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