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loves_nurse's reviews
137 reviews

Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole

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adventurous tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

A story of a child, reared in a world divided around the powerful and powerless. She bridges both worlds, perhaps? 
Book didn't end on a cliffhanger, but it didn't wrap up the story, so now I move on to the 2nd book Heat of the Everflame.
Nutrivore by Sarah Ballantyne

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informative slow-paced

4.5

Nutritional information that is helpful and brings some hope back to the nutritional doom-and-gloom sphere. The author gives ways to add in the good stuff while not taking away the indulgences. I def need to buy this in a physical copy so that I can utilize the charts and the more visual aspects.

She posts really great concise nutritional tidbits on Threads without making it feel like a sale. I genuinely appreciate the information!
Murder, She Wrote: Coffee, Tea, or Murder? by Donald Bain, Jessica Fletcher

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lighthearted slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I have such nostalgia and cozy memories of this show and the books def serve that purpose for me again, but I absolutely recognize how our FMC Jessica Fletcher gets away with being a white women with privledges, a nosey lady without consequences. She is never innately cruel and definitely goes out of her way to be opening and welcoming as possible to everyone she meets, but the character still sits tight in her white patriarchy role without realizing her abuse of that power. 
She solves murders with a down-home-plucky-do-gooder curiosity in a meta-ish formulaic way and I appreciate that vibe.  Don't overthink it, but recognize it for what it does.

Fun theories are that Jessica  Fletcher is the serial killer and that Cabot Cove has the most murders per capita in the country.
The High King by Lloyd Alexander

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

Wavering between juvenile and epic fantasy. The character war and rise and in the end the story wraps up almost TOO tightly. Roles revert to traditional places, which seems a bit disappointing. 
All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot

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lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

3.5

We fall into this man's life right after he graduates into a veterinary career in a rural area. He awkwardly bumbles through learning to navigate his social and professional life. Dated, low steaks, lovely writing. MMC is boring and bland as they come, but it's a slow leisurely walk thru his days and the people around him. 
Autocracy Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World by Anne Applebaum

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informative slow-paced

4.5

Short and informative and to the point. Regimes built around the world and reactions of a country's people to the rise in that elite power. Dry, but still interesting and speaks to global involvement.
Rage by Stephen King, Richard Bachman

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dark tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
It's difficult to review this short story, knowing that the author pulled the publication in the late 90's. Understandably so, as some school shooters were associated with their fascination of this novella. I feel it was a respectably responsible move to stop producing this story.

As far as the writing goes, it's very raw and young SK. I really enjoyed the short choppy chapters and the flashbacks of the story. I do feel it ended on a dull ending and I felt the wanting to know more about some of the side characters. Overall, it's early SK writing and not anything that needs to be revered or sought after (since it's out of publication).  I'm glad I read it, simply for completing SK's backlog sake, but I'm not going to re-read it. It would not be shocking or scandalous in today's age, but I can see how it was in the 1970s-1990s.
Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

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reflective slow-paced

3.5

I wonder who took care of the basic needs (laundry, food, shelter, bills, etc) of HDT. He seems gallant in his "you ought to just be free of life's challenges" attitude while also making poignant observations of the human condition. This will take a few more re-reads to significantly sink in, but he isn't wrong in some aspects. Outdated perhaps. Big picture? Perhaps, perhaps not.
How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC Davis

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reflective slow-paced

4.25

I appreciate the gentle approach to self talk and the confidence boosting talk around mental health and cleaning your home. The title reflects exactly what it is and it's not without its "semi-flaws". The author acknowledges that privledge plays a part in her survival and success in overcoming the need to be house-clean-perfect. She focuses on functional over perfection and also not justifying what your own personal "functional" is to the rest of the world. It's a simple and easy read that can have a large impact on folks needing to read/hear these things. 
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Sir Orfeo by J.R.R. Tolkien, Unknown

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medium-paced
I cannot rate this collection of stories as I do not have a solid foundation of knowledge about the source material. Its heavy writing and poetry interpretation.