tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41664030244404392632024-03-05T01:55:31.002-05:00Loopy Ker's LifeThe ramblings and reviews of a Ker who happens to be loopy.Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-24235922788648835982015-12-30T20:01:00.001-05:002021-09-08T19:59:25.403-04:00loopyker's #CBR7 Review #09: World's Greatest Sleuth! by Steve HockensmithI first discovered Steve Hockensmith in my library with his Pride and Prejudice and Zombies books. While I am a big fan of the original Pride and Prejudice, I thoroughly enjoyed Hockensmith's addition of the zombies and his humour, so looked for more of his books.
Happily, my library has the Holmes on the Range mystery series as audiobooks, and I listened to the first four in quick Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-70124007834370841662015-12-30T16:43:00.001-05:002021-09-09T14:21:54.996-04:00loopyker's #CBR7 Review #08: The Princess Bride by William Goldman
"IF YOU ENJOYED THE MOVIE, YOU'LL CERTAINLY ENJOY LISTENING TO ROB REINER, THE MOVIE'S DIRECTOR, READ THE BOOK." was what the online library listing promised me. They even shouted it. They couldn't have been more wrong.
I would like to be really clear about this. I don't want to get yelled at. This is a review for the audiobook. Very different from the movieLoopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-31048273273958447182015-12-30T13:52:00.002-05:002021-09-09T14:24:46.531-04:00loopyker's #CBR7 Review #07: Unsinkable: A Memoir by Silken LaumannMany Canadians like myself remember Silken Laumann's amazing perseverance after a severe leg injury, to win a bronze medal only 10 weeks later at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Even without the gold, she was one of the hero stories of the game, and certainly an important one for Canada.
One day, I happened across an interview to hear her talking about her memoir, Unsinkable. She Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-9808049616946055282015-12-29T19:14:00.002-05:002021-09-09T14:32:41.767-04:00loopyker's #CBR7 Review #06: Watermelon Summer by Anna HessI entered the generous Spring Fling 2015 book giveaway with no knowledge of any of the authors except, Selina Fenech from my previous review. I was given many free ebooks from that and intend to read and write honest reviews on them all as a thank-you. It is just taking more time than I had hoped.
Having no idea what to expect, I was very pleasantly surprised by Watermelon Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-24019802863596638892015-12-29T16:15:00.001-05:002021-09-09T16:27:45.177-04:00loopyker's #CBR7 Review #05: Memory's Wake by Selina Fenech
Who would you be if you couldn't remember who you were?
Memory is a teenager who awakens in a land of magic with no idea who or where she is. She is quickly discovered by another girl, Eloryn and together they flee some chasing men who have a dragon at their command. The action in this story starts right away and keeps going. The two find friends and more enemies along the Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-26389235422659667722015-04-13T17:13:00.002-04:002021-09-09T16:33:32.880-04:00loopyker's #CBR7 Review #04: The Martian by Andy WeirI can't believe it has taken me a month to get to writing this review. I was telling everyone about it when I finished it, but just didn't get it written down. I had managed not to hear much about this book beforehand. I can't even remember where it was recommended so that I put it on my library hold list...and then waited months for it to come up since it was so popular.
I Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-76929475941048191042015-04-08T22:02:00.002-04:002021-09-08T17:09:36.795-04:00loopyker's #CBR7 Review #01: Shadows by Robin McKinley
Note: This review was written in early 2014 and is being posted for the first time now - well after I remember anything about the book to address criticisms I've read from some other reviews.
I've
been a long-time fan of Robin McKinley, so I requested this new one
through my Online Library and was excited when it became available
days later. It is nice to know that the library requests Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-26535717026515961672015-04-06T23:04:00.006-04:002021-09-09T14:19:41.594-04:00I'm Still Here/Book ListWow. I had so many books I wanted to review in 2013 and 2014 that I just wasn't up to writing about. Life (and death) keeps getting in the way. I even went for a long stretch last year where I wasn't reading or listening to any books at all.
I did still sign up for Cannonball Read again. I'm determined to actually make my goal one of these years. It is up to year 7 for Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-73448605827738629842014-02-01T21:24:00.004-05:002021-09-08T17:41:14.340-04:002013 - The Lost Cannonball Year, Part IAs I mentioned in my previous post, I wasn't able to do book reviews last year like I had planned, but I still read many books.
So, as part of getting organized for Cannonball 6 , here are short ratings of some of the books I read in 2013.
1. Sweep Series Books 1-15 (also known as The Wicca Series in some countries) by Cate Tiernan (audiobooks and ebooks)
I started this series in 2012 with Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-64857712135479164092014-01-04T16:56:00.002-05:002021-09-08T17:56:41.394-04:00Catching Up 2012 (what I meant to do early 2013)OK, so as you can tell, 2013 didn't go so well for the book review thing. Grrr. It turned out that I didn't have access to a laptop for most of the year, so in the limited times when I did, I had too many other things to catch up on even though I read many books.
I will try to get back into things now with Cannonball 6 . I've signed up for a half-cannonball (26 reviews).
But Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-50563341271637943892013-02-04T13:08:00.000-05:002015-04-17T00:17:47.780-04:002013 Book ListI'm going to try to keep a more accurate list of waiting-to-be-reviewed books this year for CBR5...and hopefully not let things get as out of control as last year, but considering the list I've already built up, it isn't the best start. :)
I'll be doing Cate Tiernan's Sweep series as one review when I finished with it. I read the first five books last year and didn't get to reviews and Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-45943714437708670642013-02-04T12:37:00.002-05:002021-09-08T18:00:39.300-04:00loopyker's #CBR5 Review #01: Cinderella's Secret Diary: Lost (Book 1) by Ron Vitale
Disclaimer:
This was given as a free e-book to interested CBR5 readers. This in
no way influences the outcome of my review.
I
was excited to accept the free e-book of Cinderella's Secret Diary:
Lost since both young adult fantasy and the retelling of fairy tales
are amongst my favourite genres and I'm always happy to discover
more. This story also includes a little taste of historical Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-9715862644095778822013-01-05T20:50:00.001-05:002013-01-05T20:50:25.206-05:00loopyker’s #CBR4 Review #22: War of the Worlds by H.G. WellsI'm sure I'm not the only one whose only previous experience with H.G. Wells was the 2005 War of the Worlds movie starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning and the character on Warehouse 13 . While the movie was entertaining, it had the usual Hollywood dramatic scenes with the hero fighting to protect their family, where everything is frantic and full special effects.
With that in mind, Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-3177924132403519782013-01-05T18:38:00.000-05:002013-01-05T18:53:35.742-05:00loopyker’s #CBR4 Review #19-21: Various mysteries by Elizabeth PetersElizabeth Peters (real name Barbara Mertz who also writes under Barbara Michaels), is best knows for her popular Amelia Peabody mysteries. Those are amongst my favourite mystery books, but Elizabeth Peters has written many other books. For this review I'm combining three of her other books that aren't any other series. My feelings and criticisms are very similar for them all, soLoopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-47279962693557484462013-01-05T15:54:00.001-05:002021-09-08T16:48:37.402-04:00loopyker's #CBR4 Review #15-#18: His Dark Materials, Books 1-4 by Philip Pullman
I really wish I had gotten to this review when His Dark Materials was fresh in my mind, but some major things happened in my life right then so here it goes almost a year later! I can't really separate the books well in my head now, so the review will be very general.
I had reviewed The Lighthouse Land by Adrian McKinty shortly before listening to The Golden Compass, Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-23847424214336280162013-01-05T13:51:00.003-05:002013-01-05T15:54:06.578-05:00loopyker's #CBR4 Review #14: Anne's House of Dreams: Anne of Green Gables Series, Book 5 by L. M. Montgomery
As I mentioned in my review #10 , I am a fan of the Anne of Green Gables series and have read them many times. This was the first time listening to an audiobook version of one of them.
Having grown up with the TV series where Anne is played by Megan Follows it is hard not to compare the narrator of an audio version to her. It's especially hard when at times, this narrator, Susan Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-26116448513888406402012-12-28T17:28:00.001-05:002021-09-08T16:55:04.551-04:00loopyker's #CBR4 Review #13: True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life by Kevin Sorbo
OK,
I admit that I kind of had a crush on Kevin Sorbo during his Hercules:The Legendary Journeys days. I've always had a weakness for tall guys with long hair - but,
he also seemed like a decent guy when giving interviews. I hadn't
really thought about him in years, but was extremely disappointed to
find out recently that he is now into some of the more extreme
Christian fundamentalist Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-79874880404374680492012-12-23T16:55:00.001-05:002021-09-08T16:56:25.671-04:00loopyker's #CBR4 Review #12: Tailwavers by Sally WatsonDon't let the self-publishing and home photo cover fool you. Sally Watson is an accomplished and well-loved author of several juvenile and young adult fiction books published in the 1950's - 1971. After taking a break from writing she began self-publishing new books, juvenile-adult level in 2006. Among these, is Tailwavers, her first autobiographical book, about her life with a Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-2348880773580589612012-12-22T21:14:00.001-05:002021-09-08T17:06:27.986-04:00loopyker's #CBR4 Review #11: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I had this review ready to publish last week, but after the recent tragic news about the Newtown shootings in the US I took some time to rethink it. I don't think that event changes my feelings about about my review below. I feel that despite the violence in the book, The Hunger Games is more relevant to our current-day reality TV and our culture of competition and voyeurism than to Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-29100776118365465082012-12-22T17:57:00.000-05:002012-12-23T14:43:19.195-05:00loopyker's #CBR4 Review #10: The Blythes Are Quoted: Anne of Green Gables Series, Book 9 by L. M. MontgomeryI was excited to finally get to this after having been a fan of the Anne of Green Gables series for as long as I can remember. The Foreword says, "The Blythes Are Quoted is the last work of fiction the world-famous author of Anne of Green Gables prepared for publication before her untimely death on April 24, 1942.... The typescript was delivered to Montgomery’s publisher on the day she diedLoopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-30378940419192300002012-12-20T19:22:00.000-05:002012-12-23T14:43:59.412-05:00loopyker's #CBR4 Review #09: Answer Me, Answer ME by Irene Bennett Brown
In my online
library, a quote described Answer Me, Answer ME as “An excellent portrayal of a young woman's search for
her true identity, a compelling story with just the right elements of
mystery and romance.” Sounded like a potentially good, young adult
book to me. I was sadly disappointed.
I listened to the audiobook, but I
don't think that made a difference to my experience of the Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-64630279105257386362012-12-20T01:18:00.000-05:002012-12-23T14:44:22.893-05:00loopyker's #CBR4 Review #08: The Killings at Badger's Drift by Caroline Graham
I'm a fan of the TV show, Midsomer Murders, and the first five books in Caroline Graham's Chief Inspector Barnaby Series inspired this TV show, so I thought I'd see how the audiobooks compare starting with The Killings at Badger's Drift: Chief Inspector Barnaby Series, Book 1 . I haven't read any of the original (7) print books.
If you've seen the British TV show, then you know Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-9575722417815025732012-12-19T14:53:00.002-05:002021-09-08T16:41:40.658-04:00loopyker's #CBR4 Review #07: Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
I've
watched exactly one full episode of Katie
- the Katie Couric show. I heard that Jenny Lawson, aka The Bloggess was going to be on an episode, so I had
to watch it. Brené Brown happened to be the main guest on the same
show and she made such an impression on me that I immediately
convinced my boyfriend to buy me her book, DaringGreatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way WeLoopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-85704669692182338272012-10-14T14:03:00.001-04:002021-09-08T16:33:46.648-04:00loopyker's #CBR4 Review #06: The Angry Earth: A Story of the New Madrid Earthquakes by Sally WatsonThis is one of the newer books from one of my favourite authors, Sally Watson. Sally is well-known for her juvenile fiction published through 1954-1971 (my favourite, Jade, among them), but she began self-publishing new books in 2006 - present .
The Angry Earth is one of Sally's more recent adult-level books, but it is still without the explicit violence or sex that you find Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4166403024440439263.post-43610224605726504412012-07-23T15:16:00.000-04:002013-12-28T09:31:46.129-05:00Waiting Book ListAs has been all too usual, health issues surprised me again and I still haven't been able to get back to reviews. But I have kept reading and listening to books. Sometimes, I even remember to take notes for eventual reviews. :) I've probably forgotten some, but here is a list of books I remember reading since I wrote my last review. Hopefully I will get to them before I Loopykerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01674970541396402576noreply@blogger.com2