Friday, July 20, 2012

Book Review: Perfect is Overrated

by: Karen Bergreen

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
What the best cure for post-partum depression? After years of barely moving, Kate springs back to life when the mothers-youlove- to-hate in her daughter’s preschool begin to turn up dead. Murder as a cure for sadness? Sounds evil, but it’s not. In Perfect Is Overrated, stand-up comedian and author of Following Polly Karen Bergreen presents a lovable heroine who is so at sea she’s still not sure whether what she suffers has to do with the birth of her little girl or with the fact that her handsome hunk of a detective husband doesn’t live with her anymore. She might fall back in love, she might find a killer, but she sure won’t be spending all day in bed anymore.

Karen's writing is conversational, her characters are charming and deep. You get to know Kate really well, and through her all the people in her life. As a person who battles depression, I can say that Karen did a great job capturing the feelings and the actions. While she gets it together to take care of her daughter, she doesn't get it together for much else.

So as she starts coming out of her deep depression, it's funny how Karen throws in a detail here or there about something that was left undone for too long.

And this is a mystery, so you follow Kate as she collects evidence and tries to find out who the murderer is. I will say, you won't see it coming. I had a hard time putting it down, but the last 20 pages had me so griped I ended up letting my children stay up too late just so I could finish it!

You never know if the 2nd book will be just as good as the first, or if a person just had the one good story. I will now say that Karen Bergreen is a favorite author, and this was even BETTER than Following Polly.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Book Review: How David Met Sarah

by: Anne Kelleher

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:
The heartwarming story of a young man with Down Syndrome who falls in love with a young woman with autism. Written from the point of view of the young man with Down Syndrome, this book has been endorsed by the National Down Syndrome Society and has been praised not only for its accessiblity, but also for the insights it offers into the world of the developmentally disabled. How David Met Sarah was inspired by the author's own brother, a 36 year old man with Downs' Syndrome. Find out more about us at http://HowDavidMetSarah.blogspot.com

I've been dying to review this one, but Anne and I kept missing each other. So when she posted it was free for the holiday I grabbed it up! I'm really glad I did.

The synopsis says "heartwarming" and it really is. David works in the mailroom of a large company and he loves his job delivering the mail. Everyday before work he stops at a diner and gets an egg sandwich. He has tons of friends. Everything is going great until he meets Sarah. Not that this is a bad thing, on the contrary. David falls in love, and Sarah likes him too. The tricky part is that David is quite social and Sarah has autism and doesn't do well around lots of people.

It's very simply written, and the flow of the story never slows down. Sometimes it came off as too simple, but the descriptions are vivid and the pace doesn't wait around for you to complain. David has a very full life and lots going on. This is a story that will leave you feeling good. Yes, there is conflict within the story but I don't want to give too much away. You'll just have to read it yourself.


Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Book Review: Growing Disenchantments

by: K.D. Berry

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

Synopsis: (from K.D. Berry's website)
Just when he'd been looking forward to another quiet night delving into mind-bending arcane lore and mentally wrestling with the deepest magicks, along came this mysterious thief to disturb him. Why was it nothing in Ragonnard's life ever went to plan?

Rather than turn her in to the law (or into something else), the young sorcerer offers Ganfrey a deal – steal a portrait from the palace for him.

But it's no ordinary portrait. For 500 years it's been a magical prison for Syranax, the most powerful sorcerer in history. His enchanted Amulet was entombed with him, and Ragonnard wants it. More than anything.

In releasing the Amulet, Ragonnard unleashes a devastating sequence of sorcerous events, the like of which has not been seen for hundreds of years. And, no, things definitely don't go to plan.

Ned Merrivel is a time traveller from the future. His job is to sort it out when it all goes wrong and save the world somehow. If only he can find a pair of trousers first.


I was so excited to see another installment of the Adventures of Drewdop. Okay that's not what it is but I do adore that character. He's an illusionist who is very smart, much smarter than the king, but he makes bad choices because he is still human. He gets himself into a real pickle in this one.

Ragonnard isn't really an evil sorcerer he just wants this magical tool so bad that he makes the worst decisions. Even his furniture gives him grief about his lack of forethought and planning. Ganfrey helps him get the painting and then it all goes to hell. Silly Ragonnard!

It's really quite the fantastical adventure! I love King Credos who is a bit if a bumbling idiot, but has such a good heart. Every time he throws a party it's not just for the rich people, he invites everyone in town, all his servants...he doesn't discriminate. I think it would be better to have a ruler like this than the ones who think only money matters. Of course it helps that he has such a good adviser in Drewdop.

This book had quite the adventure, and you'll be hard pressed to put it down, especially toward the end. What really tickled me though was all the fairy tale spots. Like Ragonnard is the "Sorcerer's Apprentice", you know, the one with all the brooms? He made all of his things sentient, so they resembled Beauty and the Beast. The evil queen's magic mirror even made an appearance, and what an appearance! It wouldn't give Ragonnard any information until he said, "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" and then the Mirror answered back, "Why thou art, my queen." Ragonnard was very frustrated by that, but I was LMAO.

They also had me using my dictionary in this book. Some words I've fallen in love with. Garde-robe, midden, alacrity and more. This is why I love my Kindle, just highlight a word to get the definition. Yes there are some big words, but it's a well written book, easy to follow and the story will suck you in. You will fall in love with all the characters, even Valesco, Drewdops demon-imp.

I'll leave you with this quote that was describing Ragonnard and Drewdop:
"Both of them knew they were being petty, knowledge that made them behave even worse."

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