tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162Fri, 01 Nov 2024 11:41:26 +0000book reviewspersonal writingprofessional writingbook recommendationsmy povmy original writingFoodie Fridaypicture postwriting exercicesThe Creativity Book by Eric Maiselbook newsNaBloPoMoPhotohuntenvironmentquizzesword newsCoffeeMemeWIPsaudiobookblogging mechanicsmoviesARCbook memesmotivationwriting contestsMy writing, my reviews, and shiny objects that catch my eye.http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (DJRM)Blogger309125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-4441140323331730875Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:57:00 +00002013-06-05T12:57:02.187-05:00 The Best Things You Can Eat: For Everything from Aches to Zzzz, the Definitive Guide to the Nutrition-Packed Foods that Energize, Heal, and Help You Look Great by David Grotto My rating: 5 of 5 stars Informative and not preachy, this book gathers a lot of research and turns it into something that is easy to use. The section on nutritional needs gives the what, why, http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2013/06/review-best-things-you-can-eat-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-6143048887709050155Sun, 02 Jun 2013 15:25:00 +00002013-06-02T10:25:50.701-05:00 Insurgent by Veronica Roth My rating: 2 of 5 stars Padded plot, inconsistent characters, repetitive and drawn out action scenes, and so many pages of silly angst - what's not to be disappointed with? Well, it still takes place in Chicago, so 2 stars instead of 1. View all my reviews http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2013/06/review-insurgent.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-3281254782988030600Sun, 12 May 2013 19:25:00 +00002013-05-12T14:25:53.372-05:00 Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire My rating: 3 of 5 stars As part of a series, this is a definite improvement over the very forgetful Book 3, and brings back the more interesting characters of book 2. Reading either reviews, I seem to be in the minority that liked the last third of this story better than the "previously in Oz" first two thirds that wad necessary to bring http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2013/05/review-out-of-oz.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-3216375550766430585Wed, 24 Apr 2013 01:30:00 +00002013-04-23T20:30:50.151-05:00 Envy the Night by Michael Koryta My rating: 3 of 5 stars This was Koryta's first published stand alone, following three of his Lincoln Perry books, and I wonder if it was actually written before those successful books. The writing is dragged out and the action sequences are repetitive. Too many characters are given POV chapters that add pages but not depth to the storyhttp://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2013/04/review-envy-night.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-6086271790871310729Mon, 01 Apr 2013 12:25:00 +00002013-04-01T07:25:47.173-05:00 Niceville by Carsten Stroud My rating: 2 of 5 stars Decent sense of place, a couple well developed characters and three distinct plots that never ever come together. They cross each other only through brushes of characters, and that makes for three under developed stories that have weak and/or no endings. Rarely when I finish a book do I have such a feeling of being http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2013/04/review-niceville.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-623154911891349553Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:58:00 +00002013-03-19T19:58:44.485-05:00 Methland: The Death and Life of an American Small Town by Nick Reding My rating: 3 of 5 stars 4 stars for all the facts about meth,crystal meth, and the process that puts it into user's hands. The of this drug, from when it was commonly advertised and prescribed to its current status as a link between Mexican drug cartels and the American industrial food business is http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2013/03/review-methland-death-and-life-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-903557504583228946Sun, 10 Feb 2013 21:09:00 +00002013-02-10T15:09:16.920-06:00 Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell My rating: 3 of 5 stars Love the time period, really liked the hero, but the Perils of Pauline arch villains cast touch of silliness over the whole book. Not as interesting in any way as book 1 of the series, but I will plod on because I will put up with mediocrity to read the historical trivia laden story about an archer. Viewhttp://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2013/02/review-vagabond.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-1528696588235643206Sat, 12 Jan 2013 19:34:00 +00002013-01-12T13:34:28.935-06:00 American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis My rating: 4 of 5 stars Masterful writing but the obvious effort of form over substance took this book down a notch, in my opinion. (Personal note: Reading this book during the same time period that the movie version of Les Miserables is being promoted to death probably added more to my appreciation than I should admit in public)http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2013/01/review-american-psycho.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-860181202679530754Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:36:00 +00002012-11-29T07:36:13.005-06:00 The Other by Thomas Tryon My rating: 5 of 5 stars 1) Actually a reread but Goodreads has simple way of recording that2) Not true Southern Gothic because it doesn't take place in the South, but it has all the key points of Southern Gothic and theses are myshelves and I will mark them like I want them. This is a the rare horror story that gets better after the first http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/11/review-other.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-6437963844337606722Wed, 31 Oct 2012 16:49:00 +00002012-10-31T11:49:21.270-05:00 The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling My rating: 4 of 5 stars Audio Version The author writes as if she's broken free of a world where children only do bad things when they are victims of adults and adults for the most part love all children and those that don't are justly punished. In other words, there's a feeling of "this is what happens when you look under the http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/10/review-casual-vacancy.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-4156690739872275093Wed, 31 Oct 2012 16:41:00 +00002012-10-31T11:41:08.551-05:00 The Mill River Recluse by Darcie Chan My rating: 2 of 5 stars I'm being very generous with 2 stars, but the book does have an interesting setting and with a good setting I can wade through a lot of bad plotting and shallow characters. And that's what this book has - a silly plot that never quite makes sense and characters who get too many paragraphs for what little http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/10/review-mill-river-recluse.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-369064390791606768Fri, 26 Oct 2012 00:40:00 +00002012-10-25T19:40:16.960-05:00 Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan My rating: 3 of 5 stars The idea of a monster as a mother is interesting, and for the first third of this book, Duncan turned that idea every which way. Unfortunately that left two thirds of the book with an exhausted theme. The carry over from the first werewolf book, Vampires looking to the "wulf" for a remedy to light sensitivity gets http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/10/review-talulla-rising.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-5692349037168329353Wed, 12 Sep 2012 16:45:00 +00002012-09-12T11:45:18.747-05:00 Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter My rating: 4 of 5 stars Starts out as a multi-romance summer read, light and breezy, more about place than characters. But the people develop into actual people and suddenly, it's a lot more complicated than you expected (just like life!). There's a bit of real-person-fiction with Richard Burton, some WWII historical fiction, Hollywood http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/09/review-beautiful-ruins.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-6208434144950255584Wed, 29 Aug 2012 15:23:00 +00002012-08-29T10:23:01.415-05:00 The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan My rating: 4 of 5 stars Fascinating information about a bit of American history that I didn't know enough about. The book begs for a better editor, someone who would have had the author arrange the book in a less repetitive way, maybe even cutting out a few of the http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/08/review-worst-hard-time-untold-story-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-3702210345697740354Sun, 26 Aug 2012 15:44:00 +00002012-08-26T10:44:05.937-05:00 Outlaw by Angus Donald My rating: 4 of 5 stars Robin Hood is the supporting character in this story, but it's obvious he is not a supporting character in Alan Dale's life (and heart, although the book never acknowledges that in the way I would have liked). It's Donald's portrayal of a flesh and blood and less than perfect Robin and his band of outlaws that makes this ahttp://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/08/review-outlaw.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-2564076360939942223Mon, 23 Jul 2012 00:14:00 +00002012-07-22T19:14:57.397-05:00 The Expats: A Novel by Chris Pavone My rating: 1 of 5 stars One fourth of the way in, I guessed what was going to happen. Flipped to the last quarter, and yep, "mystery" solved. The jumping from location and time exists only to hide a very obvious, silly plot. Flat, stereotypical characters can't hide behind the author's plentiful knowledge of location because the http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/07/review-expats-novel.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-5672041440265019218Sun, 01 Jul 2012 15:12:00 +00002012-07-01T10:12:06.123-05:00 The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry My rating: 2 of 5 stars There's multiple plot lines woven together to make a rich and fascinating story, and then there's multiple plot lines knotted and twisted in a snarl that frustrates the reader as they try to follow along. This book is definitely the latter. A book that brings the mystery of Columbus's legacy in Jamaica into http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/07/review-columbus-affair.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-5491745870923771216Tue, 26 Jun 2012 00:48:00 +00002012-06-25T19:48:36.878-05:00 Second Star by Dana Stabenow My rating: 3 of 5 stars Stabenow builds a very interesting world where this planet has reached its sell by date and off earth stations are being built for colonization. The resources come from the Moon and asteroid belts, the projects are expected to pay back their start up costs with interest, and no one is expecting Utopia, just a place http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/06/review-second-star.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-73827854900021153Wed, 13 Jun 2012 23:51:00 +00002012-06-13T18:51:33.016-05:00 The Coldest Night by Robert Olmstead My rating: 3 of 5 stars I have mixed feelings about this book, probably because I couldn't get past that the author seemed to be deliberately writing in the very clipped and brusque style of Cormac McCarthy. I'm willing to admit that could be entirely my impression and not at all what the author set out to do, but when a reader is http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/06/review-coldest-night.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-4919533492015182603Tue, 08 May 2012 12:10:00 +00002012-05-08T07:10:16.452-05:00 The Wolf Gift by Anne Rice My rating: 0 of 5 stars 50% of the way through and I have no curiosity about what happens next because so little has happened so far. The "man wolf" is an interesting idea, but when an author uses the characters very dull internal monologue as plot, all my interest is crushed. Also, having the character do the same research that the author http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-wolf-gift.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-315248404121830494Wed, 02 May 2012 00:54:00 +00002012-05-01T19:54:13.772-05:00 Carry the One by Carol Anshaw My rating: 3 of 5 stars Beautiful writing that almost masks a go-nowhere story. There's so much opportunity for something to happen to any of the characters who are present for a life shattering moment, but one day after finishing this I realized that not one of them went in a direction different than the one they were headed in before ithttp://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/05/review-carry-one.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-693724198109554952Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:50:00 +00002012-04-22T10:50:16.075-05:00 Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d'Art by Christopher Moore My rating: 4 of 5 stars The first third or so of this book is not Moore's best work by any means. It time jumps so gracelessly that he has to rely on chapter titles to tell the reader where they are and his stabs at bawdy humor are just that - blunt force stabs that inflict as much pain as humor. However, when the storyhttp://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/04/review-sacre-bleu-comedy-d_22.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-4514341449904830894Sun, 22 Apr 2012 15:33:00 +00002012-04-22T10:33:46.936-05:00 Trade by Oliver M. Bishop My rating: 2 of 5 stars A book with a promising plot set in locations that work with the plot almost ruined by lack of editing. At its core, this is a dark story of what happens when damaged people cross into the lives of people who have never imagined such evil exists in the real world. The antagonist makes no apologies because he's not http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/04/review-trade.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-4355587078018916233Sat, 21 Apr 2012 19:32:00 +00002012-04-21T14:32:19.561-05:00 Sacre Bleu: A Comedy d'Art by Christopher Moore My rating: 4 of 5 stars The first third or so of this book is not Moore's best work by any means. It times jumps so gracelessly that he has to rely on chapter titles to tell the reader where they are and his stabs at bawdy humor are just that - blunt force stabs that inflict as much pain as humor. However, when the http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/04/review-sacre-bleu-comedy-d.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18803162.post-1392587793322452018Fri, 13 Apr 2012 13:54:00 +00002012-04-13T08:54:32.819-05:00 Last Seen in Massilia by Steven Saylor My rating: 3 of 5 stars Definitely better than the previous book, but that might be because I took a break between reading Saylor's Sub Rosa series. Perhaps the negatives (anachronistic ethics) aren't so noticeble if you don't immerse yourself in the series, or perhaps Saylor did a better job of writing characters that lived in http://djrmelvin.blogspot.com/2012/04/review-last-seen-in-massilia.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (DJRM)0