The Secret Life of Dust by Hannah Holmes

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was interesting, and who knew that dust would be interesting?? I like this sort of book; one that explores a particular topic through lots of different lenses, that looks at one thing from different angles. This book looks at how dust affects everything from health to global climate. This was also a very readable book, there was science but it was presented in a very straight forward manner. Thanks to Garreth for lending this book to me :)

Rating: 5 stars

Recommendations: Some other books that are of the same type are Salt, and Cod by Mark Kurlansky, both explore one topic throughout history.

240 pages took about 3 hours

Battle at the Moons of Hell by Graham Sharp Paul

I liked this book, but there were some problems with it. First and worst, was that I found the battle scenes tedious and confusing to read. If you want a really good space battle read David Weber's Honor Harrington novels. I also didn't really care all that much about Michael Helfort. His character was sort of flat. The last thing I didn't care for in this book was the direction it went in, the initial set up of the book didn't really mean anything. We start out with our hero taking the blame for something and it didn't really affect him. The author never really goes back to it, and it doesn't seem to be a driving force for the character. Now this was still a fun read and I enjoyed it, there are just better examples of this genre out there.

Rating: 3 stars

Recommendations: Read Weber's Honor Harrington books, the first one is On Basilisk Station. They are great!

384 pages took about 3 hours

A Rose from the Dead by Kate Collins

Just when I was starting to get irritated with what the author is doing with the main character, she starts to fix it! Love it! Last book in this series I was getting a little tired of Abby having such feelings of being a failure. And now in this book she has recognized that she feels this way and is working on it, hurray! I love it when character learn and grow :)

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: This is the 6th book in this series, they really should be read in order. The first one is Sleeping with Anemones.

304 pages took 2 hours :)

Acts of Violets by Kate Collins

This is one of the first cozy mystery series I ever read. I really enjoy them, the writing is witty and fast paced. The mystery was fairly clever (although, it's never who you initially think it is so you can discount them) but the best part are the relationships between the characters. There are a few things that I don't care for, one the main character, Abby, is at one time very pig headed and so convinced that she is correct to the point of recklessness, and two (and at the same time) her self esteem is very. She considers herself a failure. I hope the author works on this and has the character grow!

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: The first book in this series is Sleeping with Anemones. This series reminds me of the Psychic Eye series by Victoria Laurie.

320 pages took me about 2 and half hours.

East of the Sun West of the Moon by John Ringo

I was disappointed by the finish to this series. The story started right out, fast paced, there was a feeling of urgency, that important things were happening. And lots of stuff did happen and it was fun, but things were not resolved. It feels like there should be another book in this series. There were a lot of loose ends introduced in this and earlier books that were just left hanging. Very frustrating.

Rating: 3 stars

Recommendations: I do like John Ringo, this series was fun, just unfinished. But the first book is There Will be Dragons*. He also co wrote a series with David Weber (who is also awesome) the first one in that series is March Upcountry.

424 pages took me almost exactly 3 hours.

When Two Paths Meet by Betty Neels

I love, love, love this authors books. They are a very genteel and quiet kind of romance. There is no sex and only a few kisses exchanged between our hero and heroine. They are all pretty much the same (and there are over a hundred books by this author) and I just love them. The author always has lovely descriptions of fabulous food and clothes. This book was no different and finished with a nice gentle declaration of love. The novels are like a warm cup of cocoa under a blanket on a cold wet day. Comforting and pleasant.

Rating: 5 stars

Recommendations: Anything by Betty Neels, she has a million of them! My favorite right now is The Secret Pool, it makes me cry.

192 pages took me about an hour and 15 minutes.

Emerald Sea by John Ringo

Once again a strong effort from John Ringo, I've liked everything of his so far. Like I said for Against the Tide*, I read this one and that one out of order. But it was fine. This one doesn't have the same battles and tactics and strategizing that the other two books had but I still liked it. I think that of the three books I've read in the series this one had the least action. There was a lot of training and figuring out doctrines in this one, which was interesting but not as exciting the other books. There didn't seem to be the same sense of urgency in this one as in the others.

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: The rest of the Council Wars series. Start with There Will be Dragons.

600 pages in about 5 hours

* denotes a book I have read and reviewed on this blog

Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz

This was a fascinating book. I learned a lot about the way dogs smell/see/hear the world. Her descriptions of how dogs play and interact with each other, their people and their world was interesting. I liked the way that the author described little vignettes of her life with her own dog. I also liked how she tried to balance having a scientists objectivity with a dog owners love of her dog. I think that balance is important and difficult to do. I get frustrated with the scientific point of view that tries to reduce things down to the most simple answer but I know that that is the point of science. But as a dog owner I also know that my dogs are thinking feeling creatures, just because they can't speak doesn't mean I don't know that.

Rating: 4 stars

No recommendations right now!

384 pages in about 4 hours

Real Food by Nina Planck

After reading, Nourishing Traditions* I wanted to know more about the nutrition in our diets as we eat them now and when we ate a more traditional diet with whole foods. Or what this author calls real food. The take away lesson is: Processed and refined sugars and starches (and food in general really) = bad. Whole, fresh, real food = good. The problem with nutrition, as a science, is that it is very complicated. There are lots of nutrients that are dependant on or work better with other things. This is very hard to test for and scientist always want to isolate ONE thing to study and and nothing else. This doesn't work very well. Plus, every one is different we process nutrients differently based on genetics, age, gender etc. So it's virtually impossible to find a perfect control group. Having said all that I can sympathize with scientists. And I know they hate anecdotal evidence BUT isn't it an amazing coincidence that heart disease, diabetes, obesity etc has increased exponentially over the last 50 years or so as the food in this country has gotten more and more industrialized and processed?? And doesn't it make sense that fresh meat, dairy, and veggies have been staples for human diets for centuries and we did pretty well on them that they are probably good for us??
Now for me personally the problem is cost. Organic and a lot of whole foods are expensive (it's one reason I want to live on a farm again and produce a lot of our own food) so we don't eat near as much of them as I would like. But when and where I can we eat as much fresh real food as possible!

Rating: 5 stars

Recommendations: The author actually includes a reading list (yay!) She mentions Michael Pollan and Joel Salatin. Both of whom I have read and enjoyed!!

277 pages in about 3 hours

* denotes a book I have read and reviewed on this blog.

Against the Tide by John Ringo

So I read this book out of order, I should have read Emerald Sea* first, this is actually book 3 of the series. But that being said, all of the books in this series can be read as stand alone novel. They are *better* in order, a little richer and deeper. I actually wondered when I started it why there was such a gap between this book and (what I thought was) the last one and why there were so many events that were referred to that we as readers hadn't hard about lol but once I went back and read Emerald Sea I was fine. I really enjoyed this book, but so far I have enjoyed all of Ringo's books. I tend to like the navy more than army type of military fiction. This one had plenty of action and good dialogue, and I really like all of the characters. But I would recommend that you read this one *third* in the series.

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: The first two books are There Will Be Dragons*, and Emerald Sea*, with East of the Sun West of the Moon finishing up the series. I'm also going to start the Posleen War series soon the first book on that one is A Hymn Before Battle.

550 pages in 4 hours

* denotes a book I have read and reviewed on this blog.

Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin

I have to say, I was completely underwhelmed by this book. I was excited to get it from Amazon, it had been on my wish list. I can really remember very little specifics on this book, I read it over the course of a couple of nights and found myself nodding off each time (this *never* happens to me). I did like the central idea of this book, that you can live a more fulfilling life if you are mindful of it. But the way it was presented, I found completely uninspiring. I wanted something that had some actual practical applications that I could use in my own life; ideas, meditations, suggestions, something!

Rating: 1 star

Recommendations: There are lots of other simplicity books out there and I will maybe check them out eventually but at the moment I am turned off by the whole idea.

240 pages, I'm not sure how long this took me, abut 2 hours I think

The Red House Mystery by A. A, Milne

Yep, this is a mystery by the same author that brought you Winnie the Pooh. I loved it. It was just so charming, and the mystery was so well thought out and skillfully revealed. I really enjoyed the language and style of this book, it was very charming. To describe a room or a character the author would begin, "and now let us consider...." I really enjoyed it. I'm only sorry that the author didn't write more (apparently he wrote this for his father) and it makes me want to revisit Winnie the Pooh.

Rating: 5 stars (I'm only sorry I have to give this book back to it's owner!)

Recommendations: I don't really have any for this one, sorry guys!

239 pages took me about 3 hours

Note: the cover shown is not the edition I read, but I couldn't find a picture of that one!

The Sacred Vault by Andy McDermott

This series is a lot of fun. Very low on the believability scale though. The main characters are Nina an archeologist (who discovers Atlantis in an earlier novel) and her husband Eddie an ex-SAS soldier. There are tons of unlikely adventures and lots of very fast archeological work to uncover great treasures all over the world. But tons of fun and very fast read.

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: The first book in this series is The Hunt for Atlantis.

528 pages in about 3 hours

Barely Bewitched by Kimberly Frost

I'm starting to like this series, but the author is trying to cram in too much stuff and is neglecting the main characters (and everyone else) development. The characters start to work things out and grow and then oops another disaster to avert/fix. The characters even comment/think this! There were at least 2 spots in the book where the main character starts to reflect on her life/relationships/new powers and she says that she doesn't have time to think about it right now! Doesn't the author realize that this is the stuff we want to see?? I mean the witchy stuff is fun and all but unless there is more character development it gets boring.

Rating: I'm gonna give it 4 stars, I still enjoyed it even with it's flaws

Recommendations: The first book in this series is Would Be Witch*.

320 pages in about 2 hours

* denotes an already reviewed book.

Murder Under Cover by Kate Carlisle

So this series was my first foray into the "cozy" mystery genre. I've been waiting a few months for this! So I love the main character, Brooklyn (named by the way, for the city she was conceived in!) she grew up on a hippy commune, she is a book expert, restoring old books. She is also a little neurotic and faints at the sight of blood. She lives in San Fransisco and has interesting neighbors. She also has a great best friend and love interest. And her mother is hysterical! I love this series for it's characters. It helps that the mysteries are well thought out and interesting. It's funny as well. I might even go back and re read these books. If I do I will, of course, put my reviews up.

Rating: 5 stars

Recommendations: The previous books in the series. The first book is Homicide in Hardcover.

280 pages 2 hours

The Ark by Boyd Morrison

I liked this book a lot. It was fun, there was a touch of romance and lots and lots of action. I think on the believability scale... the over all plot was on the less believable side. But the actual action sequences I think were more towards realism. (I really need to come up with a believability scale, ideas? 1-10 just seems boring lol) Apparently this book was originally only released digitally, if so then kudos to the author! I am looking forward to reading more of this guys stuff!

Rating: 4 stars

Recommendations: Mr. Morrison has another book Rouge Wave out (and the library has, yay!) and a couple new ones coming out in July and November.

464 pages about 4 hours