Book Review-Christmas in Camelot

Nicholas and I have been reading through this series and I have not written reviews on book that we have read together in a long time. This book was Christmas in Camelot by Mary Pope Osborne. This book was very different than the others in this series. Jack and Annie usually help Morgan and travel to places in the Magic Tree house. This time they get an invitation to go back to Camelot only to find that it was not from Morgan or Merlin. When they get there, they go on a mission to save Camelot. This book differed in another way too. I think most of the books have the main characters traveling to real places in the past. This time they go to the Otherworld which like Camelot is not really a true place, so to me that was a little different. Also, this book was longer. Her books are usually 10 chapters long, but this one was about 16 chapters long. Still though even with the differences, I enjoyed the book and my son did too.

Book Review-Twilight

Well I finally got through Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. This book took me forever to read and it was not because I was not reading, I was. I had a really hard time with the beginning of the book it moved so slow. It really picked up with the last nine chapters and I got into it. I was left at the end kind of feeling like I "wasted" my time. The book is almost 500 pages and written for young adults. All of the high school teachers say that it is the in book right now. Maybe that is why I did not like it as much because it is written for a much younger audience? The book is about a girl named Bella who falls in love with a boy she meets at her new high school only to find out that he is a vampire. They fall in love and there in lies the problem. She's "human" and he is not. The story was slow and basically just laid out problems to be figured out in the next book, maybe? I hardly ever read books that I can say I did not like, but this is probably one of my least favorites! Will I read the next book? Maybe but I need a break!

Book Review-The Parting by Beverly Lewis

The next book that I read on my fall reading list was The Parting by Beverly Lewis. I am a big fan of Beverly Lewis. I have read and LOVED all her books and it is unusual for me to say I did not like a book that I chose to read, but I really did not think this was one of her better books. The story is about Nellie Mae whose Amish community is being split in two. Some community members want to start studying scripture and believe they are "saved" and others want to have more modern conveniences like tractors. Nellie Mae is caught in the middle because her father wants to read scripture and believes he is "saved." Nellie Mae is courting a guy whose family is on the other side. Nellie Mae knows that neither family will let them be together after the split. Basically that is what this book is about. While it bored me at times and did not seem to go fast enough for me, like most Beverly Lewis novels do, I will continue reading the series to see what happens.

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For more Fall into Reading 2007 participants book reviews got to this post.

Reading Update/Frustration

Well, I added this book onto my reading list for the fall. I have checked it out three times but I have only been reading it for a week. I added it because everyone said this series was so good that it was a page turner. Well, I have been struggling with it. I will finish it, but the chapters are so long. It takes all my reading time to get through maybe one chapter so things are going slow. I have gotten through the fourth chapter and it is not bad, I just don't see where it is going fast enough. I usually like most books I pick to read, this is just going to take a little longer. Hopefully, in the next week i will be done with it.

Book Review-Return to Me

Return to Me written by Robin Lee Hatcher was the next book I read on my Fall Reading List. I have never read any books by this author until I read A Carol for Christmas. This book is the sequel to that book. Return To Me is a story that is a lot like the Prodigal Son. This story is about Carol's kids from the first book. Carol died years before in childbirth. Her youngest daughter Roxy is a lot like her mom and wants to go to Nashville to pursue her singing career. She leaves after getting an inheritance from her grandmother. After years of wasting her money, making bad decisions and about to starve to death, she decides to go home. She does not know if she will even be accepted. I really enjoyed this story. I really liked the story between the two sisters and the hard time they have getting back to loving each other.

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For more Fall into Reading 2007 participants book reviews got to this post.

Book Review:A Carol for Christmas

A Carol for Christmas written by Robin Lee Hatcher is the next book I decided to read on my Fall Reading List. I have never read anything by this author before and I really liked this book. She is a christian author. This is a very short book, I read it in a day, probably a total of a couple hours. The story is about Carol and Johnathan Burke. They decide to marry young and Johnathan gives up college and has to start at the bottom in his dad's department store and he has to work lots of hours. Carol is left by herself and really wants to pursue her dream of going to Nashville and becoming a country music singer, but she fells like she has to give all of that up for her husband. When a country music singer comes for a benefit Carol is asked to sing with him and she really tries to decide if that is what she really wants or not. She uses a lot of scriptures to help her in that decision. A quick read, but I really enjoyed it.

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For more Fall into Reading 2007 participants book reviews got to this post.

Book Review: When the Morning Comes

When the Morning Comes written by Cindy Woodsmall was the next book on my Fall Reading List that I chose to read. This book is the sequel to When the Heart Cries(click on link to see my review of that book). I really enjoyed that book and was anxiously waiting for this sequel. Hannah Lapp leaves her Amish community after having a baby that was conceived by rape. She heads out to find an aunt she did not know existed until she found a letter in her parents room. Her aunt had been shunned. Hannah finally finds her aunt and starts a new life, but is it the life she really wants? I really did not like the ending of the book, but the author set you up to want to read the next book. This book is action packed. One thing happening after another. I think it would have to be so hard to have to have choose between your Amish family and the worldly ways. This book really shows how Hannah struggled with that issue.

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For more Fall into Reading 2007 participants book reviews got to this post.

Book Review: Candy Cane Murder

The next book on my Fall into Reading reading list was Candy Cane Murder, which is actually a book containing three novellas by Joanne Fluke, Leslie Meier, and Laura Levine. All of these writers have series about women sleuths. I have read all of these authors so I was excited to get the book when it came out. Here is a bit about each novella. Overall the book was great or should I say the three stories. I just wished I could have waited and read it when it was snowing outside or more of a Christmas feeling in the air. It was 80-90 degrees out when I read them.

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Candy Cane Murder features Cookies Shop owner Hannah Swansen. She is always finding dead bodies and then tries to find the murder. These books are always filled with yummy cookie recipes and even a few quiches this time. Several of the recipes include candy canes to go with the theme of the book. This time Hannah finds the body of the famous department store owner who had just played Santa at a function Hannah was at. Hannah and her sisters find a candy cane trail as they are going to the parking lot which leads to the body. So, Hannah begins to question people to find the murder and as always she gets lots of help from her family and two boyfriends. Very good story as usual, I love all of the Hannah Swansen mysteries.

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The Dangers of Candy Canes by Laura Levine was the second story in the book. this is another series that I read regularly. The series is about Jaine Austen a freelance writer and sometimes private detective. This story is about one of her clients, a roofer, who calls to tell Jaine he needs her to help find the killer of one of his recent clients who is accusing him of shotty work when the guy falls off his roof putting up Christmas decorations. The story was good and kept my interest, but I miss the story lines of her volunteer work at a Retirement Home where some of the characters there are really interesting and the constant e-mails between her and her parents were missing from this chapter. Overall though, great read!

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The last story in the book was Candy Canes of Christmas Past from Leslie Meier's Lucy Stone series. I have read all of this series and really love her books! This story was nice because it went back to the time that a young Lucy and her husband and young son moved into the neighborhood. All of her family meet and the reader is told about her new grandson and that is how they start talking about when Toby was young and so they travel back and Lucy tries to help Miss Tillley solve a mystery. She wanted to know who killed her mother. Lots of neat twist as Meier brings in the characters from her books and how they first met. I really enjoyed this one too!
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For more Fall into Reading 2007 participants book reviews got to this post.

Book Review-Sweet Revenge

Sweet Revenge by Diane Mott Davidson was the next book I chose to read on my Fall into Reading reading list. I have been reading this series for a long time. I wait for the next adventure to come out! The series is about Goldie Schultz a caterer who is married to a policeman and she seems to find herself in the middle of murders. She also tries to solve them. Sometimes she even does this before police do. This time an ex District Attorney is found dead in the library as Goldie is setting up for an event that she is catering. Lots of clues are given as to who could be the murder and someone is even arrested. Goldie finds her self also seeing the person who killed her ex. This person was presumed dead. I really enjoy the non stop action in her books and two days seem like forever. As always, I enjoyed another Goldy book! The recipes included in the book are also always good.

For more Fall into Reading 2007 participants book reviews got to this post.

Book Review- The Survivors

I am a very loyal reader. I pick my authors and I read those authors. I usually listen to other people's reviews to find new authors to read and have found quite a few that way. This time, I went out on my own, I found this book in the new section at the library and thought it looked pretty good and I was right. This was a book that I had a hard time putting down. The main story line is a plane crash, which by the way went down in Carlisle, Ky, (I lived there for a couple of summers) that has only four survivors. Two senators, a small boy and a young girl fresh out of college. The boy and the college graduate witness the murder of one of the senators. So, they must run from the crash site because the other senator knows they witnessed the murder and he wants no witnesses. The senator starts to chase them during a severe snow storm on a mountain. The boys family comes to go help find him and they rely on a psychic to help them find the two. Thre is lots of action in this book and even a couple of love stories, which I thought must have been really hard for the author because she lost her fiance while she was writting this book. Overall I loved it. I did however have a hard time imagine some of the things that happened with survival in the snow and bad weather and some of the things that the 85 year old man did, but it is a story, right?

For more Fall into Reading 2007 participants book reviews got to this post.

Book Review-When You Believe

I liked the first book that I read by Deborah Bedford, so I decided to try another one. When You Believe, is a book about a high school guidance counselor, Lydia Porter, who has finally found the man of her dreams and has accepted his proposal of marriage. When one day, one of her students comes to tell her that she is being sexual abused by a teacher, Lydia's fiance. By law, Lydia must report the incident, even if she does not believe it. But when her fiance asked if she believes him, she says she doesn't believe he is telling the whole truth. All he wanted was for her to believe him. Will they make it? Will her fiance go to prison. The ending is really interesting. I enjoyed this book. At the end Deborah says that this story is based on a true story.

Book Review-A Morning Like This

Sometimes I like to read about the authors I like on Fantastic Fiction and sometimes they have recommendations for other authors and that is how I found this one too. Deborah Bedford is considered an inspirational author and the book I decided to read is A Morning Like This. This book is about a family, the Treasure's. David Treasure has the "perfect" life with his wife and 7 year old son. When he gets a call from a woman in his past his world changes. He had an affair with this woman right after he was married and he was expecting his first baby. The woman calls after 8 years to tell him that he has a daughter. His daughter has leukemia and needs a bone marrow transplant. He gets tested but is not a match. So, he has to involve his son and to do that he has to tell his wife about his "mistake." But will he tell her in time to save his daughter? A well written book about forgiveness and prayer. I enjoyed this author and plan to read some other books written by her.