Review: Miracle Declutter: Tidying up to Improve and Organize Your Life

Miracle Declutter: Tidying up to Improve and Organize Your Life by Dave Bracco
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon
I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher for review purposes. What follows is a honest review.

Decluttering a home is more than just doing the physical tasks. If it was, then there would be no problem with doing it. Most of the reason that people clutter has to do with things that go back to childhood. This book attacks both parts of the cluttering puzzle. It works with the nuts and bolts of organization first. Later in the book it helps with understanding why you clutter and changing your mind set. The author also is not shy about saying that some cluttering may be cause by a medical disorder. For that professional help may be needed.

It is good that this book focuses on them both. Changing the area you live in without changing the mind is not going to help as old habits will return. Changing the other way will not work as you are not changing the world around you.

I would have no problem with suggesting this book to people who have a need to declutter they way that they live.

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Review: After/Life: Denial: A Paranormal Ghost Romance

After/Life: Denial: A Paranormal Ghost Romance by Scarlett Whispers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon

This book is the part of a series. Based on the preview of the next book I have a feeling that each book name will be dealing with the different stages of grief. While the story is complete in itself it leaves enough threads hanging that you know another one was coming even before the preview was shown.
Molly and Sam are sweethearts, she is tough as nails and he is gentle and firm. Molly is a cop and Sam handles the evidence. No one understands why they are together but they are. Molly and partner are after the big drug lord in town and will stop at nothing to get him. Much more of the story would be giving spoilers, so that is not something I will do, though reading the description you know someone dies.

After death, what is there? I am not sure if the author is going after the karma theory of Buddha or the purgatory theory of the Catholic Church. It is not what I believe happens after death but it does make for an interesting read. All those little things you did that hurt someone, how do you make up for them in the afterlife.

Small amount of sexual activity (not in detail) would not make this book safe for children. If you are into serial stories than this book could be for you. I dropped a star because I am not one in favor of serial reads. As I said, this has an ending to it but to me not a satisfying one.


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Review: Flowers Vs. Zombies (Book 6) Native

Flowers Vs. Zombies (Book 6) Native by Perrin Briar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon

I received an ARC copy. What follows is an honest review.

Like the other books in the Flowers vs. Zombies this book can stand alone but leaves hooks into the next book in the series. This makes reading it a little more enjoyable than books that just end in the middle of things.

There are basically four storylines going on at the same time. While that can seem to be a little crowded, each part of the story gets the amount of time needed.

Main story is that of the Flower's family and their struggles to help someone who has come to them and their fight against pirates. While there are some zombies in the story, they are not the protagonist here like they have been in previous books.

Storyline is understandable but you do have to pay attention. With the multiple story lines going on you may have to go back and read some parts again.

Recommended for all ages. There is a little violence in it. But that is what you will have when you are fighting zombies and/or pirates. If you are into zombies and have read the rest of the books in the series it will appeal to you

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Chocolate With a Side of Murder by Meredith Potts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon

I received a copy from Authors XP web site and the author. It was a copy from Audible. What follows is an honest review of the Audio Book.

The audio books take a little longer for me to 'read' shall we say. I have a half hour ride to and from work. In the morning I will listen to my Bible reading plan for the day. In the evening I will listen to what ever book I have in the cue at the moment.

Ms. Potts has started an interesting series here. A barista who likes to solve crimes who happens to have a detective boyfriend. Most of the cozy mysteries I have read follow the same pattern. Heroine, with boyfriend, murder to someone they know, they have to solve. It is a predictable pattern, but it works. If it did not we would not have so many cozy authors out there.

While the pattern is predictable, the story does not have to be. It also has to let you know the clues so you can solve it yourself. It is OK to throw in red herrings but to pull something out of the hat at the last minute is not good. This was a problem here. While the clue that helped solve it was there right from the start of the murder, there was some off camera work that really would have been done by the police already. For that reason I dropped 1/2 star.

The other 1/2 star was because of the various sub stories that were put in the book. They did nothing to advance the story. I feel that they may be used in future Daley Buzz stories in the series. For this story they did nothing to contribute that I could tell.

The reading was pretty good. I did feel once or twice the woman reading it lost track of the character voice she was reading it in, seemingly with the men characters. This really did not distract from the story line.

Being a cozy it is clean. No violence is depicted. So it would be OK for all to read. I would recommend it to anyone wanting a light mystery to read with a little bit of humor thrown in.

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Review: 12 Days at Bleakly Manor

12 Days at Bleakly Manor by Michelle Griep
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Available at Amazon
This book is an interesting Christmas story. The story takes place in the time frame that Charles Dickens would have written and has a Dickens feel to it.

While we kind of know how the book will turn out based on the characters focused on, it is interesting to see how we get to that point. Our basic story is told through the eyes of a woman left at the altar and now is destitute due to the fact that her husband to be who has allegedly stolen money from the family business as well as from the man himself, who is in prison. Both of them are invited to a mansion and if they or one of the other guests can stay the 12 days of Christmas, then they will get what they want the most in life. Only one of the group can get it.

What would you do to get what you want the most in life. Would you kill or hurt someone? One by one the residents leave for various reasons. Who will be there in the end?

It is a clean book with just a little bit of a passionate kiss from a couple who were to be married. For that reason it could be recommended for any age. I would have no problems with recommending this to any one who wants a short interesting read. of a Christmas story.

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Review: Flowers Vs. Zombies (Book 5) Buried

Flowers Vs. Zombies (Book 5) Buried by Perrin Briar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Available at Amazon
I received an ARC version of this book to review and as always, I give an honest review.

Kind of interesting that this was the first book that I read in this series. I was dropped into the middle of a lot of action but it was easy to pick up as we went along.

The name of the book series is obviously a play on Plants vs. Zombies. The Flowers are a family who have had to take up residence on a deserted island because of a zombie outbreak on the ship they were on. While the Zombies are brainless and cannot easily fight, that changes one day when they seem to fight with a logic. What has happened. One Zombie has mutated and become (cue the dramatic music) The Overlord in Black.

The Overlord wants the Flowers dead, and that is the substance of the book. It is believable in the actions that are being taken.

Zombie books are not what I would recommend to children but I think teens and adults would be OK. There is a little bit of violence (you got to kill the zombies you know). If you like Zombie stories this is for you. It is not my normal tastes but that is OK.

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Review: Nancy Drew And The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie #1

Nancy Drew And The Hardy Boys: The Big Lie #1 by Anthony Del Col
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Available at Amazon
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and Diamond Book Distributors/Dynamite Entertainment and am providing an honest review.

When I was a child, back in the 60's I was introduced to the Hardy Boys books. Every month I would get the next one in the series. I fell in love with both mysteries and reading with those books. Never did read any Nancy Drew, those were for girls. After I had read a few my dad told me that he had read them growing up. That confused me because they talked about all sorts of modern things that would never be in existence when he was a child. I found out later that every generation had their version of the Hardy Boys written under the same pen name. And since Nancy Drew was from the same publisher, it was safe to assume that her books were the same.

I say all that because every generation did have their own version. I have read people say this was a bad mashup because it took something from the past and brought it current. I have no problems with that at all. This generation needs its own version and something that will appeal to it.

Trust me, this is not the Hardy Boys I grew up with. While they had a little grit in them, this is GRITTY. It is done in a noir style. While the three have cell phones and the like, it has a feel of a much different type. If you were to watch Rverdale on CW TV network, you would have the same feel.

Basic story line. The Boys are being framed for the murder of their dad, who everyone assumes was a crooked cop. The boys know they are not guilty and that their dad was not crooked or committed suicide. They team up with Nancy Drew, who is visiting with her dad, a district judge. Everyone, even our main characters, seem to have secrets that they do not want let out. Fun point, look for the side characters in this book. Clever winks and nods to our childhood stories.

Teens would be the lowest age that I would suggest this book for. I would recommend this to any one that enjoys graphic novels. I know some people would conciser 'comics' are not real writing, I would differ. Great read, will be looking for the others.


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Review: Dancing with Elephants: Mindfulness Training For Those Living With Dementia, Chronic Illness or an Aging Brain

Dancing with Elephants: Mindfulness Training For Those Living With Dementia, Chronic Illness or an Aging Brain by Jarem Sawatsky

Available at Amazon

 My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an ARC copy of this book. What follows is an honest review.

The author has Huntington's disease. As the disease progresses in a human body the person loses control over their movements. Some have likened the lack of control to that of an elephant dancing, hence we have the name of the book.

When faced with a disease like Huntington's of which there is no cure, one has to decide what they will do with their life and what remains. Many will try to fight it, some, like the author will embrace it. This does not mean they will not hold on to every bit of life they can, but that they will live a life where there will not be a lot of drama. Decisions will be made before they need to be, arrangements made that need to be done. That is the thrust of this book.

One needs to get support not just for the person, but to their love ones as well. In this book, the author suggests making circles of people from all walks of life, that can treat each part of you, not just the medical ones the doctors can.

It is a well written book. I would recommend it to any going through a terminal illness, of their own or a loved one. I also found many inspirational moments in the book as well. While I have cancer, it is a slow moving one so I do not have the same trauma that many do. Still I think many just going through life could gain from this as well.




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Review: Eggs over Arsenic: A 19th Century Historical Murder Mystery

Eggs over Arsenic: A 19th Century Historical Murder Mystery by Clay Boutwell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Clay Boutwell has done another good job with the interesting mystery in this classic who done it.

An art critic is murder. Only one way to get to the poison to killed him. On top of that a house full of suspects, many who had the motive, others had the means. As Carl Brooke (a Sherlock Holmes type) and Captain Barnwell (policeman investigating) try to find out the person who did the murder, the ones most likely to may not be the one who did it.

Keeps you guessing until the end but go back and read it and the clues are there.

Other than the murder, it is safe to read for all age groups. Even the murder is just talked about not seen.

Recommended for people who want a good quick mystery to read.

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Review: Child of Mars

Child of Mars by D.M. Pruden
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Available at Amazon
I was provided an ARC copy for review. What follows is an honest review.

Child of Mars is the third in the Mars Ascendant series. Unlike many 'series' books this is not one that you need to have read the others in the series. I can say that because I have not read them. This provides the reader with the information they need as they needed it and weaves it into the story with skill.

At the begining of the book, we seem to be looking at three different stories. However, as time goes on, we see where each part merges into the other. We have a little girl being rescued, why we do not know. We have a doctor running her routes on the planet Mars to help the people. While this is all going on we are allowed to look into the dictator of Mars.

All the characters are given their moment to shine though in the bad guys stories, shine might not be the proper word. But each tells the story from their point of view and the stories all weave together. Each character also stays true to themselves as the move through the story.

The plot of the rescue and trying to get the little girl away from her captors along with the doctor, who is actually the reason Mars can be inhabited, is one that held my interest. I am encouraged to go back and read the previous books now.

I recommend this book to any one that has an interest in science fiction. There is enough blood and violence that I would not encourage children to read it. Most adults would be able to handle what happens as the story progresses.

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Review: Biblical Perspectives on Baptism

Biblical Perspectives on Baptism by Kent Locke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon 

I would like to thank the Website Interviews and Reviews and the author for allowing me to read an advanced copy. What follows is an honest review.

As I Christian I enjoy reading books about my faith. Even if the thoughts the author may have are different then mine I can always learn from them. That is why I had a desire to read this book. I was not disapointed.

This is a well written book. The author is knows the topic quite well from what appears to be a deep knowlege of the scriptures. He was also not one to shy away from the topics that seem to seperate our beliefs. Does it make a difference if we are sprinkled or imersed? What about baby baptism versus when you have decided to follow Jesus. The author has clear views on the subject and that is where you might nor aggree with him. Agree or not, he has used the scriptures to back up his points in a knowledgeable fashion.

I was surprised, since he was willing to take on topics of controversy, that he did not talk about the Baptism in the Holy Spirit. I would enjoy hearing his discussion on this topic. I can understand why it was shied away from, he was focusing on the baptism that are done with water, but it is a topic about baptism and I was hoping to see something on it.

I enjoyed it when I was reading it. It is a little bit of a dry nature so it was something I would put down for a while after reading about a dozen pages. Some of this was because I wanted to think about things, and honestly, some I just got distracted with other things.

There is nothing in this book that woud keep it from being read by anyone at any age. However, I am not sure that children would understand or even care to know about the subject. I would recomend to any of my Christian friends wanting more knowledge of the subject. I am not sure non-Christian friends would be interested in it.

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Z-Minus 1 by Perrin Briar

Z-MINUS I by Perrin Briar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon

The end of the world comes slowly

The zombie apocalypse stuck Great Brittan​. A down on his luck drunk wakes in his crashed car. When he gets to his house, he finds his daughter and then his wife with knives in them but they suddenly come to life. In fighting to escape, his daughter sneezes on him. As he runs outside he finds the whole neighborhood has become the walking dead, except for his other daughter, the 8 year old one. Finding out he has 7 hours to live normal he tries to abandon her but decides to take her to a relative. What follows is his last 7 hours as a human and not a zombie as he tries to protect his daughter.

I am not a big zombie fan but I recently read one of the authors other books. I enjoyed this book. It shows the pain of alcoholism as well as how it starts under the story of the end of the world. It is part of a series but it clearly has a finish point in the book, we are not really left hanging.

Except for the violence, which could be strong for the children (at one point the father uses a motor car to take out zombies) this book could be read by anyone. If you enjoy zombie books this could be an interesting read.

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Review: Endure: The Power of Spiritual Assets for Resilience to Trauma & Stress

Endure: The Power of Spiritual Assets for Resilience to Trauma & Stress by Daniel D. Maurer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon

I received a review copy of Endure from the AXP website. This is an honest review.

Endure is a series of six stories of people who have gone through extraordinary circumstances. In telling these stories, the author exposes us to what he calls Spiritual Assets. These assets are: gratitude, acceptance, hope, faith, forgiveness and love.

Each chapter opens with the explanation of the asset covered, then the story of the person. After this he does a question and answer with them and then explains why these are important. These are real life situations not some story made up to explain some point of a sermon.

The author tries and I feel succeeds, in not preaching the Christian Faith by showing how many religions have the same values. If I was writing this, I might not have done that, but I respect his faith and why he did it the way I did.

I would not recommend this book for children. There are some frightening scenes of the true violence that one man can inflict on another. Yet without those stories we would not have the examples of how these people are day by day, working out what they need to do to make it in this world.

It was a good book, in places I wanted him to get to the point a little quicker, that is why the loss of a star. That is more me than it would be the author.

Recommend (with the understanding about children) that this could be read by anyone looking to see how people recover and move on with life. There are elements of spirituality that may or not affect people not of faith, but I think they would enjoy as well.

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Review: Remembrance Book: He Will Remind You. from John 14:26

Remembrance Book: He Will Remind You. from John 14:26 by Anna K. Payne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was offered to me so that I could review it. What follows is an honest review.

This is an interesting book and different from what I have read of Ms. Payne's books before. In this book she has taken scriptures that had spoke to her and wrote them out in a paraphrased version as she understood them. She then added short notes on them as well as prayers. There are 30 in all so this book could be used as a daily devotional for a month, and then repeated as often as necessary. There is space, if the book is printed, to add you own comments and/or thoughts. If you keep it in electronic form I would encourage using a journal for this.

While there is no theology conflict, that does not make this book a light weight. It deals with stuff we will face in our day to day lives.

I recommend it to all who are believers and need something to reflect on each day.

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Review: Seveneves

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon

This book was a free one at bookshout.com for me. Not sure how I got it free from them but I did.

It was a long read. It has taken me since July to read it using the Bookshout app and reading the equivalent of 2 books a month.

It held my interest at times, and then at others it was boring as all get out. It reminded me of a book that I read when I was growing up. That book was The Last Days of the Late Great State of California. In that story, an earthquake moves across the state line of California, causing it to sink into the sea. The book gives the history of the various parts of the state up till the time the earthquake happens. The opening of the book is much like that. A unknown thing has struck the moon causing it to shatter and it will destroy the earth in about three years. All the nations combine together to send people and supplies to create a space ark to keep the population from becoming extinct. So that is the first part, the technobabble to create the Space Ark.

The second part comes in as we try to make sure the human race survives. But they all fight with each other, so in the end, the human race is reduced to just 7 people, all female. Oh, one just happens to be a geneticist, and we learn of the techno babble that allows them to recreate people from just the eggs, and each woman breeds into their offspring, what they think they will need to survive. Well, if you do not believe in God, then make everyone in your image and you are one. By the way, the woman screw it up but I am not sure the men would have done it better.

The last part they have arrived on earth thousands of years later and making what appears to be first contact, but with what or with whom. While the technobabble is here as well, it is not as much as this part of the book really comes as pure fiction.

As I stated, it did remind me of that book. Why? Because we got a history book of California, almost like they could have used in a history class. In this book, we get a science lesson. And I wonder if people might try to use it as a science textbook.

I would have loved to given this more stars but it just dragged in to many places and I almost gave up reading it.

Safe for all to read. Not sure who I would recommend it to, maybe some science geeks.

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The Secret of the Jewel Shop (A Blooms, Bones and Stones Cozy Mystery - Book Two)

4 Stars out of 5

I received an advance copy for review. What follows is an honest review.

Quick short read, less than an afternoon I would say (I read it mostly on work breaks over two days).

It was more of a romance book than a mystery book to me.  I would not put it in the mystery category as much as a suspense category. Mysteries tend to be who did it and why.

In this story the hero of the story is opening up her own jewelry shop with the help of her friends. While opening it there is a strong smell of lavender in the shop.  Since she is a believer in the power of crystals and that type of thing, she sets out to find out why the resident ghost is still there.  The story revolves around her and her friends trying to figure out why.  Along the way they meet a person or two that wants to stop them.

It is a clean story, our hero and one of her male friends start a romance but there is nothing that you would not want a child to read going on.

This type of story involves things I do not believe in, but I do not review based on that. My only real gripe with the story is being able to believe that she has that many friends who can just drop what they are doing to help her out so she can run around figuring out why the ghost will not go to the next life.  I am sorry,  if I had 1/10 of the friends that would do that, I would be happy.

Recommend to those who want a quick, quirky, story that is clean. 

This Body Won't Break by Lea McKee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the story. The characters, especially the one that we see the story through, were quite believable. And the story line was good as well. I really dislike it when an author drops us off in the middle of the story, so that is why I gave it 4 stars. It was not a bad a drop as I have seen in other book, but it did leave me hanging.

It is a short read, took less than an afternoon at a slow day at work.

Our hero is an orphan in the care of the state. She knows that soon, when she turns 18, that she will have to make it in the world outside the home and that is a bit of a scare because of the virus that has destroyed the earth after the humans have killed each other. We follow her as she leaves her group home and goes to the 'training' facility that will determine what job she should take.

There was enough suspense to keep me interested. While the story could be read by most everyone, there could be a bit of a fear generated by younger children. Otherwise, it is recommended for people looking into a story of what happens after we as human beings destroy ourselves.

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Review: Spiral/Torn

Spiral/Torn by D.U. Okonkwo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received a review copy of this book and the other one in the series and from that I am giving an honest review.

I really wanted to give these book 5 stars, honestly. It had a great story, lots of tension, great character development, all the things I look for in a book. Why give it 4 stars then. When I get to the end of a book I want an ending. This book leaves us with no resolution at all. It obviously sets up for book number 2 of the series which I received a review copy of also. But Book 2 does the same thing. Another great story where I am left hanging. Please make a bigger book or smaller story. I love the background of the characters, but I would take less if you could put the story in one book.

There is so much to be said for both of these books. They show people like they really are, even though they are in a surreal experience of a plane crash. People who do not like each other forced to work together for the good of all.

The cast is
The crew of the pilot, co-pilot, and the stewardess
The owner of a hotel chain and his two estranged sons
Three members of the lawyer team for the owner who he has invited to network with others. One has brought his wife and their infant child.
Nina's sister and twin brothers (Nina is one of the lawyers who had to raise the siblings when parents died) as well as her boyfriend
Various others who move in and out of the story.

Book 1 tells of the preparations for the flight, the takeoff and the crash. They are miles from anywhere and have no one to rely on but the pilot and one of the passengers. As noted in the cast above, they are an interesting collection, not for what they are, but for the secrets that they are hiding amongst themselves.

Book 2 continues with these secrets and the prospect that one of them may die because of the actions of another. Here is where the secrets start to come out and could tear apart the group.

I would recommend this set to others as soon as I would see that the third book was available and that it finished the story. There is no violence (though there really could be some) and a touch of a romance seems to be happening.

It is safe for all readers.

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Review: Planted Flowers Bible Study Workbook

Planted Flowers Bible Study Workbook by Anna K. Payne
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While I am not the intended target for this book, I have read many of the author's books and decided to review this as part of her review team. That means I got a free copy in order to review her book.

This workbook goes hand in hand with her Planted Flowers book series. Each month one of the books is used and we follow that woman's life from the book and study about what God has in store. Each week a different part of the month is studied. There is a lesson to learn and some questions and answers to work out. These exercises work best when done in advance.

It is designed for women to study in a group session and with a leader.

I see no problem with the theology here. It is written so that most any denomination could use it straight out of the box. The theology in it is basically that all who call themselves Christians should be able to agree on.

I would recommend this book to a woman who is looking for material to lead a Bible study.

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Review: The Universe Builders: Bernie and the Wizards

The Universe Builders: Bernie and the Wizards by Steve LeBel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book. It was not afraid to tackle hard subjects (being abandoned by father, young love, killing when not needed, etc.) but did it in such a way that was not preachy. I do not know if the author is a man of faith, but what he shared shows we have much the same beliefs.

Basic story. Bernie is a god on a planet of gods. Not all gods can create worlds, but all can own them. 'The Company' makes worlds for the buyer on demand. The buyer has the people of the world he owns grow crops that he collects and then sells in the world of the gods.

One planet is not producing like it should. Bernie is hired to troubleshoot the problem since he has just won a prestigious award which, was last won, years ago by his now absent father. Bernie is now a celebrity that he did not want to be. Dad returns, people swarm Bernie and he has to focus on fixing a world. Meanwhile falling for a girl and being clueless to love.

How he goes about it is the big part of the story. Bernie's boss wants Bernie to blink the planet's population out of existence, but Bernie feels that each person there is important. Bernie wants to take time to fix it, but there is a mean person stopping the growing going on and the owner is losing money.

So how will it end. You will have to get the book, but in the end, it is a satisfying result.

This is one of the first young adult book that I have picked up that felt more like what I thought a YA book should be. The writing is fairly clear and there is no sexual innuendo much less sex in it (although there is a kiss or two). In other words, it is safe for all age groups to read.

I recommend it for any people who like the category it falls in. What category you ask? Good question, it has a little time travel, a little fantasy, a little coming of age, and I am sure some other areas as well. You might just like it.

I own a copy of this book that the author gave out as part of a promotion.


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