Jen in Bookland

The Opposite of Magic Synopsis: Emily Daggett’s childhood dream of finding a wizard, becoming extraordinarily powerful and battling evil is belatedly coming true. In the most screwed-up way possible. First off, the wizard’s all wrong. Alexander Hartgrave is a thirty-year-old IT worker instead of a silver-haired mage, and he’s dead-set against playing the proper role of helpful mentor. Worse, he thinks Emily’s extraordinary, all right — because she’s uniquely incapable of doing magic. When adventure overtakes her despite (or rather because of) her oddity, she has to start seeing fantasy like a cold-eyed realist, and fast. Otherwise, her bookish expectations about good and evil will get her, Hartgrave and a lot of other people killed. Review: Hmm...this was an interesting read for me. I enjoyed the book and the story, but it read like a children's book for me. Not sure that is what the author meant, but it was good, just unexpected and so I kept having ...

Shakespeare's Champion (A Lily Bard Mystery) Synopsis: When Lily stumbles upon the well-built corpse of a local body builder-his neck broken by a barbell-the town's underlying racial tension begins to boil over. The white victim was somehow connected to two unsolved murders of black residents of Shakespeare-and a dogged policeman is determined to stop the killing. But it is Lily herself who may have to decide whether to stay and fight for justice, or run away one more time. Review: Just as I thought Shakespeare's Champion was much better than the first Lily Bard Mystery. Even though we did meet some new characters in this book there was not a ton of back story for all of them (unless they were main characters and I expect we will see more of them in the next books. In that case it was  nice to get their story and it actually fit in with this story).  Lily once again is dragged into a murder investigation and trying to figure out who the killer...

Shakespeare's Landlord (Lily Bard Mysteries, Book 1) (A Lily Bard Mystery) Synopsis: When cleaning lady Lily Bard discovers the dead body of her nosy landlord, her plan of starting a quiet new life may end in her death. Review: Shakespeare's Landlord was just okay. Lily had something horrible happen to her and now she tries to just lay low and clean peoples houses and stay out of trouble. When she goes for a late night walk and sees someone dump a body in the park she gets drawn into trying to figure out who did it. Lily is in a great spot to figure things out since she heard lots of gossip but everyone knows she never repeats it. I enjoyed the main storyline for this book. However there was a lot of back story for each character you met which detracted from the overall story for me. I didn't care so much everyones' life story, but I did like Lily. I liked how she interacted with everyone and how she thought. I am hoping in the next book there will be...

Broken Silence Synopsis: Four years after Oakley left for Australia, the trial is ready to begin. After coming to the decision that she needs to face her abusers to finally be able to move on, Oakley and her family return to England to give evidence in person. Oakley's love for Cole never faded, but after four years apart how will Cole react to her being back? Can they put the past behind them in order to get their happy ending? Review: Broken Silence was just not as good as the first book Silence . In Silence you had the layer of Oakley not speaking to anyone. Well since she spoke at the end of the first book there wasn't that aspect. It was just the trial and Oakley and Cole trying to figure things out.  Really the book seemed like a lot of Oakley and Cole hanging out and a lot of Oakley worrying about the trial. But what if they get off? What if they don't go to jail? I know there is a ton of evidence against them, but what if that is not eno...

Silence Synopsis: For eleven years, Oakley Farrell has been silent. At the age of five, she stopped talking, and no one seems to know why. Refusing to communicate beyond a few physical actions, Oakley remains in her own little world.  Bullied at school, she has just one friend, Cole Benson. Cole stands by her, refusing to believe that she is not perfect the way she is. Over the years, they have developed their own version of a normal friendship. However, will it still work as they start to grow even closer?  When Oakley is forced to face someone from her past, can she hold her secret in any longer? Review: When I saw Silence I immediately though about The Sea of Tranquility  which I loved. I loved that book so much I immediately jumped into this one to see if it would be as good. While I did enjoy Silence , and am going to start the second book when I finish writing this, it wasn't The Sea of Tranquility . The story did have a lot of grammatic...

Silver Bells Synopsis: Every year, the Christmas Carousel in South Howle takes a beating, and every year, Dash Bartholomew tenderly brings it back to life. It’s a job he started fifteen years ago, when Dash became Dasher, one of Santa’s reindeer, and accepted the worn leather harness now hanging on the hooks at the back of the carousel barn. The one with its beautiful, silver bells that once made the most wondrous sound in the world, and now lay quiet. That is, until Merry, a young, homeless woman wanders in looking for a place out of the cold. Unlike Dash, she can hear the sweet chimes of the bells, proving to him that it’s not the harness that’s broken. As Christmas draws near, Dash finds himself drawn to Merry and her quiet, stubborn pride. However, unable to hear the sleigh bells Dash isn’t sure what Christmas this year will bring, only that the magic in that harness is far less important than the woman he’s come to love. Review: Silver Bells is a really sho...

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Synopsis: The Herdmans are the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, steal, smoke cigars, swear, and hit little kids. So no one is prepared when this outlaw family invades church one Sunday and decides to take over the annual Christmas pageant. None of the Herdmans has ever heard the Christmas story before. Their interpretation of the tale -- the Wise Men are a bunch of dirty spies and Herod needs a good beating -- has a lot of people up in arms. But it will make this year's pageant the most unusual anyone has seen and, just possibly, the best one ever. Review: I remember seeing this book around the house every year at Christmastime. I saw it at the library and thought I would give it a read as I remember everyone enjoyed it. It is such a short story and not that much happens in it. Really you get a lot of bad things the Herdman kids have done, and they are told in a humorous way but if you really think about it it ...