Book of Days by James L. Rubart

Lately Cameron seems to be losing parts of his memory. His wife Jessie has died and the memory of her is slipping away. His father’s mind was totally gone when he passed away. Cameron is afraid that the same thing is happening to him.

Before Cameron’s father passed away and before Jessie passed away both of them told Cameron about a Book of Days. A book that is supposed to tell all of a person’s days, past, present and future. Both Cameron’s father and Jessie believed in God. Cameron is skeptical about there being a God and also about the so-called Book of Days.

As Cameron’s memory gets worse he decides he must go searching for the Book of Days to hopefully regain his memory. He asks Jessie’s best friend Ann to meet him in a small town in Oregon to help him on his quest. Ann agrees because she has a quest of her own, to find out about her mother who abandoned her when she was 11 years old.

Every question asked seems to be met with some form of cover-up. Jason believes in the Book of Days as do his many cult followers. Taylor has more secrets than just the Book of Days. As their missions collide Ann and Cameron decide to help each other find answers to their questions.

I gave this book two hearts because it was so hard for me to get into it. I spent the entire book trying to figure out how many more pages I had to muddle through before I was finished with it. I’m sorry to the author, but this was not a book that caught or kept my attention.

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Words by Ginny L. Yttrup

  

Sierra Dawn allows herself one day a year to think about the death of her baby 12 years before. Each year on the anniversary of Annie’s death Sierra goes to the grave, has lunch with her friend Ruby, and spends the rest of her day trying to forget. Sierra is consumed with guilt and anger. She knows that because she was addicted to drugs while pregnant with Annie that is the reason that Annie died. But she is angry at God because she feels that he could have prevented Annie from dying. Raised in a Christian home Sierra chose a different path to follow when she went to college. Ruby and Sierra’s parents think it is time for Sierra to relinquish the anger and guilt and get right with God. Sierra doesn’t  know if she ever can.  A trip to a secluded spot in the Redwoods changes her life forever.

Kaylee has been abandoned by her mother and left in the care of Jack her mother’s last boyfriend. The only things Kaylee has of her mother’s are her dictionary and Emily Post’s etiquette book. Kaylee hides them from Jack so that they will not be taken away. To escape the daily sexual abuse and neglect Kaylee reads the dictionary and memorizes words and their meanings. All of the words are bottled up inside of her as she has not been able to speak since her mother abandoned her to this evil man. Too afraid to run away because she worries that her mother has amnesia and someday will return to find her Kaylee suffers in silence and fear. One of her favorite spots is the hollowed out spot in a Redwood tree. She sits in a circle of pinecones telling herself that nothing can cross the pinecones to hurt her.

Sierra befriends Kaylee and realizes that neglect and maybe something more is going on in her life. She contacts Child services to find out what can be done. Once Kaylee is rescued she is placed in the care of Sierra. From that moment on healing for both Sierra and Kaylee begins.

WOW! This book was so good. It was heartbreaking to read about Kaylee’s abuse. I wanted to jump through the pages and administer justice myself! Ginny Yttrup was able to show that God can redeem us from our worst sins and give us peace and rest in Him through the trials of life.

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Heist Society by Ally Carter

Katarina Bishop comes from a long line of professional thieves. But she has decided to get out of the “business”. She cons her way into a private school to become a normal student. Unfortunately some of her family and friends have different ideas for her. They get her kicked out.

When her father is accused of stealing a private collection of paintings Kat is forced unwillingly back into the business. She is sure that the paintings were not stolen by her father but the owner is convinced otherwise. He threatens to harm her father and her friends if she does not return the paintings to him within 2 weeks.

Kat finds the paintings. The only problem is they are hidden behind paintings in an art museum that is virtually impossible to break into. Kat assembles a crew of her closest friends and family members to help her come up with a plan to save her father and get the paintings back to their rightful owners.

This reminded me a bit of the Ocean’s Eleven movie series. Lots of twists and turns and back-stories. I enjoyed it very much and especially liked the ending. The copy of the book that I read was an ARC copy so am not sure if there were any revisions made to the copy that is now out in stores. The author did leave the ending open for a sequel.

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The Snowflake A Novella by Jamie Carie

Ellen Pierce and her brother are on their way to the Alaskan gold rush. Ellen promised her mother on her deathbed that she would watch over her brother. Ellen’s brother is jealous of any man that looks at her. He is not well in his head. Ellen lives in fear of him, never knowing if he will have a “normal” day or if his eyes will have that empty look that she knows means the day will be most difficult. Ellen feels that she has been rejected by God. She feels that the burden of her brother’s care is on her and that her life will never be normal.

Buck Lewis is heading the same way but for a different reason. His mission is to find the man that shot and killed his wife. He is determined to bring the man to justice.

When the steamboat that they are on becomes locked in the ice of the Tundra all seems to be hopeless. Buck proposes to take whomever wants to go on a 200 mile trek in the bitter cold to Dawson City. Of course Ellen’s brother wants to go. He cannot be reasoned with. Buck is nervous about taking a woman on the trek but they set out. The going is not easy and they lose several lives in the course of their trek.

Ellen and Buck are attracted to each other. Buck is reserved though. He cannot understand how he can have feelings for another woman. His wife has only been gone for 7 months. Plus there is his mission to find her killer. They make it to Dawson City. Ellen collapses and a kind woman named Kate takes her in to nurse her. When Ellen comes around she soon discovers that she is staying in a brothel! Kate is the owner of several such establishments and saloons. Ellen immediately sets out to find work for herself and a place to live. Buck decides he must continue on his search for his wife’s killer. On parting Ellen asks Buck to promise to be with her on Christmas day.

Having no success in finding a place to live or work Ellen takes Kate up on her offer of dancing with lonely men for a dollar a dance. She is an instant hit with all the men because of her compassion and caring for them. She listens to their stories and she promises that she will pray for each of them if they would like her too.

Will  Buck be able to keep his promise to Kate and be back by Christmas? Will he find his wife’s murderer? Will Kate ever feel that she is loved by God and that he hears her every prayer?

The Snowflake is a quick read. I was able to read it in a couple of hours. The characters were engaging, but being a Novella they weren’t developed enough. There were hints of what had happened in the past but not overly detailed. For those that like romantic short stories this will be a perfect read for you!

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Eternal by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Zachary is a guardian angel. He has watched over Miranda all of her life…until one night when he interfered with her destiny.

That one night has caused Miranda to lose her soul and be doomed to hell and for Zachary himself to be demoted.

Miranda has a new father. He is the ruler of all of the vampires. He has made Miranda his new daughter. It is now up to Zachary to go into the Vampire’s lair and try to make things right.

Will Zachary be able to once more protect Miranda and redeem her soul or will he be forever demoted to living an un-angel life? Find out in this fairly quick/action packed novel by Cynthia Leitich Smith.

For those of you that would like a story where Vampires aren’t the good guys then this will be for you! There were parts of this novel that I liked and then parts that I was almost ready to put the book down and give up. The final pages were definitely exciting and surprising.

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Bliss by Lauren Myracle

 

Bliss is the offspring of hippie parents. They have gone off to Canada to dodge the draft. Bliss is living with her grandmother. She will be attending Crestview Academy. Having recently been living in a commune Bliss is unaware of how normal teens act.

Being assigned a student mentor that blows her off she becomes friends with another set of girls that all seem to be enthralled with the girl who was supposed to mentor her. Being kind-hearted Bliss is very disturbed when she sees a girl named Sandy being treated badly because she is “different” from the other girls. Deciding that she is not going to be like that she befriends Sandy.

From her first day Bliss feels an undercurrent of evil in the school. She hears a voice in her head. She learns about the “ghost” of a girl who killed herself. She feels that every time she goes by Hamilton Hall she hears the voice of this girl. She tries to block her out.

It doesn’t take long for Bliss to realize that there is something  not right about Sandy. She senses an underlying evil in her and tries to avoid her. Sandy is very much interested in things of the occult. Everything comes unravelled at the Winter Dance, and a horrible event changes everything.

I have to admit I was really liking this book until the end. It was a fast read interspersed with quotes from The Andy Griffith Show and some Manson trial transcripts which were very interesting. I felt like the scary part of the book was building and building and then I was just disappointed. And maybe this is my fault, but I just wasn’t “getting” the end of the book. Seems like things were just left hanging and unresolved. Did Evil win?

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Linger by Maggie Stiefvater

*SPOILER* *SPOILER* *SPOILER* *SPOILER* *SPOILER* *SPOILER* *SPOILER*

Before Beck turned into a wolf forever he made some new wolves. One of those wolves is Cole. Cole was the lead singer for a huge rock band. He was burned out and wanted out. He thought being a wolf would keep him from thinking about what a poor excuse for a human he was.

Sam no longer has to worry about turning into a wolf. They found the “cure” for him. But it is now his responsibility to take care of the other wolves that show up at Beck’s house. His girlfriend Grace was bitten many years before but has never turned into a wolf. They thought she was immune. Unfortunately that is not the case.

Shortly after the story opens Sam is caught in Grace’s bed by her parents. He and she are forbidden to see each other. Having been absentee parents for all of Grace’s growing up years Grace is not about to bow to their authority now. She refuses to be separated from Sam.

Something is happening inside of Grace’s body that has her too scared to tell Sam. Sam knows something is going on, he can smell the faint wolf smell coming off of Grace’s body. Neither one of them want to admit though that Grace may soon be out wandering the forest with the rest of the wolves.

Cole can’t figure out why he can’t stay a wolf longer. His friend Victor can’t seem to stop changing at all. Grace was bitten years ago and just now the symptoms of transforming to a wolf are manifesting. Everyone thinks Sam has been cured. 

 Unfortunately we won’t find out the answers to any of these problems until the 3rd book. And since this is an Advanced Copy I don’t see the 3rd one being available for a long while. I hate being left hanging!

Obviously this wasn’t my favorite between Shiver and Linger. But I still am caught up in the love story between Sam and Grace. I am still wrapped up in all the emotions of the characters. And I can’t wait for the 3rd book to be available as an ARC or purchased copy. Please hurry Ms. Stiefvater!

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The Cool Woman by John Aubrey Anderson

Bill Mann seemed to be leading the charmed life. After a year of pilot training he earned his wings. He was the best in his class. He was married to the woman of his dreams. Then he was shipped to Viet Nam.

He was the best fighter pilot in his unit. He could even fly better than most while suffering a hangover or being drunk. Ten months after his marriage his wife sends him a “Dear John” letter. She tells him that she is filing for divorce. It seems like his charmed life is over.

Bill is fighting his demons. He has been running away from God for all of his life. God didn’t help when men attacked and killed his mother. It seems that God has let him down every step of his life and he is wanting nothing to do with Him.

Even while rescuing himself and 2 of his friends, he calls on God but realizes that he is being a hypocrite by doing so. Through that heroic rescue he almost loses a leg. He does lose the ability to go back and finish out his tour of duty.

Once home he determines to find his ex-wife. Throughout the whole book God is placing people in Bill’s life to show him the way to God. Each step of the way he rejects Him.

When I first picked up this book I really thought I would hate it! I am not a big fan of war stories and it seemed more of a “male” book to me. BUT, I was hooked very early in the story. I couldn’t put it down. Being a lover of “The Happily Ever After” club I was disappointed at the ending of the story. Also, the Epilogue seemed a bit random. Those aside, it was an EXCELLENT story and I am happy I didn’t put it down after reading the back of the book. It is not just a “guy” book.

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A Shore Thing by Julie Carobini

Callie loves her hometown of Otter Bay. When she spots 3 men surveying the shore she is extremely upset to see one of the men throw his nasty cigar onto the ground. The animal wildlife is just returning to Otter Bay and Callie is determined to see it continue to grow. When she confronts the men she finds that they are definately surveying the area for development. That immediately embarks Callie on a crusade to save the area.

Gage is an architect hired to come up with plans for the new developement. Having left his last job because of ethical questions, he is now trying to be out on his own. Starting over in Otter Bay and this new project is the perfect way to start his own business. He and Callie clash from the moment they meet. Yet something sparks an attraction between them.

Both Callie and Gage not only struggle with the attraction that they have for each other, but also they each are having personal struggles with their faith. Gage is once more finding himself in a position where his ethics will be questioned. Callie is being threatened to stop her efforts to save the property for the community. They eventually find that God is more important than their efforts and He has a plan for both of them.

This is an ARC copy of this book. It has the potential of being a good story. I am hoping that before it goes on sale that there will be some editing taking place. The story switches back and forth between Gage’s point of view and Callie’s point of view. When we are reading Callie’s point of view it is told in first person using “I” “me” etc. But when we are reading Gage’s point of view it is told in a different tense and I think that the author slips up and switches different tenses. It was a bit distracting.

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Demon by Tosca Lee

Clay is an editor at a publishing company. He is also trying to rebuild his life after his wife of 5 years has left him for another man.

Lucian is a demon. He starts visiting Clay taking on different human forms. Lucian wants Clay to write his(Lucian’s) story. Lucian is one of the fallen angels. He was banished to roam the earth with Satan and the rest of the host that followed him.

Clay is facinated with Lucian’s story. He seems unable to keep himself from writing each encounter down exactly as Lucian tells him. Lucian starts with the banishment of Satan and his followers. He then moves on to the creation and fall of man. Lucian is resentful that God loved the humans more than he loved himself and the other fallen. He is also resentful that God showed so much patience with the human race even when humans rejected His Son. Lucian seems to get angrier and more impatient with Clay the more that they meet. He is obsessed with time and keeps insinuating that there is not much time left for he and Clay to meet. He then insists that the story is no longer his(Lucian’s) story, but that it is Clay’s story.

This story was at times interesting and then other times confusing to me. I think that Tosca Lee was trying to impart that we all have a choice to make. Whether we are going to follow Christ or Satan. Also that our time here in the flesh is limited and we better make that choice early on before it is too late. Also that Satan will use any lie he can to keep us from seeing our need for a Savior. An interesting read from an interesting perspective.

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