Summer is almost over

This year has been such a busy year that I am so very far behind that I’m not sure I’ll get caught up before the new year begins. Since April we have spent a lot of time on our property on Misty Bay, clearing land for building, creating a beach for swimming, cutting/splitting fire wood for the winter, and just generally enjoying ourselves.

In the last four  months we’ve spent about three months digging, cutting, hauling, fishing, swimming, and of course laughing at our dogs’ antics.

The Talisman of El by Alecia Stone

WHAT IF YOUR WHOLE LIFE WAS A LIE?
One Planet.
Two Worlds.
Population: Human … 7 billion.    Others … unknown.

When 14-year-old Char­lie Blake wakes up sweat­ing and gasp­ing for air in the mid­dle of the night, he knows it is hap­pen­ing again. This time he wit­nesses a bru­tal mur­der. He’s afraid to tell any­one. No one would believe him … because it was a dream. Just like the one he had four years ago – the day before his dad died.

Char­lie doesn’t know why this is hap­pen­ing. He would give any­thing to have an ordi­nary life. The prob­lem: he doesn’t belong in the world he knows as home.

He belongs with the others.

I found Talisman of El, by Alecia Stone, on NetGalley. Unfortunately I was skeptical because lately I have come across more than one young adult novel that just didn’t cut it. No I am not a young adult but I am young at heart so quite often I enjoy books in this genre. This book, thankfully, has put a major dent in my recent skepticism of new/unknown authors.

Surviving the Angel of Death: The Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz

Eva Mozes Kor was 10 years old when she arrived in Auschwitz. While her parents and two older sisters were taken to the gas chambers, she and her twin, Miriam, were herded into the care of the man known as the Angel of Death, Dr. Josef Mengele. Mengele’s twins were granted the privileges of keeping their own clothes and hair, but they were also subjected to sadistic medical experiments and forced to fight daily for their own survival, as most of the twins died as a result of the experiements or from the disease and hunger pervasive in the camp. In a narrative told with emotion and restraint, readers will learn of a child’s endurance and survival in the face of truly extraordinary evil. The book also includes an epilogue on Eva’s recovery from this experience and her remarkable decision to publicly forgive the Nazis. Through her museum and her lectures, she has dedicated her life to giving testimony on the Holocaust, providing a message of hope for people who have suffered, and working toward goals of forgiveness, peace, and the elimination of hatred and prejudice in the world.

Surviving the Angel of Death, by  Eva Mozes Kor and Lisa Rojany Buccieri, is a heart wrenching account of the atrocities inflicted on twins in the Auschwitz camps. This story was originally written as Echoes From Auschwitz: Dr. Mengele’s Twins: The Story Of Eva And Miriam Mozes. When Eva Mozes wished to adapt the novel to be more suitable for a younger audience this novel came to life.

Vampire Vacation by C.J. Ellisson

Meet Vivian. She’s a 580-year-old vampire who exudes sex, has a talent for drama, and is passionate about two things: her human husband, Rafe, and their resort for the undead. Her ability to project physical illusions has created the perfect vacation spot a dark, isolated Alaskan hideaway where visitors can have their wildest fantasies come true. 

Vivian knows the best performance requires perfect timing, but the powerful vamp is put to the test when she discovers a corpse in a locked guestroom minutes before the next arrivals. Always cool-headed, Rafe hides the body, convinced he and Vivian can find the culprit without disturbing their guests.

Juggling the increasingly outrageous demands of their customers while tracking a killer isn’t easy. Will their poking and prodding give them the answers they need, or will it uncover secrets Vivian would kill to protect?

I have to admit I didn’t have a lot of confidence in this book. The vampire genre has been over done of late, and I find myself getting tired of reading book after book about typical blood thirsty vampires. Then I started to read, and to my delight this is not your typical vampire story.

Hell On The Heart by Nancy Brophy

Two men. One has goodness, the other only the appearance of it. Like flip sides of a coin, one represents every girl’s dream, handsome and rich. While the other lives an isolated existence, scarred and damaged from a life lived in the trenches. Both are hunters. Both are hunted. And both want the same woman.

Hell On The Heart by Nancy Brophy is a romantic suspense that probes an eclectic community of gypsies who manage to keep one foot firmly in the world of magic, while becoming masters of the technical world. The world of the gypsies comes to live in vivid colour and charismatic characters.

While Cezi Romney battles her destiny, John Stillwater battles to keep her alive and her community safe and Cain, a sexual predator, attempts to have Cezi as his own. With compelling characters and robust cultures Nancy Brophy has weaved a unique story of human trafficking, forensic science, Native American culture and gypsy beliefs.

This novel is well worth the reading and will appeal to a wide range of mystery/suspense fans.

You can purchase Hell On The Heart at: Amazon.com | Kobo Books

Tis the season

Black-Capped Chickadee with dog hair for nest lining

No not that season, the other season, the one where it’s warm and there is a lot to do in the great outdoors. Summer, that is. The time of bright coloured flowers, spending hot lazy days in the pool, adventures with the camera and making progress on our building project at Misty Bay. The birds are twitterbated and building nests, the flowers are starting to bloom, the rivers are running free and sun is warm and welcoming.

Should I keep reading this book?

I am currently reading a book, The Morrigna, that is so out there that I find myself putting it down after reading only a few pages. I can’t in all honesty say it’s a bad story, it’s just confusing, very difficult to get into and unfortunately poorly written. The writing isn’t at all up to the level that I’m use to, even though I read many many Indie books that are in need of editing and whatnot. It reads like a story a high school student wrote for English class, there would be many many many red marks on the paper when it’s returned.

I started this novel three days ago, it’s just over 200 pages, and I’m not quite half way. That means that today, day four, if I’m lucky I may get to page 100. That’s just ridiculous considering I can normally read a 200 page book in one day. I really don’t like not finishing a book but I’m not sure I want to take a week to finish such a short and poorly written novel. I have googled the book and the author and I was surprised to find a few 4 and 5 star ratings in various places, including Goodreads.

I’m still trying to figure out what colour ‘dark black’ is. I’m pretty sure black is dark, but maybe there’s a light black, and a medium black, and a dark black somewhere out there that I haven’t found in my many years of seeing colours. Everyone that I’ve asked about this colour look at me like I should be in a rubber room with a hug me jacket on. lol

So…do I try to finish the book, which could take a week? Or do I just give it up as a lost cause? Or do I shelve it and maybe return to it sometime later when I’m really desperate for something to read, which could be sometime next century considering the number of books I have to read?