The Safe: A Mystery Novel - Leo Cragg

I downloaded The Safe: A Mystery Novel by Leo Cragg as a free novel off of Amazon. I am addicted to looking at the top 100 free list for new reads.

The Safe is my type of book. I love a good mystery. I am usually pretty good at guessing how a book ends at the very beginning, just have to look for the clues that the author leaves in the first few chapters. In this book I thought I knew the ending but there were a lot of surprises towards the end. Bad people that were not so bad and good people that were thrown into shady situations. A quick read and worth the spare time!

Second Verse - Jennifer Walkup

As I mentioned earlier I received this as a Goodreads First Read, and I am happy I stuck it out. Overall gist of the book is boy and girl meet, boy and girl have outside drama impacting their relationship, love and murder occur hand in hand and then crazy plot twists prevent me from revealing anything more without spoiling the end.

It took me a while to get into this book. I am not a huge supernatural fan despite my love for Harry Potter books. This book was interesting. Its hard to come up with totally new and creative ideas it seems but this story took its own twists and it was exciting to read something new...ish.

Overall this is a good popcorn book, a little love, a little mystery and danger but does not require your full attention.

Child's Play

Since children's book play a role in my life these days I guess it is only fair that I review them as well. Below are the last five that I read to my little girl. She has no idea what I am reading to her but she likes to grab the pages. I let her hold the board books but the drool is dangerous on the pages so I proceed with caution and make sure lots of toys are nearby.

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly - illustrations by Melissa Webb

Ever wonder why you like something so much as a child? Reading this to my daughter I couldn't help but think, wow, I was a pretty grim kid for liking this story so much...I do not remember that once she swallowed the fly she could die.

Marley Goes To School - John Grogan

I have Marley and Me by John Grogan that I still need to read, maybe I will move that up in the pile. I did see the movie (and that is most likely why this book is so far down on my stack to read...). This child's book though was cute! I love the antics that this pup gets up to and I can completely imagine him running through a school terrorizing the adults.

Romeo & Juliet - Jennifer Adams, illustrations by Alison Oliver 

This is a cute counting primer! 1-10 following the story of Romeo and Juliet, got to love the classics.

Alice in Wonderland - Jennifer Adams, illustrations by Alison Oliver

I love Alice in Wonderland with all my heart and this color primer did not disappoint!

I Can Do It Myself! - Stephen Krensky, illustrated by Sara Gillingham

Eh, not much substance to this book. It is a board book which is great for my girl to hang on to, not as easy to destroy. As she gets older and understands words this will be a good book to start with simple sentences. For right now the illustrations grab her attention and she likes to smack the book closed.

Half Past Winter - Ginger Nielson

I received this book as a Goodreads First Read. My daughter is too young to understand the story but she did like reaching for the pages which were well illustrated. I personally love children books that have morals and values to teach but this is a cute book to add to my daughter's collection and I can appreciate the art which a lot of children books tend to lack.

I really hope that all this time I put into her library while she is this young and all the reading we do together she will grow to love books as much as me. Then maybe my little book club would have a second member!
Or I will just have an excuse to re-read all my favorites such as Harry Potter...

GoodReads First Reads First Read - Being Audrey Hepburn by Mitchell Kriegman

Now that title was a mouth full...

I must say, I recently discovered that an ordinary Jane like myself could be privy to advanced copies. I am in love.

I won a free copy of "Being Audrey Hepburn" by Mitchell Kriegman from Goodreads.com and it was actually pretty good!

A lot happens in this fast paced story and my only complaint would be it was hard to gauge how much time passed between all the events. I may be the only one but the passage of time in a story is important to me. It helps me understand what is happening with the characters though process better. How they fly from one emotion to the next. I felt as though this story chopped out chunks of time without letting the reader fully process it was happening since the transition could have been seconds worth of time per the flow of the story but the words lead you to think maybe days if not weeks went by. Besides that though, this is not the typical girl likes a boy story even though there is that story line. This story focuses mainly on the drama behind finding the passion in life. If you have ever felt lost and adrift, without a passion or a plan in life you become the main character and cheer her on as she trips into a glamour filled life. There is a lot that is unbelievable in this story but that is why we read, or at least why I do. This story could happen in an alternate universe, to a girl that is not me. Or maybe it has happened to someone just not in such extremes.

This is definitely a popcorn book. Easy light reading that keeps you entertained without making you think too much about the plot or where the story was going. Everyone lives happily ever after, even with the various hiccups and roadblocks along the way.

Popcorn Reading

So my freshman roommate had a term for books that were easily read and without a lot of substance, popcorn. If they were bad, chips. There are so many book out there that are popcorn reading and I love a lot of them. They are easy to read when my mind is focused on a million and one other things such as homework or just work in general. Also, when travelling it is nice to have a popcorn book that does not require all your attention so you can keep an ear for your boarding directions and an eye on your bags.

Book Club...Members (1)

Moving to a new part of the valley I was hoping that new opportunities would open up to meet new people. Maybe, just maybe there would be a book club nearby. As an avid reader I am constantly looking for other people that share my passion and love of all books. That is a lot harder then I thought it would be. Partially because my nose, in all my abundant free time *sarcasm*, is always in a book.

I married a man that has no love of books, or anything longer then a memo. Hand him the sports in highlight and he is a happy man. Along with having a husband that has no passion for books I was raised in a household that lacked the bookworm bug.

So a little bit about myself...

I am married. We just celebrated our first year of marriage! Time flies when you are having fun. Our first year of marriage was packed with buying a new build home, getting married and having our beautiful eight month old daughter, and I swear its not because I am biased that I say this! I have been told by random adults and children, and you know how open children are about what they think, that she is beautiful!

Along with my human family members we have a full house of furkids. Adrienne is our 10 year old Boxer whose partner, Rocky, recently passed, he was gone too sudden... Then there is our three year old Pomeranian/Yorkie/Shih Tzu mix Capone. Tiny little guy packed with lots of attitude and aged beyond his years, poor guy turned gray before his first birthday. Before Rocky left us we took in another Boxer, Bonnie. Once Rocky was gone though Bonnie went a little stir crazy with the "too old to play" folks so in came Drago the Great Dane. Before you say anything, yes we are a little crazy.

So, with full time wife and mommy duty you would think I have enough on my plate. Nope! I work full time as a cubicle monkey, lots of spreadsheets and people with big attitudes. Work and family is not enough though to keep this girl busy. I am also in the midst of completing a Masters in the Science of Accounting.

That just about sums me up! With all that I have going on finding a book club keeps getting pushed lower and lower on the list of things to do. So, since I do not have enough time to join one, and keep up with meetings or their books they choose, why not start my own? Book club with one member. No pressure behind choosing a group friendly book and no deadlines to meet. This could work for me!

Now what to read...