Mating for life by Marissa Stapley

• Print Length: 336 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books (July 1, 2014)
• Sold by: Simon and Schuster Digital Sales Inc
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00GEEB3W0

(Summary)

Marriage, love, family, motherhood, finding yourself all of this is touch upon in blunt honesty Mating for Life.

Helen Sear, a former folksinger, proudly disdained from marriage, and raising her three daughters –all with different fathers- on her own. In her older years Helen falls in love with a traditional man who wants to marry her. Will Helen go against all that she has believed in as far a marriage or will she hold on and loose that man she loves? Meanwhile, Helen’s youngest daughter Liane is head over heels for a man that just might be her soul mate, but he has two girls and an ex-wife. Can Laine find her way in her new role as “step-mom or something” it doesn’t come with an instruction manual? Isla, Helen’s middle daughter, is an artist and is trying to hold on to her second marriage but she might have to disrupting her two young children and breaking free. Fiona, Helens eldest daughter, is a stay at home mom of three boys. She works hard to make the kid’s world pristine but she seems not to be at peace with it all. When her husband comes out with a secret that rocks the boat will Fiona be able to hold on?

(Review)

Many roles that women play through out there life are depicted in the book with such clarity that any women can relate to one of the characters and how she feels. Roles including being a mother, a wife, a daughter, a lover, a friend, and a sister. It made me feel that I am not alone and understood where the character was coming from since I had been there too.

I had a hard time in the first part of the book, jumping from on characters story to the next but Marissa did a wonderful job connecting all the stories together in the last half of the book. She also but an animal and its mating habits at the top of each chapter. At first I thought this took away from the story itself until I realized that she incorporated the animals or their behavior into the chapter. Which ended up adding to the magic of the story.

I will admit I have rarely cried when it comes to books (laughing yes, crying not so much). I cried with this book. The characters spoke to me though I thought the backdrops need a little more detail. All in all a good book. Only complaint I had a hard time in the beginning jumping for person to person. The author does a wonderful job taking places she knows well and using these for the backdrops of her story.

(Author)

Marissa Stapley is a writer and former magazine editor who contributes to Elle, The Globe and Mail, and National Post among others. She also teaches writing at the University of Toronto.

DISCLAIMER: I received this book free of charge from Goodreads Frist Reads Giveaway in exchange for my unbiased review of it. All opinions are mine and were not coerced upon me to provide a favorable review

TREASURE BOX

Treasure box worthy. Well, I kind of adapted this from the book Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, I made a treasure box out of cardboard, scrapbook paper, Velcro and glue. I use this box for all the books I love so much I want to read them again. It takes a lot to meet my TREASURE BOX WORTHY Title.

Consequently I have the hardest times writing reviews for the TREASURE BOX WORTHY books because I feel that what I write wont due the book any justice.

Keep an eye out for a list of my TREASURE BOX WORTHY BOOKS on the right hand side of the page.

Books2Treasure
Jamie Crosby

A Stillness of Chimes

• Print Length: 354 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0307730786
• Publisher: Multnomah Books (February 18, 2014)
• Sold by: Random House LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00F1W0E6M

 

TREASURE BOX WORTHY Click Here to Learn More

Laura Gantt, a red haired history teacher, comes home to Prospect, Georgia to settle her recently deceased mother’s home and belongings. What she doesn’t expect to encounter is newly formed rumors of people seeing her father walking around town. This startles Laura since her father was presumed dead twelve years earlier by drowning in the towns nearby lake where he went fishing that day. Though his body was never found. Searching the mountain side for more clues to the truth behind whether her father is alive, Laura reface memories and feelings of abandonment from the day of his disappearance. All Laura’s ex beau Sean wants to protect her and keep her feet firmly planted on the ground and not to get her hopes up. Things get interesting when items in Laura’s mother’s house go missing and a prowler is spotted outside the house as well. Between the two of them can Laura and Sean find out what happened that day that her father disappeared? What other secrets become uncovered? Do Laura and Sean rekindle their romance?

Elliott Gantt, Laura’s father, was an ex-Vietnam Veteran that Laura and a Doctor suspect had PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder, and that being some of his issues before he disappeared. I am amazed at the accuracy of everything depicted by the author when it comes to the behaviors she has her character display. Being a military wife I can relate to some PTSD symptoms (though I will admit not even close to what was described in this book). “…his shaggy hair half-veiling his fierce blue eyes and hiding most of the tiny scars on his forehead.” All the characters were believable and stayed within their character perimeters, not demonstrating any emotion or decision that would conflict there personality. I fell in love with most of the people in this story and easily believed they could be real.

“When she inhaled, her lungs seemed to fill with deep sadness that seeped into every cell of her body.” Sympathizing with Laura, I could picture what she must have been feeling at every turn. It was hard not to with the amazingly described emotions, feelings and depth of the characters. It was like I was there standing next to her. Living what she was living, feeling what she was feeling.

I was so wrapped up in this book that the real world became a blur. I could be reading and someone come up talking to me and I never even heard them. When I had to take a break, I worked extra hard to get what I had to get done, done so that I could get back to the book and find out what happens. The plot was riveting, the scenery so well described I felt like I was there watching everything unfold from a distance.

I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone. This is not my typical choice of genre and I loved it. I found no complaints on any level, be it the characters, plot, setting, or relationships throughout this story.The book was amazing the best I have read in a long, long time.

I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review."

Wicked Bugs: The Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects by Amy Stewart

Product Details

Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books; First Printing edition (May 3, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1565129601
ISBN-13: 978-1565129603











“WARNING: WE ARE SERIOUSLY OUTNUMBERED.”,
Amy Stewart, the author of New York Times Bestseller “Wicked Bugs: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities”, has done it again. A book of destructive, horrible, deadly, dangerous and painful bugs. Though this book isn’t exclusively about bugs and includes spiders, worms, centipedes, slugs and scorpions. Amy took the time in her introduction to explain the differences between bugs and other insects. She goes on to explains that even though some of her entries in this book aren’t all official bugs they are all of the insect family and are included because she found their stories intriguing.

From the African Bat Bug and its unusual mating rituals to Zombie bugs who “…don’t just eat other bugs they actually inhabit them and force them to do their bidding.” Each entry entails a unique or intriguing story behind each bug. Each chapter/entry includes the bugs name, Latin name, size, habitat and distribution. The author also includes little sections in between some of the bugs she lists. These sections are not as extensive on information on the bugs as her individual bug entries but she finds bugs with interesting stories that fit into a category. For example; section “She’s just not that into” contains information on all sorts of bugs that have bizarre reproduction or mating rituals. The section in titled “Bugs of war” has tidbits of information on different bugs that had an impact on an army or, were used as weapons. There are over one hundred different bugs mentioned in this book.

This book might not be for those who have any bug phobias, the illustrations though not of exact size are well drawn and can even make you a little squeamish. I laughed, was grossed out, and was intrigued by the stories, and facts that were presented in this book. I found some of the information useful since some of the bugs live in my area. I always get Tomato Hornworms in my garden but never knew to leave them alone when they have white cocoon looking things on their backs, this is due to the fact that a parasite wasp has already been at work taking care of the Hornworm infestation. This is just an example of some of the useful information contained within the pages.

Like I said above, I did find the content informative, interesting and fun. Although, I will say, I found it hard to read the names of the bugs on each of the chapters. There were times I had to go back to the table of contents to see what bug I was reading about. It was just not the best font for the job. I also think that since the book includes insects that are not scientifically bugs that the title should reflect that or at least make another book with the non-bug insects.

Though this book isn’t for those that are bug squeamish. I would highly recommend this to anyone looking for bits of history, amusing and grotesque stories about bugs. Four thumbs up !

Book review: Gilded by Christina Farley

Book Review: Gilded by Christina Farley

·  Print Length: 352 pages

·  Publisher: Skyscape (March 1, 2014)

·  Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

·  Language: English

·ASIN: B00FN2KR3K                                                         

Sixteen year old Korean-American girl, Jae Hwa Lee, with a black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a master in archery, is uprooted from her home in LA, California and brought to Seoul, Korea by her recently widowed father. Jae is just starting to adjust to her new life when she is thrust head first into a long standing family curse. The oldest unwed female in each generation in her family are sought out for by a Korean demigod, trying to woe them into the spirit world to be his queen and steal there soul. And Jae is next.

Written in first person this story is based on the Korean myth of Haemosu and Princess Yuhwa. Which, the author has expertly intertwined this myth into her own story. Giving the myth new depth and dimension.

“Haemosu was immediately attracted to Yuhwa, daughter of the river god Habaek, whom he first saw bathing in a stream. Haemosu surreptitiously placed alcohol where the thirsty Yuhwa would drink it, and took advantage of her. He then asked the furious Habaek for his daughter’s hand. In order to test his potential son-in-law, Habaek transformed into a carp, and Haemosu transformed into an otter and caught him. Moving back to land, Habaek transformed into a deer and Haemosu a wolf. Habaek took the form of a pheasant, but could not escape Haemosu who became a hawk. Habaek then surrendered his daughter to her indomitable wooer.” ~ Korean PDF  (http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:YTrUMKGrwS8J:www.koreafocus.or.kr/design2/pdf/pdf_download.asp%3Fpdf_name%3D/images/upload/pdf/103519+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us)

Adventure at every turn. I had a hard time putting this book down. The author, Christina Farley, did a wonderful job ending each chapter just at the right point, leaving you wondering what happens next. I enjoyed every characters part in the story but I did find that I didn’t have a strong connection with any of them. The main characters, for me, seem to missing something, though I can’t figure out what it is. There is a visible change in emotional growth with two of the main characters throughout the book. On another note, I found many of the mythological creatures and learning some of the Korean myths intriguing. Leaving me wanting more.

Christina Farley spent many years in Korea and her knowledge of their culture, language and land shows in this story. In the back of the book she provides a glossary of the Korean words and the translations that she uses throughout the story. I found this helpful due to the fact that two of the main mythological creatures, Haechi and Haemosu, the Korean word for grandfather, haraboji, all start with the letter H and I got confused a couple of times and had to use the glossary. The author got together with a couple of other people and made a classroom guide to go with this story. Meant for Grade 7 -10 this guide has activities/Lessons in geography, proverb/adage, and write your own myth. Complete with a list of Core standards that this guide meets for each of the grades.