelphia native, who spent her high school years being a mentor to inner city youth has put her BA in psychology to good use with the creation of her first young adult novel, Wildflower. She is a former recipient of The Silverman Internship award, honoring her outstanding talents and leadership abilities. She also holds membership to the International Women’s Writing Guild. With a love of cooking and traveling overseas, Carbone can be found in the kitchen or trekking across grounds unknown. However, she does enjoy spending every moment she can with her family. Currently she lives in Marlton New Jersey with her husband, and two children.  
                                                       
Until next review, stay safe. Smile! Show compassion to others. Be nice to one another. Read a book and pass it on. Review it. Cheers!
Regards,
S.J. Francis
In Shattered Lies: "It's All About Family."  Coming in 2015 from Black Opal Books.

My Black Opal Books Author Page:
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And now for some legal stuff: Copyright 2015 by S.J. Francis. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the author, S. J. Francis and are meant to entertain, inform and enlighten, and intend to offend no one.
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Tuesday, March 17, 2015

5 out of 5 Stars for Inside the Criminal Mind-.Criminals will hate this


Fantastic and informative read. Insightful. Criminals Will Hate This Book.


 

From the Inside Flap:

Long-held myths defining the sources of and cures for crime are shattered in this ground-breaking book--and a chilling profile of today's criminal emerges. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.  
 

My Review:

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Blogging for Books and I wasn't disappointed.
First off, I hesitated reading this book. So often, books about criminals praise criminals and make excuses trying to excuse their crimes. There is no excuse for a crime; just someone wanting instant gratification without paying for it.
This book, however is a refreshing read. The author, a respected psychologist says what most rational thinking people knew all along: Criminals commit crimes because they want to. There is no extra chromosome; no poor, abusive environment, or bully in the criminal’s past that caused the criminal to commit a crime. Committing a crime is a voluntary action and the author does an excellent job in demonstrating that. Responsibility belongs to the criminal in both committing a crime and really wanting to change. As this book illustrates, there is no magic formula that will change an inmate. Give him all the education and support and all a criminal will do is use it to commit his next crime. In other words, don't pit a criminal. Don't think you can change one. Learn how they really think. Protect yourself and your loved ones by reading this book.
Overall, this is a well written and informative book that goes inside the criminal’s mind. Sorry, criminals and all those that believe their excuses: There are no excuses; no justifiable reasons to commit crimes. It is simply a matter of choice. To commit or not commit a crime is up to you, and this book does a fantastic job of proving that.

 About the Author:
STANTON E. SAMENOW PhD, is a clinical psychologist who has spent 40 years as a researcher, clinician, consultant, and expert witness specializing in criminal behavior. He has also served as an independent evaluator in adversarial child custody disputes and has been appointed to three presidential task forces on law enforcement, victims' rights, and a drug-free America. Among numerous other national venues, he has appeared on 60 Minutes, Oprah, Good Morning America, and Larry King Live. In addition to Inside the Criminal Mind he is the author of Before It's Too Late and Straight Talk About Criminals.

Until next review, stay safe. Smile! Show compassion to others. Be nice to one another. Read a book and pass it on. Review it. Cheers!
Regards,
S.J. Francis
In Shattered Lies: "It's All About Family."  Coming in 2015 from Black Opal Books.

My Black Opal Books Author Page:
View My ShoutOut:  http://bit.ly/1r3oynM
A Book Review 4 U: abookreview4u.blogspot.com
A Consumer's View: aconsumersview.blogspot.com
OnefortheAnimals:    onefortheanimals.blogspot.com
 
 

Good Reads:       https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/33550975-s-j


 
 
And now for some legal stuff: Copyright 2015 by S.J. Francis. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the author, S. J. Francis and are meant to entertain, inform and enlighten, and intend to offend no one.

 
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Tuesday, February 17, 2015

A book review for How to Retire Happy: The 12 Most Important Decisions You Must Make Before You Retire 5 Out of 5 stars.

A book review for How to Retire Happy: The 12 Most Important Decisions You Must Make Before You Retire, Third Edition (Paperback) by Stan Hinden
     256 pages McGraw-Hill, 3rd Edition (December 4, 2009

My Review: 5 Out of 5 stars.

The former Award-Winning Washington Post retirement columnist wrote about it, but knew nothing about prepping for his own retirement, which should remind all readers to always weigh what you read and don't always believe everything that you read. Learn from his mistake to avoid making your own.

Mr. Hinden builds on that platform to write this book. It is a easy and fast read. Learn from his mistakes and avoid your own. He does a great job of waking readers to the reality of retirement. Retirement is more than just calling it quits. It is a process that requires a great deal of decisions to make, research and work to do it properly. It is also more expensive to do than you realize. How to Retire Happy will help guide the reader to do just that. There is a lot of useful information in the book mixed with Hinden's mistakes and tips.

If you're thinking about retirement, I recommend you giving this a read through.
Chapters include and are aptly named by useful questions: Am I Ready to Retire? Can I Afford to Retire? When Should I apply for Social Security? How Should I take my pension payments? What Should I Do with the Money in my company savings plan? When Do I have to take money out of my IRA's? How Should I invest during retirement? What should I do about health insurance? What should I do to prepare for serious illness? Where do I want to live after I retire? How should I arrange my estate to save on taxes and avoid probate?

Until next review, stay safe. Smile! Show compassion to others. Be nice to one another. Read a book and pass it on. Review it. Cheers!
Regards,
S.J. Francis
In Shattered Lies: "It's All About Family."  Coming in 2015 from Black Opal Books.

 
My Black Opal Books Author Page:
 
And now for some legal stuff: Copyright 2015 by S.J. Francis. Opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and are meant to entertain, inform and enlighten, and intend to offend no one.
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Tuesday, January 20, 2015

A book review for The Collector's Guide to Dollhouses and Dollhouse Miniatures 4 Out of 5 stars.

The Collector's Guide to Dollhouses and Dollhouse Miniatures Hardcover – April 1, 1974

by Marian Maeve O'Brien. 

 
213 pages by Hawthorn Books, Inc.
"Lavishly illustrated offers a panorama of miniature houses and all the tiny objects that go in them"

My Review: Here is another book I added to my miniaturist book shelf. Now, this is a book worthy of any miniaturist's bookshelf. It is full of information for those interested in collecting and those of us, like I, that enjoy admiring those that collect, as well of those that build. At over 200 pages, there is a mix of both color and black and white photos for the reader to peruse.
The book is broken into three parts: Part I covers Introduction to Dollhouses, Box Rooms and Cabinets, Foldout and Paper Houses, Corrugated Cartonia, and Dollhouse Classics and Masterpieces. Part II covers Dollhouse Miniatures, Decorating with Miniatures: Furniture, Metallics, Ceramic, Porcelain and Glass Miniatures, Art, Accessories and Oddities. Part III covers How to Start a Collection, dealers and Craftsman, etc.
Though, a lot of information is a bit dated with the book being published in 1974, the history part is a wealth of information on collecting. If you're a collector of dollhouses and/or dollhouse miniatures, you might want to add this book to your collection.



Until next review, stay safe. Smile! Show compassion to others. Be nice to one another. Read a book and pass it on. Review it. Cheers!
Regards,
S.J. Francis
In Shattered Lies: "It's All About Family."  Coming in 2015 from Black Opal Books.

My Black Opal Books Author Page:

View My ShoutOut:  http://bit.ly/1r3oynM
A Book Review 4 U: abookreview4u.blogspot.com
A Consumer's View: aconsumersview.blogspot.com
OnefortheAnimals:    onefortheanimals.blogspot.com
 
 
 

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Copyright 2015 by S.J. Francis. No portion of this blog post may be reprinted, modified or used without written permission of the author.

Opinions expressed here are solely those of the author, S. J. Francis and are meant to entertain, inform and enlighten, and intend to offend no one.
 
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Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Prodigious Savant: A Fascinating Thriller by J.J. White: 5 out of 5 stars.

Prodigious Savant by J.J. White:

A Fascinating Thriller by J.J. White:  Five out of five stars! Pages fly by quickly...
This thriller by J.J. White is a page turner. From the very first sentence the reader is drawn into the world of Burlington, Vermont in 1962. Once you start reading you won’t want to put it down. I read it all in one night. It is a very quick read. Teenager Gavin Weaver is injured in an explosion all because of one small act of teenage stupidity. Because of that act, his life is changed forever, and not necessarily all for the better. Waking up from a thirty-day coma, not only does he not suffer the usual disabilities from a head injury, he wakes up possessing several savant talents in music, art, math and memory. At the same time, his personality changes for the worst. He leans toward the dark side. Can Gavin survive the internal and external conflicts which keep him from the one thing he wants most, the girl he’s love since childhood? You’ll have to read it to find out. I promise you won’t be disappointed. I wasn’t.
Overall, Prodigious Savant is a worthwhile read, for any avid book reader and especially for the thriller lover. I highly recommend it.

Until next review, stay safe. Smile! Show compassion to others. Be nice to one another. Read a book and pass it on. Review it. Cheers!
Regards,
S.J. Francis
In Shattered Lies: "It's All About Family."  Coming in 2015 from Black Opal Books.
My Black Opal Books Author Page:
View My ShoutOut:  http://bit.ly/1r3oynM
A Book Review 4 U: abookreview4u.blogspot.com
A Consumer's View: aconsumersview.blogspot.com
OnefortheAnimals:    onefortheanimals.blogspot.com
 
 
 
Good Reads:       https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/33550975-s-j


Copyright 2015 by S.J. Francis. No portion of this blog post may be reprinted, modified or used without written permission of the author.

Opinions expressed here are solely those of the author, S. J. Francis and are meant to entertain, inform and enlighten, and intend to offend no one.
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Wednesday, December 3, 2014

5 out of 5 stars for A Kitchen in France A Year of Cooking in My Farmhouse Mimi Thorisson

Five out of Five stars for this gastronomic look at French Cooking:
Front Cover
 

From Publisher: With beguiling recipes and sumptuous photography, A Kitchen in France transports readers to the French countryside and marks the debut of a captivating new voice in cooking.
When Mimi Thorisson and her family moved from Paris to a small town in out-of-the-way Médoc, she did not quite know what was in store for them. She found wonderful ingredients—from local farmers and the neighboring woods—and, most important, time to cook. Her cookbook chronicles the family’s seasonal meals and life in an old farmhouse, all photographed by her husband, Oddur. Mimi’s convivial recipes—such as Roast Chicken with Herbs and Crème Fraîche, Cèpe and Parsley Tartlets, Winter Vegetable Cocotte, Apple Tart with Orange Flower Water, and Salted Butter Crème Caramel—will bring the warmth of rural France into your home.

About the Author: MIMI THORISSON is the author of Manger, a blog devoted to French cooking that was named Saveur’s Best Regional Food Blog in April 2013. After a career in television and having lived in Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Reykjavik, and Paris, she settled with her photographer husband, their five young children, her two older stepchildren, and the family’s fourteen dogs in a farmhouse in Médoc. She is the star of the cooking shows La Table de Mimi and the upcoming Les Desserts de Mimi, both on Canal+ in France.
Table of Contents
 
“When Mimi Thorisson, the author of this book and her family moved from Paris to a small town in out-of-the-way Medoc, she did not quite know what was in store for them.” What she experienced is this cookbook.
    Having a French background myself, and having visited this wonderful country of known for its beauty, culture, food and history, more than once, I’m always interested when I find a new book on French cooking.  When I saw this one, I knew I had to get it. It intrigued me. When I received it, I wasn’t prepared for the sheer size of it. It is a big, heavy book and at 304pgs beautiful photography, many of them are of the prepared dishes. Some are of the author shopping of preparing the dishes. Some of the photos are delicious enough to eat right off the page. The chapters are broken down into the four seasons and the recipes are set off into seasonal cooking. Mimi has the background to write this book. At the urging of her friends and family, before she left Paris, she began a food blog which contained recipes for French home cooking in English. Being half-Chinese and half French, she grew up in Hong Kong. Her mother is French. She spent her holidays in Paris or in the south of France with her mother’s family.  There with them, she was introduced to French cooking. Her maternal grandmother and aunt were terrific cooks, and “every day meant a feast.”  
Recipes and photos inside make up the book.
 
The recipes are many and varied from the starters to the main course and ending with dessert. There are soups, and meats with chicken, duck, and lamb, fish and the list goes on. There are dishes for the vegetarian and vegan or those that can easily be modified. Some are easy while others are time consuming. Overall, there isn’t any recipe in this book that can’t be made by anyone, even someone that never cooked before. Some of the recipes call for a dozen items or more, while some call for half that. Her recipes are clear and easy to follow. You can tell that she wrote it with the reader in mind.
Ready to get your mouth watering and follow it up with a meal that will have your taste buds applauding and you stomach yelling that it’s fantastic, but please I can’t handle anymore. Then grab a copy of this book for yourself or as a gift for someone you know. It is sure to be enjoyed by readers, cooks, and diners alike. Take a trip through the French countryside without leaving the comfort of your home. You’ll be glad you did. This is the first trip I didn’t have to pay for and I loved it!  
  
The author and her dogs and a delicious recipe. Is your mouth watering yet?


Until next review, stay safe. Smile! Show compassion to others. Be nice to one another. Read a book and pass it on. Review it. Cheers!
Regards,
S.J. Francis
In Shattered Lies: "It's All About Family."  Coming in 2015 from Black Opal Books.
FTC Disclaimer: I received this book at no charge in exchange for an honest and fair review.
 
Copyright 2015 by S.J. Francis. No portion of this blog post may be reprinted, modified or used without written permission of the author.

Opinions expressed here are solely those of the author, S. J. Francis and are meant to entertain, inform and enlighten, and intend to offend no one.


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