Seeds of Turmoil by Bryant Wright

Wow, I have not been on in about a month. I feel terrible. I have to do a lot better.

I do not normally read non-fiction books. There is just something about them that I do not like. But I choose to read this book because it had an interesting premise, and overall I enjoyed reading it.

Seeds of Turmoil begin with an account of the biblical history of Abraham, his wife Sarah, and Sarah’s maid Hagar. God promised Abraham and Sarah a child, and when it appeared to be taking too long, Sarah suggested Abraham have a child with Hagar in order to help God along. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael, then, after 13 years, Sarah gave birth to Isaac. From Isaac came the Jewish religion, and from Ishmael came Islam. The book explains the relationship between these two religions and the efforts the Jewish had (and still do) to be able to live in Israel.

As mentioned before, I do not normally enjoy reading fiction books, but this one I liked. The book is a quick read, but the problem I had is it is somewhat repetitive. For example, the author writes about Sarah suggesting to Abraham to have a child with her maid Hagar. The author tells the same story from each point of view (Abraham’s, Sarah’s and Hagar’s). Doing this in various ways throughout the book made me feel like I was reading the same thing over and over again. I believe that if the repetition was cut out, the book would be about 25% smaller. But overall, this book was very informative. I thought I knew the story of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael, but I was wrong. In reading this book, it makes me believe even more that God has a plan for all of us, and all we need is to believe in Him and be patient and we will see our reward.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Falling Away by T.L. Hines

Dylan Runs Ahead, a painkiller addicted Iraq war veteran from the Apsáalooke tribe, and his white friend Webb are on the run after a drug deal gone bad in the frozen countryside of Montana. Dylan is haunted by the memories of his life in Iraq and of his missing sister Joni, blaming himself for her being gone. Following Dylan and Webb is Quinn, a young woman with many problems of her own. She is part of the Falling Away, a organization charged to monitor various cults and to make sure certain individuals do not become part of the cults. Dylan is one of those certain individuals, on the radar of the HIVE, a seemingly eco friendly organization whose leader, Li, has an infecting personality on those around him. Dylan and Webb end up hiding out in the HIVE and Quinn is determined to break them out. Unfortunately, Li does not want to give Dylan up so easily.


This book was a great read, it had the right amount of thrill and supernatural in it without being too over the top. The writing style and the suspense made me read it in one sitting, I had to keep turning the pages to see what would happen next. This is the first book I read from T.L. Hines and now, I want to buy all his other books to read. His development of the characters makes you care about some, and hate others. The writing style is just how I like it, not overly descriptive but enough that you can imagine in your mind exactly what is happening. I would recommend this story to others, and I would hope a sequel would come out soon. The ending is ok, but I would like to see what happens next.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Stealing Carmen by Gail Faulkner

Once again, not exactly a book review, this one is more of a novella, and I absolutely loved it!!

Jack has the type of job where, if he he told you what he did, he would have to kill you. He lives in a duplex with the other tenant being Carmen, a sweet, "sensible" woman who works in a hospital and is also a reviewer of BDSM books for an online company. For two years, the only conversations they have had were hellos and goodbyes, but Jack and Carmen have been wanting more from each other. After accidentally overhearing a conversation between Carmen and her friend, Jack decides he should be the one to be her dominant. She accepts his invitation and they are together for a very short while before Jack is called away on another dangerous mission. When he comes back home, how much will Carmen have changed, and will she say "peach?"

This was an excellent story, my first reading from Gail Faulkner. While it has some BDSM elements in it, readers should not be worried that they will read any disturbing or humiliating scenes. Jack, while still being a strong dominant, is very patient and careful with Carmen, who is a very willing learner. It you enjoy reading erotica and romance, you will love this story. Plus, the last few pages with the 2 dogs will leave you with a smile on your face.

Click the picture to buy as an ebook from Amazon.com.

The Goodbye by Jan Gordon

My first book review. Actually, not a book, but a free short story I had read a few weeks ago. I had downloaded it to my phone, with the intent to read quickly and then erase. But after reading, I knew I could not delete it, because I would want to read it again and again.

As I said, a short story about the connection between a loving wife and her husband, a brave soldier in some current unnamed war, who keeps going when it would be so easy to give up, in order to make it back home. I suggest reading it, then say a prayer for all the soldiers who are away from home to make it back safely.

You can read it here for free from Feedbooks.com.

The Goodbye by Jan Gordon

My first post

My first post...as you can tell by the title, this will be my little blog about books and short stories that I have read. Well, mostly books, I might deviate and add something about music, food, or sports, but not very much. I love reading, my taste in books runs from young adult, mystery, adventure, horror, and paranormal romance to odd, weird stuff that make you wonder what was going through the author's brain at the time.

My goals with this blog? I am not sure, I do not mind if anyone reads it, but I hope they do. I hope to get a few comments and recommendations on books to read, and I hope that someone gets an idea from me. I hope to post at least once a week, but we will see how it goes.

Bye for now!!