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