Book Review: First Ladies: An Intimate Group Portrait of White House Wives by Margaret Truman

First Ladies: An Intimate Group Portrait of White House Wives by Margaret Truman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this audio book, a fascinating and informative look at the role and history of the white house through the efforts and influences of the first ladies. This mostly ignored role in history has much to offer in understanding not just the politics but the people who have run this country.

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Book Review: The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Lovely bones is a disturbing, and facinating look at family life and growing up in suburbia from a very different perspective. The Alice Sebold manages to weave a story about a family's, love, strength and hope around a story of loss, letting go and tragidy.

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Book Review: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch Book 1 in the Gentleman Bastard series
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A fresh perspective in a fantasy novel, with a pace that pulls you in and pushed you on. The characters are rich and well developed, and intriguing. A fantasy built on city world building combining the best of fantasy and urban fantasy for believable and fascinating worldbuilding.

Unfortunately I found it difficult at first to move past the language used in the book initially it was jarring and pulled me out of the story.

Jen's review May 24, 13 5 of 5 stars

Read in May, 2013

A well-written and thought out book of intrigue, cleverness, and the brotherhood of a small band of exceptionally skilled thieves. The setting is wonderful: magic and alchemy and the unexplained ruins of an alien race suffuse the world without being the central focus. Instead we get a series of cons and plots of vengeance.
The characters each had their one role to play, and sadly therefore lacked a little depth. I appreciated the inclusion of strong female characters, though they were always on the periphery. There also isn't an obvious major overarching plot that I see leading into the next book, so this book stands on its own. But after reading it I can't wait to pick up the next book as I know Lynch can weave a good story with these characters and this world.

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Book Review: American Gods by Neil Gaiman

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I highly recommend American Gods, though it is a book that most people will either love or hate.

American Gods, is in many ways a reflection of the American melting pot. Combining the varied mix of beliefs, myths and ideals of America. It surpasses genre, melding and mixing mystery, fantasy, suspense and history.

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Book Review: The Black Prism by Brent Weeks

The Black Prism Book One of Lightbringer by Brent Weeks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Though some basic elements of Black Prism follow the standard fantasy tropes, this first book in a new series will twist you around with plot turns and fast pacing and leave you wondering.

Authors website: Brent Weeks

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Book Review: Living Biographies of Great Philosophers by Henry Thomas & Dana Lee Thomas

Living Biographies of Great Philosophers by Henry Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I Listened to this an Audio Book.

Living Biographies of Great Philosophers is a great addition to understanding the lives, thinking and the works of the great philosophers. By presenting the philosophies in a way that is detailed enough to be informational but not so in-depth that it is readable and understandable.

Discussed in the book are Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Epicurus, Marcus Aurelius, Thomas Aquinas, Francis Bacon, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, Hume, Voltaire, Kant, Hegel, Schopenhauer, Emerson, Spencer, Nietzsche, William James, Henri-Louis Bergson, and Santayana.

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