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Creative Prayer: Speaking the Language of God's Heart
Jesus Calling: A 365 Day Journaling Devotional
Shadow of Night
The Unlikely Pilgrimage Of Harold Fry
After a terrible car accident that claimed the life of Jennifer's mother, she and Sarah wrote their "Never List" - a list of things never to do in order to stay safe.But of course life doesn't work like that, and following an innocent college party, Sarah and Jennifer were abducted by a psycopath, and would spend the next 3 years locked up in his basement - only brought out to be tortured and eventually killed.Following Jennifer's death, Sarah finally found the strength to escape - rescuing her two fellow captives in the process - and their kidnapper was brought to justice. But now, 10 years later, he is up for parole, and it is up to Sarah to find the evidence that will keep him behind bars.Very slow to start - it took me a surprisingly long time to read the first 100 pages - but once it did it took off with a vengeance. I'd find myself only being able to read a couple of pages at a time because it was just so disturbing, but at the same time, I couldn't stay away for long, because I needed to see what happened.So many twists and turns along the way, and most of them I hadn't seen coming at all. They were still believable within the premise of the book though, so it wasn't as if the author had just pulled them out of thin air. It's a wild ride and a terrifying read. One of the best horror stories I've read in a long time.
I was in the mood for a cozy read, and I knew that despite being a murder mystery, this series has actually fit the bill quite nicely so far, so I saw no reason why the next book should be any different.Fortunately it delivered as expected, and I greatly enjoyed being back with Kelly, Mimi and the others. There was less actual knitting-related in this book than in the two previous ones, but that bothered me less than I would have anticipated. Even though the setup to the murders is getting increasingly ridiculous, the actual sleuthing in this one was a lot more well thought out and realistic and in the two first books. I hope Maggie Sefton can keep this up! I appreciate that Kelly isn't trying to work against the cops, but actually relates her findings to them as appropriate.
A 3.5 star review.This was a rather unusual futuristic novel in that it might actually just as well have taken place "now". It has none of the elements I'd usually associate with a novel taking place in the future. The focus was definitely on the characters and their interaction rather than on the elements that turned this into an alternative universe.That's not necessarily a bad thing - it just stood out to me because of the way the book was marketed. As the rating indicates, I rather liked the book. It was definitely more character-driven than plot-driven, but I thought it worked quite nicely. It was a bit slow to start, but once it did move on from the initial setting of the stage, I enjoyed the various interactions. I was often infuriated by both the other members of the PMC and by Elsa's mother, but fortunately especially the latter redeemed herself nicely in the end :)
"Divergent" is one of those books that suddenly popped up everywhere. I actually hadn't even considered reading it, until I read yesterday that it had been voted "Book of the Year" by Goodreads! Now I knew I had to see what the fuss was all about.The book did NOT disappoint! I was hooked from the very first moment, and even the open ending didn't bother me too much... I must be getting to a point where I've started to expect them! I couldn't put the book down, and would have finished it much sooner if I didn't have that pesky work intervene ;)The action is fast-paced and convincing - it takes a very talented writer to make me afraid of heights through her writing... and I don't even have vertigo! I was stunned when I discovered she's only 23 years old! If she continues in this vein, she has great things ahead of her.It actually most of all reminded me of "Uglies" by Scott Westerfeld, which isn't a bad thing at all. Now I just hope that Veronica Roth can keep up the pace in the sequel.Reread in 2013 - still love it :)
A Lost Witch (A Modern Witch, #7)
I think "A Lost Witch" earns the dubious honour of being the Witch Central book that has made me cry the hardest so far - probably just as well that I was alone while reading this, so I didn't worry anybody.What I enjoy most about these books is that everybody is so genuinely nice and caring - Witch Central opens their hearts and lives to anybody in need, and it makes for such a refreshing change to many of the books I've otherwise been reading.My heart broke for Hannah, Lauren and Nell in this one, but they have a strong safety net, and I have no doubts they will make it through to the other side in one piece.
A Lost Witch (A Modern Witch, #7)
I think "A Lost Witch" earns the dubious honour of being the Witch Central book that has made me cry the hardest so far - probably just as well that I was alone while reading this, so I didn't worry anybody.What I enjoy most about these books is that everybody is so genuinely nice and caring - Witch Central opens their hearts and lives to anybody in need, and it makes for such a refreshing change to many of the books I've otherwise been reading.My heart broke for Hannah, Lauren and Nell in this one, but they have a strong safety net, and I have no doubts they will make it through to the other side in one piece.
The last book in the trilogy. While I liked the second one the best (oddly enough... usually that's the weakest in a trilogy), this one made for an utterly adorable read as well. I loved Josh, I loved his great-uncle, I loved all the members of Witch Central - witches and non-witches alike. I would have liked to see at least one non-witch be absolutely bowled over by the fact that witches exist though... they all seemed to take it pretty much in stride.There's no real plot in this book, but the descriptions of friendship, community and self-discovery were an inspiration to read. I couldn't help but wish for a Witch Central in my own neighbourhood... even if they did get awfully meddlesome at times.
A 4.5 star review.I liked this even more than the first book in the trilogy. The first book was great, but it really mostly served to set the stage for this one. In this Elsie and Lizard got to soar... both figuratively and literally.I laughed out loud on several occasions and had a lump in my throat more times than I can count - and more often than not the two happened at the same time... made for interesting bus reading, I'll tell you that! But the story isn't over yet, and I can't wait to see what happens next.Oh, and I'm totally in love with Freddie :)
First book in this spin-off series to "A Modern Witch" and every bit as charming :) I didn't care much for Elsie (except when she started knitting! That got my fingers twitching as well :) ), but I simply adored Lizard. I also really liked seeing more of Lauren and Nat's lives outside WitchCentral. Lauren's especially. Her work as a realtor - especially once she realized she was a mind witch - fascinates me :)Of course I'll jump straight on to the next book in the series - I could hardly do anything else :)
Yet another novella in the Newsflesh universe. I wasn't quite as taken in by this one as by the earlier ones, as there seem little new ground to explore... but what little new ground there is, Mira Grant found in this novella. My biggest beef with the story is that like in all novellas, there's not enough page-space to explore the plot and the characters.
Yes, I know I wasn't terribly impressed by the mystery part of the first one, but I loved all the knitting descriptions! So I figured that I might as well try the next one. And I believe I actually enjoyed it more, because now that I know how ridiculous the murder plot is, I can ignore that part of it, and just focus on the knitting community... and that part is just sweet :)
I loved this essay collection :) It's the first book I've read by the Yarn Harlot (although I've read some of her blog), but it definitely won't be the last. I've only knitted "for real" for two years, but already I could see far too much of myself in it, and she gave me a lot of new ideas for how to 'knit on the go'.It's a cozy read whose only fault was that it kept making me want to put down my Kindle and pick up my knitting instead.
It's ridiculous how long time this book has been standing on my shelves. I LOVE Neta Jackson's books, so anybody would expect me to pick them up right away! But come to think of it, that's actually probably the problem... I have such high expectations of them, that I'm afraid they can't live up to them.But I finally manned up and picked up the book yesterday... and of course I ended up reading it in no time flat, just like the rest of her books :) True, it doesn't quite live up to the level set by the Yada Yada series, but then none of her later books have, so I wasn't really expecting it to. I wasn't too fond of Kat in the beginning of the book, but she grew on me, as she grew in her walk as a Christian. And as always, it made me long for a church like the SouledOut church.I wonder if this is the last in the series though? It did seem rather "wrapped up"...
A 3.5 star review.I first read this series several years ago, but have been wanting to reread it ever since seeing the musical based upon it last year. The funny thing is the musical was excellent, but the book only so-so... probably because I'm way outside the target age group for it. While well written, it's obviously a childrens' book, and aimed directly at them. It was still reasonably entertaining though, and the sequels are being adapted for stage this autumn, so I think I might as well go ahead with the rest of the series :)
A Discovery of Witches
Slow to start, but suddenly it grabbed me by the throat and absolutely wouldn't let go again. It's been a couple of days since I finished it, and I still find myself thinking of it, and remembering the atmosphere of the book. I may have to prioritize reading the sequel higher than I had originally planned-It's very definitely Twilight for adults. There are SO many similarities between the two books - or rather between Edward and Matthew, and between the relationships described. A lot of the things Matthew said to Diana, I could totally have seen Edward say to Bella. That's not a bad thing though - I really liked Twilight, and while I noticed the similarities, they didn't bug me.4 stars rather than 5 simply because it did take rather a long time for it to start properly, and because it ended on a fierce cliffhanger with absolutely nothing resolved, but as a whole, I'd say I enjoyed it a lot more than I had expected to.
This is a comfort book of the best kind. It's cosy, it's funny, it's well-written and the characters are delightful. In atmosphere it reminds me of many of the books by Estrid Ott - one of my favourite Danish authors.I've always loved reading books made up of letters, so that's an added bonus to this book, and through those letters I fell completely in love with the different characters - especially Juliet and Kit. Also, reading about WW2 has always fascinated me, so learning about a new, and lesser known aspect of the war was very interesting.