jenbsbooks's reviews
2129 reviews

I really liked this, sweet story.  While this isn't a Christmas story per se, so much of it happens around Christmas, that if I'd known, I might have saved it more for a holiday read. Oh well, Christmas in July!

In KindleUnlimited with text and audio, I went primarily with the audio. A single narrator, which was just a tad confusing as we basically had three POVs, but nothing was really pointed out, there weren't headers to indicate the POV, and while the narrator attempted to change up the voice (would three different narrators have helped to distinguish better?) basically you had to use the tense to determine ...

POV 1 - Mum, written journal/letter style (2nd person). In italics in print. 
POV 2 - Joanna ... these portions were 1st person, past tense
POV 3 - Romy ... these portions were 3rd person, past tense

... then there's dad, brother Matt, Joanna's Hubs Nate and their twins Suzy and Katie. Some other side characters too.  Per the blurb, and pretty early in the book, it's revealed that the mother is sick. This is the story of how the family deals (and it's not well for a time). 

I notice words/phrases ... this had the "let out the breath she didn't know she was holding" and "all intents and purposes" (I've had a real run of that in recent reads). Purloined, preternatural, route (pronounced "root") were noted. ProFanity (x10). Some smirking.

Beyond the main storyline (death of a parent, struggling relationships) ... Joanna, overwhelmed with the twins at the supermarket brings up an interesting topic for discussion. As an observer ... do you offer to help (in this case, I think the Joanna character would have been grateful, but in real life, I fear a "do you think I don't know how to handle my own kids?" retort or something), do you give the sympathetic glance. do you make the snarky comment. Does seeing this POV change your perspective next time you see a parent struggling with a child? 

Got a little frustrated with some of the storyline - the miscommunications (we/the reader only had part of the story on several of them, so at least for most we were in the same spot as the characters ... it's worse when we/the reader DOES know both sides, super frustrating, at least for me!) Some things always seem to set up to mislead the reader (what did Matt do? Is Nate having an affair? Is Romy's boyfriend a good guy or bad guy?)

These stories ... they always get to me, probably not in the way that they do to pretty much everyone else when it comes to the "dealing with the death of a parent" thing. My own or me. the parent with my kids.  I'm not sure if I'm just in a fog, or distanced myself, or what. Hubs used to joke about a certain birthday (which he happily passed and is still going strong) that his father and his father's father didn't make. I had my own "countdown" date, a checklist of things that I needed to done, and now done, I've had a good life and while not actively seeking an end, I'm okay with whenever. I haven't read the book [book:Eighty and Out|51475270] yet, but along those lines. I don't want to grow old, I fear facing all the declining health and financial issues and being more trouble then I'm worth. Things started to go downhill at 50. Got all the kids grown up, graduated, onto their own lives... how much would they be affected, really? I'm still on good terms with my folks, but I don't see them or chat that often (bad bad daughter). Just lots of rambling thoughts that don't necessarily leave me in a great head space. 

My thoughts upon finishing are positive ... I'm just not sure how much I'll remember or even if I'll remember I read this (the cover/title isn't particularly memorable). 

 I really enjoyed my experience with the book. I'd heard of it, and when browsing a thrift shop, I saw the hardcopy for a few bucks. I probably wouldn't have paid $20+ outright for it. Having the copy though, Hubs started to leaf through it and the introduction by Pollen sold him on giving it a go (Hubs is pretty much the chef of the family). For me, the hand drawn illustrations really caught my eye and added a lot. Both Hubs and ended up going with the audiobook. Hubs bought it in Audible, and I borrowed it from the library. Haven't checked out what it looks like in e-book format as that had too many holds to get access to. While I really enjoyed the audio (narrated by the author) and that was great for a first run through, it's hard to catch everything, and having the print copy for reference (as well as those cute illustrations) is something required for me. I'm fairly certain I might remember "wasn't that talked about it that book, I'll have to look it up ..." when it comes to cooking and preparing food in the future.

I'm not a gourmet cook by any means, and so while many things were over my head and out of my realm of experience, I could still appreciate learning about them. There was plenty of information for the novice or basic cook too. In addition to not being a chef myself, my palette is extremely limited and inexperienced ... I'm super picky, like ... one of the pickest people I know in real life. So the "just taste it" can't really apply to me (I've never eaten anything tomato, no sauces or dressings) ... in truth, there were some points during the book where I felt a little "I don't think I even belong in this world" (that's a me problem, and it's not only this book).

This is a book I'm glad I grabbed, glad I listened to, one I'll continue to reference, and one that I'm happy to have sitting on my shelf in the meantime. 

I got to page 150, about 1/3 of the way and this just wasn't keeping my interest the way the first book did. Really, there are only two characters from book 1; Wil and Eleanor. It's all new location, all new relationships ... and I'm not liking the characters and the situation is just negative without much hope of a resolution (I assume eventually in book 3 there will be, but I don't think I can stick it out that long). 

One thing that has NOT changed is the unique names ... Drakta, Annan, Ashan, Edvard, Staven, Emmad, Aronee, Zeaad, Allute, Alliet, Aronee, Hannia, Faenan, Kotaah, Emir, Arsaalan, Kiarash, Tameez, Fasseil, Zanntal, Gelareh, Aafsoon ...

Saw the word "purloined" here ... it fits much better here than last time I saw it (Harris and Me). I've also noticed "for all intents and purposes" in many of my reads of late. It was in here.

I liked this. 3.5 stars. Included in KindleUnlimited, text and audio, and I also had a physical copy picked up a library sale. I went with the audio version primarily - Amy McFadden narrating. She's a good narrator, but her voice is so distinct that I have to REALLY space her out so that my mind doesn't  mix things up. 

This had several format presentations ... lots of letters, emails, journal entries, group texts (the latter reminded me a bit of [book:Anonymous Mom Posts|63416757]). In audio, some of the "reference" To: From: Subject: email addresses, etc ...  could get a little repetitive and tedious (not as bad as in Ready Player One though, where there were long strings of numbers, IP addresses, etc). Most of the text was 1st person/past tense. 

I don't know how much of this I'll really remember in the long run. It was a pretty cute story. No proFanity. Some sex, but nothing explicit. I enjoyed the relationships and situations (Annie and her mother, Annie and Moe, the background with Harper ... and her dog and the hilarious undercover trip to the dog park).  

Simple chronological chapters. 48 + an epilogue. No TOC in the physical, which isn't that big a deal here, as the chapters don't have headers or anything. 

No real notes, words noticed (no smirking or scowling!) ... a couple phrases, the was the "let out a breath she didn't know she was holding" and "for all intents and purposes" (I'd just had a book that said that several times, here it was just once). 

I must admit, when there aren't author's notes or discussion questions I feel a little  ... like I'm missing something that might make me appreciate it more. 

That I was able to read this Kindle book (no audio) this quickly says something for the book ... it caught my attention, kept my interest. There are sequels and I plan to read them, BUT I'm frustrated at the cliffhanger ending here, lack of ending. Things were getting so exciting and I could see I didn't have that much of the book left. How will the author wrap things up?? Oh, she won't. Literally leaves us with someone at the door ... and book 2 starts up there. Even in a series, I like my book to have a storyline that wraps up for that book at least. Here, nothing, it's just set up for the sequel. 

Nothing was super surprising ... while we/the reader don't know exactly who Wil is at the start, we have an idea. The reveal isn't all that revealing. His actions along the way were interesting. Hard to know what his plan really was. I cared about the characters, got emotional a time or two.

Not sure how to label this ... it's not really historical, this isn't our Earth/World, it's not exactly fantasy in my opinion, or I guess I usually expect something a little preternatural (magic, creatures, etc) in fantasy.  This had shades of [book:Froi of the Exiles|10165727] and possibly [book:The Burning Bridge|144349], I'm sure some others too. I haven't read this type of book for a while, so it was a nice change.

The names though ... very Utah/Unique spellings (Utah gets mocked for that, this IS a Utah author). Dantib, Annan, Hegleh, Refigh, Imirillia, Safeerah, Aemogen, Edythe, Hastian, Gaulter Alden, Blaike, Aurreym Haide, Ceiliurah, Aedon, Aramesh, Arimel, Zarbadast, Calafort, Shaamil, Briant, Emaad, Danth, Claira, Seraagh, Rion, Anoir, Crispin, Bylja Svain ... our MCs are Wil and Eleanor. Honestly, I was surprised it was "Aleanyor"... Eleanor is too plain a name!

There was a statement "When you're a good man, being a good king follows naturally" ... and I had to think, um, not always! Then one of the characters did question that, right along the lines of what I was thinking. 

I appreciated the thoughts on the training of the soldiers "you would find yourself surprised with their abilities (in their own trades, not swordsmanship), maybe better understand how to incorporate their natural strengths to teach them weaponry."  

"A dark night is never the time to make a decision."

The title ... of course is now associated with the Netflix mini-series (and the book it's based on). I was a little surprised when it WAS CHESS (and other associations) here. 

Caught one typo - breath when it should have been breathe "You can't breath-even under a cloth"

Included in KindleUnlimited, text only, not one that has made it into the libraries (although here locally in Utah, I think there might be a physical copy). 

... per the cliffhanger, I'll continue on, but I am unhappy about the hanging. I figured I'd come write my review, because book 2 probably won't stand out as a separate story at all, just a continuation. I totally understand that's what a series is, but I like a single resolved loop within the ongoing storyline. 

This was just okay for me - some of it may be bad timing on my part. First in a series, but I don't think I'll continue on. Text included in KU, purchased the audio during a sale back in 2022. Ray Porter is a great narrator, but at times his books/voice (thus story/characters) tend to run together in my mind. I also don't love his voicing of women.  Here the prologue/epilogue were 3rd person/Dirk's POV, with the rest of the book 1st person, Rex's POV. All past tense. 

A lot of action ... not a lot of aliens. While I was listening to the audiobook, I was comparing things to other books/movies (3 Body Problem, Resident Alien, Monarch/Legacy of Monsters, Indiana Jones, Unknowns~Pokemon). Father and friend lost years earlier. Bridge. Little clues. Hexagon tile keys.  Kidnapping, chases, murder.  There was a lot of smirking going on (x16). A scowl (my son hates that word, so I tend to notice it). Lots of "rifling" through things (x5 ... felt like lots). Route ... pronounced "root" (just another thing I note). Crevasse. Dias. Sneaked. No ProFanity. 

Things really came to a crash there at the end, a few reveals (ones I wasn't expecting ... one was "acceptable" to me, the other seemed too far-fetched). Definitely a set-up for a sequel, but I just hadn't really some to care about the characters or the story/situation to continue on (especially if I'd have to buy the audio (AudibleExclusive) ... although the text is included in KU and the add-on audio is reasonable ($1.99, $3.01). 

I liked this. A lot. 4.5 stars. A good story that drew me in, made me care about the characters. That being said, it hit some personal things that were slightly painful/uncomfortable, which can impact overall "enjoyment" somewhat. 

This was included in KindleUnlimited, text and audio. I went with the audio, narrated by the author. She's a great narrator too (I made that comment about the last book of hers. Just read one before, but I'm putting her other books on my list). She's a little "quiet" ... I had to turn my volume all the way and still struggled to hear a bit at times. Very British in accent and some terms ... "Loo Roll" for toilet paper. I actually haven't heard that one before although it's perfectly logical. 

There are two storylines ... the POV of Emma (mother of three, as the book starts off, she's fallen into an exhausted sleep on a bed in Ikea) and Thurston (older gentleman, recently lost his wife). Both are told in 3rd person/Past tense. At times I wondered it I would have preferred a male narrator for the Thurston chapters ... it might have made a bit more of a separation in the audio. The two POVs tended to run together a bit being narrated in the same voice. 

Now I'm NOT one who requires/looks for trigger warnings - but there were a few things that hit a little close to home. Emma's son Reggie ... similar to one of my boys (we ended up pulling out of high school to do online school. The worries about anxiety/depression.) Happily my son is doing quite well now, but it still brought back memories of tougher times in the past.  At one point Emma mentions wishing she could clone herself. The movie "Multiplicity" is a family favorite. So many times I thought we needed multiple of Hubs and all he does. This one hit me a little ... not at a great place emotionally myself, and the sad fact that one of me is more than enough. There are the usual family struggles, between husband and wife, siblings, situation with a daughter, situation with a friend ... with the latter, when is it "accepted" to "give up" and not fight? Then there's Thurston. His situation reminded me a bit of "A Man Called Ove" except he wasn't nearly as grumpy. Similar situation, pondering taking the end of his life into his own hands. He just wants to be with his wife again. Suicide was a fairly central part of his storyline. Dealing with death ... death that has happened (also Emma's father), is anticipated, is desired ...holding on or letting go.  

I didn't have many notes/quotes - profound thoughts, but that IS a lot harder in audio than if I am reading the book myself. I'll have to watch the quotes section here on GR to see if more get added. It's still new, just published a few months ago (Jan2024). 

There was some proFanity (x14) ... some slight sexual stuff, a lot of it was pretty funny. I noted the word "hectoring" ... I feel like I heard it for the first time last month (Into Thin Air ... I think it was much more noticeable NOT in an English accent). Crazy I've seen if a few times since then! A mention of Zumba. A few smirks and scowls.  There was a song at the very end ... spoken, not sung (these are just random things/words I notice). I liked this. A lot. 4.5 stars. A good story that drew me in, made me care about the characters. That being said, it hit some personal things that were slightly painful/uncomfortable, which can impact overall "enjoyment" somewhat. 

This was included in KindleUnlimited, text and audio. I went with the audio, narrated by the author. She's a great narrator too (I made that comment about the last book of hers. Just read one before, but I'm putting her other books on my list). She's a little "quiet" ... I had to turn my volume all the way and still struggled to hear a bit at times. Very British in accent and some terms ... "Loo Roll" for toilet paper. I actually haven't heard that one before although it's perfectly logical. 

There are two storylines ... the POV of Emma (mother of three, as the book starts off, she's fallen into an exhausted sleep on a bed in Ikea) and Thurston (older gentleman, recently lost his wife). Both are told in 3rd person/Past tense. At times I wondered it I would have preferred a male narrator for the Thurston chapters ... it might have made a bit more of a separation in the audio. The two POVs tended to run together a bit being narrated in the same voice. 

Now I'm NOT one who requires/looks for trigger warnings - but there were a few things that hit a little close to home. Emma's son Reggie ... similar to one of my boys (we ended up pulling out of high school to do online school. The worries about anxiety/depression.) Happily my son is doing quite well now, but it still brought back memories of tougher times in the past.  At one point Emma mentions wishing she could clone herself. The movie "Multiplicity" is a family favorite. So many times I thought we needed multiple of Hubs and all he does. This one hit me a little ... not at a great place emotionally myself, and the sad fact that one of me is more than enough. There are the usual family struggles, between husband and wife, siblings, situation with a daughter, situation with a friend ... with the latter, when is it "accepted" to "give up" and not fight? Then there's Thurston. His situation reminded me a bit of "A Man Called Ove" except he wasn't nearly as grumpy. Similar situation, pondering taking the end of his life into his own hands. He just wants to be with his wife again. Suicide was a fairly central part of his storyline. Dealing with death ... death that has happened (also Emma's father), is anticipated, is desired ...holding on or letting go.  

I didn't have many notes/quotes - profound thoughts, but that IS a lot harder in audio than if I am reading the book myself. I'll have to watch the quotes section here on GR to see if more get added. It's still new, just published a few months ago (Jan2024). 

There was some proFanity (x14) ... some slight sexual stuff, a lot of it was pretty funny. I noted the word "hectoring" ... I feel like I heard it for the first time last month (Into Thin Air ... I think it was much more noticeable NOT in an English accent). Crazy I've seen if a few times since then! A mention of Zumba. A few smirks and scowls.  There was a song at the very end ... spoken, not sung (these are just random things/words I notice).  

Had the title tie-in (a few times). No discussion questions (I would have liked some - I could probably find some if I Google, I just don't get around to doing that). Table of Contents matched for the audio to kindle copy, and did include the POV (they did switch every other chapter, Emma/odds, Thurston/evens). 

So ... I didn't love this, but I also can't really say anything specific negative about it. It just seemed a little simplistic a story, one I almost wondered why it was being told. This is where the author's interview at the end helped up the appreciation. Paulsen states that (paraphrased) while this is a novel, it's really non-fiction, it's basically what happened to him when he was young. 

It was all just a little ambiguous ... no specific time/year is given (as often is in books), just stated that during "a war" (the assumption is ww2?) the boy's father (like in "Harris and Me" ... we are never given the boy's name, he is just "the boy" throughout) is gone to war, the mother is working and brings home "Uncle Casey" who really isn't his uncle, and the boy finds his mother and the man on the couch together making sounds he doesn't understand but doesn't like ... the writing IS simplistic like that, which I guess is representative of the way a 5-year old might think (this is from his POV). Reminiscent of "the secret" (parent's divorce) mentioned in Hatchet. The prologue here mentions how he "was sent to live with his grandmother" and that repeats three or four times in just a few pages (because it's not that simple, each time it's said he gives a few more background details). I'm sure there is something to discuss here ... some writing technique ...

I picked this one up because I am a Gary Paulsen fan (my boys and I enjoying the Hatchet series). I had a copy of the physical book donated for my LittleFreeLibrary, and I thought I'd give it a quick read before offering it up. It's short/quick. I had also happened to hear someone on one of my Facebook groups mention it, saying the strong relationship between the grandmother/grandson touched her. Me ... not quite so much. Similar to "Harris and Me" (also the story of a young boy, although older than 5 years, going to stay with extended family for the summer), and I think I preferred the latter. Just a little more going on. 

It IS so crazy to think about the different times ... sure, just put a five year old with a note pinned to him onto a train to travel several states away on his own. I'm not sure if I figured out the relationship between the grandmother and the boy's mother (why they weren't talking) ... but didn't re-read/re-listen to clarify (I remember one section going into the grandmother's history, but then it saying ALL her children had died, but then this seemed to cover years at one point ... which also makes me wonder about the sequels? I'm not really planning on continuing on). 

There are a few covers - don't love any. The physical book here has the realistic (real? was this made into a movie, can't see anything on that) faces of grandmother and the boy.  Included in AudiblePlus, the narrator was a woman ... might have made more sense to have it be male, but then again it was more of an omniscient narrator overlooking it and telling the story, 3rd person/Past tense.  The ebook was also on Hoopla, but I'm a Kindle snob. No library had the Kindle copy, and I didn't feel like it would be worth $4, especially as I did already have the text/physical book to glance through. 

While this is YA, and a simple story, I do feel like IF I were to study it closer, make notes, discuss it with bookclub ... I'd probably find some things worthy of a deeper delve.  Just based on my quick listen though, it's not really one that will stay with me. 

Well, unfortunately, my overall experience with this was negative. Still rating it 3* , as the story/writing wasn't bad, but there were some pet peeves that just rubbed me the wrong way. 

The text was included in KindleUnlimited, with audio available for an add-on of just over $3. I went ahead and paid for the audio. The narrator wasn't bed, but I didn't really care for her voices. Moreover, as the book shifted from Florence's 1st person narrative, to Andrew's third person POV ... it just felt strange to be to have it be in the exact same voice. I think having a different narrator for Andrew's portions would have improved things for me. I'd find my mind drifting, and the "voice" in both the writing, and the narration, was so similar that as I'd come back to the book, it would take me a while to figure out if it was Florence or Andrew's POV. I had to wait for the "I" statement, or the "Andrew ..." to determine. There were no headers for POV shifts, and further in the book, a single chapter would feature both. Looking at the Kindle, when this happened, there was a *-----* visual to separate (just a pause in the audiobook). 

I really didn't like the shift between POVs, one 1st person one 3rd person. I didn't care for the whole Book 1 and Book 2 buildup ... I mean I guess we needed to get to know the characters to care about them, but ... I just never really connected. There seemed to be too many attempts to connect it to the movie Titanic ... the having Florence painted, and he wants her to shift her shirt to see her true skin tone (make us think of Jack sketching Rose naked) and Florence grabbing a certain piece of jewelry (similar to the one featured in the movie?)  As with all historical pieces, I do appreciate learning little factual (or I assume they are, should research) tidbits ... I'm not remembering which here, but there were some data drops that were of interest.

All past tense, until the very end, when there was an awkward shift to present tense. 

There were "three books" or sections, with multiple chapters in each part. HUGE PET PEEVE ... the Audible "chapters" hardly paired to the Kindle copy ...  in Audible, there are just numerical chapters, chronological 1-57. No distinction of the three sections, no indication that "chapter 57" is actually the "Afterward" ... as something happened that I wanted to reference in the text, I noted it was "chapter 48" only to turn to the Kindle copy and have that be absolutely useless information in helping me find that spot. In Kindle ... there are NO chronological chapters listed at all, just the three "books" and chapter headings. The chapter headings seemed to be newspaper headlines (A quick info/title grabber with a date) ... were these real newspaper headings??? I felt sure that the author's note at the end, where it was told a little which characters were based on real people and or the real events of our MCs ... but the headers weren't addressed. The headers would have been better in the Audible version than the useless "chapter" numbers. 

One thing I note in books, is if a song is sung by the character, is it sung or spoken by the narrator. I can understand the issues either way. Here, there were a number of musical moments, all spoken. While I'm not sure I would have appreciated a sudden switch to singing, the spoken songs definitely felt lacking. 

It was clean, no proFanity, nothing explicitly sexual, although Andrew does get dragged to "a den of iniquity" where "her breasts pressed into his chest like boules" ...I noticed the word "boules" (and the correct pronunciation, bool rhymes with fool) as it's a sourdough term (the round loaf). "Carnegie" was also stated several times, with the traditional pronunciation. Quite a bit of smirking and scowling going on. No "roiling" of ocean waters or emotions, which surprised me a little (it's in 80% of reads). 

So while I can see that many would enjoy this book and appreciate the history set in an easier to read novelization, I was pushing to finish and was glad I was done. I would have appreciated some discussion questions, maybe to bring out some things I hadn't thought of, make me delve a little deeper. I felt like there were unanswered questions, things we were left wondering.

I liked this. Super short, only-on-Audible ... unlike the Amazon "collections" of short stories that have a Kindle copy and audio included as part of prime, this Plus program inclusion, Audible Original Stories... is only audio. I'm sure the author wrote it down, that narrator Ed Harris (who I am familiar enough with his acting career to totally picture him the whole time I was listening) read from ... but there's no Kindle/ebook copy. I missed having it. I prefer audio, I like listening while multi-tasking, but I still want to SEE things, make notes/highlights, have the text there for reference. I missed it SO much (I have a print version on hand for 95% of my audio). Here, I was struggling a bit with the names, keeping track of who was who (WHO was The Heron nickname? Ok, Gibson. Then there's the billionaire guy ... started with an O (Osterman... I need print to remember names), then the "agent" and the "killer" (Musgrove, Welsh)? Spelling? I don't know.  I had to go back and relisten to a portion a few times because my mind kept wandering and I wasn't sure who was who. There were some other people (one woman) but mainly it's the four fellows.

Told in a basic 3rd person, past tense - our omniscient narrator Ed tells the story. 

I've read enough thriller/mysteries that it's really hard to catch me with a twist. I'm always looking, guessing ... and this one was pretty predictable in my opinion. I liked it though. There was an interesting little play on "The Heron" (not only Gibson compared to one, but also Welsh). 

Without my Kindle copy, I can't check words ... there was some proFanity. Some sex, murder. 

There are quite a few short stories with this author and Ed ... I'll likely give them a try too (but might need to space them out so the stories don't run together in my mind).