Review--Elixir by Ted Galdi

Elixir by Ted Galdi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What is 5+2? How about 5x2? Those are easy right? What about 456328x22? Not so easy without a pen and paper or a calculator. For Sean Malone, these answers come to him very easily. At age 11 he was a Jeopardy champion. Now at age 14 he's a sophomore at Southern California Technical University and working on a project that no one has been able to figure out. The problem of the traveling salesman. When Sean does solve the problem, not only is his professor impressed. So are the head of the NSA, Secretary of Defense and the FBI. Sean didn't know that by solving this simple problem he also found a way into everything.

This debut novel from Ted Galdi is an exciting look into the mind of geniuses. Sometimes being the smartest one in the room isn't always the greatest thing. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I couldn't wait to pick it up everyday and find out what was going to happen next. There are a few thrilling moments in the book where you are on the edge of your seat. You are always rooting for Sean though throughout it's entirety. This book spans Sean's life from age 14 on with glimpses into his life before. You meet his friends and family and he becomes someone you want to know. Are there people like Sean in the world today who can come up with fascinating ideas that can change the world?

I'm afraid if I speak on this book too much I will give away the whole thing. All I can say is that you have to pick it up and give it a try for yourself.

**I was given this book by the author for free in exchange for my honest review.**

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Review--Ruby by Cynthia Bond

Ruby by Cynthia Bond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ruby Bell lives in the town of Liberty in East Texas. She was one of the most beautiful women in the town.   Liberty is the town she grew up in and ran away from in search of her mother in New York City.  When news of the death of her best friend reaches her, she decides to return to Liberty, but the things that await her there are very dark and menacing.
Ephram Jennings lost both his mother and father at a young age and was raised by his sister Celia.  Celia takes great care of Ephram and together they attend church every Sunday and are a pillar in the community.
Ephram has known Ruby Bell since they were small children, although his interaction with her has been very limited.  When she returns to Liberty Ephram would like to change that.  But Ruby Bell is no longer the same woman who returned to Liberty.  Frequently she can be found huggin the chinaberry tree on the edge of the woods near her home(Bell Land), she is often naked, or barely dressed and once even urinated in the middle of the street.  Everyone in Liberty knows that Ruby Bell is a harlot and a Jezebel.  Ephram refuses to believe that this is true and makes it his mission to prove this to the entire town.

Religion plays a big part in this book which really spoke to me.  We as Christians are taught to love one another and treat each other the way Jesus treated the world, with kindness and compassion.  It always gets to me how tolerance and love become an issue when trying to help those who are different. Ruby is plagued by demons in this book and the town shuns and rapes her for this. They call her crazy and when Ephram goes to her to help her be the woman HE knows she can be, he is looked down upon by the entire town and especially by his sister Celia.  Ephram wants to understand the demons in Ruby and he never judges her for her "crazy" ways, but tries to comprehend what she is going through.

This story really touched my heart.  We all need to do what we can for each other especially in the African American community.  We tend to shun away from each other instead of embracing one another.  I loved the way that Ephram went to Ruby despite what the rest of the town thought.  How he stood by her side no matter what.  This book could teach us all a lesson.

**I received this book for free from Blogging for Books in exchange for my review.**

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Reading at the Beach!!

It has always been my dream to sit back in a lounge chair on the beach and enjoy a good book.  And this summer this dream came true, sort of.

 While my kids are old enough for me not to keep an eye on them every second, I do have to keep one on them every other second.  I will say that over the course of 5 days I was able to read 100 pages in this book.  But having to watch kids do tricks or be brave enough to walk into the ocean, took my attention away a lot more.

So now that I am home from vacation and my dreams are thwarted for yet another year, what have I learned?  One day I will be able to peacefully lounge in that beach chair and read uninterrupted for at least one whole hour.  Today the joy of seeing my kids play in the ocean and be brave enough to do it without holding my hand is much better than any book I will read in any lounge chair on any beach!!

Happy reading my friends!!

I WON! I WON! I Think....

So the other day, I took my kids to the library to play in the Discovery Room that they have and to pick out a few(30) new books for the next couple of weeks.  So while the kids were playing, I was out browsing the new releases.  The librarian approached me and told me about an Adult Summer Reading Drawing that they were having.  I just had to enter my name and email address and I would be entered to win some books.  I glanced at the titles only briefly and decided that it didn't really matter what the titles were.  First of all, chances are I'm not going to win, and secondly FREE BOOKS!! Does it really matter what the titles were.

A couple of days later, I got an email from the librarian letting me know that I had won the drawing.  I was so excited.  I like winning free books!! Then I remembered I'm excited, but I really don't know what I'm excited about.  I asked her if she could let me know the titles that were a part of the drawing.  I wasn't going to be able to pick them up until after the 4th of July holiday since the library was closed for the whole weekend.  So, these are the titles that were included in the drawing:

Les Brown, Live Your Dreams -- published 1992
Russell Simmons, Def Poetry Jam on Broadway -- published 2003
Nene Leakes, Never Make the Same Mistake Twice --published 2009
Eric Jerome Dickey, Between Lovers -- published 2001
Sharon Mitchell, Near Perfect --published 2001
Barry Lee Pearson, Jook Right On -- published 2005
Angie Daniels, Trouble Loves Company -- published 2007

Now, while I am grateful for the win, I would hope that for a summer reading drawing:

1. The books would be summer related  OR
2. The books would be on a summer reading list  OR
3. The books would be current or recent 

I will enjoy my books that is for sure, but I'm not rushing to go and pick them up!!

Review--The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Husband's Secret focuses on three main characters.  Cecelia Fitzpatrick, married to John-Paul with three beautiful daughters.  Tess O'Leary who owns a business with her husband, Will and cousin, Felicity and has a son, Liam. And Rachel Crowley, who is still mourning the death of her daughter nearly 30 years after the fact.  How do these women's lives intersect, well....Cecelia finds a letter from her husband, not to be opened until his death...she opens it anyway.  Tess finds out that her husband and cousin(yes her business partners) have fallen in love with each other.  So she takes her son and heads to Sydney and enrolls him in the school which, Rachel Crowley is the secretary and Cecelia is the mother all other mothers love and hate.

The news Cecelia finds in the letter, the thoughts Rachel has about her daughters killer, and the actions Tess take after leaving her husband would make for one exciting story.

I'm afraid this story feel short of the exciting mark.  When I first picked it up and started reading, I was dying to find out what was in the letter, but I would have to wait for that.  Once the secret was out, I wanted to know what was going to happen next, with everyone's story.  But the excitement wasn't there.  This wasn't a book, that I had to hurry to get back to, which was very disappointing.  I couldn't abandon the book, though because I had to know.

Would Rachel find her daughter's killer? Would Cecelia be able to live with her husband's secret? Would Tess and Will be able to work through their marriage?  But getting those answers was not page turning and gripping.

I gave the book three stars because the whole premise behind the book was good, I enjoyed the story as a whole, but there was too much in between the good parts. Don't tell me about a secret letter at the beginning of the story and take three days to tell me what was in it....it's not fair.  And what was happening in those three days was not exciting enough to make me wait.  The moments just before the opening were the most thrilling.

Don't know if I will read more from Ms. Moriarty or not.


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