Divine by Karen Kingsbury
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This had been a Free Friday selection, and I will read books outside my preferred genres when they are offered for free.
This Christian fiction is a modern retelling of the story of Mary Magdalene as it may have happened to the character of Mary Madison. There is a study guide at the end of the book so this may be useful for a discussion group of church ladies.
I found the proselytizing and sermonizing to be too heavy-handed for me to give it more than 3 stars.

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The Reading Group Insider: Book Club "Buzz Books," Resources, and Ideas for Great Reading and Meeting by The eBook Insider
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a Free ebook from BN.com, and it is still free.
It does have great ideas for joining an existing book club or starting a new one. Reading guides are included for the recommended books and general questions are included for different genres. My disappointment with this as an eBook is the lack of better indexing or chapter subtitles so that I can find a section that might interest me without reading the entire chapter. Yes, I can use bookmarks once I find the page to where I want to go.

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The eBook Insider by Editors and Authors at Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This was a free book which lists the best books of 2010. It includes interviews and excerpts. It is not the easiest to read on an ebook reader because you can't easily go to the different lists of awards or topics. I find goodreads a better source of recommendations.

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Life's a Beach by Claire Cook
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book was a Free Friday selection, and it is no longer free from Barnes and Noble's Nookstore. Free Fridays give me the opportunity to read books that are not of a genre that I seek out of habit. I would classify this book as chick-lit or family relationship drama, and to my surprise I enjoyed meeting the characters in Ginger's life at the age of 41 years old with a sister who wants to do something memorable for her 50th birthday. The book was entertaining. The characters were more real and funny than real and whiny. I recommend it as entertainment.

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Blood, Sweat and Tea by Tom Reynolds
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a free ebook, and it is still free from Barnes and Noble.
This is a collection of posts from the author's blog which is concerned with his job as a member of London Ambulance Service, and it is a quick, entertaining read. Books from blogs have their own sub-genre, stunt nonfiction.
I recommend it to any healthcare worker for we can empathize with his frustration; and, maybe, we can feel some relief that our jobs are not that bad.


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The Amersham Rubies by Rhys Bowen

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This is a free selection from Barnes and Noble Nook shop. It contains a short story from Molly Murphy's youth in Ireland (13 pages long) and the remainder of the 37 pages are an except from Blessed is the Bride.

I read all the Molly Murphy books and I found them to be entertaining. These 13 pages read more like a synopsis of an uncompleted work than a short story which is supposed to be read in one sitting and remembered for a lifetime. It turned out to be a superficial introduction for readers to this interesting character, and the slapdash reveal of the resolution of the mystery is likely to be ineffective as a marketing tool to her books which are structured and plotted better.

Within the 37 pages, I found a chronological discrepancy that takes me out of the fictive dream: on page 5 we are told "her mother's death put an end to it when she was fourteen" and on page 15 we are told her mother died when Molly was ten years old.

I recommend it to readers who are already fans of the series and those who can get this for free.





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The Phantom of Pemberley: A Pride and Prejudice Murder Mystery by Regina Jeffers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This ebook was a Free Friday selection in 2011, and it is no longer free.

It is entertaining fan fiction with the characters created by Jane Austen stuck at Pemberley estate with some new strangers who are sheltered there during a dangerous winter storm for several days. Elizabeth Darcy does not have the freedom of Nancy Drew to investigate the strange occurences that start the servants speaking of a phantom. When dead bodies turn up, Fitzwilliam Darcy starts the investigation until the magistrate can safely arrive. The story takes on the aspect of a drawing room mystery genre or the country estate mystery. If you like books from these genres, it is an entertaining read.

I rate this a 4 star book, if you can get if for free. I don't think I would value it at the current price of $10.16; I might price it at no more than $4.95.



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Hey, America, Your Roots Are Showing by Megan Smolenyak

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


ebook ISBN is 9780806535524

I am a hobby-ist genealogist, and I enjoyed reading the 22 case histories Megan Smolenyak tells of the ways her special skills have been used to find ancestors or descendants. She develops her stories well, and they can hold the interests for most any problem-solving person.



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Chomp by Carl Hiaasen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I look forward to books from Carl Hiaasen for he spikes his adult fiction books with commentary about the state of things in Florida and the rest of our current culture. This is a children's book for the same readers of his book Hoot. This may be the story of what Wahoo McCray did on his summer vacation; but Hiaasen always gives us more. Hiaasen also introduces subtle comments about the financial effects of being self-employed, unable to work, and a reluctance to seek follow-up medical care; jobs that have moved to China; foreclosure and living in RVs in the Wal-Mart parking lot; and the gullibility of the TV-Viewing audience of survivalist-reality shows. I recommend it for readers of all ages.



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Denmark by Lonely Planet Publications

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This guide book has a small section on the city of Arhus and the sites I will see: Radhus, Den Gamle By, and Arhus Domkirke. I hope I can also go to ARoS, art museum.



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Frommer's Denmark by Darwin Porter

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This guide book has a section on the city of Arhus and the sites I will see: Radhus, Den Gamle By, and Arhus Domkirke.



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Fodor's Denmark, 5th Edition by Fodor's

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This guide book has a small section on the city of Arhus and the sites I will see: Radhus, Den Gamle By, and Arhus Domkirke.



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The Measure of the Magic by Terry Brooks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this because my husband likes to collect the fantasy series by several different authors, and he fills many shelves in our house with these books. Goodreads helps me keep track of books in a series and the chronological order of the Shannara books. If you have not read any of his books, I recommend you start at the chronological beginning of his series.

Brooks tells a good tale of action and adventure. Through his fantasy writing, he comments on our society.



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Bone Rattler: A Mystery of Colonial America by Eliot Pattison

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This was the Free Friday selection from B&N 3-11-11, and it is no longer free.

Several reviewers on the goodreads.com site mentioned they kept waiting for it to get better and they thought it did when the book was halfway finished. I was still disappointed by the end of the book. We were all intrigued by the premise: a Highland Scotsman must serve his British criminal sentence in the colonies and his sentence is commuted to seven years indenture as a tutor to the children of Lord Ramsey in Edentown, New York. Several readers thought it got better as more of the mystery was explained, and I continued to question to the very end of the book why Duncan McCallum would continue his actions instead of seeking out the settlements of Scotsmen in the Carolinas.

Instead of recommending this book, I recommend historical narratives by Allan W. Eckert such as The Wilderness Empire.



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