Book 10 - House of Dark Shadows

This is the last book on January 2011 list, I made it!!

I love love this one. It's the first book of six in Dreamhouse Kings series, all six books have been published and I'm surprised I don't know about the books before. I heard it's for young adults, but hei, a good read is a good read, don't you think so?

The story opened immediately when an evil presence kidnapped a family member. Whatever it was, it wasn't human. Thirty years later, the King family moved in when the patriarch accepted a job as the principle of the only secondary school in the area and found the grand but abandoned Queen Anne/Victorian house in the edge of the forest.

From the moment they checked the house, the oldest son, Xander (from Alexander; the King family had been naming their children after old Kings and Queens for generations, hence the children's name: Alexander, David, and Victoria) noticed something was not quite right with the house. But the lure of having his own room, and even the possibilities that the house might offer some kind of adventure, however sinister it might be, made him and the younger, thriller seeker brother David, wanted to live in it. And what adventures they are: fighting gladiator in ancient Rome and a close call of being leopards' lunch in the middle of tropical jungle.

Until the entity took their mother away.

While it is certainly not a Harry Potter book, it's still a very fun book to read and I'm glad I stumbled on this one.

Book 9 - The Potluck Club

This is the second Christian book I read after Fools Rush In and I love this one. It is the first book of the series, and it's about the lives of six women who met for a monthly prayer meeting.

To be honest, at first I dreaded reading it after my first experience with Christian fiction. I was afraid that this book would also paint a too glossy, perfect world that only fictional christians lived in; Like the Stepford Wives universe, only worse, everyone in it is a believer who's on the same page as to their faith in God. It's a sweet world I suppose, but too sweet it's almost sickening.

But this book did not try to picture a world in which faith in God warrant a problem-free life. The women in this book club certainly did not live in a fairy tale universe: There were secrets, cheating husband, elopement, racial issues, death, terminal illness. I'm not saying that I'm happy if I read about misery and suffering experienced by Christians just so that God can come and save the day. I merely think that well, this is closer to the reality that I know real people experienced, and it is interesting to read about how they struggled with their faith and even anger in God. I've certainly been there now and then.

Despite calling myself a Christian, I know it's a continuous struggle to let God into my life. Despite believing he is God, it's not that simple to involve him in the decisions I made. Naturally, I wanted to be in full control of my life, even when most of the times I barely knew what I was doing. That at some points in my life (notice plural), I can't help but being sarcastic to him, to the idea of him, to be angry and confused and reluctant and impatient with him. Even after having first hand experiences of his grace, and personal accounts of the comfort of sweet surrender to him.

I guess I'm still his work in progress.

By the end of this book, there are still a lot of loose ends; none of the stories are completed, and they are to be continued to book 2, Trouble's Brewing. I haven't read it, but I'm very much looking forward to it.

Book 8 - A Taste of Magic

This book is fun to read; in short, it can be summed up as the famous old saying, "Be Careful What You Wished For"

Things were not looking good for Elizabeth at the beginning of the story. It was a couple of days before her thirty-fifth birthday, she had been divorced for a year, the business she co-owned, a bakery called A Taste of Magic, was not doing well, and to add insult to injury, she had inadvertently accepted a job to bake a wedding cake for his ex husband and his former-mistress-turn-wife.

As an icing on the cake gone bad, she learned that her replacement was pregnant, while during ten years of her marriage to him, her husband had refused to start a family with her.

So despite her loving family and supportive friends, no one could blame her when she wished her ex-husband a temporary impotency during his honeymoon while she, ever the professional, baked him the cake. I would not have blinked an eye if she had done something much worse, but she did mention that she would not want to go to jail. Sensible girl.

Of course, she then learned that she had inherited magical ability from her maternal grandmother, and that her wish had come true.

So, she went on a baking spree to put her new-found abilities to good use for her friends, family, and herself. At least, she thought so, until she realized that casting spell was a bit trickier and her granted wishes had unpredictable consequences.

I would give 3 out of 5 rating for this one, simply because I like the character. She's unpretentious and honest, but not without flaws. The book also gave sufficient introductions to characters that would be the hero/heroines for the next books in this series. However, having said that, it did not give a lasting impression. It's not that funny, it's not overly dramatic, it's not that serious. It's basically an okay book, quite enjoyable while you flipped the pages, but once you're done, or at least once I'm done, I'm done. It's that forgettable.

But on the bright side, this one cost $0.99 on kindle, so go ahead and get this one ...

February 2011

So after reading so many romance books this month (which is a great way to warm up the year, btw), I'm switching gear to a much more serious theme, Military books.

No worries, to balance things up, I listed equal amount of lighter read in between...

Here it goes...

• Craving God - Lysa TerKeurs
• Happily Ever After (Deep Haven Series # 1) - Susan May Warren
• Band of Brothers - Stephen Ambrose
• Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand
• Matterhorn - Karl Marlantes (Cancelled, can't get the book)
• Daughter of Joy - Kathleen Morgan
• Watcher in the Woods - Robert Liparulo

I hope I can follow it through...

Book 7 - Fools Rush In

This is the first Christian fiction book I've ever read. To be honest, I didn't even know there's such thing as Christian romance book before I stumbled on this one.

To sum up, I would definitely recommend this book for my daughter to read when she's past her Sweet Valley book series (are they still around, btw?).

The book is light, funny and ... surreal.

An Italian American girl recently took over her family's business of Wedding Organizer, and through a divine intervention, met a cowboy. A tall, handsome, sensitive, respectful, parents-loving, God-fearing, and almost physically perfect Cowboy.

Almost too good to be true? That's exactly the problem. I don't mind a little bit of preaching here and there about faith and God, I really don't. But it seems everything was just SO made up in this book. "The problems" that the heroine faced seem to be only in her head. Small problem were written here and there and made to seem like they're huge deal, i suppose so they fill up the pages, and there were times when I just want to tell her to snap out of it already! Also, there were too many coincidences that conveniently resulting in these "problems" resolving themselves. Which, we are to assume, it's the Divine intervention, aka God.

Like I said, had I been sixteen and reading this, I would like it very much. But I'm not sixteen, and as a near-thirty years old woman myself, I don't believe this is how the world seems to be for someone my age. If it did, then God must have a favorite child...

Book 6 - The Bite of Silence

................................................................

I was about to ask for a refund until I remembered that I got this book for free.

Where to begin?

Girl meets Boy. Boy is a Vampire. Boy used to be a Spartan General turned to vampire (cue to start gagging for the sheer cheesiness of the entire thing)

Girl flashed boobs. Sex followed. Author spent more time describing sex than actually telling story or developing plot line. And not good one at that. As a matter of fact, while I have always, always, love romance novel, this is the first time where I had no choice but to admit that I have just read a bad sex story. It's an insult to the art of erotic writing.

The first word that came to mind is: Riiiggghhttt, followed by: ewwwwwww. It made me cringe. It's so traumatizing that I'd never repeat the experience of reading her books again.

ewwwww

Book 5 - Aphrodite's Kiss

I like it.

It started of Harry Potter-ish, then seamlessly morphed to Buffy-like with a little bit of Harlequinesque spice here and there, enough to keep you wanting for more, not too much to turn it cheesy.

As a fan of Harry Potter book, an avid follower of True Blood, and an addict to romance novel, what more can I ask for?

Oh, and the heroine is a librarian, and she saves the guy. Brilliant.

ps: I've always wanted to be a librarian and I have no patience for a swooning, faint-prone girl waiting to be rescued.