Dying Declaration by Randy Singer

Summary:
Thomas and Theresa Hammonds believe in tough love and old-fashioned discipline. They do not believe in doctors. When their controversial religious practices lead to personal tragedy, however, the Hammonds face heartbreaking loss, a crisis of faith–and a charge of negligent homicide by a relentless prosecutor.

Defending Thomas and Theresa is freewheeling African American lawyer Charles Arnold. Charles believes in grace and mercy. But nothing in his colorful past has prepared him for the challenges of this shocking case, or for the dangerous conspiracy at its heart. Cultures and Lawyers Collide… Teaming with Nikki Moreno, the court-appointed guardian for the Hammonds children, Charles pursues intractable questions. Who is responsible for Joshie Hammonds’ death? Will this family’s tragedy lead to their destruction? Which will triumph–mercy or judgment? The answers hang on the traitorous testimony of a key witness…and on a dying declaration that will revolutionize the lives of everyone who touches the case.

My take: 3 looks

You all know how I feel about Christian Fiction, blah, blah, blah. However, this one is pretty good. Charles is a street preacher, so the faith aspect of the story is very natural and not at all forced. He is a real man, with real issues, in a real world. That is hard to find in Christian fiction.

However, I am a very black-and-white thinker, and I can't help but feel that the parents are, indeed, guilty of negligent homicide. While the doctor was definitely at fault, his decisions would have been moot if the parents had sought medical attention even one day earlier. Thomas and Theresa were certainly likable, but there is no denying that their lack of action was the cause of their young son's death. Blindly following an ignorant teaching is no defense.

While the author obviously wants the reader to despise Rebecca, even going to the lengths of giving her the nickname "barracuda", I found myself thinking that she was only doing her job. As the state's deputy prosecutor, her job was to prosecute. The fact that she was ambitious and preening for the camera made no difference to me. Again, she was trying to find justice for this child, as she said several times in her internal monologue.

Nikki was a redrawing of Marisa Tomei's character in the 1992 movie My Cousin Vinnie, except Nikki was infinitely more irritating. She was a caricature, as the "scantily clad with a heart of gold" Latino.

The relationship of Buster and Armistead required some suspension of belief, but to say anymore would be a spoiler.

I give this 3 looks despite all of the negatives because the story itself was gripping, and the ending had my head spinning.

Recommended.

Wednesday Word: Cacophony



A barking dog, a crying baby, loud music, slamming doors, sirens, alarms, repetitive sounds of all kinds, the cacophony of a room full of people talking; ... Kelli Jae Baeli

Cacophony
noun ca·coph·o·ny \ka-ˈkä-fə-nē, -ˈkȯ- also -ˈka-\

1:  harsh or discordant sound :  dissonance
2:  harshness in the sound of words or phrases

1650-60; < New Latin cacophonia < Greek kakophōnía

This is a very interesting word. As you can see from the picture above, the term inherently points to a negative connotation. Too many harsh noises sounded together at once to become an overwhelmingly unbearable sound.

However, there are other ways to look at this word. For example, when I had three boys all under the age of one year, their cries could become a cacophony of hunger. When I am feeding my little rescue cats, their meows are what we call a "CATcophony". Before an orchestra plays, and the musicians are warming up, the sound is definitely a cacophony of instrument sounds.

I look at this word as less of a negative, and more of a description of a variety of different sounds, bumping into one another and bouncing off into waiting ears.

Distortion by Terri Blackstock

Summary:
A husband's lies can have deadly consequences. When Juliet Cole's husband of fifteen years is murdered before her eyes, she thinks it was a random shooting. Devastated and traumatized, she answers hours of questioning, then returns home to break the tragic news to her boys. But a threatening voicemail takes this from a random shooting to a planned, deliberate attack. Juliet realizes that she and her children are in danger too, unless she meets the killers' demands. But as she and her sisters untangle the clues, her husband's dark secrets come to light. The more she learns, the more of her life is dismantled. Was her husband an innocent victim or a hardened criminal?

My take: 2.5 looks

If you have followed by blog for a while, you know that Christian Fiction is not my favorite genre. I find it either in-your-face with doctrine, full of sugary-sweet-too-good-to-be-true characters, or headed too far in the other direction. This is where Distortion falls.

There is a lot going on in this book. Centered on four siblings, with a Danielle-Steel-type series of tragedies in their past, it is over-the-top. In the first book of the series, combined with the action from this one, their Christian-deacon father ran off with his secretary, Holly is unmarried and pregnant (not to mention that she drives a cab for a living), Cathy's fiancé was murdered and she is now dating his brother, Jay's wife was murdered and he is a single dad to their 5-year-old son, and (finally) Juliet's husband is gunned down in the first chapter of this book.

See? Too, too, too much. Wow.

And the characters are irritating. Sure, they are real people with real problems, but they are caricatures. Holly is pregnant so she can't help her siblings when she is moving to a better neighborhood, but she can run through the woods at night to track a killer.

Juliet is reeling from the fact that her husband was not at all the man she thought he was, but the main thing on her mind seems to be how she can find it in her heart to forgive him, giving her young sons a good Christian example.

Jay is relegated to babysitter for all of the kids while the others run off to "help" the police and FBI solve their case. Why not put Holly there, since she can't lift a box?

You see where I am going with this. If you love the genre, you will probably like this. It's fast-paced and full of action. It's just not my thing.

Not recommended.

Warren the 13th and the All-Seeing Eye by Tania del Rio

Summary:

Meet Warren the 13th, a cursed 12-year-old Victorian bellhop who’s terribly unlucky . . . yet perpetually optimistic, hard-working, and curious. Orphan Warren’s pride and joy is his family’s hotel, but he’s been miserable ever since his evil Aunt Anaconda took over the management. Anaconda believes a mysterious treasure known as the All-Seeing Eye is hidden somewhere on the grounds, and she’ll do anything to find it. If Warren wants to preserve his family’s legacy, he’ll need to find the treasure first—if the hotel’s many strange and wacky guests don’t beat him to it! This middle-grade adventure features gorgeous two-color illustrations on every page and a lavish two-column Victorian design that will pull young readers into a spooky and delightful mystery.

My take: 4 looks

This book, written for upper-elementary or lower-middle school students, is a combination of mystery, intrigue, familial relations, monsters, and shape-shifting witches. In short, there is something for every young reader here!

Warren is completely likable as he bears the burden of running a manse of a hotel while his uncle sleeps and his aunt dreams up new ways to make his life even less exciting than it already is. On a trip to the hedge maze one night (as punishment from his auntie), he finds a journal which may lead him to the "all-seeing eye", thought to be a myth until now.

Will the creature in the boiler room turn out to be a friend or foe? Will the old teacher in the library come to Warren's defense? Is pale Petula all she seems to be? And what on earth is Warren going to do with 100 guests showing up at the same time? Are the paintings of his ancestors trying to communicate with Warren?

Perfect for boys and girls, this is a great story, enhanced by wonderfully imaginative illustrations by Will Staehle.

Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this galley proof in exchange for my honest opinion. Book is available November, 2015.

Wednesday Word: Preventative

Preventative

adjective or noun pre·ven·ta·tive \-ˈven-tə-tiv\

Definition of PREVENTATIVE

:  preventive

Now, what we have here is a perfect example of how the language changes over time. When you look up a word and the definition is another word, that usually means that the initial word is not the preferred term. As a matter of fact, it may not even be a word, but its usage has become so common and accepted that the dictionary has included it in the lexicon.

 

For example, several years ago you would not have found the word "irregardless" in the dictionary. It is there today, referring you to the correct term "regardless".

 

So it is with "preventative". It's not actually a word, but it has become so commonly (mis)used that it is now accepted.

 

However, be a friend of grammar and do not use it. Use the correct "preventive" instead.

 

Oh! Here is the definition and etymology of preventive:

 

a :  designed or serving to prevent the occurrence of disease <preventive medical care>

b :  undertaken to forestall anticipated hostile action

 

First Known Use of PREVENTIVE

circa 1626 

Book Riot Store's latest addition!

Those of you who know me know that my very favorite book of all time is Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth. Written for children, it is full of wit, wisdom, and wordplay. It is a book lover's dream to read.

The only thing better than having a signed first-edition, which I do NOT, is sporting the apparel. Well, there may be other better things, but that is to say how very excited I am to order this shirt!!

See my review of The Phantom Tollbooth here.

The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain

Summary:

Cain's first novel - the subject of an obscenity trial in Boston and the inspiration for Camus's The Stranger - is the fever-pitched tale of a drifter who stumbles into a job, into an erotic obsession, and into a murder.

My take: 3 looks

In a novella that takes 116 pages to fully develop two characters, commit a murder, and leave behind a trail of devastation, James M. Cain's first book crowns him king of noir.

Frank is a committed drifter, but the beautiful Cora makes him want to change his entire life just to have her. Trouble is, Cora is married to the good-hearted restaurant owner, Nick. Maybe it's not so much trouble, after all, as Frank and Cora concoct what they are sure is the perfect murder.

With sharp, staccato dialogue and the kind of backdrop that harkens to the heyday of film noir in the 1940's, it not hard to see this book play out as a black and white movie in your mind. With a classic twist at the end, the reader finds that the postman does, indeed, always ring twice.

Recommended.

The Fold by Peter Clines

Summary:

A brilliantly twisty, turny supernatural mystery from the author of the Ex-Heroes series and 14 .  The folks in Mike Erikson's small New England town would say he's just your average, everyday guy. And that's just how Mike likes it. Sure, the life he's chosen may not be much of a challenge to someone with his unique gifts, but Mike is content with his quiet and peaceful existence.   That is, until an old government friend presents him with an irresistible mystery--one that Mike is uniquely qualified to solve: it seems that a team of DARPA scientists has invented a device that could make teleportation a reality. But something is very wrong with the project. The personalities of the scientists who work on it are changing. People are dying. And reality itself seems to be...warping.  Mike soon learns that the machine is not at all what it appears to be--and that its creators may have opened a doorway to something horrible that lurks just outside our world's borders.

My take: 5 looks

Stop what you are doing, and read this book! It is a crazy roller-coaster ride!! I started this book at around 2 pm this afternoon, and it is finished at 9pm. I could NOT put this book down, and will tell everyone I know about it.

Mike is a brilliant man who teaches high school literature to keep a low profile, and keep his demons at bay. His demons? Photographic memory and a genius IQ. The government needs him now, and he bites off a LOT more than he can chew.

A combination of speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, and mystery, this book covers all bases, and does it beautifully!

Did I tell you already? READ this book!!

Highly recommended.

Thanks to BloggingForBooks for a copy of this book for my honest review.

Wednesday Word: Behoove

Behoove

verb be·hoove \bi-ˈhüv, bē-\

to be necessary, proper, or advantageous for

I can completely see how using this word too often would get annoying. It's not a word that you hear very often, and yet, it has a clear and certain meaning.

When talking to my kids: It would behoove you to get home by midnight.

When talking to my boss: It would behoove you to look at the report I sent on the sales figures.

When talking to my husband: It would behoove you to remember our anniversary.

See how it is used? Now you try!

A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan C. Bradley

Summary:

In the third installment of this bestselling, award-winning, sister-poisoning, bicycle-riding, murder-investigating, and utterly captivating series, Flavia de Luce must draw upon Gypsy lore and her encyclopaedic knowledge of poisons to prevent a grave miscarriage of justice.

My take: 4 looks

Another wonderful book in the Flavia de Luce series! Bradley delights in the same vein as the great Agatha Christie when it comes to British villainy. The protagonist, Flavia, is so very charming, quick-witted, and intelligent. The fact that all of these are far beyond her young 11 years adds to the charm of this larger-than-life heroine.

Faced this time with an injured Gypsy, lots of stolen loot, and a dissident religious sect, it is a mile-a minute romp in which Flavia again turns to her laboratory and reliance on chemistry to find the killer. Working with the police inspector, and sometimes behind his back, Flavia is the precocious girl we all wanted to be when we were young. With her trusty bicycle Gladys and her stalwart groundskeeper, Dogger, she is ready to face the secrets hidden right under her nose.

This book, while it can be read as a stand-alone, provides additional insight into Buckshaw, Harriett, and Falvia's father's financial concerns. The mystery is compelling, introducing temporary characters, bringing back familiar Bishops Lacey's characters, and tying it all up at the end with a nice, tight ribbon.

Bradley has six in this series, and I am keen to read each one.

Highly recommended.

Wednesday Word: Karma

Karma

Sanskrit karma fate, work

First Known Use: 1827

 

: the force created by a person's actions that some people believe causes good or bad things to happen to that person

 

Remember last week's Wednesday Word, Schedenfreude? It means feeling delight in someone else's misfortune. I cautioned against that, and used this week's word as an example. Karma.

 

See, Karma holds that what you have done to others will eventually be done to you. Hinduism and Buddhism takes the Christian Golden Rule a step farther here. Kind of like a cosmic balance.

Library Look: The Humble Library Card

I found these the other day. These were the first library cards for me and the boys after we moved back to Alabama. Strat was 6 years old, and Jack and Chase were 5 years old. How cute are these little signatures??

That got me to thinking about the humble library card.

The American Library Association has designated September 2015 as Library Card Sign-up Month.

Library cards have come a long way, folks. Libraries have contests now to design new and exciting cards. Libraries want it to be cool to carry one!

So, get a library card today and USE it!!

The Heroines by Eileen Favorite

Summary:

Although a true lover of books, Anne-Marie Entwhistle prefers not to read to her spirited daughter, Penny, especially from the likes of Madame Bovary , Gone With the Wind , or The Scarlet Letter . These novels, devoted to the lives of the Heroines that make them so irresistible, have a way of hitting too close to home -- well, to the Homestead actually, where Anne-Marie runs the quaint family-owned bed and breakfast. In this enchanting debut novel, Penny and her mother encounter great women from classic works of literature who make the Homestead their destination of choice just as the plots of their tumultuous, unforgettable stories begin to unravel. They appear at all hours of the day and in all manners of distress. A lovesick Madame Bovary languishes in their hammock after Rodolphe has abandoned her, and Scarlett O'Hara's emotions are not easily tempered by tea and eiderdowns. These visitors long for comfort, consolation, and sometimes for more attention than the adolescent Penny wants her mother to give. Knowing that to interfere with their stories would cause mayhem in literature, Anne-Marie does her best to make each Heroine feel at home, with a roof over her head and a shoulder to cry on. But when Penny begins to feel overshadowed by her mother's indulgence of each and every Heroine, havoc ensues, and the thirteen-year-old embarks on her own memorable tale. Eileen Favorite's lively, fresh, and enormously entertaining novel gives readers a chance to experience their favorite Heroines all over again, or introduces these fictional women so beguilingly that further acquaintance will surely follow.

My take: 2.5 looks

After reading the summary, I would say that you don't really need to read the book. It pretty much sums up the whole thing. I found it difficult to get into the story, then once I was into the action, I found it hard to understand why Anne-Marie chose the heroines over her own daughter time and time again. As a mother, that is completely unbelievable.

Toward the end, there was a spark of whether or not Penny may be a heroine. I would have LOVED that twist in the story. It would have made it more compelling.

While this is an intriguing storyline, I can't recommend it.

Plumdog by Emma Chichester Clark

Summary:

The irresistible illustrated diary of one very special London dog--the perfect gift book for dog lovers of all stripes (and spots!)

Hello. My name is Plum and I'm a whoosell--a whippet mixed with Jack Russell and poodle. I especially like swimming, leaping, and croissants, and my favorite fragrance is fox poop. I live with Emma, an illustrator, and Rupert in London.

Over the last year, I've been keeping a diary. Emma helped with the pictures, but the words are all mine.

My take: 4 looks

A super cute idea for a book! Chock full of daily musings, activities, trips, and friendships with both animals and humans, this was a delight to read.

Plum's language skills are admirable, love of swimming and diving impressive, and circle of friends extensive. This is a dog used to exercise, travel, and slumber parties. I truly enjoyed each page of this book, enhanced by the printing that looked like it was done in pencil. A very realistic take on what a dog's journal would look like.

The only thing keeping me from giving a full five looks is one use of an unnecessary expletive, making this PG instead of G-rated.

Recommended.

Thank you to BloggingForBooks for providing a copy for this honest review.

We Never Asked for Wings by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Summary:

For fourteen years, Letty Espinosa has worked three jobs around San Francisco to make ends meet while her mother raised her children—Alex, now fifteen, and Luna, six—in their tiny apartment on a forgotten spit of wetlands near the bay. But now Letty’s parents are returning to Mexico, and Letty must step up and become a mother for the first time in her life.   Navigating this new terrain is challenging for Letty, especially as Luna desperately misses her grandparents and Alex, who is falling in love with a classmate, is unwilling to give his mother a chance. Letty comes up with a plan to help the family escape the dangerous neighborhood and heartbreaking injustice that have marked their lives, but one wrong move could jeopardize everything she’s worked for and her family’s fragile hopes for the future. 

My take: 2.5 looks

***SPOILERS***

I know that second books are difficult. As a matter of fact, Diffenbaugh opens her Acknowledgments section with this statement. After reading her first book, The Language of Flowers, in 2011, I note that I had the same kinds of issues with that story asI have with this one.

First of all, the main character, Letty, was more irritating than ingratiating. I think I was supposed to feel that she was struggling to fit into the role of parenting, and feel sympathy and compassion for her path from bystander to caretaker. Instead, she irritated at almost every turn. Her constant giving in to Luna, her constant brushing off of Alex, her constant excuses and ignoring things which demanded her attention because she just didn't feel up to it...it all wore very thin for me.

It started, as a matter of fact, with the grandmother leaving. Why would a grandmother completely hijack the raising of Luna, only to completely abandon her years later? It just didn't make sense. And why on earth did Letty feel such a compulsion to continue to send her mother money, even after the abandonment? Not only that, but the very idea that her mother enclosed a self-addressed envelope for money, knowing that Letty would be struggling to make ends meet as it was. Perhaps it is a cultural thing, but it was not realistic in the least.

Then there is the love triangle. I am sick of the literary device that a woman can't make a decision because too much is happening too fast in her life. That is just not the reality of things. And the fact that Letty waits almost too late for a happy ending, again very contrived.

In the end, if I want to recommend a Diffenbaugh novel, it will be Flowers and not this one.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for this honest review.