Review: Faerie Knitting: 14 Tales of Love and Magic by Alice Hoffman

Faerie Knitting: 14 Tales of Love and Magic by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a delightful bedtime book! Especially the Audible version with January LaVoy narrating. The stories are short enough to do one a night. Normally, I don’t like short stories. But after reading Braiding the Sweetgrass, this felt similar enough not to feel a shock but an excellent way to hear stories of love.

AND the book comes with knitting patterns—even the Audible. I picked up the PDFs and printed them to my knitting folders. I can’t wait to try some of these. Although, I think a few are way beyond my abilities. But the way knitting is woven into the stories is captivating. I’m sorry to be finished with the reading.

If you are unaware of Alice Hoffman, she is the author of Practical Magic, among many others. She writes with the pen of a poet. This particular book is co-authored with her sister. What fun that must have been.

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Review: Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories by Kelly Ripa

Live Wire: Long-Winded Short Stories by Kelly Ripa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a fun book. Sure, Kelly comes to our living room before coffee, way overdressed for our sloppy morning PJs. I think she had coffee way earlier than we did. Especially here on the west coast. Just a quick aside: Aren’t you tired of waking up to New York if you live here in the west?

Anyway, back to the book. I had the Audible, and I highly recommend ‘reading’ the book this way. Ms. Ripa narrates with the occasional Mark Consuelos addendum. In his voice. You miss that fun interaction between husband and wife in the paper copy.

Not many books hit on the empty nest issues. When you are young and pregnant, there are times when you are overwhelmed by books about expecting or dealing with kids. But the issues of offspring moving into adulthood and how it affects the people left behind are few.

I love that the story is broken into many little stories rather than a point-by-point history autobiography. I highly recommend this bit of entertainment.

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Review: Worn Stories by Emily Spivack

Worn Stories by Emily Spivack
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After watching the Worn Stories on Netflix, I decided to look this up. I found it on Libby as a Kindle version.

I wish I had found it as an Audible version or paper copy. Text-to-Speech doesn’t stop for pictures. I didn’t feel like stopping the stories just to look at the pictures of old clothes that held no meaning for me. It works better as a show as you see the person talking and their story with their memory clothing. The Kindle version makes it a dry story with no personality.

AND I’m not too fond of short stories. Ever. I wanted a lot more depth. I could deal with each story being a book unto itself.

Don’t we all have those favorite bits of clothes that bring us memories and comfort? I sure do.

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Review: A Plague of Zombies by Diana Gabaldon

A Plague of Zombies by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am going to give this another listen later. I feel I lost something or that it ended far too soon.

I love reading about Lord John. His sense of morality, committed to doing the right thing, propels him more than other men you might read about. He cares deeply and wants to save lives and hearts/

The narrator isn’t as fun as Davina Porter and I think she could have done this book. But Jeff Woodman does a good job keeping the story going.

If you are on an Outlander binge you can’t quit, here is one to help give you your fix.

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Review: Lord John and the Hand of Devils by Diana Gabaldon

Lord John and the Hand of Devils by Diana Gabaldon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I couldn’t leave the world of Outlander. This little book kept me involved for a couple more nights.

Short stories are not my cup of tea. Still, the three stories included kept my interest until the end.

Jeff Woodman, the narrator, held his own covering the characters and most especially our Lord John.

Diana Gabaldon’s wonderful writing and wit show throughout this book. And it did keep me in the Outlander world, sans time travel.

It is worth the read.

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Review: Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman

Everything My Mother Taught Me by Alice Hoffman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I absolutely love Alice Hoffman’s writing. I couldn’t resist when I saw this for free on Audible. And this did have her great storytelling. The narrator, Brittany Pressley, was superb.

The story kept me interested. But the end came too soon I didn’t realize it was a short story until it ended. And that is my biggest problem with this audiobook. I don’t like short stories. They leave me wanting more. I want to know what happens next.

Still, it was a delicious story.

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Review: Emily, Gone by Bette Lee Crosby

Emily, Gone by Bette Lee Crosby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bette Lee Crosby writes good stories. This did not disappoint.

At least this mystery wasn’t about murder. I knew that could be done. Still, it is about a kidnapping. It was interesting to see the crime from all sides. The characters are well developed. They keep you reading to see what each person was going through, how would they solve their personal problems. The book showed how love could make their choices harder, or drive them mad in trying to live with it all. Still, it was a hard book to put down.

Though a spiritual path is evident, it isn’t overdone. The characters believe a certain way and it is part of their journey.

By the way, this was free through Kindle Unlimited. Though I like reading Ms. Crosby’s work it is usually more expensive than I can afford, so I am glad they made this one available this way.

As a genre, I think that this could be called a cozy mystery sans murder. I think women may find it better than men, though the men in this book are strong and level headed. But the stories are more about birth and baby loss, so it might be hard for those who have lived through this kind of circumstance.

Otherwise, try it, you might like it!

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Review: Happiness is a Collage by Gita V. Reddy

Happiness is a Collage by Gita V. Reddy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don’t like short stories. Give me a long series any day. But this book was marvelous! It is a collection of stories of women who have paths of their own and how they deal with cultural, spiritual, educational issues and mix that with those mores of American feminism and ‘modern’ ways of life and these stories seem nearly as truth, not fiction.

If there were more story for each told here I would be happy. Nearly any of these stories can be full novels, that I would love reading. I love the education I pick up as I read of each of these life situations.

This wasn’t a long read. I think it was a couple of nights. With text-to-speech it was often hard to know when I had moved into another story, but other than that I enjoyed Gita V. Reddy’s writing. I think others will like it, too.

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Review: Bold: Stories of Strong Women by Sandy Ward Bell

Bold: Stories of Strong Women by Sandy Ward Bell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I won this book from GoodReads Giveaway. Though I knew it was an anthology of short stories I thought reading about strong women would make it worth my while. So thank you for letting me read your book.

BUT, I just don’t like short stories. Yes, the women seemed to have opinions but I didn’t see them as any stronger than others. Maybe with more story, I would have been impressed with them but, not so much. And it is worse is you read with text-to-speech as it is hard to know when the last story ended and the next story starts. I can’t tell you how many times I had to go back and figure out why it wasn’t making sense suddenly. OH! It’s a new story. I guess that is something to keep in mind when writing for the Kindle market, make sure to put a something there at the end and start the new one with a hashtag or something.

I finished this book a week or so ago but life got busy and I had to wait to write the review. I honestly can’t remember any of the stories to say more about them. Obviously, there are folks that loved these stories so go read their reviews. You may be one who loves them, too. But give me a series and depth of characters. The stories are well written, I do remember that. I like the cover!

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Review: Horton and the Kwuggerbug and more Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss

Horton and the Kwuggerbug and more Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Now, here is a special book! A long lost treasure. And you know what? I couldn’t wait to read it. I had to read the first story out loud to the dog. I don’t think she appreciated the subtleties of the story. And my throat hurt since I haven’t read aloud in years!

What made this book a treasure is the Introduction. It told about this book and other stories. Then having a deeper understanding of where the stories came from made the reader even more happy to see how wonderful and crazy Dr. Seuss’s stories were.

And it isn’t just crazy. zaniness Ted’s stories there are always little morals or thought processes for the reader to get into and squeeze the life out of.

I hope you are able to get this book to enjoy.

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