Freedom's Child by Jax Miller

My latest review for BloggingForBooks is the novel Freedom's Child by Jax Miller and here we go...

 The first few chapters of Freedom's Child set up the characters in the story:  Rough-around-the-edges "Freedom" who is currently in witness protection for her association in her husband Mark's murder. Her bent-on-revenge brother-in-law who was just released from prison after eighteen years in being wrongly accused of his brother Mark's murder. Mark and Matthew's ne'er -do- well family who are also seeking revenge for Mark. And Mason and Rebekah, Freedom's birth children who were adopted by religious fanatics. Mason escapes the Third Day Adventists sect, but Rebekah stays with the family and has now gone missing.
 These sets of characters come together in Goshen, Kentucky for a perfect storm. Mason is looking for his sister, Freedom is looking for her daughter (they both realize Rebekah has gone missing after her absence from Facebook) and Matthew and his family who are looking for Freedom.
 I loved the drama of this novel. The back and forth between each of the characters storylines, the real twist in Mark's murder, and the fire and brimstone ending to the Third Day Adventists cult. No chapter in this book disappoints.

Sayonara by James Michener

  I'm actually reading this story out of an old 1950's Reader's Digest condensed. At first, I read the description and thought it might not be for me, then I shrugged that thought off quickly after the first chapter.
 It's the story of a Korean war air force man, Ace Gruver,  who asks to be sent to Japan where he plans to marry the American colonel's daughter. Before he does, he helps his friend to marry a Japanese woman, wondering to himself  'what could've gotten into the chap that would make him want to do such a thing,' only to find himself falling in love with the beautiful theater actress Hana-Ogi.
 As of this moment, I'm not officially finished done with the story. I'm up to....The Tragic Part .I've just enjoyed the book so much I couldn't wait to recommend it.
 This book was written back in 1953. Dig into the used book store or check Amazon. It's well worth it.

The Shore by Sara Taylor

 My latest Blogging For Books review is for The Shore by Sara Taylor.
 The cover of this novel looks promising and the dust jacket description sounds interesting, but the book itself was a letdown.While the chapters are well written, each one feels like an individual story. As soon as I feel invested in the story, the next chapter switches to an entirely different one and it doesn't feel cohesive. For instance, chapter one is all about a little girl on the Chesapeake Bay coast overhearing about a man's recent murder. The end of the short story reveals the twist but it doesn't carry it on to the next chapter, it switches to a different girl's story about harnessing the wind with her hands and I'm still wondering about the history behind the murdered man in the swamp. It disconnects too quickly.
 Overall, not my style of story telling. The back of the book likens this novel to David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas, which I was not a fan of either, if you've read Cloud Atlas you might enjoy this book more than I did. I was hoping for a more traditional murder mystery novel.
 2 stars.

What You Left Behind by Samantha Hayes

My latest Blogging For Books Review

What You Left Behind grabbed me from the first few pages. I was drawn into the plot and the characters so much so that every time I walked forby the book I wanted to stop and spend the rest of the afternoon with it.
 This book features a mix of adult plots and YA plots, with off-duty detective Lorraine on a visit to her sister Jo's house. Jo's son is acting despondent and distracted and they wonder if it's tied to the recent suicides of local teens in their town. You soon find out these suicides are more than what's on the surface. Family relative Gil who 'sees everything' is a key player in the story. When no one else believes his artistic drawings of one of the accidents, Lorraine takes it seriously and the plot unravels from there.
 I loved the subtle build up to the end, and the unique characters like Gil and Frank. The suspense was played out evenly through the novel so that each chapter left you wanting to know more.

John Shaw's Guide To Digital Nature Photography

My latest #BloggingForBooks selection is John Shaw's Guide To Digital Nature Photography. A complete guide for the photographer seeking technical advice to take the highest quality photographs.

  At first glance, beginners will find all the information a bit overwhelming, but don't let it intimidate you. Take the chapters one at a time as you decide on what equipment to purchase. The book is not meant to be read from beginning to end like a novel.
 The beautiful color photographs on the book's front cover are only the tip of the iceberg of the author's work. The book features an amazing collection of photographs with one to almost every page. They are an inspiration to take your photography hobby to the next level. And often they are examples of the type of techniques being described in their featured chapter.
 Topics covered in this book are things such as composition or close-ups.  Those topics are useful for any level of photographer, although they do get a bit too technical at times. The casual point-and-shoot photographer won't have a use for topics like wide angle zooms and horizontal angles. I would recommend this book mostly to those with a serious interest in photography or those who are looking to develop a serious interest.

HRC by Jonathon Allen and Amie Parnes

The latest book I have to review from #BloggingForBooks is HRC, by Jonathon Allen and Amie Parnes.
 What can I say about this book.... While it is thoroughly researched, there are no real Hillary Clinton bombshells in it. It plods along through her campaigns, her Benghazi scandal, and her Secretary of State position with page after tedious page of small print and boring dissection. I made it 50 pages in before I started skimming and I don't think I missed a thing along the way. The book begins with Hillary's run against Barack, but  there isn't much interesting to read about in her political advisers or her behind the scenes campaign fundraising. She is upset some old connections backed Obama instead of her...this is not very surprising. I wish the editors would've cut the fat and narrowed this book down by about a hundred pages.
 Unless you are an extreme political wonk with a month of free time ahead of you, I don't recommend this book.

This is What You Just Put in Your Mouth

My latest review from Blogging For Books is This is What you Just Put in Your Mouth by Patrick Di Justo.

   If you're a reader of Wired magazine you've probably seen the articles for What's It Made Of? before. The popular page takes a common item and breaks it down into it's chemical components- often with shuddering results. This book is a compilation of those items, written by the magazines article's author. The book compiled the items into two categories: Things you put in your mouth, and things you do not put into your mouth. It's likely most people have used at least one of the items listed ( there are fifty covered in this book) and the descriptions are frequent eye openers.
 The book isn't written in an alarmist fashion. The author's not saying 'stop using these products today' but merely giving us the facts and leaving us to judge. The writing is witty, with short articles tucked along with the articles on the chemical and biochemical processes of nature. The topics are entertaining to read even if you don't consider yourself a fan of chemistry. I definitely recommend it.