Category: Learning Curve

Book Report: Half a Life: A Memoir by Darin Strauss

Half a Life: A MemoirHalf a Life: A Memoir by Darin Strauss

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

“Half my life ago, I killed a girl.”

So begins Darin Strauss’ Half a Life, the true story of how one outing in his father’s Oldsmobile resulted in the death of a classmate and the beginning of a different, darker life for the author. We follow Strauss as he explores his startling past—collision, funeral, the queasy drama of a high-stakes court case—and what starts as a personal tale of a tragic event opens into the story of how to live with a very hard fact: we can try our human best in the crucial moment, and it might not be good enough. Half a Life is a nakedly honest, ultimately hopeful examination of guilt, responsibility, and living with the past. Continue reading →

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Book Report: Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren

Waterfall (River of Time #1)Waterfall by Lisa Tawn Bergren
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lisa Tawn Bergren’s new YA series, River of Time, is romantic, historical fiction in which the plucky heroine doesn’t have to fear a vampire’s bite but must still fight for her life.

In Waterfall, American teenager Gabi Betarrini accidently finds herself in Fourteenth-Century Italy . . . Knights. Swords. Horses. Armor. And Italian hotties. Most American teens want an Italian vacation, but the Betarrini sisters have spent every summer of their lives there with their archaeologist parents. Stuck on yet another hot, dusty dig, they are bored out of their minds… until they place their hands atop handprints in an ancient tomb and find themselves catapulted into the Fourteenth Century and in the middle of a fierce battle between knights bent on killing one another. Continue reading →

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Book Report: Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress, #1)Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Half-vampire Catherine Crawfield is going after the undead with a vengeance, hoping that one of these deadbeats is her father—the one responsible for ruining her mother’s life. Then she’s captured by Bones, a vampire bounty hunter, and is forced into an unlikely partnership. In exchange for help finding her father, Cat agrees to train with the sexy night stalker until her Continue reading →

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Book Report: Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

Midnight Sun Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Midnight Sun is the much anticipated retelling of Twilight from Edward Cullen’s perspective. An unedited partial draft was illegally leaked onto the internet in 2008; consequently, author Stephenie Meyer put the project on indefinite hold.
Shortly afterward, she posted a letter to her fans on her website including a link to the entire partial draft of the book so that those who wanted to read it could do so legally and with her consent; see URL for more information:

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/midnightsu…

(The material is copyrighted by Stephenie Meyer. Any re-transcription or reproduction of the copy is illegal.) Continue reading →

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Book Report: Red and the Wolf by Evangeline Anderson

Red and the WolfRed and the Wolf by Evangeline Anderson

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Sara Jensen is the town witch in Buck Lake, Tennessee. More than anything she misses her older brother and his best friend Reeve, who are overseas in the Marine Corps. But when her brother is killed in action, Reeve comes back with a secret-an ancient crone laid a curse on him that turns him into a ravening wolf every full moon. Continue reading →

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Book Report: Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward

Lover Unleashed (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #9)Lover Unleashed by J.R. Ward

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Payne, twin sister of Vishous, is cut from the same dark, warrior cloth as her brother: A fighter by nature, and a maverick when it comes to the traditional role of Chosen females, there is no place for her on the Far Side… and no role for her on the front lines of the war, either.

When she suffers a paralyzing injury, human surgeon Dr. Manuel Manello is called in to treat her as only he can- and he soon gets sucked into her dangerous, secret world. Although he never before believed in things that go bump in the night- like vampires- he finds himself more than willing to be seduced by the powerful female who marks both his body and his soul.

As the two find so much more than an erotic connection, the human and vampire worlds collide … just as a centuries old score catches up with Payne and puts both her love and her life in deadly jeopardy. Continue reading →

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Kreyol Word of the Day: dan

dan   (noun)

teeth

dan m ‘fè mal. (Translation: My teeth hurts.)
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Kreyol Word of the Day: lajan

lajan   (noun)

money

Mwen pa genyen lanjan pou mwen achte manje jodi a.

(Translation: I don’t have money to buy food today.)

Definition and example sentence taken from http://www.kreyol.com/creole-dictionary/show/lajan.

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Kreyol Word of the Day: Silans

1. Silans (noun)

Silence

Mwen vle silans nan chanm nan. (Translation: I want silence in the room.)

2. Silans (verb)

Hush

Silans kounye a ti bebe. (Translation: Hush now baby.)

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Book Report: Hide in Plain Sight by Marta Perry

Hide in Plain SightHide in Plain Sight by Marta Perry

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Please God, if you’re listening, keep Rachel safe.” She couldn’t turn her back on her family in their time of need. So when her sister was injured, financial expert Andrea Hampton traded the big city for Amish country to help turn her grandmother’s house into an inn. But life with the Plain People took a treacherous turn when a string of accidents and pranks threatened her family. Someone didn’t want the secrets the old house harbored to come to light. Trusting anyone-even the handsome carpenter who seemed so genuine-was a battle for Andrea, but her life depended on her ability to find the truth. Continue reading →

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