Crossfire by Traci Hunter Abramson

 Posted by  Book Reviews, Hillary's Reviews
Feb 172010
 

Hey Kids!

Sorry I didn’t get this up last week. As Shanda said, it was a nutsy week for the three of us. So, today I am going to chat with you about “Crossfire”, Traci Hunter Abramson’s new book.

I found out a a year or two back when we read “Undercurrents.” After reading it I found that I really enjoyed Traci’s style of writing, quality and likeability of the characters, and plus I have a crazy fascination with the secret service. I think it’s cause it’s a secret. What made her writing even more intriguing was the fact that she worked for the secret service, and because it’s a secret. again:) It also didn’t hurt that she threw in a group of Navy SEALS, which in my head and in her writing, are quite good looking. (What is it about a guy in uniform?)

Speaking of our hubba hubba SEALS, this one happens to be about Seth. If you’ve read “Lockdown” or “Freefall” you will know the stories of a couple of the “Saint Squad.” Crossfire takes place in the Caribbean (I like to say it CaribBEan- how do you say it?) and it involves Vanessa Lauton, a CIA agent deep undercover with a powerful and dangerous crime family. She gets a bit of a surprise when her long ago love (Seth) resurfaces after a six year hiatus to help get her out of the country when things get a bit dangerous. Instead of a quick pull-out, they get pulled in deeper and as a result a whole lot of action and suspense ensues.

I love that the book is fast paces, action packed and has the romance. It has been a lot of fun reading the love stories of the “Saint Squad.” I love how though the places and the circumstances are unlikely, Traci is successful in making the stories believeable, and entertaining all at once. I love the close calls the characters get into, and the quick thinking and intelligence that they all possess. I especially love that none of the main female characters are weak. They have weaknesses, just like anyone else, but they themselves are not weak. They keep up with the men and refuse to be left to be behind waiting to see what happens. LOVE THAT!

My favorite part of the book is that Vanessa had learned how to fly planes, just not land them. Can’t help being reminded of one of my favorite action heroes, good ol’ Indiana Jones.(If you remember “The Last Crusade”- one of my favorite movies of all time) As they are riding off into the sunset…

“I like being Indiana” (he says to his father)

“We named the dog Indiana” (father says)

“I’ve got a lot of fond memories of that dog” (Indiana says)

okay- enough of a tangent. If I were to give this book a down side, it would be that in some situations, the realistic factor does tread close to “would that really happen”, but like I said, the way she writes it, even if I’m thinking that, I am quickly seeing the next turn. Overall, Traci hits another one out of the park with this book. I highly recommend it!

ftc-fyi- publisher produced copy

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

 Posted by  Book Reviews, Hillary's Reviews
Feb 032010
 

Hey kids!
Today I am blogging about “The Hunger Games.” by Suzanne Collins. A little back story, Shanda and Sheila both read this book last year, told me I needed to read it, so I put it on my list, and then forgot until about 3 weeks ago. So, I picked up the book from the library, and my daughter stole it from me. She didn’t give it back until about 4 days before it was due. I thought for sure I wouldn’t get it done until I actually started reading it. 6 hours later (3am) I got it done, and it made my top-ten of all time favorite books!
Suzanne Collins writes compelling, engaging and engrossing characters. She has written other books, a series called “The Underland Chronicles”, and she has the “Hunger Games” trilogy. I am currently reading book two called “Catching Fire.” The third book, “The Victors” is due out this spring.
The premise of the story takes place in post-apocolyptic America. (I usually hate post-apocolyptic stories. They’re too depressing. But this one is wonderful) There is a group of people that form the Capital, and then there are 13 districts. Early in the formation of the country, the districts try to break out on their own, and are squashed by the Capital. As a form of punishment/or as a way to remind people of their place, each year the Capital forces each district to have a girl and a boy between 12-18 years old compete in “The Hunger Games” which is a game to the death. Last one standing wins, and provides a better life for their district. The main character, Katniss Everdeen ends up representing her district at the hunger games, and with a lot of adventure, a bit of romance and a lot of intense moments, an amazing story is told!
I would HIGHLY recommend this book. Highly. Really good writing, really great depth of characters, really creative and unusual story line. Very well done.
FTC- FYI- library

Missing Pieces by Jeni Grossman

 Posted by  Book Reviews, Hillary's Reviews
Jan 272010
 

Hello my darling friends!
I SOOO apologize for my not getting my Tuesday Teaser on yesterday! It was my b-day and it got really busy!
Anyway- this week I read “Missing Pieces”- by Jeni Grossman
Though not Jeni’s first book, it is the first one of hers I have read. Jeni hails from Arizona, however she did live in Turkey for two years while her husband was conducting research for work. It is clear from her detail and descriptions that she is familiar with the areas and customs.
This is a modern day fiction, murder/mystery taking place in Iraq and Turkey. Jeni tells the story of Dulcey Moore, a CNN reporter who gets herself tangled in politics, terrorists and a family mystery of both her own and of her local guide (I hope that didn’t give too much away!).
The book was in no way predictable as it involves the inner workings of a country whose traditions and customs are way outside of my little realm here in Utah. I really enjoyed how Jeni tied in interesting cultural information and traditions I wasn’t familiar with. I especially liked how she brought in the treatment of women in modern day Muslim into the picture. Very interesting and in parts, sad. The underlying theme of the book centered around honor. Dulcey, as a modern woman, has a hard time understanding how and why the people treat each other the way they do. It is not until the end that she fully understands the context of honor, when she is placed in both dangerous and difficult situations. I felt that Dulcey was a good main character. It would have been nice to see more development of back story with her and her husbands’ relationship as that never really feels resolved in the story. Dulcey says it was resolved, it’s just hard for me to feel that. I recognize part of that was because she had a hard time being ABLE to contact her husband.
Other characters in the story were well developed and likeable. I especially liked “Frank” her lovable fill-in-dad. He seemed to keep her together. She also showed the dangers of the country for Americans through other characters which really makes me want to ask Jeni about her own personal experiences in that area.
Overall, I would say that the book was/is well, written, enjoyable and a great way to get an insiders look at the mid-east area.
FYI-FTC -from publisher

Shadows of Eden by Timothy Bone

 Posted by  Book Reviews, Hillary's Reviews
Jan 202010
 


Hello Friends- Your favorite Hillary here- (You know it’s true. There aren’t a whole lot of Hillary’s out there :)

Today I bring you- drum roll please- “Shadows of Eden” by Timothy Bone

The premise of this story is a Harvard scientist/researcher suddenly goes missing and a cop calls in a favor to Del Price P.I. Del is LDS (but not preachy), quick-witted (one of my favorite characteristics) and charming. Oh, and a good, honest P.I. He is hired to find this scientist and finds a sinister plot along the way.

This is Timothy Bone’s first novel published by Cedar Fort just this last year. He hails from both BYU and Boston University. I haven’t seen a new author write like this. Ever. Dorothy Keddington is close, but still not like this. To describe this book as eloquent would be an understatement. Usually I can finish a book within a few days. This one took me a full 7+ days to read. Not because it was boring, therefore hard, but because it was eloquent and I had to think/concentrate about what some of the words meant or else I got lost.

Now, when I say eloquent I mean a paragraph like this:

“Jared Timmerman was an anglophile and as with most such that meant Victoriana, in this case the scientific paraphernalia of that age mingled with small objets d’art and knickknacks. Shelves had been put up against two of the walls of his office to display the plethora of turned bronze apparatus, microscopes, and calipers for every occasion. On another wall in a gilt frame hung a small painting of bucolic sterility of the type that was attractive only in direct ration to the frame of the artist.” (pg 34)

WOWZA. I still don’t know what “bucolic” means.

I had to really slow down my reading to make sure I was following this guy. That being said, when I kept up, I laughed myself silly on lines like this:

“I find news from the BBC to be more trustworthy than it’s state-side counterparts because it’s delivered in a formal British accent.” He (Del Price, the main character) goes on to say to himself “…How does one implement this linguistic uplift? Exclusive schools in Maryland? An upbringing by eccentric aunts? Certainly we shared the conviction that contemporary language has degenerated into a tired mush of imprecision, flabbiness, and profanity, a communication mudslide.” (pg 35)

What I also found was that Del THOUGHT like this, but didn’t necessarily talk like that. He talked “normal” (mostly) and acted “normal” just thought linguisticly uplifting:) (I don’t think linguisticly is a word…)

Just to forewarn, there is some swearing in the book, not overly done, but it is there. There are no inappropriate actions, unless you count murder- but hey it’s a murder/mystery in fact, Timothy- we need to talk about how to write a good kissing scene. I will not deny that this is in no way a romance, but “It was a good kiss and long enough” (pg 165) just doesn’t cut it for the romantic in me :) Not that it needs to be drawn out, but c’mon!

Overall, I thought it was a great read, and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery/suspense and a thoughtful, intelligent, unrushed style of writing. Just be prepared to have to think a bit more than usual. It felt more realistic to me than some P.I. books I’ve read because of the laid back/non-stressed nature of Del, and I liked that about this book. Seemed like a realistic process for solving a crime!

For those that don’t know my husband- well that would be nearly everyone, he is actually reading this now too. He’s self- allergic to books.

Well done Timothy! I look forward to future work!

FTC FYI- Library

Means Justifies the End by Rick P. Avery

 Posted by  Book Reviews, Hillary's Reviews
Jan 132010
 

Hello Friends!
I decided for my book review today, I would review the book “Means Justify The End”, a book that was sent to us from the author, Rick Avery. I reviewed it briefly on one of our podcasts, but it was near the end, and I don’t feel like I did it justice:) So here you go!
Rick’s book is in first person and is written about his life experiences, growing up in a family which made sure that he learned about God and believed in Him. He writes interesting life stories and thoughts about his childhood regarding the concept if the means justify the end. His point is how by having the right attitude he made his life better, and by having the wrong one, his life was more challenging.
One of the saddest, yet poignant chapters I liked was about how his sister married this guy, who was perhaps not the best choice for her. They decided to take her little brothers camping. The boys, including Rick, were under 9 years old. They found a place to camp, left Bonnie, his sister there to hold the spot, then try to drive around to get a good place to park the car. Unfortunately, the brother in law didn’t have the greatest amount of common sense, or sense of direction and basically killed the car in the wrong area. By this time it had gotten dark. They started on foot to find Bonnie, carrying their sleeping bags. The brother-in-law got angry and would swear at them with them for keeping a slow pace (hello! they were little!!) until finally the boys decided to say a prayer to ask for help. Sure enough, along came a police officer who had been looking for them because Bonnie had flagged him down to ask for help. Rick learned an important lesson “My mom taught us all to pray, and I thank my Father in Heaven for a mom like mine. I find it interesting that [brother-in-law] Jack used the Lord’s name in vain , and all it did was make things worse. We called upon the Lord in praise, and it made everything right”. Interestingly enough, Bonnie divorced him and married a good man.
I liked this and quite a few other stories he tells in his book. I think it is a good, quick to read book that both men and women would enjoy reading. It also gives a good message and gives you things to think about. It is easy to find online and would be worth the read!

I Hate It When Exercise is the Answer by Emily Watts

 Posted by  Book Reviews, Hillary's Reviews
Jan 062010
 

Hi Friends!

Hillary here! I am excited to have Wednesdays to review what I have been reading. Some weeks it’s quite possible that all you will see is a smiley face :) some weeks you may see a gianormous (sp?, wait- word?) review. Either way, I will do everything I can to make sure I post. And maybe, just maybe I might eventually create my own blog to attach to this one too. You just can’t have enough of me! Well, yes you can. ANYWAY, not the point!

The point is, I have just finished reading Emily Watts’ new book, “I Hate It When Exercise Is The Answer.” As a non-fiction junkie I would have to say this is a very good book. Emily writes short, informative, yet entertaining chapters that really make you think, with the “exercise” being at the end of the chapter. I love how she ties exercise in to be more of the non-sweaty kind. I thought it was very clever and well done. I must admit though, I am a fan of the sweaty kind of exercise, and I was curious to see if she had written an exercise book :) The irony in my life, is that I love to exercise, yet can’t EVER remember how to spell it. I had to double check for this post :)

One of my favorite chapters was an “exercise in perspective”. I loved how she said a way to look at challenges: “Is this really as bad as it seems? Chances are, this challenge isn’t really as big as it feels. It’s just closer to my heart right now.” She followed up with hymn #115 which in part states “Earth has no sorrow that Heav’n cannot heal.” I love that. It gives such comfort.

In all there are 31 “exercises”. You can read them one at a time, a day or two at a time, or read it all in one setting. It’s a quick, enjoyable read! I think Emily did a fantastic job and I am really a big fan! Thanks!

FTC FYI: LDSWBR received a free review copy of I Hate It When Exercise is the Answer by Emily Watts courtesy of Deseret Book.

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