What did you think of last month's quick reviews?  Were they more enjoyable?  Did you miss it? Oh, well then, check it out!  

Oh my, what a month I have had!  While I now I have two kiddos in school I had thought I would find some more time to read, and the opposite has proven true!  Oh well. There is always a period of adjustment.  As far as books go, I have been trying to read a variety so I can share with you some of different genres, but I have noticed, my patience for slower moving stories is not very high. So please for give the harsher ratings of some of the books as my season of life is demanding some speed to the plots lines.  Isn't it wonderful how there are so many options in books that allow us to pick depending on our moods, or seasons?

Raising Human Beings by Ross W Greene

It has been a while since I have shared a parenting book on here.  There are so many voices out there telling us parents how to parent, that to be honest, I have avoided them for years now, in order to get my own stride.  However, Raising Human Beings jumped out at me, and I figured it was worth a try.

This is a book that all people need to read who might have any contact with children: teachers, principals, coaches, church volunteers, and especially parents and grandparents.  While Greene might be an authority on working with "difficult" children and families, this book is for everyone.

He walks you through, and I mean spoon-feeds you how, steps on how to really communicate with your kid, no matter their age, so that your child will start to build the life-skills to problem solve the hurdles in front of them.  I cannot do this book justice with my review, just believe me, this one is worth owning - maybe even buy copies for the other adults your kids are around...

I have to give this book four and a half hearts (the half is because it is still another adult giving you advice on your family...) and completely recommend it.

I wrote an in-depth review here, if you are on the fence on this one, stop by.

Everland is a new genre for me, steampunk... an off-shoot of fantasy, this one is very YA as well.  And as you can guess, it's a retelling of Peter Pan.  That is why I went ahead and picked it up. A fairy tale retelling... I mean that can't be too horrible.

To be honest, this was a fun, cute read.  It was interesting how Spindale used the war as her starting point and then the idea of biological warfare, again interesting. But as a whole, this book fizzled by the halfway point.

It is very cliche when it comes to the characters, maybe a little too much like the Disney movie, and not enough real meat to the characters?

Overall I can only give this book three hearts.  If you are big Peter Pan fan, you could really enjoy this, at least it's a quick read. Or if you enjoy steampunk or YA fantasy it could be worth the read. Otherwise, you might want to pass on this one.

How to Party with an Infant was on a list of adult contemporary fiction for August as a possible best seller so I thought I'd give is a shot.

Oh man, this one was not what I expected.  I didn't finish it, in fact.

Fair warning, this is full of adult language and adult scenes, of all kinds for that matter.

The story started off really funny, sort of like an off-colored comedian, I even laughed out loud in the gym.  But by the fourth chapter I was tired of the language and lack of any real substance, just a lot of whining adults wishing their lives were different.  Needless to say, I put it down.

Granted Hemmings is a best-selling author, and the reviews on this one are pretty mixed.  If you are a fan of hers, just be ready for something different, I think.

I can only give this book one star, mostly because I didn't even finish it.  I would not recommend this to teenagers for sure, and as for adults, well, it's up to you.

First off, Erin Watt is a pseudonym for Elle Kennedy and Jen Fredrick who co-wrote this trilogy. And in order to be fair, this is most certainly an R-rated book series, maybe more.

While some of the scenes are a bit much, I mean leave some of it to the imaginations ladies, this story line moves at such speed you can barely keep up. These are the kind of books you keep reading well past bedtime because you just need to know what happens next.

Ella Harper (a modern take on Cinderella...) finds herself in a new home with the Royals, and this is not your typical family.  Money is everywhere. While many reviewers commented on how ridiculous this was, so much money, so little involvement from the father, I'll be honest, it wasn't that much of a stretch from the high school I went to.  Sure it was embellished, but not all that much.  It's a good look into how corruptable the American teenager can be when given everything plus an extra $1,000 just for fun.

Overall I am torn on this book, I officially gave it a three heart rating, simply because of the racy nature of it, but somehow the story hooked me none-the-less. I would recommend it to those who do not mind reading racy stories, and simply want to pick up a fun read - just fair warning the cliff-hangers in this series will demand you read the rest of the series.



For even more on this book, check out my sneak peek! 

So this is the second book in above mentioned series.  While the first book focused on Ella and how she adapts to her new environment, this second book spends more time on the "ring leader" of the Royal boys, Reed.

Imagine a handsome, rich, popular, high school jock, then multiply that by at least 100 and you might start to get an idea of this guy. He is completely over the top, all the time, yet deep down he just wants to know he belongs and is loved by his family.  When I started reading the book I really disliked him, but by the halfway point I had changed my mind.

Again, this is really not a teen book so much as an adult book, so while the characters are in high school, maybe this should be a New Adult book? Just be prepared for adult scenes, behavior, and language in this series.  As such, I can only give this book three stars too.  I really wish these were not marketed to teens, as I would really not want my young teenagers reading this book while in high school.  On the flip side, I read this book in maybe two days, and am anxiously waiting for the final book in the series to come out.


For more on this one, check out my sneak peek!

In this Christian Historical fiction, Ainslee becomes the less than willing manager of a tile work copy in West Virginia as part of an expanding family business. While she is fully capable of running the company, her emotions are running high as she takes on a new responsibility, in a new town without the assistance of her sister, which she had been counting on.  All in all, she is just like many of the women I know, who start out on a plan, but when life throws curve balls allow their emotions to run high (you know I am talking about myself right?)

Overall this is a sweet story, but I never really connected with the characters or their goals. I could only give this book three hearts, because it is well written and has some beautiful scenes. Also, fair warning, the Christianity scenes are really repetitive as it appears like the author is trying to drive home some scriptural points, which for me just was too much. I will read the Bible for scripture, show me how the Truth in the actions of your characters... but again personal feeling here.



If you are still curious, stop over and check out my in depth review!

This new author has set up quite the world and story in Tenderfoot.  This is for the fans of fantasy teen books. The tenderfoots are a group of teens who wake up to find themselves in a whole new world, nothing at all like earth. They have abilities, if they train to use them...

As the first book in a series, quite a bit of the book is world building and character development. Once the actions starts, it gets more interesting, which could mean the rest of the series will be very engaging.  The downside, there are way too many characters and they each get to share their own POV. This results in some chaotic transitions between chapters.

I gave this book three hearts because for me it was too hard to keep up with all the POVs. This is certainly a teen book, while I can't say it's incredibly clean, it is nothing that wouldn't be in a typical teen TV show. Overall this could be a fun series for book lovers who enjoy a good fantasy world.

If you want more on this book, check out my review.