Divergent

I tried to start Insurgent but it had been three years since I had read Divergent so I figured I had better re-read this bad boy so I wasn't completely lost... and it was for book club... and I wanted it fresh on my mind when I see the movie next month. So for all those reasons I reread this book and, if anything, I was even more impressed with this book on the second reading! It was even better than I remembered it! I plowed through it in two days. Seriously, so damn good!

I won't summarize this book, because honestly, you've either read this book already or you haven't. No summary of mine will sway your view. But if you haven't... come on man! Jump on the bandwagon already! You'll love it!

For fans of The Hunger Games and dystopians.

The Sweet By and By

This was a cute, heart wrenching, and mildly predictable but still enjoyable christian romance. Country singer, Sara Evans, and Rachel Hauck team up to write this sappy, endearing novel about redemption, heart break, and true love. Jade has an ugly past. Her parents all but abandoned her and her brother and sister and let their grandmother raise them while she was off living vicariously from man to man. When Jade turns sixteen she secretly marries her high school sweetheart only to have her heart broken. Now in her thirties and engaged, Jade begins to have doubts. Can she ever leave the past in the past? Confide in her fiance? Forgive her hippie mother? Find Jesus?

For a Christian romance I was impressed. It wasn't overly Godly and the characters had real, relatable flaws.

The Last Opium Den

I loved this book! This short little essay was phenomenal! Nick Tosches wondered what happened to the opium trade and opium debts so he went off to Asia in search for any remaining traces of it. There was literally none, none to be found in the United States so Nick decided to try his luck elsewhere. His life goal was to try opium, and not just to try it, but smoke it, in an opium den with brocade hangings and buxom women. He soon discovers that he may have dreamed a little too big because opium is mainly used for heroin, and the smokers of old are slowly dying off.

This 74 page book is amazingly informative, funny, and intriguing. I definitely plan on reading more books from Mr. Tosches.

TaiPei

This book was not what I expected or anticipated at all. It was on Buzzfeed's Junkiest Books About Drugs List AND it received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly so I decided to give it a whirl... Ugh, I shoulda gave it up 20 pages in when I couldn't get into it. I powered through all 248 pages hoping that it would at least pick up... nope!

The story follows Paul, a twenty something author living in Manhattan, who plows through life using a combination of drugs and medications. We're not meant to pity him, just observe, as he goes from literary event to restaurant to Taiwan, etc. Paul is a loner and aimlessly drifts around until he finds a girl to attach himself to. When he meets Erin their drug use intensifies and their quest for the meaning of life becomes hopelessly muddled.

It's well written, but not exciting. I couldn't find myself relating to any of the characters. Read at your own risk.

Scraps of Evidence

File this under cozy Christian romance mystery. This is one of those light beach reads that you can knock out in one lazy afternoon. It's not a terribly complicated story line and all the characters (save the very obvious villain) are very amiable (albeit one dimensional).

The story follows Tess, a young, super nice detective, as she adjusts to having a new super attractive, and super nice male partner (sparks fly!). Within a week of working together they got a homicide and the crime appears to be all too familiar. It looks as if the serial killer that murdered Tess' best friend in high school is back! Duh duh duh duh!! If you read the back synopsis "Could a quilt really hold the secrets of a serial killer?" and the first chapter you will immediately know who the killer is. That was my big beef with the book, you don't have to be a genius to figure out the whole thing, the author places way to many "Easter eggs" throughout the novel, giving too much away. Don't get me wrong it was still an enjoyable read, but there wasn't a whole lot of mystery to it.

There are more elements of romance, finding Jesus, and speaking out against domestic abuse, then there were mystery or quilting. For people who don't like violence, or thrillers, or suspense, don't worry, you can get through this book no problem. Unbeknownst to me, this was the 14th book om the Quilts of Love series. I thought it stood well as a stand alone, but then again, I don't know if it's the same characters in every story or if it bounces around.

For fans of Christian romance. Mystery lovers be warned, this is the world's easiest whodunit, proceed with caution.

I received this book for free from LitFuse Publicity in return for my honest, unbiased opinion.


Enter Today | 2/17 - 3/8!

Low Down: Junk, Jazz, and Other Fairy Tales from Childhood

A.J. Albany kills it in this memoir! Instead of being told in the usual narration form the author tells her story through a series of short memories and observations from her youth. Some are in chronological order, some are not, but together they all tell the haunting, enchanting, and wildly inappropriate childhood of young Amy Joe Albany, daughter of legendary Jazz pianist, Joe Albany. Her observations about drugs, sexuality, and music are stunning, startling, and amazingly ahead of her time. A great memoir full of stories that will stick with you. I can't wait to see the movie adaptation.

For fans of memoirs, coming of age stories, and jazz.

Cocaine True, Cocaine Blue

Hands down the most compelling and chilling photo documentary I've ever encountered. This images will haunt you. Eugene Richards captures the crack epidemic in three impoverished neighborhoods; Red Hook Housing Project, East New York, and North Philadelphia. The haunting photos of people shooting up, running from cops, sleeping in shacks, working the street, etc. are accompanied by dialogue from addicts, and people living in the neighborhoods. It's profoundly sad, many recount what bright futures they had, friends who were murdered, babies who were lost. It gets you right in the gut. This book forces you to pay attention to this horrific problem that plagues our country and cities.

If the pictures don't capture your attention, the statistics will.

"There were 107 murders, 145 rapes, 3,285 robberies, and 567 felonious assaults in East New York in one year, a population of 160,000."

"The United States accounts for 5% of the world's populations and consumes 50% of the world's cocaine."

"By 1990 in New York City... over 40,000 children were in foster care, approximately 90% of them born to drug using mother."

This book makes you open your eyes to the issue, and after viewing the images, you'll never be able to close them again.