Another Day in the Magic (Yawn!) Castle

Mesmer, Book 2: Favoured (A Three Towers Fantasy) –by Isabella Amaris

Fantasy, Alternate Universe

569KB

Footnotes/Endnotes: No

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReaders: Yes

The first book was a fast read, and an engrossing story. The second book, not so much. The premise should be great fun as our heroine, Lea, who was raised in a kingdom that taught there is no such thing as magic, and believes it, finds herself in a magical kingdom.

Unfortunately, for this reader, the heroine is not likable. She's spoiled, forever apologizing for trying to escape and insulting her host (captor?) and his magic. She always loses; he always wins.

There is a hint of romance, which neither seem able or wanting, to pursue. Me, either.

Lea meets the Countess, Cecily Rose, in the magical castle and I don't like her, either. What I did find humorous, the first time (by the umpteenth it was annoying) was Lea's inability to see herself in Cecily. They truly mirror each other.

In my review of Book 1, I stated the characters were moderately interesting, the world moderately intriguing. By the end of Book 2, I find the world still moderately interesting, but the characters in need of a good spanking! They are all arrogant, spoiled, and not very likeable. Well (spoiler alert), Greybeard the cat is cute, cuddly, and so far likeable. Sad, isn't it?

Like Book 1, Book 2 ends on a cliffhanger. Will I bother with book 3? I honestly don't know.

There were some formatting issues in this book that obviously bothered me, or I wouldn't have noticed them so often – several open quotes got lost in the Forbidden Forest. Irritating.

A few very modern phrases crept into the story that didn't fit. They also jarred.

I think if the author read, and used, The Ten Percent Solution –by Ken Rand, and took out more than ten percent, she would have a great story. She might find herself with a trilogy of novellas rather than novels, but they would be tighter and more interesting.

At best, I rate this a 2 star, and that's more for the gumption it took to get them written and published, than for quality or story.

A good Laugh Amongst Friends

Seriously...I'm Kidding –by Ellen DeGeneres

Memoir

256 pages

footnotes/endnotes: Yes (* on page one and notes on page last)

Illustrations: Yes – line drawings made to color

Suitable for eReaders: Yes (read it on my Kindle)

I am not a fan of talk shows, but I am a fan of Ellen DeGeneres. She's cute, she's funny, and she doesn't use put down humor – at least that I've seen. She is also, like Michael J. Fox, an incurable optimist. Since I do most of my reading at night, in bed, before sleep, I want something that won't give me nightmares when I turn off the lights, and if I get laughs in my dreams, so much the better.

Ellen has a lot to say in this book. I haven't read her others, but they are now on my list. If it is possible to feel better for having read a book, I feel better for having read this one! This book is hilariously laugh out loud funny, it is uplifting, and there are a few nuggets of gold sprinkled throughout. Including, I think, The Secret. Since she shared it with her readers, I'm going to quote it here:

"Happiness comes from within. You have the power to change your own mind-set so that all the negative, horrible thoughts that try to invade your psyche are replaced with happy, positive, wonderful thoughts."  She goes on to state that, "Happiness is a journey, not a destination."

I have found both those statements, in one form or another, to be true. Also true is that, "Happiness is a choice, and not always an easy one!" by Richard Bach

So if you need a little happiness in your life (and who doesn't?) get a copy of this book and read it. The chapters are just the right length to read while sitting in the Throne Room;-)

Need a good escape? Read, Seriously...I'm Kidding! Need a bunch of laughs? Read, Seriously...I'm Kidding! Need answers to life's niggling questions? Read, uh wait, Seriously...I'm Kidding;-)

Mesmerizing - Almost

Mesmer, Book 1: Sanctuary –by Isabella Amaris

Fantasy, Alternate Universe

324 pages

Footnotes/Endnotes: No

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReaders: Yes (free for Kindle at time of this post)

This is a fast read, the story engrossing enough to keep me reading, though I got a little tired of our heroine, Lea, and her bull headedness.

The story opens with her in the Forbidden Forest, escaping something horrible. She'd been captured and tortured, but we don't know why, nor do we know how she escapes. She is from a country that does not believe in magic, in any form, and finds herself rescued by a young man, Caleb, and taken to the castle of Gabriel, a Magi.

Lea has an over riding urge to flee, to escape, to get back to her country, and she doesn't believe in magic though it stares her in the face every time she opens her eyes. Although I found Lea a bit of a whiner and brat, I admit I enjoyed the story, over all.

I hurried to the end, to find out what she escaped from, how, and why she needs to return to her kingdom immediately, if not sooner only to be left with a cliffhanger ending and none of my questions answered.

This is the first of a trilogy, and I will get the second book; however, I think if the book ended with the answer to some of our questions, and the positing of others, rather than a cliffhanger, I would have liked it better.

The characters are moderately interesting, the world moderately intriguing. I will probably get book 2, but if my questions aren't answered, at least to a degree, I'm not sure I'll care about book 3.

For a free book, I'm not complaining about the price. And what the heck, it's calorie-free brain candy;-)

When Men Become Gods

When Men Become Gods – Mormon Polygamist Warren Jeffs, His Cult of Fear, and the Women Who Fought Back –by Stephen Singular

Nonfiction

294 pages

Footnotes/Endnotes: No

Illustrations: Yes (b/w photos)

Suitable for eReaders: Yes

I have read a few books by and about some of the women who escaped the polygamist lifestyle, and all of them were riveting. However, they were primarily about the women, and this book is primarily about Warren Jeffs and how he controlled his people, and, ultimately, how his downfall was brought about.

It took me two days to read this book. Had I forgone food and sleep, it would have been a "one sit read." I found it very interesting reading the backstory of how Jeffs was eventually captured, and his church brought down.

If you have ever watched the TV series, Big Love, and thought to yourself that polygamy isn't all that bad, after all, they're all consenting adults, I can only say to you to do some serious reading. Read Carolyn Jessop's book, Escape; read When Men Become Gods.

And if you think it can't be so bad, or the women would leave, think again. If they have been taught that leaving is not only evil, but condemning their very souls to Hell, if they are beaten and held against their will until they "keep sweet," if they have never known any other life, or even of any other life because their education is controlled (read: nonexistent), they have no radios, televisions, libraries, etc., if they have no way to earn a living, how do they know they can leave.

And what about the Lost Boys who are thrown out as uneducated young teens because they are competing for the girls for wives?

It is nothing more, nor less, than religious terrorism in our country. Radical, fundamentalist Islam is no different than the FLDS.

When Men Become Gods. Buy it. Read it.

Touch of Power

Touch of Power –by Maria V. Snyder

Fiction – Fantasy

396 pages

Footnotes/Endnotes: No

Illustrations: No

Suitable for eReaders: Yes

This is my first book by Maria Snyder, and I found it very enjoyable. I was looking for escape, and I found it. What I wasn't looking for was romance, but I found that, too.

Avry is a Healer, the last of her kind. Healers, in Avry's world were empaths, that would take the injury or illness into themselves to heal the sick, but of course, that would leave the Healer in a sickened or injured state until they healed. Fortunately, they were fast healers.

When the Plague swept the earth, people blamed the Healers, and hunted them down and killed them, because the refused to admit they started it, and refused to treat the plague victims, as they could not heal themselves.

In hiding for years, Avry is a sucker for kids, and every so often, she heals a sick one, then must leave before people figure out she's a Healer. This time, she blew it, she had to rest to overcome the illness she brought into her, and because of the bounty placed on her, the village turns her in for the money. She will face the guillotine soon.

Or will she? I mean, that happens in the beginning of the book, so we know, don't we, that there will be a rescue, but who rescues her? A man who wants her to heal his Prince, who is held in stasis, and has the Plague. A man Avry knows and hates and who, if she goes along with it, will kill her. What is a girl to do?

This book is fun, and it's pure, unadulterated brain candy. There are Death Lilies and Peace Lilies, but who can tell the difference before they're eaten? There is intrigue, double crossings, and magic.

The sequel is due out this coming March (2013) and it will soon be downloaded to my Kindle once I see it. In the meantime, I'll try a couple other of her books....

Always Looking Up

Always Looking Up: the Adventures of an Incurable Optimist –by Michael J. Fox

Memoir

288 pages

footnotes/endnotes: No

illustrations: Yes (b/w photos)

suitable for eReaders: Yes

Remember the old saw, "I used to complain because I had no shoes, and then I met a man who had no feet"? Well, Rainy Day complains because she has to get up in the morning and feed the critters (before they find and dine on her toes), and then she read Always Looking Up. After reading the struggles Mike Fox has to go through to get out of bed, Rainy Day will try not to complain so bitterly that the critters can't/won't get their own breakfast! For those of you who have spent the last decade or so living in a cave, or under the ocean, and don't know -- he has Parkinson's Disease (PD).

This memoir is not in chronological order, it is in sections about what he values – Work, Politics, Faith, and Family, with a Prologue and an Epilogue. This bothers some people, but Rainy Day had no problem with it.The Prologue is important, don't skip it;-)

It covers the time since his previous book, Lucky Man, and is a very entertaining read. This isn't a 'coming of age' book, but it is a 'finding myself' book. He describes how he finds humor and happiness in the most mundane things, and how he is living a happier and more satisfied life.

Michael J. Fox has long been one of Rainy Day's faves, and she thinks he has just moved to the top of that list. She loves an optimist, and thinks there is nothing sexier than an intelligent and optimistic man. Michael J. Fox is both!

This book could have easily gone into the Why Me/Poor Me category, instead it is a testament to his ability to find the humor, and the good, in life that cloaks him fwith the ravages of a horrid disease.

Michael J. Fox is an actor, a devoted husband of more than 20 years, a loving father of four, and an activist. He lives with PD as an incurable Optimist.

Buy this book. Read this book. And the next time you're feeling grumpy about lack of shoes, or having to get out of bed before you're ready, remember Mike, and Muhammad Ali, and all the other people out there living with PD.

The Writing Life -- by Annie Dillard

The Writing Life –by Annie Dillard

Memoir

111 pages

footnotes/endnotes: No

illustration: No

suitable for eReaders: Yes

You will probably find this listed, somewhere, as a How To Write book. It is. And, it isn't. It is a memoir of how Annie Dillard writes, how she goes into bare bones existence in order to force the words, the sentences, the pages, from her brain to her fingers to the page. She doesn't tell us how to write a book, she shows us how she writes a book.

She claims to abhor the process of writing, and probably does (who is Rainy Day to question that?). But, does she have a choice? Really? Writing is something those who do, must do. It is hard, lonely work. At the end of a day of writing one's wrists hurt, their back hurts, their fingers are cramped, and yet, the next day, a writer sits down and starts the process all over again.

Annie Dillard is a writer, and Rainy Day could easily become envious of Ms. Dillard's ability to find and string the right words into the perfect ribbon of sentence and then weave those ribbons into story. Fortunately, Rainy Day is not the envious sort, and understands the agony Ms. Dillard goes through to create her perfect art.

If you are looking for a book on how one person writes, this book is perfect. It may just be the book to chase you into another art form, and that is fine. If you want a list of directions – First, get paper, then get pen, then...this book is not for you. It is about writing, and the life of one writer. Inspiration at it's best.