Ashfall by, Mike Mullin

Ashfall by, Mike Mullin

Alex lives in Cedar Rapids Iowa his parents have left him home alone for the weekend but it’s not the weekend he is hoping it will be when something crashes into his house and burns it to the ground you’d think that would be the worst of it but it is only the beginning. A Supervolcano in Yellowstone has gone off and changed the world as we know it; Alex sets off to find his family in a trek of survival, starvation and terror. Along the way Alex’s will is tested he does find some nice people that help him along the way but he also runs into people who would do him harm. He ends up at the farmhouse of Darla and her mother but tragedy strikes there too so he and Darla set off cross country to find his family.

The vivid descriptions of our world after the volcano the ash fall, the blocking out of the sun, the noise, the snow, and just trying to survive. This book doesn’t show our government in a very good light but honestly I could see it happening. Alex is a strong willed boy but Darla is strong and being a farm girl knows things about survival that city boy Alex never could. They make a great pair and I don’t think either one could have survived without the other. It was refreshing to have a male lead character yes there is a female but she is later in the book and compliments our male lead very well.

This book was scary in the way that this could really happen and since I live only a few states away from Yellowstone it hit home a bit. This book also made me curious enough about the Supervolcano that I looked things up and watched the BBC movie Supervolcano.

One of the best quotes from this book about the inhumanity these kids saw was...

“For the first time ever, I felt ashamed of my species. The volcano had taken our homes, our food, our automobiles, and our airplanes, but it hadn’t taken our humanity. No, we’d given that up on our own.”

I enjoyed this book and had a hard time putting it down and look forward to the next installment in this series.

I received this book from netgalley and will definitely be buying this book for the city library I work at.

4 ½ Stars

Artemis Rising by, Cheri Lasota

Description:Torn between her father’s Catholicism and her mother’s Pagan beliefs, Eva finally chooses Paganism. She accepts the name of Arethusa but learns too late that her life will mirror the Greek nymph’s tragic fate. When they sail to the Azores Islands, her mother tells her that her destiny rests with Diogo, the shipowner’s son. But Eva sees a vision of another . . .
When the ship founders off the Azores, Tristan, a young Azorean, saves her. Destined to be with Diogo yet aching for Tristan’s forbidden love, Eva must some­how choose between them, or fate will soon choose for her.

Artemis Rising is a beautiful, seamless blend of two mythologies: the Arthurian legend of Tristan and Isolde, and the ancient Greek legend of Alpheus and Arethusa. It is a story filled with young romance, tragedy, forgiveness and attempts at redemption.

My Review
This is the story of a young girl named Eve who is raised in the US by a catholic father and a pagan mother, they are on a boat at sea when Eve’s mother Arethusa does a ritual to give Eve her mother’s name and to promise her to the moon goddess Artemis but things don’t go as planned, as tragedy strikes Eve’s/Arethusa life will never be the same.

This is a mix of 2 myths Tristan & Isolde and Arethusa & Alpheus and how your beliefs can set you on a path of tragedy and/or love and how outside forces can affect everything you do until you take control of your own life and stop living for others.

I enjoyed this book very much it has a mythical fairytale quality to it, and I thought it was well written. I found myself cheering for Arethusa & Tristan; it is a love story yet so much more. I was afraid at first it would be to romancey (I know maybe not a word but there it is) but I was pleasantly surprised by the story and the atmosphere her descriptions of the coastline & the sea made me feel like I was right there and could feel the wind. There are some scenes that made my stomach knot in fear for our heroine and that is the mark of a good book.

I will definitely read more by this author.

**I received this book from the Member Giveaway Program on Librarything**

4 Stars

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by, Shirley Jackson Audiobook

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson Audiobook Narrated by, Bernadette Dunne
Synopsis from Goodreads:We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson's 1962 novel, is full of a macabre and sinister humor, and Merricat herself, its amiable narrator, is one of the great unhinged heroines of literature. Merricat has developed an idiosyncratic system of rules and protective magic, burying talismanic objects beneath the family estate, nailing them to trees, and ritualistically revisiting them. She has created a protective web to guard against the distrust and hostility of neighboring villagers. Or so she believes. But at last the magic fails. A stranger arrives—cousin Charles, with his eye on the Blackwood fortune. He disturbs the sisters' careful habits, installing himself at the head of the family table, unearthing Merricat's treasures, talking privately to Constance about "normal lives" and "boy friends." Unable to drive him away by either polite or occult means, Merricat adopts more desperate methods. The result is crisis and tragedy, the revelation of a terrible secret, the convergence of the villagers upon the house, and a spectacular unleashing of collective spite.

My Review:

Why haven’t I ever read anything by Shirley Jackson before?? I don’t know but that will be remedied very quickly! This is a great book! It has the feel of a ghost story because these two sisters are like living ghosts and actually there were times in this that I wasn’t sure if they weren’t ghosts. (And honestly still not sure after finishing it)

This is a short book but packs a great punch, even though one of these sisters did something horrible you love them anyway with all their quirks and strange ways. Gosh this is a hard review to write because I don’t want to give anything away but I want you to know I loved this book and you should read it too!

I highly recommend this book on audio Bernadette Dunne was a great narrator and really brings Merricat & Constance to life.

I guess all I can say is read/listen to this book what are you waiting for??

5 stars

The Poisoned House by, Michael Ford

Young Abi is an orphaned servant girl in the house of Lord Greave, the head of the household staff Mrs. Cotton, is the sister of the late lady of the house who rules with an iron fist. It has been a year since Abi lost her mother who was nurse/governess to Lord Greave’s son Samuel, Abi and Samuel grew up together and were closer than master & servant should be. In the year since her mother died Lord Greave has been slowly losing his mind and Samuel went off to war and came back injured. The worst thing is that Abi is seeing the ghost of her mother but what is she trying to tell her.

I really enjoyed this book it was hard to put down; it had just the right amount of spookiness and mystery. The build up to the reveal was great and what you think is going on is actually quite different then you are led to believe. The whole atmosphere of the story really took you back to 1856 Victorian England, the big house with its ghosts plus a little upstairs/downstairs. Abi was a great character as were the rest of the household staff I ended up really liking them and thought the postscript was a great touch!

If you like Victorian gothic with ghosts give this book a try!

I received this book from netgalley.

4 stars

fathermothergod:My Journey Out of Christian Science by, Lucia Greenhouse

Title: fathermothergod:My Journey Out of Christian Science Author: Lucia Greenhouse

Publisher: Crown Publishing Group

Imprint: Crown

Pub Date: 08/09/2011

ISBN: 9780307720924
Category: NONFICTION - ADULT: Biography & Autobiography

Description from publisher:
Lucia Ewing had what looked like an all-American childhood. She lived with her mother, father, sister, and brother in an affluent suburb of Minneapolis, where they enjoyed private schools, sleep-away camps, a country club membership, and skiing vacations. Surrounded by a tight-knit extended family, and doted upon by her parents, Lucia had no doubt she was loved and cared for. But when it came to accidents and illnesses, Lucia's parents didn't take their kids to the doctor's office--they prayed, and called a Christian Science practitioner.

fathermothergod is Lucia Greenhouse's story about growing up in Christian Science, in a house where you could not be sick, because you were perfect; where no medicine, even aspirin, was allowed. As a teenager, her visit to an ophthalmologist created a family crisis. She was a sophomore in college before she had her first annual physical. And in December 1985, when Lucia and her siblings, by then young adults, discovered that their mother was sick, they came face-to-face with the reality that they had few--if any--options to save her. Powerless as they watched their mother's agonizing suffering, Lucia and her siblings struggled with their own grief, anger, and confusion, facing scrutiny from the doctors to whom their parents finally allowed them to turn, and stinging rebuke from relatives who didn't share their parents' religious values.

In this haunting, beautifully written book, Lucia pulls back the curtain on the Christian Science faith and chronicles its complicated legacy for her family. At once an essentially American coming-of-age story and a glimpse into the practices of a religion few really understand, fathermothergod is an unflinching exploration of personal loss and the boundaries of family and faith.

My Review:
I didn’t know much about Christian Science when I started this book except for the fact that they don’t believe in going to doctors that the Lord will heal them however, I did not realize it is the symptoms of an illness or sickness itself that they don’t believe in.

I also don’t understand when they say things like have you tried science when referring to Lucia who wants to get her eyes checked, isn’t medicine science? So, I do not understand the name Christian Science when they don’t use Science like going to the doctor.

This book was a rare and fascinating look into a religion that I had little previous knowledge of and Lucia’s narrative on her family and upbringing alternately makes your heartbreak, makes you angry and makes you shake your head in disbelief that anyone could believe some of the things after going through what they went through in the latter part of the book. I felt so bad for Lucia and her siblings but also even through it all, her parents.

What was amazing is how her parent’s belief in this religion impacted the extended family too and how her parents virtually cut themselves off from any non-believer so no one could see what was really happening. Also Lucia confused feelings of wanting to get help for her mother and wanting to protect her parents must have been so hard I don’t know how she stayed sane through it all.

This was a great read and was very hard to put down, if you like memoirs about different religions or dysfunctional families I highly recommend this book it is a fascinating read.

4 Stars


Full Disclosure: I received this book from netgalley

Vixen ( The Flappers #1) & Ingenue (The Flappers#2) by, Jillian Larkin

I loved this book! It is so unique being set in the 20’s. This is the story of three friends. Gloria society girl engaged to Sebastian Grey a most eligible bachelor, Lorraine the neglected little rich girl wanting to be loved by a boy who doesn’t see her as anything but a friend, and Marcus the handsome playboy living his life to the fullest. Then there is Clara Gloria’s cousin who has come to Chicago in disgrace to “help with Gloria’s wedding” but there is more to Clara than meets the eye.

The excitement of rebelling against society and going to an underground speakeasy. For Gloria it is to try to live a little before she marries the boring Bastian. For Lorraine she just wants to get out from under Gloria’s shadow and be the center of attention. At the speakeasy Gloria meets Jerome part of the jazz band she finds she is attracted to him but there is a huge problem as Jerome is a man of color and this is the 1920’s.

This book has it all friendship, betrayal, secrets, forbidden love, and gangsters. From the uptown society of Chicago to the seedy underground I loved every minute of this book. Jillian Larkin takes you back to the 20’s and puts you right there the feel the music the clothes. She brings this period piece to life. I liked that the love story was sweet and not the usual fare. There is a lot of drinking as it is set during prohibition and they go to a speakeasy and a lot of smoking which in the 20’s was something everyone did. One just needs to remember that this is historical fiction and the author has re-created the atmosphere very well.

This is a great debut and a great beginning to a fun series. The ending is a cliffhanger that left me salivating for the next installment. Bravo Miss Larkin you have me completely hooked!

I received this book from Barnes & Noble First Look Program thank you for the opportunity to read this book.

4 ½ Stars










Ingenue (The Flappers#2) by, Jillian Larkin

We start up this second book in the Flapper’s series in New York City, Gloria and Jerome hiding out from the mob, Lorraine working for the mob, Clara is back in the city that almost ruined her, can she stay away from her old life or is it too much of a temptation and Vera trying to find her brother and hopefully save his life and make up for what she had done in Chicago. Relationships go through some growing pains in this one! You’ll be surprised who ends up the happiest in the end.

This one was a lot of fun again with some major intrigue as the stories and people converged for the climax and what a climax it was! It isn’t really a cliffhanger but the end of one chapter and the next book will be a new one because parts of this story were wrapped up very well, yet with just enough mystery to keep fans reading to see what happens next.

I so enjoy the atmosphere in this series, the 20’s ,flappers, bootleggers, booze, gangsters and some famous people of the time play into this story! I love who Vera meets backstage at the Cotton Club and who engineers some of the bad things that happen! (No Spoilers)

I think this is a great YA historical fiction series that teens and adults alike will enjoy no fantasy involved just a look at life in a different time when women were just starting to come into their own, segregation is in effect except of course that it’s ok for the African Americans to entertain you but they must come in the back door and an interracial relationship will get you in trouble I think it gives a great look at a life we can only imagine and hope that we have moved far away from. I do love books that that show strong women and this one is full of them , women in 1920 leaving the notions and traditional roles their parents have laid out for them to make their way in the world on their own, scary as that is.

I look forward to the next installment of this series!

4 stars

The Tudors TV Series

The Tudors TV Series




I really enjoyed this series but it is not for the young the sex scenes are extremely graphic and there are some scenes that are just there for the shock value and in my opinion were not needed at all (the scene where Henry umm takes care of himself). I was also disappointed that it ended where it did it should have just been called Henry the VIII. I wanted more I think the young lady (Sarah Bolger) who played Mary Tudor future Queen Mary has the acting chops to pull off the role very well. It could have ended when Queen Elizabeth took over because there are 100’s of movies out there about her but very few about Mary so I would have liked it if it had gone through Mary’s reign.


I liked all the actors in this show Jonathan Rhys Meyers kind of came into his own or just grew on me as the series progressed and of course you just can’t go wrong with Henry Cavill. I thought this series was very well done and I kept hopping over to Wikipedia to see what really happened was surprised at how well they actually stuck to true history considering it was a tv show.


I highly recommend this series to Tudor fans and it made me want to go back and re-read some Allison Weir or finally read some Jean Plaidy or Antonia Fraser.

Do you have any favorite Tudor books?