Book Review #55: "The Lost City Of The Monkey God"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story," by Douglas Preston. This book is hot off the press it was published today January 3, 2017 by Grand Central Publishing. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. If you would like to read a free excerpt from this book CLICK HERE. This book is a a true story of the discovery of an ancient lost city found in the interior of Honduras.

     Overall I rated this book five stars out of five. This book was such an intriguing read that I added it to my favorites list. This book did start out slow, but that was probably due to my anticipation in finding out more about this lost city. It amazes me that with all the technology we have, and modernization of this earth that there are still places like this waiting to be discovered. I like the tone and narrative in how this story was told. It was personable and emotional, and the story was coming from the author's heart. It was a great book to read to put an end to the year 2016. 

     I would like to thank Goodreads Giveaways, Netgalley, Douglas Preston, and Grand Central Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #54: "The Girl in Green"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Girl in Green," by Derek B. Miller. This book was published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book is hot off the press as it is just published today January 3, 2017. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book is about two men who meet by chance over in Iraq in Desert Storm. Arwood Hobbes is a young military man standing guard at Checkpoint Zulu, and Thomas Benton a reporter chasing a story. They both come forth and are involved in witnessing a horrible tragedy of an anonymous young Iraqi woman being killed in front of both men. It is how this one tragic event shaped both of these men's future in trying to make amends for the past. 

     Overall I rated this book three stars out of five. The author did a great job in showcasing Iraq, ISIL and the events that have taken place there. He told this story in a very honest and unapologetic manner. Thus he was able to show the reader a very realistic description of how things work in the Middle East. I did like the way he presented how non-profit organizations work and the issues they face while trying to promote peace in the Middle East. The reason why I gave this book three stars was because of how disjointed this book felt in reading it. There were too many story lines coming into play. Some of them I felt it was unnecessary to add. And because of the amount of story lines that came into play it took away from the book instead of adding to it. The characters were a bit unlikable and most of the time I can deal with unlikable characters. As in real life you are always going to have to deal with unlikable people.  But taking in consideration the other issues of this book with the unlikable characters I found myself trying to race to finishing this book so I could read the next book. I do think this book had great potential of being an amazing book. I mean there are some books that just do not have potential at all but this book was not one of those. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Derek B. Miller, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #53: "Chronicle Of A Last Summer"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Chronicle Of A Last Summer: A Novel Of Egypt," by Yasmine El Rashidi. This book was published on June 28, 2016 by Tim Duggan Books. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book tells the story of a woman growing up in Cairo, Egypt. This book covers three decades of her life. It is her story of loss over the political backdrop of Egypt.

     Overall I rated this book three stars out of five. The poetic language that the author used to tell this story was beautiful and gave this story life. Her descriptions of Egypt were vivid in detail and it was obvious that these descriptions were coming from deep withing the author's heart. Although it was beautifully written, the language at times did come across as obscure and detached. It at times made it difficult to grasp the events of this story. Overall this was a solid debut. 

     I would like to thank Blogging for Books, Yasmine El Rashidi, and Tim Duggan Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #52: "Bellevue"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital," by David Oshinsky. This book is hot off the press being published today November 15, 2016 by Doubleday Books. For those of you who are interested in purchasing a copy of this book CLICK HERE. David Oshinsky is a well known American historian, whose previous books are "Polio: An American Story," "A Conspiracy so Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy," and "Worse than Slavery: Parchman Farm and the Ordeal of Jim Crow Justice." This book is basically a narration of the history of Bellevue hospital.  I chose this book to read because my knowledge of Bellevue Hospital consisted of it being a hospital for the insane, and a place where horrific human experiments took place. I wanted to learn more about it, than the misconceptions that I thought I knew.

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. I was pleasantly surprised reading this book, as it was a very informative narrative. It wasn't what I was expecting to read, the amount of information that I read was vast and it was an uplifting read. I did want the book to tug at my heart strings and elicit more depth of emotion. I always enjoy when I can feel what the author is feeling while he/she is writing and I just wish I felt more. Because it would be all that much more enjoyable.

     I want to thank Netgalley, David Oshinsky, and Doubleday Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #51: "The Book of the Unnamed Midwife"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "The Book of the Unnamed Midwife: The Road to Nowhere (Book 1)," by Meg Elison. This book is hot off the press as it was just published today October 11, 2016 by 47 North. For those of you who are interested in purchasing a copy of this book CLICK HERE.  This book is about a woman of whom when she woke up from an illness the world she knew was dead. It is about her navigating and surviving in the new world that lays before her. A world where women are scarce, men are a dime a dozen, and where babies and children are unheard of. 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This book discusses issues of feminism in a dystopian world. I did like this story I thought it was very creative and was a good premise to discuss issues us women face. This book was well written, and well told. The characters were well developed. This book has all the makings of a good book. And it did capture my attention throughout the book. It was just that this book tried to cover too many issues from women's issues, to religion and faith. I felt in some areas it was written to broadly and would have been better if the book had more focus. Because at some points the story seemed to unravel. But I am glad I did read this book, I really did enjoy reading it and am looking forward to reading more from this author.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Meg Elison, and 47 North, for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill

Book Review #50: "Another Day in the Death of America"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives, by Gary Younge. This book is hot off the press being published today October 4, 2016 by Perseus Books Group. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE. This book takes a random day in America, and examines the gun deaths of ten young men. The author goes about randomly picking a day and also randomly chooses a sample of ten young men to profile. In this book the author goes into depth of profiling each victim in who they were and the circumstances that lead up to their deaths. He also discusses the issue of gun control throughout the book.

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. I really liked that the author being from the United Kingdom wrote this book. It added to this book a view from an outsider who is not living in the United States, without anything to gain. I also liked how the author randomly picked the day and the victims. He was able to add more meaning and significance to the ten lives lost due to gun violence. Without reading this book their lives and deaths would have never been known to the larger community that surrounds them. Even though you hear the numbers of how many people are dying each day by gun deaths, this book brings those numbers to life. No matter how you feel about gun control you should read this book. 

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Gary Younge, and Perseus Books Group for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill 

Book Review #49: "God of the Internet"

Hey Everyone,

     I am going to review the book "God of the Internet," by Lynn Lipinski. This book was published August 16, 2016 by Majestic Content. For those of you who would like to purchase a copy of this book CLICK HERE.  This book was a war between hackers, of hackers hacking hackers. With the Internet not being as secure as it needs, the United States faces a different kind of threat, a different kind of war, one in using our technology against us. It is about how far would one go to protect one's family.  Would you be able to turn against the one person whom you love and trust the most? 

     Overall I rated this book four stars out of five. This was an awesome, suspenseful read. It had me sitting on the edge of my seat to see where the story would go next. What made this book great and kind of scary was this story is so extremely realistic and I can see this story being played out in real life. This book covered so many current topics, and it had such strong character development. Actually it is one of those books that would be a great movie. The only thing negative I can say were that parts of it was a little too cheesy, for my liking. But I am very happy that I chose to read this book, as I enjoyed reading it from the beginning to end.

     I would like to thank Netgalley, Lynn Lipinski, and Majestic Content for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Until the next page,

Jill