The Sky Tells No Lies by Don Derkach; My Final Thoughts

I have finished The Sky Tells No Lies by Don Derkach and I must say I really enjoyed this book. It's not terribly long, only 272 pages. And it was a fast read, nothing too complicated but action filled and suspenseful at the same time.

The book mainly revolves around a man named Quintin, or QT as he is often referred to as, and the murderer who called himself Horoscopus. The murderer calls himself that because he uses astrological signs and planet alignments to determine when his best time to murder and get away with it is. The author does a great job of explaining the thinking behind this for the reader through QT, the reader learns it with him since he is new to it as well. QT is a retired investigative reporter who gets talked into assisting with the investigation and gets involved way more than he ever expected. He also seems to really get into the astrological signs as he learns about them. But I won't say much more, I don't want to give anything away.

There are several POV changes in the book and they were well done. They are mostly shifts between QT and Horoscopus but there are a few POV changes to some of the other side characters as well. It was fun to see things from different perspectives. There were only a few spots that the POV changes could have been a little smother I think, or at least a little more noticeable, but in the end the reader can figure them out.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. I'm rating it a 5/5 on goodreads.com. I have never really been interesting in astrology and signs and horoscopes and things like that but this book made it interesting because  I wanted to see how Horoscopus planned it all out and made the connections. The characters were well formed and believable as well. I would strongly recommend this book so anyone who likes investigative/murder/mystery books. It's something different and well written.

I would like to thank Don Derach for sending me this novel since I won it in a goodreads.com giveaway. I really enjoyed the book :)

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The next book I will be reading is The Bubble Gum Thief by Jeff Miller, a book I purchased on my kindle. It looks to be a bit of a longer book so it may take me some time. Happy reading everyone :)

Should finish tomorrow

I should be able to finish The Sky Tells No Lies by tomorrow unless something comes up and I don't get much reading done. I've got about 60 pages left, maybe a little less. I can't wait to write my full review of this book. I'm really enjoying it. If you enjoy fast paced mystery/investigative stories this is a great book to pick up :) Happy Reading

Half way

I got to about half way through The Sky Tells No Lies today and I am really enjoying this book so far. It's fast paced but it's easy to follow and keeps you interested in how things are connected. I can't wait to find out how the astrologist serial killer actually determines when to murder lawyers. It's very good. I'm hoping to have it done by Tuesday, depending if I read this weekend or not. Happy reading everyone :)

Started "The Sky tells no Lies"

Today I started The Sky Tells No Lies. I read the first 5 chapters of the book and I must say it is very interesting. The book is in the point of view of QT, a nearly 60 year old man who was formerly a reporter for a newspaper. Three months into his retirement he is called to help work on an investigation of a serial murderer. The man has been murdering lawyers according to his astrological sign and placement of the planets for his success. Right now QT is on his way to Florida to attend a meeting that the murderer may be attending. Honestly, I have never really been that interested in astrology and birth month signs and all of that but this has got me interested in how the murderer puts it all together. I can't wait to see what unravels next :) Happy reading everyone

Sacrifices, Book Two of the Honor Bound Series by Kat Loveland

I have finished it!!! I'm so glad I was able to finish this book today. I felt it took me way to long to finish it. I didn't read as much as I had wanted to over the weekend but I managed to get it done today!

So my final thoughts...Overall I did enjoy the book. Like I said in a previous post, I felt that the first half of the second book could have been condensed. I know the author was wanting to show the progression of the characters and show them in a different environment other than fighting and training, but because of the way the first book was set up I felt the first part of the second book could have been condensed. The second half of the book I really enjoyed. Lots of action and seeing into the characters' changes was done well here. Again, the first book influenced my read of the second book because I feel they should be similar, and since there was a lot more action in the first book, I liked seeing the fighting scenes at the end of the second book.

One thing I did not like was how Sarah, the first girl we meet in the first book, kind of falls out of the story. I understand that the group wants to protect her and themselves and help her before she goes on missions, but she completely falls out of the story about 2/3 of the way through the second book. That was kind of a let down for me. We got so invested in her from the beginning and then she is gone with the groups leader and nothing from her since. I wanted Sarah to stay more involved till the end since she was such a big part of the first book and was fairly involved in the first half of the second book.

Another small thing....I noticed there were a lot of small grammatical mistakes. For example, odd spacing sometimes in the middle of a word, quotes misused, and sometimes the wrong word would be used all together; for example  I saw "that" when it should have been "than". I don't know if I did not get a polished copy since I won the book in a goodreads.com giveaway, but either way there seemed to be too many. I usually don't mention these kinds of mistakes because usually I pass them by but there were enough here that I actually picked up on them. Like I said, I don't know if the copy I received was an unpolished version or what, but I felt I should mention it.

Overall though I did enjoy the book and I would recommend it to someone who is looking for a new book to read. Again, I would like to thank Kat Loveland for sending me the book from goodreads.com. I rated the novel a 4/5 on goodreads.com.

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My next book that I will be starting is another book I won on goodreads.com, The Sky Tells No Lies by Don Derach. 

Still haven't finished...

Still reading. Got a good chuck done today. I'm really hoping to finish it tomorrow but there is still probably about 75 pages left. But there has finally been some action which made me happy and I'm looking forward to see what happens at the end of the book. I'm so close! :)

Not much

Not much to report. I have about a hundred pages left of Sacrifices. I might not have it done till Tuesday but maybe I'll get it done by Monday. Happy reading everyone :)

Making my way through book two

Just finished chapter 10 of Sacrifices, book two of Kat Loveland's Honor Bound series. Unfortunately after 10 chapters there still hasn't been much action for me. It's all been around the fashion show, which I understand that the author used as a relief for the characters as they deal with things, but I was hoping that after 10 chapters we would be more back into the action. But I'm only about half way through the book and I know the action is coming but from the way the first book was this series should be more action/suspense filled and I feel we've kind of lost that in the first 10 chapters of the second book. I will admit that I did enjoy the fashion show; it was interesting and fun to see them all in a different environment, but I feel it could maybe have been condensed to few chapters because like I said before, I feel this series is meant to be more action filled. These are just a few of my general reflections on what I have read so far. I don't want to spoil anything and I'm sure things will heat up in the second half.

I'm hoping to finish the book by the end of the week, and if not hopefully by Monday. Happy reading everyone :)

"Darkness Plays Favorites" by Casey Renee Kiser

I finally read a collection of poems, Darkness Plays Favorites by Casey Renee Kiser, that I had won in a goodreads.com giveaway. I kept forgetting that I had it and I finally read it today. I must say, it was refreshingly straight-spoken and honest. This collection of poems is focused on depression and relationships and how depression can drastically effect relationships with anyone. None of the poems are more than a page long, but they are loaded with emotion and truth. Kiser's perspective of depression is blunt but worded so creatively that the bluntness is welcomed. On the back of this collection is states that Kiser has had a life long struggle with depression and that has influenced this collection of poetry and I must say that she hit the subject wonderfully. It is honest and real and I think that is important with the subject of depression and trying to convey the severity of the emotion.

I would recommend this collection of poems to anyone and I hope to read her other collections in the future. I'm a little late to her work since this is her 5th collection of poetry but this is the first of her work that I have read. I would like to thank Kiser for the giveaway and letting me read her wonderful poetry, even though it is a subject that can be difficult to read I feel she did very well describing depression and it's effects.

Started book two of the Honor Bound series

I started Sacrifices, the second book of Kat Loveland's Honor Bound series. Not too much going on. Things are just settling down from where it ended in the first book. Not much to say today but I just thought I would give an update :)

Final Thoughts on Awakenings, book one of the Honor Bound series by Kat Loveland

Today I finished Book One, Awakenings by Kat Loveland. Overall I enjoyed the first book. It's about 180 pages; the second book is much longer. For me, the beginning was interesting, it caught my attention; a group of young adults save this girl, Sarah, and her brother from being kidnapped because of her special abilities. Sarah can change the molecular structure of any item and can heal people. The group that saves her and her brother all have different abilities. Then the middle was kind of boring for me. It revolves around a fashion show that 2 of the people have to attend. I kind of felt it was unnecessary, but I can also see why the author included it.

But the last 3 chapters of this book was my favorite. This is where we see the group really in action. We see them on a mission from beginning to end and I think it really helps give a better idea of who they are as a group. It was the most action packed part of the book and I really enjoyed it. I hope the second book has more of this kind of action.

I only have one other small thing that bothered me. I felt that because there are so many characters it is hard to really get to know them. I think the author is really trying to get the reader in their mind and really get a sense of who they are but  I feel since she is focusing on all of them they don't the amount of time they all need to give us a proper feel of who they are. Maybe it will be better in the next book, but I really wanted more about the characters. I felt I got more of a generalization. I want more of their pasts and their reactions. They all seem almost to relaxed sometimes. But like I said, it could be better in the next book since it is longer and there is more room for that kind of thing.

I would also like to take this chance to thank Kat Loveland for sending me the novel. I won this book in a goodreads.com giveaway.

Reading a little slow

Hey everyone. I haven't gotten to read as much today as I wanted and probably won't get a chance to read much later today. I did get to chapter 11 though. There are only 13 chapters in the first book so I think I should be able to finish book one by Monday. I think what I am going to do is write a review for the first book and then a separate one for the second book so you don't have to wait forever to read a review on them. I hope that that will help. Happy reading everyone :)

Started the "Honor Bound" Series by Kat Loveland

Today I got to page 66 of the first book. I was lucky enough to win the series in a giveaway on goodreads.com. The book has both books in one. All together it's a little over 500 pages so it will probably take me a little while but I feel I made a good starting progress. So far I enjoy the book. The novel follows a girl named Sarah, who has discovered she has special powers and has been kidnapped and abused to use her powers against her will. Then a group of people who also have powers saves her and her brother and wants to try and help Sarah learn to use and control her abilities. There isn't much more for me to report on. I don't want to give any spoilers so I don't want to say too much, but so far I am enjoying this novel.

"Under the Shadow of Darkness" by James Cardona, my final thoughts

So I finished Under the Shadow of Darkness today. It was alright. Maybe this genre just isn't for me or maybe the book just wasn't that great for me. I rated the book 3/5 on goodreads because it did have an interesting plot and it had some good scenes, but I feel that it was too quick. There were spots that I felt could have been extended and some scenes could have used some more descriptions. The book also reminded me of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and a little bit of the TV show The Walking Dead. I think since it reminded me almost a little too much of those three that it kind of took away my enjoyment of the novel. But if readers like those kinds of things then  I would recommend it. Like I said, it wasn't a horrible book, but it was not one that stood out to me or had me at the edge of my set. A lot of the lines where kind of predictable, but the main character, Bel, was difficult to connect with as well. I wanted to be more inside of his mind. We get a little insight but after almost 200 pages I feel that I know little about Bel. I believe that I should know a lot more about a main character after 200 pages, even if the novel is in 3rd person.

But even though this book was not one of my favorites, I still would like to thank James Cardona for sending me an electronic version of the novel when I did not win the giveaway I had entered on goodreads.com.

Continuing "Under the Shadow of Darkness"

So far the book is interesting. I am about half way through it. I'm fairly certain I can finish it tomorrow, otherwise I will have it done Wednesday for sure. But so far I am having a little trouble connecting with the characters. The story itself is good and there is good imaging, but the characters seem a little flat to me. Maybe it will get better, but as of now they seem a little flat.

Started "Under the Shadow of Darkness"

Thanks to James Cardona, he sent me an electronic copy of his novel Under the Shadow of Darkness, and today I started reading it. I only got through the first 4 chapters, but it is a fairly short novel, under 200 pages, so I feel it shouldn't take me too long to read it.

However, I am going to be having a busy weekend again; I have a wedding to attend and I also may be moving into an apartment, so I may not have a lot of time to read. I'm hoping by early next week to be able to finish the novel.

"Saga Volume 3"

I have finished the third Saga graphic novel. I really enjoyed it. This had a lot more action and suspense. I wish there was a little bit more about the child, Hazel, along with their fleeing the people that want to kill them. It has been pretty much 3 books about the family fleeing for a better life for Hazel and keeping her alive, which I understand, but I want to know more about the child as well. I'm assuming there will be more to the Saga series because it's quite the cliff hanger at the end of Volume 3. The art is still beautiful and the story is still great like the other 2, but like i said, this far into the series I want to know a little bit more about the child and what is special about the child. Especially since in the first volume the mother mentions something about Hazel's eyes, and then it is never mentioned again. If there is a Fourth volume, I hope that gets addressed. Overall I would give the series 9/10 :)

May have internet restrictions in the next few days...

so if I don't post anything for a while it is because I may have internet gone for a few days. I will continue reading though so when I do have access I will post my updates :)