A Reliable Wife by Robert GoolrickI wanted to love this one! It sounded so good! A lonely, widowed man sends away for a mail order bride, hoping to make a happy life and start over. But... bleh. It was boring. I can see how the author tried to make it this suspenseful, lusty novel full of betrayal and heartache. But, all I got out of it was a lot of whining and wasted paragraphs full of plotting revenge that never quite pans out. The main characters were not likeable in the least, and the ending was just plain weird. I don't recommend it.
The Forgotten Garden by Kate MortonOh my gosh, I loved this one. Such an epic story, filled with fairy tales and mystery. A four year old child is found on a boat dock in Australia in the early 1900's. She does not know her name or where she came from. All she has with her is a small white case and a book of fairy tales. She spends her adult life trying to find out who she really is and when she passes, her granddaughter picks up the trail. This book was so good and everything a good mystery should be. Usually I have mysteries figured out halfway through, but this one had me guessing until the end.
The Somnambulist by Jonathan BarnesUrgh.. that's all I can say. Have you ever started a novel and found yourself thinking.. "Did I miss something? Is there a prequel to this book that I should have read?" From the beginning of this book I just felt as if the author was assuming that I knew certain things...where certain characters came from.. but I didn't. It just didn't make sense to me. I stuck out though in hopes that it would all make sense in the end, but it didn't.
The Reincarnationist by MJ RoseThis book was ok, not great. I just felt like I was reading the Davinci Code or something, and I didn't like the Divinci Code. I was bored about midway through.
I know these book reviews make no sense and are ridiculously short, but I've been busy and this is my way to keep track of the books I read.
I want a book about a mail order groom.
ReplyDeleteI always feel like when I hate a book that I migh tbe missing something somewhere.
ReplyDeleteDang I hate it when I waste time reading an entire book that I don't like. But it seems I always read the entire thing anyway just to give the author a chance to get me...but when they don't I feel like it was a bunch of time wasted and I hate that. So sorry three out of four ended up this way for you. I'll look into The Forgotten Garden...sounds good! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reviews! I'll definitely check out the Forgotten Garden and hold off on the rest.
ReplyDeleteThere's been several books that I've read all the way through even though I wasn't enjoying them but I can only think of one that I completely gave up on and that was a John Grisham book.
ReplyDeleteHi! Just stumbled across your blog and thought I better leave you a comment so that baby won't punch me! Too cute. Love my comments and followers too:)
ReplyDeleteI love all these book reviews! I am a ferocious reader (when I can find the time) Thanks for the tips.
MM
I gave you an award, go to my blog and get it!!
ReplyDeleteGreat reviews! Short and to the point - something I need to learn. Anyway, I was going to read Reliable Wife, but I read a review of it our local newspaper and began to have doubts. You have now confirmed them. I will take it off my (much too long) "to read" list. Thanks for the tip. I hadn't heard of the Forgotten Garden. Sounds intriguing. I'll ADD that one to the list. So much for making the list shorter. Oh well!
ReplyDeletegreat reviews! i now know which one to read and which ones not to read : )
ReplyDeleteI've been wondering about "The Reliable Wife" and now I know not to pursue it too much. And "The Forgotten Garden" sounds really really interesting ... had not heard of it so I think I'll look for it. And I won "The Reincarnationist" and "The Memoirist" in a giveaway but haven't given them any thought yet...
ReplyDeleteI put the Forgotten Garden on my reading list. It sounds really good.
ReplyDeleteI'm late in saying so, but thank you for leaving a comment on my blog last month!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the book recommendations, too - The Forgotten Garden does sound good. I've been wanting a good book to read for awhile now, but I never know where to start looking.