Review: Victoria: From the creator of the ITV television series by Daisy Goodwin

Victoria: From the creator of the ITV television series by Daisy Goodwin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this edition from NetGalley to read and review. It is an Uncorrected Digital Galley copy. Yet, these eyes didn’t see any mistakes.

This was very interesting. I thought at first that I wouldn’t like it. I neither like history books nor Romance novels. There is both ‘herstory’ and romance in this book. But not a lot. This is more a queen’s coming of age story. In that, I thought it well done and an interesting read.

I loved watching this young person, in her teens, deal with the angst we all have gone through with our parents and breaking out into our own lives. Except, most of us don’t have to assume the responsibilities of the throne and a whole nation while going through these growing pains.

In the acknowledgments at the end of the book, the author mentions she wrote this while making the television (I think it was) show. I will be looking it up to see it. I think it could be done well.

Though not the best book I’ve read, I think you will find this an interesting read.

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Review: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Because of this review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show… by my friend, Cheryl, I couldn’t wait to read this book! And it was everything she said it was and more!

I picked up the Kindle copy from Amazon and the Audible version to go with it. It made a perfect go to sleep book at night. I was able to have my girl dreams of space travel and meeting new creatures. Oops! If there’s one thing I learned from this book is that we don’t consider the aliens creatures. They are just beings that are different than us. Often in many ways, they are superior to us that we should expect that. But as the author points out just because beings that look like, maybe, um, a giraffe from earth, doesn’t mean it has the intelligence of a giraffe from earth. It may actually have the abilities to move back and forth in time or travel in a different dimension. This was a good lesson for me as I like to write science fiction about other beings on other planets.

The narrator, Rachel Dulude, brought this book to life in ways I don’t think could have been possible to just read or even with the text-to-speech. She was able to separate the characters and beautiful ways, so you knew exactly who is talking without even reading it.

I do want to read this book again. Maybe when I’m more awake, to see how it is she actually built these characters and her plot and her worlds. It was very well written! And I can hardly wait to be able to afford and read her next book in the series!

If you like science fiction that isn’t all men and war. If you like science fiction that uses imagination with science possibilities, this book is for you! Well done, Becky Chambers!

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Review: Loom Knitting A Tiny Doll by Denise M Canela

Loom Knitting A Tiny Doll by Denise M Canela

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

These cute little guys and the comfort dolls also by Denise M Canela are the reason I haven’t gotten very little of anything else done in my life. (Sorry this is a bit of a repeat from the review for the comfort dolls)

This is November! That means NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. By now I should be almost finished with my novel for this year. But I’m only a third of the way into it.

These dolls are so much fun! And I keep thinking about the recipients, be they tiny little kids or adults who just need comfort, and I hope these little guys will do the trick. In case you’re curious as to my little guys: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Darra… these are just a few I’ll be adding more as I finish up. I seem to have several projects going at the same time: a hat and two or three dolls. I try to make a little kid hat with each of the dolls I don’t know if they’re going to end up that way but it seems to me a nice thing to give the kid who might get the doll a little hat or maybe big sibling gets the doll or hat, or maybe they go to both to a newborn baby or something. By having the dolls and the hats in different stages, my hands don’t get tired doing the same thing over and over. And I’m not fond of sewing. But so happy with the results when I’m finished!

About the book, I read this and the comfort doll book and I couldn’t seem to get it right just by following the book. Luckily, Denise has videos attached in YouTube that you can watch. I watch them over and over and finally took the book, made notes from the book so that I’d have one piece of paper to look at and wouldn’t have to turn on something electronic just to recall the steps and how many stitches. And now I think I’m at the point where I don’t need to look at anything to remember how to make them. I don’t think I can blame the book. I blame me. I just have a hard time with written instructions and I do so much better when somebody shows me how to do it. So may I suggest that you get the books, read through, watch the YouTubes, and enjoy making the dolls!

Thank you, Denise M Canela, for all your books and instructions to making fun things for charity.

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Review: Loom Knitting Comfort Dolls by Denise M Canela

Loom Knitting Comfort Dolls by Denise M Canela

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

These cute little guys and the tiny dolls also by Denise M Canela are the reason I haven’t gotten very little of anything else done in my life.

This is November! That means NaNoWriMo or National Novel Writing Month. By now I should be almost finished with my novel for this year. But I’m only a third of the way into it.

These dolls are so much fun! And I keep thinking about the recipients, be they tiny little kids or adults who just need comfort, and I hope these little guys will do the trick. In case you’re curious as to my little guys: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/Darra… these are just a few I’ll be adding more as I finish up. I seem to have several projects going at the same time: a hat and two or three dolls. I try to make a little kid hat with each of the dolls I don’t know if they’re going to end up that way but it seems to me a nice thing to give the kid who might get the doll a little hat or maybe big sibling gets the doll or hat, or maybe they go to both to a newborn baby or something. By having the dolls and the hats in different stages, my hands don’t get tired doing the same thing over and over. And I’m not fond of sewing. But so happy with the results when I’m finished!

About the book, I read this and the tiny doll book and I couldn’t seem to get it right just by following the book. Luckily, Denise has videos attached in YouTube that you can watch. I watch them over and over and finally took the book, made notes from the book so that I’d have one piece of paper to look at and wouldn’t have to turn on something electronic just to recall the steps and how many stitches. And now I think I’m at the point where I don’t need to look at anything to remember how to make them. I don’t think I can blame the book. I blame me. I just have a hard time with written instructions and I do so much better when somebody shows me how to do it. So may I suggest that you get the books, read through, watch the YouTubes, and enjoy making the dolls!

Thank you, Denise M Canela, for all your books and instructions to making fun things for charity.

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Review: The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

The Girl Before by J.P. Delaney

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you, NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for a review.

This book takes the concept of perfection into the realm of scary and bloody. Take that as my word of warning. Do you read a lot of books about clutter and minimalism? Well, the home in this story is dedicated to that kind of lifestyle. But in the end, it does get messy. No, I will say no more. Spoilers!

I shouldn’t have pushed myself to read the last part of the book before trying to go to sleep. I don’t like mysteries, or suspense or thrillers. Still, the concepts presented in the book blurb had me curious.

The main characters are the renters of this special house broken into chapters that are titled: Then: Emma and Now: Jane. Then wasn’t that long ago as they had cell phones. That gives a clue to the reader. We are given the opportunity to live through each point of view. The characters are well-developed and I found myself SEEING everything that was happening. The author was great at describing everything. I nearly found myself huffing and puffing as the characters climbed the stairs or clean the home to perfection as per agreement.

I am giving this four stars. Not because I liked it so much, but because I don’t think I will ever forget it. I think that means the author did her job well. If you like thrillers, this one is for you!

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