Reading Fanatic Reviews
All Kindle Unlimited ReviewsNOTE: These books were in Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program at the time that I posted the reviews. They may not still be in the program, as authors can opt out every 3 months. If you find a book that is no longer in the program, don’t hesitate to contact me, and I will update the review.
Greater than a Tourist: Lake Tahoe by Katarina Elliot
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Greater than a Tourist: Lake Tahoe*
Poorly Organized Set of Travel Tips
I enjoy traveling, and I am familiar with the Lake Tahoe area because we went there quite often when I was a child. I will admit it has been some time since I have been there. While I did like the tips themselves given by someone who knows the area, I thought the book lacked organization, was too short to be genuinely of much help, and was flawed in its basic design.
In terms of organization, there truly is none. This is a pamphlet of 50 random tips. Some are on similar ideas, so it would make sense to group them together. For instance, there are several tips about skiing or what to do in the snow. These would have been great to group together. Instead, there are some at the beginning, and one sneaks it at the end. This book could have been organized in so many different ways: by season, by activity, indoor versus outdoor, things to do in Tahoe itself versus things to do in other cities and towns, etc. To me, too, it felt like there was a bit of cheating to inflate the numbers. For instance, the “castle” of Tahoe is actually given two tips out of the 50, the hidden castle and learning about the castle; those certainly could have been combined into one tip! I also thought that some tips should be grouped together into one recommendation, like all the breweries in a particular town or area. This would have given more space for other tips, of which I know there has to be many because there is so much to do in and around the Tahoe area
The book is shorter than you might think from its number of pages. The text of the tips starts around the 15% mark in my Kindle for PC app and actually stops at the 63% point; the rest is a “bonus book” that purports to be about traveling light, but it is more about packing in general and some trip prep. So, only about half of the book is tips about Tahoe.
To me, there is an inherent flaw in the design of this book. Namely, it really revolves just around these 50 poorly organized tips. There’s a very brief opening paragraph, but that is the extent of the “orientation” you get to the area. So I found it lacking a true orientation to the area, which I think is really necessary for a book like this. Luckily, I know the area because I have visited it so many times, but I can imagine that a tourist from another state or country might find themselves scratching their heads while trying to read this book. If the tips had been organized, they could have had header sections that described more generalities about the combined topics before diving into the details. Orienting, overarching information grounds the reader so he or she can better take in the information.
The ARC copy I received didn’t have any maps, diagrams, or photos in it. In looking at the 10% availabe at Amazon, I see that it does have a general high-level map of the area and a diagram of sorts but no photos. I think photos are an essential part of any travel book. Armchair travelers like to imagine the places they read about, perhaps envisioning themselves there; photographs scratch that itch.
The book, or at least the ARC version of the book I received, is full of issues with grammar, punctuation, usage, and formatting. In one of the first tips, Tahoe itself was not capitalized! There were other issues with capitalization and spelling, even of some business names. I’m hoping this has been cleared up for publication. The most crucial mistakes were made after the 10% mark, so I cannot check on Amazon to see if these have been corrected.
I wanted to like this book because I am fascinated by the idea of the series, learning more about a place from a local. (And arguably, the author of this book may not be considered a local as she is not a permanent resident.) I am mostly an armchair traveler who does travel on occasion. I was hoping to find a series that I could count on for cool information about other places I might travel. But I do not think that these books, if this is a fair sample, would serve that function. Unless you have other books or information about the areas covered in this series, you would most likely find yourself more confused than enlightened by reading this book.
Chess Opening Names by Nathan Rose
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Chess Opening Names*
A Look into the Origins of Chess Openings
This is a surprisingly interesting book about the origins of the names of chess opening strategies. The book is divided into three main sections, depending on the origin of the opening: people, places, and stories. For the people section, he gives a little background about the person for whom an opening is named, sometimes putting the man and the moves into historical context as well. If there is a written source for the opening, that is included as well.
There is only one downside to this book. The author has chosen to use algebraic chess notation but doesn’t explain what that is and how to interpret it. Rather, he refers you to a video about it on his website. In a book where so much depends upon each individual move in the opening, I think that an explanation of this system is required for both chest novices and more experienced players who don’t know about this notation. As a visual person, too, I might have liked to have seen the chess diagram boards with arrows and/or numbers showing the move. I will admit to being a chess novice, having only played on occasion, but I do find it an interesting mental challenge. If you have an interest in chess, or even the history of the game, you might find this as engaging a read as I did.
A Touch of Silver by Lynne Connolly
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
A Touch of Silver*
Well-Written Georgian Romance
As a fan of both Regency and medieval romance, I’ve always thought there was a dearth of earlier Georgian romance. Here is a book that can claim that title, and the author has done a simply fantastic job. She has created a strong woman, a widow with two young sons who inherited her husband’s silver business when he died. She’s not content to let things just roll along until her sons can take over. No, she has big plans to expand her business into reasonably priced silverware that she will sell directly to the public. To do so, she needs to expand her premises. She meets the hero after his man of business sent her a very insulting letter, suggesting trading favors to give her access to the earl. So the meet-cute was quite explosive as she went directly to the earl to complain of the insult. During this extended meeting, though, some of the more subtle sides of both characters were revealed as well. Gerald, the hero, is a newly minted earl who never expected to be one, only stepping into the title after three members of his family died in a tragic carriage accident. Despite their rough beginning, they have an attraction from the start, although that is of course complicated by many factors throughout the course of the story.
The only thing I didn’t like about this book was the time they spent apart in the last part of the middle section and the beginning of the end of the book. I just loved it when they were together because they did have chemistry and were fascinating to watch interact. There is definitely sexual tension between them, and the author did very well showing how that simmered as well as its ultimate culmination. I liked that the sensual scenes seemed to really fit with the characters; oftentimes in romance novels, intimate scenes feel like the author is just ticking off the boxes of positions and practices. That was not done here; instead, their interaction on an intimate level seem to truly spring from their characters, their histories, and where they were at in their relationship.
The author did an excellent job weaving in some history and story of London at the time. It is clear she has done a lot of research as her knowledge of the City of London at that time is breathtaking in its breadth and depth. I felt like I could see it. Yet she doesn’t overpower you with this knowledge. She is able to incorporate it as it flows with the story. Having read so many books, I know that this is not easily done (or easily done well). I loved the fact that the heroine was loosely based on one of the author’s own relatives. That adds a lot of authenticity to the tale. I found this a very enjoyable read, and I look forward to more in this series. I hope they will give glimpses into the lives of the earl and his countess.
Rebecca by Nancy George
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Rebecca*
Wildly Inappropriate Heroine
Merciful heavens! I did not like this book. It turned me off on so many levels. First, the profanity. The blurb didn’t warn about profanity at all, and I think any book that uses a lot of it it should warn readers who have no desire to read that kind of language. While I can appreciate that the character was mad at her husband because of his treatment of her, I didn’t think the heroine should have thought and acted the way she did in his hospital room, both when she was alone with him and when she was with his mother. In a real-world situation, to have one family member talk like that to another member of the family when a patient is in the ICU is just hurtful and inappropriate. The heroine might not like her husband or her mother-in-law, but there is still such a thing as common decency when one is around someone appears to be dying. I am an RN, so I may be a bit sensitive to this issue. Oh, and some of her description of the hospital was so inaccurate. The book is already short, but surprisingly it takes until approximately the 12% mark for the story to actually start. The first 12% is taken up by things like the blurb, table of contents, acknowledgments, and descriptions of the other heroines in this series. I just did not like this book.
Neurology Rounds with the Maverick by Bernard M. Patten, MD
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Neurology Rounds*
A Window into the “Golden Age” of Medicine
I am an RN–a generalist, not a neuro nurse–so I found this collection of this doctor’s patient stories from what he calls the golden age of medicine (back before the heavy influence of administrators and insurance companies) to be quite a fascinating one. Given what I know of HIPAA, I’m actually surprised that he could publish a book like this, but it is a fascinating read. There’s not much of a distinct organization to it. The bulk of the book is a set of patient stories, and at the end, he talks about malpractice, being an expert witness, and gives one detailed case study. If you have an interest in medicine, or neurology, you might find this book to be an intriguing one like I did.
Restoring Lady Alice by Lydia Pembroke
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Restoring Lady Alice*
Another Very Dark Regency
Like the other book about Lady Jane in this series, I’m not quite sure what to make of this book. At times, it seems more like melodrama, or at least Regency with a heavy dose of Gothic. I wish the darkness in the series have been more obvious from the book blurbs. The covers make them seem like they’re just regular Regency or historical romance, but both of these stories are very dark. The villain doesn’t have a bit of light to him, at least not shown in either of these two books. Compared to the Lady Jane book, for some reason, I thought that the language in this one felt stilted. There were definitely some issues with grammar, punctuation, and usage. This kind of book, where so much seems to be focused on as such a vile person, is just not my cup of tea.
The Art of Minimalism by Olivia Telford
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Art of Minimalism*
More than Just the Art of Minimalism
I have read another book by this author on mindfulness, and in this book, she brings mindfulness to minimalism in a variety of ways. The book is roughly divided into thirds: generalities and mindset about minimalism, specific strategies for decluttering your physical environment, and ideas for decluttering your relationships, your thoughts, and your day. What I like about this book is that you can tell that the author walks the talk. She isn’t just cobbling together a variety of information from online sources and other books as happens far too often in nonfiction books these days. Instead, she shares personal stories and insights as well as tips that she herself has come up with. I particularly loved the section on how to naturally clean all the areas of your home after you’ve decluttered. I’m planning to implement some of those ideas very soon.
I have read several books on minimalism, but her approach draws you right in because she helps you understand your thinking about the excess of “stuff” in your life and the history of consumerism. Much of her advice is very detailed, like the specific recipes for natural cleansers and how to use the pomodoro technique in your decluttering. The book has some unusual topics for a book on minimalism, like affirmations and time management—and of course, the entire last section that is more about the mental aspects, like clearing toxic relationships and thoughts from your life and replacing those thoughts with more positive ones. It might seem from the outside like it’s an odd combination of ideas, but the ideas do work together to help support you in decluttering all aspects of your life.
Rescuing Lady Jane by Lydia Pembroke
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Rescuing Lady Jane*
Ghastly Look at Married Life in the 1800s
I didn’t like this book. It felt a bit Gothic to me even though it isn’t listed as such, and I’m not a fan of Gothic romance. The beginning of this book just seems so implausible. The baron at first acts as a man should while courting, but as soon as they are married—literally on the carriage ride to the bride’s new home—he makes a 180 into a completely different man. He is rather horrible to Jane from nearly the moment they wed. The author only gives us glimpses of the terror that she has to endure, like mentioning the bruises that he gave her on their wedding night. Ick. Jane herself seems to vacillate between despair and a forced happiness that she is determined to wring out of her awful situation. It was all just a bit much. To me, the baron didn’t have enough motivation to treat his young bride so terribly. I hated reading about their married life so much that I almost gave up on the book, but I was curious about the actual hero of the novel and how this story related to a prequel that I had read by the author. I still can’t say that changed my take on the book, unfortunately.
The Duke’s Bride in Disguise by Claudia Stone
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
The Duke's Bride in Disguise**
Twins Separated at Birth Swap Lives (Poor Twin Story)
I absolutely adored the premise of these two books in this series, and each tale is rendered perfectly, aligning well with the characters of each sister; I like, too, that the stories are so distinct from each other. In this one, the poor sister of the newly discovered twins takes on the life of the wealthy sister to help dissuade her suitor. Ava is a delightful heroine, caught up in a world that she little understands. But her task is difficult. She has always had a bit of a crush on the duke (he was a patron of the shop she worked at); can she rebuff him for her sister’s sake . . . and at the peril of her own heart? The story is sweet and romantic. The only downside of this book, and the other as well, is that the book has not been properly copyedited—to the point where at times there are multiple errors in a paragraph. It was distracting from the lovely story. I would have given it five stars without those issues.
Bedazzled Dreamer by Deborah King
Available at Amazon only
Free with Kindle Unlimited
Bedazzled Dreamer*
Heartfelt Contemporary Romance
Such a sweet contemporary romance! This is the story of Shelby, Shane, and Shane’s son (Nate). Shane is new in town and needs a place to stay; Shelby has a room because her roommate got married. Shelby is in the midst of pursuing her dream of having her own business. The story has several themes, including pursuing your dream and letting go of the past. Shane’s son is absolutely adorable. He even speaks in somewhat of a lisp. He trusts Shelby right away, and she is a good influence on him. All the main characters are sweet, good people who deserve their chance at a deeper happiness. A lovely small-town clean contemporary romance.
Used To Build My Websites
NetGalley Badges