Review

Book Review: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

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When Jacob Jankowski, recently orphaned and suddenly adrift, jumps onto a passing train, he enters a world of freaks, grifters, and misfits, a second-rate circus struggling to survive during the Great Depression, making one-night stands in town after endless town. A veterinary student who almost earned his degree, Jacob is put in charge of carin… more »g for the circus menagerie. It is there that he meets Marlena, the beautiful young star of the equestrian act, who is married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. He also meets Rosie, an elephant who seems untrainable until he discovers a way to reach her.

I finished this book days ago, it only took me a day and a half to read, but I wanted to take my time on the review (a cat tried to force me to write it earlier don’t ask) so here goes.
Water for Elephants is soon to be a major motion picture, and I have the complex that even though I know it will make the movie not as good I MUST read all books before I see the movie that is based on it. This one has been in my to read pile in all honesty since it came out in 2008, I can now officially say I regret it sitting in my pile that long unread. This book is perhaps one of the best books I have read. It is the best of 2011, sure I haven’t read a ton yet this year but I do not see its spot changing too much.
The writing style is excellent I love how it flips back and forth between old a Jacob and Young Jacob. Old Jacob really is what you picture as the typical crotchety old man, the one you know is on the porch shaking his cane saying “Dang Kids get off my lawn!”, but somehow you just can’t be mad at him for it. Especially when you see how la his family is with him. Young Jacob is a good kid, he makes mistakes but he earnestly wants to do right by people and he is a spitfire about it.
This book is a MUST read, and I do mean must. For seeing how circuses worked on the inside in the great depression. If the movie manages to get even half the depth of story and character that the book does it will be fantastic. At its core Water for Elephants is a love story, but it’s a life story as much as anything with love just happening as it does in the natural course of life. Good writing, good story, history and love what else can you ask for in a novel?

Book Review: Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult

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One moment June Nealon was happily looking forward to years full of laughter and adventure with her family, and the next, she was staring into a future that was as empty as her heart. Now her life is a waiting game. Waiting for time to heal her wounds, waiting for justice, waiting for a miracle. — For Shay Bourne, life holds no more surprises. Th… more »e world has given him nothing, and he has nothing to offer the world. In a heartbeat, though, he gets one last chance for salvation, and it lies with June’s 11-year-old daughter, Claire. But between Shay and Claire stretches an ocean of bitter regrets, past crimes, and the rage of a mother who has lost her child. Father Michael is a man whose past decisions led him to devote the rest of his life to God. But when he comes face-to-face with Shay, he must question everything he’s been taught to believe about religion, about good and evil, about forgiveness. About himself



What would you do if your child was dying? What would you do if the only person who could save your child was someone you thought killed your husband, and your other child? These are the questions that Change of Heart asks you. These truly are impossible choices to make. Jodi Picoult takes you through an emotional story that has you wondering about a lot of things. Is the bad guy really the bad guy? What would you do if you were faced with this same choice you had to make? What is the difference between religion and faith? Change of heart takes on so many heavy issues that it is impossible to call this a light read. It takes on Capital punishment, Organ Donation, the United states Justice System as a whole, and religion. Everywhere you turn in this story there is a topic that is mostly spoken of in whispers and hushes, so not to offend anyone. This is one of the reasons that this book is so good. When you read a Picoult novel you know you are going to get something emotional that will pull at your heart strings. I could not believe just how pulled in I got though, I found myself not wanting Shay Bourne to be killed, wondering if he truly did the crime he had been convicted of and yet wanting the little girl Claire to live. There is no denying that there are some shadows of the Green Mile in this book with some of the things that happen in the prison with Shay there, and even the relationships with some of the guards. That being said the book makes no secret of that and even makes a small joke of it in calling Shay Bourne “green Mile” in one passage. This book is not Green Mile, and while it has some similar themes stands fully on its own, and gets a hearty MUST READ from me.

Book Review: Royal Harlot by Susan Holloway Scott

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London, 1660: Ready to throw off a generation of Puritan rule, all England rejoices when Charles Stuart returns to reclaim the throne. Among those welcoming him is young Barbara Villiers Palmer, a breathtaking Royalist beauty whose sensuality and clever wit instantly captivate the handsome, jaded king. Though each is promised to another, Barbara… more » soon becomes Charles’s mistress and closest friend, and the uncrowned queen of his bawdy Restoration court. Rewarded with titles, land, and jewels, she is the most envied and desired woman in England–and the most powerful. But the role of royal mistress is a precarious one, and Barbara’s enemies and rivals are everywhere in the palace.

I will open this review by saying that Charles II of England is perhaps one of my least favorite Monarchs of England. Not that he did anything particularly bad to my tastes but he just does not fit into my Gem pile. That said I could barely put down this book. The story of Charles II and Barbra Villiers is pretty well known among historians, and she is always vilified. Always called any score of names that in my opinion could be laid at any royal mistress’s feet, but she always gets the worst of it.
Susan Holloway Scott did not gloss over any of the things that Barbra Villiers was, she was vain, and wonton and even calculating. However she brought to light a side that is most often over looked by the usual rabble, she was loving and tender and generous to her family and friends. Let’s face it to have remained in the King’s favor as long as she did she had to have more to her than just a nice body.
So if you like historical fiction and you don’t mind a lot of the sexual innuendo and some not innuendo in your book I recommend this one for you. It was a good read and one that thoroughly held my attention to welcome me back into the grips of my book obsession and reviewing. My only regret about this one is going to be selecting one to follow it.



Book Review: Fashion Unraveled by Jennifer Matthews

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*Blows the dust off her blog and smiles* Happy erm Belated new year all, I have explaining to do. I know, but I will do that later..for now. I want to introduce you all to a FANTASTIC new book.

As an educator at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (San Francisco & LA), Jennifer Lynne Matthews, recognized that there was a need for a step by step educational manual to teach her students on how to start their own business. Consequently, Matthews wrote the first edition of Fashion Unraveled in 2008 to provide such educational material; the second edition is due out in early 2011. Matthews, also a lingerie designer and entrepreneur, began her path in the fashion industry in 1994. She attended Florida State University, then the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, completing her degree in 1999. With a specialization in intimate apparel, Matthews began working in the industry as a stylist and freelance designer.

In 2002, Matthews opened her own business, Porcelynne Lingerie. Fashion Unraveled is built on Matthews’ experience in both opening and sustaining a successful business. She brings the knowledge of running a small business and her expertise in the industry into her book and it continues into her classroom teaching.

Matthews has won numerous awards for her designs and has received worldwide accolades for her work, including the Best of the East Bay and the Best of San Francisco Mastermind awards for her lingerie designs. Her most recent project has been on a reality TV show (currently being pitched to networks) as a co-producer and fashion consultant for a lingerie design competition show.

Future plans include authoring a collection of books on lingerie design, draping and clothing construction. She also aspires to open a showroom and education studio in the garment district of Los Angeles.

For more information on Jennifer Matthews and her work, see www.fashionunraveled.com and http://www.porcelynne.com/.

If you like fashion an learning about it this book is for you. Do not get wrong this is not a shopaholic style book or any of that. This is an honest book about Fashion from someone in the industry. Who better to tell the store than someone who is actually in the industry. So if you are into learning about fashion and curious at the point of view I would read this one for sure.

I would also make sure you keep an eye and ear out for the TV show the author is pitching to networks. I am always for another fun show that goes along with a book that I enjoy and this is one of them. You must get this book!



Book Review: The Black Stallion Challenged by Walter Farley

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The Black Stallion is the fastest horse in America and he and his jockey, Alec Ramsay, are training for a big race. Suddenly there comes a new challenger: Flame! An unproven racer, the Island Stallion can run like the wind and his jockey, Steve Duncan, knows that Flame will give the Black the race of his life. But what neither Steve nor Alec know, is that these two stallions have met before, and they hate each other.

The Black Stallion Challenged is number seventeen in the set of books written by Walter Farley. Walter Farley is best known for The Black Stallion, but he also wrote a set of stories about Flame, a horse hidden on an island in the Caribbean’s. The Black Stallion Challenged is the second cross over story. Steve, the boy who rides Flame, wants to win $65,000 racing Flame so he can buy the island Flame lives on.

Alex, who owns the Black, gives Steve advice. Steve is new to the racing world and Alex tries to teach Steve all the little facets of racing that Alex has learned over years of racing the Black. Steve takes some of the advice. This being fiction we have a race between the Black and Flame, the two fastest horses in the world!

Walter Farley does a great job of telling the story. Most of his stories are basically about a big horse race. But each time he tells the story in a different way. We learn about how different jockeys ride, and how different horses approach the track. Some horses are excited and want to race, others are a bit fearful. Walter Farley spent years in the racing world and it shows.

In this story a filly stumbles and fractures one of her forelegs during a race because the jockey was pushing too hard. There is a whole chapter on the operation as the vet works on the leg. There is another chapter about the jockeys getting ready for the big race. Much of this chapter is told from the point of view of the man who runs the scales.

I have enjoyed every Walter Farley story I’ve read. This was no exception. It is well written and well paced. My young neice constantly wanted me to read another chapter. If you have liked any of the other Black Stallion or Flame stories, give The Black Stallion Challenged a try.



Book Review: The Black Stallion and Flame by Walter Farley

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While flying to a race, Alec Ramsay and the Black’s plane crash-lands in the stormy Caribbean. Chance brings the Black to the hidden island home of the giant red stallion, Flame. Such a small island can only support one alpha male. But before the two can fight–a fight that can only result in the death of one–a new danger appears. Together, can the stallions defeat the deadly foe which threatens the lives of the entire herd of wild horses?

In The Black Stallion and Flame, Alec and the Black are in a plane wreck when flying over the Caribbean. The chapters then alternate between Alec and Henry, who make there way to a populated island, and the Black, who makes his way to a nonpopulated island. Alec and Henry are looking for the Black when they discover that a deadly diseased vampire bat is on the loose. Meanwhile the Black finds his way onto an island through a tiny passage that is almost invisible. Alec and Henry take a boat out looking for the Black and discover the island that he is on, but they can’t figure out how to get onto it (this is the same island from The Island Stallion, for those of you who have read it). Alec realizes that the bat has traveled in their boat with them to the island! The Black meets Flame, the Island Stallion, but it doesn’t use the name “Flame” in the story so unless you have read The Island Stallion, you have no idea who the “Flame” in the title is. Anyway, they are battling! But then the bat comes onto the island and starts trying to attack them! Will the horses team up to defeat the deadly bat, or will one (or both) of the heroes die (either thru battle or from the bat)? And there’s the big question looming over it all: Will Alec find his horse? And if he does, will the Black be willing to give up his new life in the wild for the world of racing? This is a super book!

Book Review: The Black Stallion’s Mystery By Walter Farley

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A horrible trap is set for Alec and his horse…


Alec,The Black, and Henry are out on an adventure… once again!!

Alec is baffled by three colts that arrive for sale from Spain. They look so much like his horse, that Alec is sure they have the same sire.But that wonderful stallion died years ago in Arabia. Or did he?In search of the answer Alec and the Black begin a dangerous journey.
In spain they meet the colts’ eccentric owner, Angel Gonzalez, who takes them to a remote mountian stronghold of anb Arab sheik. The sheik insists he’s seen the Black’s sire running free, in the mountains. And he wants Alec and the Black to catch him.Yet Alec is suspicious. He thinks the whole story is nothing more than an elaborite plot to lure him and his horse to this desolate place-but why??
You have to have read the first book in the series to know who Tabari is and if you don’t then, you wouldn’t get the whole book.

Book Review: The Black Stallions Courage by Walter Farley

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When Hopeful Farm burns down, Alec’s dreams for the future go up in smoke. How can he get the money to rebuild? To make matters worse, a strong young colt named Eclipse has taken the racing world by storm, threatening to replace the Black in the hearts of racing fans. Against all odds, Alec sets out to save the farm and prove that the Black is still the greatest race horse of all time!
“Everyone loves a champion. And when the champion is a gallant horse, when his story is told by a champion writer of horse stories, every reader is a winner.”—The New York Times

The Amazing story of Alec Ramsay and his horse The Black is back. Is the long-term tale of this duo something that could happen in real life? Not really this is not something that would be your usual real life tale but that is one reason it is so fantastic and pleasant to read and so enjoyable. Never anything wrong with dreaming and fully enjoying that dream. Once again, Walter Farley brings his characters to us and you just want to take them off the page and immerse yourself in their real life. I know I am behind on my reviews but I really do love these books and as always, this one was wonderful with the rest of them.

Book Review: The Island Stallion Races

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More than anything, Steve Duncan dreams of racing his huge, wild stallion, Flame. The horse is untrained, but incredibly fast and Steve just wants to show him off. When two strangers show up and offer to make Steve’s dream a reality, Steve cannot believe his luck. But soon he realizes that a professional racetrack is no place for an unbroken stallion.

Once again, we will see what happens when a wild horse meets the world of modern racetracks it is not always a bright idea. So we venture deep into the world of what happens when savage meets modern. Look for more fights and what happens with a horse that needs training. Being such a fantastic horse lover, I really cannot get over the books I have always loved them and will continue to.

Book Review: The Black Stallions Sulky Colt by Walter Farley

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Bonfire, the Black Stallion’s colt who is a champion harness racer, is in training for the biggest race of his career: the Hambletonian. But a routine practice race turns disastrous in a collision of wood, metal, horses, and jockeys. Bonfire escapes unharmed, but is spooked and refuses to race. Alec Ramsey, the owner of the Black, witnesses the crash and is determined to see that Bonfire follow in the winning footsteps of his world-famous sire.

I loved Bonfire the first time that I saw him in the Blood bay colt and I loved that was visiting him again in this fantastic book. Once again, we delve into the world and psychology of horses. Bonfire is spooked and will no longer race after a horrible accident, something that can and does happen to horses. I worked with one myself that had been in a trailer accident and than refused to load into a trailer. Alec does what many of us horse people do when faced with this…tries to help and move the horse beyond his fear.

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