25 Book Reviews

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Another review : A sweet, funny look at Hollywood, behind the scenes!

Backstage Pass
Stars Collide
By Janice Thompson
Before reading this book, I took a quick look at the cover and thought to myself. " Oh no, a silly romance in Hollywood! Meaningless! Why did I ever choose to review it?"
BUT...my opinion quickly changed, as I started to read this book. Yes, it had a romantic theme, used comedy to lighten the situations encountered by the main characters, however, there were some very deep, thoughtful themes and ideas throughout this book.
Janice is a talented writer who used silly moments to make light of some extremely serious issues, and did it in a delightful fashion.
The story begins with Kat, the main character, an actress , and Scott, who is the leading man in a movie- secretly in love, not really realizing it. They are acting out a  film in which they eventually become engaged and are married on the set. While this is movie is being produced, in comes another main character, Kat's grandmother who has raised her. She just happens to be an eccentric star from Hollywood's golden age. What we discover is that she is becoming mentally unstable , with likely early onset of Altzheimers disease. She has difficulty differentiating reality from fantasy shows, thinks things that really did not happen and causes great upheaval in Kat's life.
Kat dearly loves her grandma and Scott becomes involved in the  situation. Love grows, in more than one direction, however, I will tell you no more, it would be a definite spoiler.
Janice's ability to create and describe these quirky characters is to be admired. You can't help but laugh at one moment then empathize at others.
Tender emotions are underwritten throughout this story. What a fabulous read!
" Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications , Inc. Available now at your favourite bookseller from Revell,  a division of Baker Publishing Group."

Friday, March 11, 2011

Take a Look at this Fabulous Amish Novel

Author, Tricia Goyer , has written a great Amish Novel. Take a look at the book trailer- absolutely gorgeous- makes you want to read her book- which I did- and I will be doing a review on it shortly.               

A Good Read by Ann H. Gabhart

Angel Sister
By Ann H. Gabhart

This book was, for me, hard to "get into", however, once I had read several chapters, I was hooked!! What a surprise!  I thought, oh, what am I ever going to say in the review- then- it was- What a great book- and how different it is, from others that I have reviewed. Complete reversal of my attitude- I loved the last half of the book!! So if you can be persistent, keep reading, you won't be sorry.
The story takes place in Kentucky in 1936, with a family in turmoil.  Kate works very hard to keep her family together.  Her dad is an alcoholic and is slipping further away all the time, while her mom is trying to come to grips with their dire financial situations, and her sisters just continue to ignore the whole problem.
BUT the exciting and mysterious part of the story comes to light , when a dirty, little, abandoned girl appears on the scene by the name of Lorena Birdsong. She captures Kate's heart and soul and  the theme of the novel centres around this strange   sweet child. There are many problems, challenges and beautiful moments in this story, but I must not describe them as they would be spoilers.
Just one word- READ this book!! It will give you such a positive attitude toward others as will as hope in the darkest moments.
A great read!!
"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications Inc. Available now at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing House."

Another Fantastic Read by One of My Favorite Authors, Vannetta Chapman!

An Amish Proposal for Christmas  By Vannetta Chapman Synopsis: Her deepest Christmas wish will bring more than she imagined…in this novel by...