Growing Up Duggar - Review

Growing Up Duggar: It's All About Relationships by Jana, Jill, Jessa and Jinger Duggar

Rating: 2 Stars

Description:  Ranging from 24 to 20 the 4 oldest Duggar girls of the TLC show 20 and Counting share their feelings about life and their beliefs.

Genre: Self-Help

My Impression:  When the Tornado was a baby we spent a lot of time being awake at 5am and the Duggar's kept me company.  While our religious beliefs don't line up I was impressed by their ability to run such a large family efficiently and the discipline it took to stay out of debt and make so much yourself.  I was interested in a more in depth look at how the family worked from the perspectives of the now adult children.  That wasn't what I got which is completely my fault for not reading the summary close enough!  This is a book for girls from I'd say around ages 8 to 14 who are trying to navigate through that difficult time in life and figure out how their religious beliefs can relate to what they see around them. I think it would be wonderful for that - especially for girls growing up in a religious homeschool environment.  The writing style is a bit clunky and it's obvious these girls aren't professional writers but the fact that they're trying to genuinely connect with girls does come through.  So while I'm clearly not the target market in age and religious beliefs I think it would be a beneficial to those that it is actually designed to help.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: No

Would I Recommend this Book?:  Only if you're looking for a book for your Christian homeschool group to read.

The White Cottage Mystery by Margery Allingham - Review

The White Cottage Mystery by Margery Allingham

Rating: 2 Stars

Description:  When Jerry, the son of Chief Inspector Challenor, gives a pretty girl a ride home he doesn't expect much to come of it.  However, shortly after dropping the girl off he and his father end up back at the girl's home investigating a murder.  It'd be easier to list the people who didn't want to kill the murdered man then those who don't but Chief Inspector Challenor struggles on to find out what happened.

Genre: Mystery

My Impression:  The best I can say about this book was that I didn't dislike it.  It didn't particularly interest me but it wasn't a chore to read.  It helped that it was short.  Unfortunately, I found this book completely forgettable.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?:  I may try one of her Campion books but I'm not hunting one up anytime soon.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  No

Dead and Berried by Karen MacInerney - Review

Dead and Berried by Karen MacInerney

Rating: 2 Stars

Description:  Natalie has enough on her plate running her inn on Cranberry Island in Maine without an annoying guest, a disappearing housekeeper, a collection of cats, a reappearing ex-fiance, a falling out with her best friend and a murdered minister.  Can she keep her relationship with John afloat, figure out what happened to Polly, keep her annoying guest from running her out of business and keep Charlene from being arrested for murder?

Genre: Mystery

My Impression:  There are aspects of this book I liked.  Natalie is nice and doesn't make to stupid to live choices, the atmosphere of the island and the food seem amazing.  The small subplot involving the history of the inn and a potential ghost were right up my alley but it was a little random and seemed like just extra filler for the book.  Natalie desperately needs to find a new friend.  Charlene is just an awful person and flat out mean to her.  She's definitely not someone to be counted on when things go wrong for Natalie yet expects Natalie to save the day when things go wrong for Charlene.  There was also a lot of clutter in the book.  There was a lot of time taken up with Candy and Benjamin but nothing came of it except for a lot of wasted energy.  As for the ending I was surprised but I wasn't satisfied.  The end seemed kind of hectic and last minute.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Possibly, I have 3 in book form and 4 on the kindle but I probably wouldn't seek them out.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  No  

How to Moon a Cat - Review

How to Moon a Cat by Rebecca M. Hale

Rating: 2 Stars

Description:  I don't even know where to begin.  When the unnamed main character discovers her cat Rupert is digging out little bundles of cash followed by a stuffed bear with a California state flag she knows they are clues left by her late (maybe) Uncle Oscar.  Uncle Oscar (potentially) died 2 books ago and left the main character his antique store and apartment above.  This leads to a scavenger hunt/bike race opening road trip with her crazy neighbor Monty.  This is all done while hauling main character's 2 cats around in a stroller.  There are an assortment of characters from previous books, 2 frogs with mustaches and hairless mouse with a green jacket.  Also, in addition to the thoughts and dreams of the cats, we also get to hear what the bricks of a particular building are observing and the moon makes random appearances to check on things.  Oh, and the smell of fried chicken shows up pretty much constantly

Genre: Mystery - far into the Cozy genre

My Impression:  When my older kids were younger we used to play these Nancy Drew computer games all together.  They were also overly-complicated puzzles that had to be worked through to solve some crazy crime.  We always had a lot of fun with them.  When I read the first book in this series it really reminded me of those games.  There's no murder, even the dead Uncle may or may not be dead.  The mysteries are normally history driven and involve some historical research.  All and all a lot of fun with a serious touch of crazy.  I enjoyed the second book less than the first and the 3rd even less.  The previous books have a huge cast list and they were all back in this book with almost no refresher course in who they were.  I spent most of the book completely confused.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Actually yes.  I've read 3 so far and I really want to see how this all works out.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  Definitely not this one and would be hesitant on recommending the series.

Reviews - Bossypants and Mary Poppins

Bossypants by Tina Fey
Rating: 3 Stars

Description:  Bossypants is basically a general biography of Fey and her career.

Genre: Humor, Biography, NonFiction

My Impression: Unlike what feels like most of the world I don't have a huge crush on Tina Fey.  I thought she was the only person on Saturday Night Live who made it worth watching when she and Jimmy Fallon did Weekend Update together.  I've enjoyed what I've seen of 30 Rock though it's not on my must watch list of shows at the moment.  So all in all I have pleasant but mostly neutral feelings about her not an overwhelming desire for her to be my BFF.  Bossypants had gotten so raved about that I finally decided to read it and for the most part I enjoyed it.    There is nothing particularly in depth or personal about the majority of the stories.  I definitely didn't feel like I had a greater insight to who Fey is after reading it other than fame seems to have snuck up on her.  In insight into how comedy works both in improv situations and on SNL was interesting.  I laughed a few times and smiled a bit more but it definitely wasn't the funniest book I've ever read.  It actually reminded me a bit of Mindy Kaling's book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? but I enjoyed Kaling's writing style a bit more.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?: Probably not.

Would I Recommend this Book?:  No - I would recommend Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling over this book

Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
Rating: 2 Stars

Description: Mary Poppins is the story of a magical unusual nanny who blows in with the wind the take care of the Banks children.

Genre: Children/YA, Classics

My Impression: I've been reading a lot of children's classics lately thanks in part to the library and what is free on my Kindle.  Most of them I've loved.  When I saw Mary Poppins at the library I was thrilled.  I've watched the movie a few times but it's been awhile though I remember liking it.  I expected magical nonsense and got lots of nonsense and while there was a magic in the book it didn't translate to a magical reading experience.  Mary was vain, prickly and frankly just not very nice.  The stories were disjointed and the book itself read more like a collection of short stories than an actual book.  This is one of the few books that I've enjoyed the movie more.

Would I Read More of this Series/Author?:  No, not interested. Though I might read a biography about P.L. Travers

Would I Recommend this Book?:  No, there are so many other classics to read that were so much more entertaining.