Sunday Wrap-up: January 31 2016

Growing up I always loved to play board games and card games. Some of my favourite included: Trouble, Go Fish and Old Maid among others. I guess over the years I grew out of it. Or for some reason or another stopped playing any. Well since my man and I got together just over 5 years ago, we have both started to get back into it and our friends and family have jumped on board (no pun intended) as well. As I'm typing this I am inspired to write a separate blog post about board games, perhaps even some game reviews.

But back to the point of this topic.. This week a good friend introduced us to a board game I hadn't heard of before. It is called Catan.

The object of the game is to earn 10 points by building settlement, cities and roads using different resources. We had a lot of fun playing it and I'm looking forward to another round sometime soon.

Reading Progress:

After having a couple of not-so successful reading weeks, I was determined to make some progress this week. 

Books Completed:

Rating: 3/5

Rating: 2.5/5

DNF:

I started reading a book I have had on Kindle for PC, for some time now. Unfortunately I decided to mark it DNF at 22%. 

Title: For All Time
Author: Parris Afton Bonds
Published: June 2014 (Originally October 1992)
Published By: Paradise Publishing
Genre: Romance, Time Travel, Historical Fiction
Rating: DNF

Description from Goodreads:
An unanticipated rifle shot in a frontier reenactment thrusts Stacie Brannigan, mother of two, back 100 years to 1870’s Texas ~ into the body of her great-grandmother, Anastasia Wysse ~ into a body half her age, twenty instead of forty. She finds herself surrendering that body to the noble half breed Joseph Muldoon who has rescued her from an Indian raid. She, also, finds the conundrum of choosing between the man who becomes her great-grandfather and the man forbidden to her by both society and destiny . . . and she finds what she fears most: she and Joseph are star-crossed lovers, who must choose whether to risk their lives and those of others to defy destiny for a love that would burn For All Time.

I was initially attracted to this book for the time travel aspect. Set in 1870's, I was eager to learn about what life was life in a Texas fort at that time. Knowing that this was also a romance I had hoped it  would be lighter in that area, focusing more on the adventure and setting.

Unfortunately this would not be the case. The way the time travel was approached was quick and gave little explanation. There was some very obvious foreshadowing and the romantic descriptions came across as very cheesy.

What may have been a very interesting time travel story, became very bogged down and overshadowed with romance. For these reasons I have decided not to continue on reading For All Time.

Recent Posts:

Tuesday: Top 10 Tuesday: Top 10 Books I Wanted to Read in 2015, but Didn't

Thursday: Book Review: Full House by Maeve Binchy (Rating: 3/5)

Friday: Author and Book Spotlight: October 32nd by Larry Rodness

Upcoming Posts: 

Monday: January Wrap-up
Tuesday: Top 10 Tuesday: Top 10 Historical Settings
Thursday: Book Review: Death Comes to Kurland Hall (Kurland St. Mary #3) by Catherine Lloyd 

Click on the link for the Goodreads description:

Minor: The Journals of Meghan McDonnell (Volume I) by Meghan McDonnell

Hosted by: Book Date

Hosted by: Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Author and Book Spotlight: October 32nd by Larry Rodness

Title: October 32nd
Author: Larry Rodness
Published: October 31 2015
Published By: Deer Hawk Publications
Genre: Mystery 

October 31st. The quaint little town of Elora, Ontario has held its annual Halloween festival for the past 50 years but this year it takes a terrible turn. A young boy nearly drowns while bobbing for apples. Shortly after, a group of children are attacked by a flock of crows. Local eccentric, Missy Claridge, senses a mysterious connection between the two incidents and warns the town officials to postpone the upcoming festivities. Unfortunately her premonition is ignored and later that evening, all the children in the village suddenly disappear. The townsfolk are baffled. Soon, every person becomes a suspect as residents frantically try to discover what happened to the children and how to get them back.

For more information check out the links below:

Goodreads

Amazon  

 

Author Biography

Larry Rodness began his entertainment career as a professional singer at the age of 19 and has been performing in Toronto for over 35 years with his wife and singing partner, Jodi, at venues such as The Old Mill, Royal York Hotel, Skyline and Bristol Place Hotel as well as countless corporate and private functions.
In the 80's Larry studied musical theatre writing with PRO under Broadway conductor Layman Engel, which led him to write for dinner theater. He then moved into the screenplay arena where he has written over a dozen screenplays and has had 3 scripts optioned to date. “October 32nd” is his third published novel. His previous two were “Perverse” and “Today I Am A Man”.
Information on all his published works can be found on site pages at www.larryrodness.com

Full House by Maeve Binchy

Title: Full House
Author: Maeve Binchy
Published: 2012
Published By: Orion
Format Read: Paperback
Genre: Contemporary, Short Story
Date Read: January 4, 2016
Rating: 3/5

Dee is a hardworking mother of three and wife of 24 years. She wakes each day before the sun rises to work as a house cleaner, then she returns home to cook and clean for her family. Money is tight during this time of recession, but between her pay and that of her husband Liam’s, they make do. Then Liam gets some bad news; his long time employer was bankrupt, leaving him without a job. Dee knows that some major changes must be made and it starts with her three grown children. Rosie, Helen and Andrew are all living at home on a free ticket. They don’t pay any rent, help with housework or cook their own meals. In Maeve Binchy’s short story Full House, readers follow Dee as she attempt to open the eyes of her spoiled children. 

Full House is part of Galaxy’s Quick Reads collection that promotes reading and literacy in the U.K.

Quick reading:

As I was searching through my local library for shorter books to add to my pile for a read-a-thon, I came across these Galaxy Quick Read books. Their length (just over 100 pages) and the size of the font, made for a great choice for anyone looking for a quick, but entertaining story. This collection is a wonderful way to get people to read without having to commit a lot of time to the task.

The story:

Dee loved her family and worked very hard to make sure they had the best life she could give them. She came from a different generation that was taught respect and discipline, unlike that of her children. While Dee was an admirable character, her three children definitely were not. To be honest I found Rosie, Helen and Anthony to be spoiled and ungrateful. Thankfully there was a lesson to be learned and keeping that thought in my head kept me reading. Despite these characters the story was entertaining and kept my attention.  

Recommendations:

I would recommend Full House to fans of Maeve Binchy. Also to those looking for a light and quick short story. 

If you are interested in learning more about Galaxy Quick Reads, click to the link below:

http://www.quickreads.org.uk

Top 10 Tuesday: Top 10 Books I Wanted to Read in 2015, but Didn't

Top 10 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

This weeks topic is a freebie and since I missed the Top 10 Tuesday for the week of January 12th, I will use that one.

Top 10 Books I Wanted to Read in 2015, but didn't

(Click the link for the Goodreads descriptions)

1. In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume

2. A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler

3. The Lake House by Kate Morton

4. Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

5. The Royal We by Heather Cocks

6. Royal Wedding (Princess Diaries #11) by Meg Cabot

7. Sabotaged (Alaskan Courage #5) by Dani Pettrey 

8. Anna's Crossing (An Amish Beginnings #1) by Suzanne Woods Fisher 

9. Through Waters Deep (Waves of Freedom #1) by Sarah Sundin

 

 10. The Heir (The Selection #4) by Kiera Cass

Have you read any of these books? If so I'd love to hear what you thought of them. Also if you participated in this weeks TTT, be sure to leave me your link in the comments.