Big fan of all things Veggie Tales and this is no exception. Super cute stuff for your littles.

Unless you have nothing left on the planet to read, skip this one. Ridiculously sappy of the "I caught my heel and twisted my ankle while running from the meanie" variety. There's a little boy of indeterminate age in the cast who only appears at random moments -- where is he the rest of the time? No mention of being in school, and there's no one else to take care of him all day, but he's necessary to "solve the mystery" at the ridiculously silly ending of the ridiculously silly book. Another few hours I'll never get back.

"So cute, as are all the Veggie Tales Books". I will be getting more from the series for the 3-year-old grandson.

Nice, short prayers for a myriad of situations dads might find themselves in. And if you aren't in that situation at the moment, it's a good time to say that prayer for someone you know, who IS!

Adorable characters, nice artwork, cute story for all of us of any age, who have any level of anxiety about the unknown. (Seriously, who doesn't?) We'll see if the 3-yo grand agrees.
I received this book from LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Can't open the book. If it were a Kindle format, maybe, but since it's an ePub, I can't access it. Maybe I'll find it at the public library eventually.

Can't open the book. If it were a Kindle format, maybe, but since it's an ePub, I can't access it. Maybe I'll find it at the public library eventually.

I was never able to review this on LT no matter how many times I tried. Apparently the recent changes have enabled me to access the book. It's been too long for me to actually remember anything about it.

This one didn't really grab me, but I'm an adult, so we'll see how the grandson takes to it.

I have an obsessive love of this author's first 3 Chris Cherry books, and his next one, "Lost River" which sadly did not involve Chris Cherry, but was still a good read. I knew going in that "The Flock" was going to be a complete departure from those books, but I thought, what the heck--his other books have been total winners, so I'll give it a try. I'm not sure what the deal is with my favorite authors deciding to go down the supernatural road--with Craig Johnson and James Lee Burke, I assume maybe after decades, they have finally exhausted all their plot ideas and going supernatural is their escape route. It's hard to imagine that Mr. Scott has run out of ideas after only 4 published books, so I can't imagine why he chose to go with this hallucinogenic story. I trudged through to the end, despite my misgivings, and was rewarded with the realization that I had wasted several hours I'll never get back. I HATE giving him a negative review, but this one is just not for me.

Much worse than the Covid pandemic is the pandemic of absent fathers. The destruction that ensues cannot be measured. And clearly it doesn't only affect the fatherless thug gang-bangers, it destroys the daughters' lives as well.

Kaufman stole the story line from "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" and definitely did not improve on it. Dialog of the characters was unnatural, the main character extremely unlikable. Couple that with the fact that I already knew where it was headed and I'll just say the only reason I slogged through it to the conclusion was to confirm my suspicion. Won't be reading any more from this author.

I just realized that I never wrote the review requested by LibraryThing in return for receiving a free copy of this book. And since I deleted it, and now can't recall much about it, I guess that about says it. I do remember the reason I deleted it was that it was not especially uplifting or humorous, and honestly as a seasoned citizen myself, I don't generally seek out gloomy outlooks to aging. :-)

Not impressed. When you write a supernatural mystery/thriller, you aren't required to make it logical. Or provide explanations. Or an ending..."cliffhangers" are just a cheesy attempt to pre-sell the next book while not having to come up with an ending for this one. I am a dyed-in-the-wool rabid Longmire fan, but I would never recommend this one. I gave it an extra half-star just for previous work.

I loved this book! Adorable critters worry about how to best prepare for God's visit, only to realize at the end of the day that He has been with them all along.

A real hot mess. So many characters, all with their own unexplained backstories. Unrealistic events. A conglomeration of characters with various "special" abilities all just happen to be trapped in a farmhouse while the bad guy takes random potshots at them from the woods. But not really trapped, since even though they are shot at when they exit the back door to let the dog out, they can come and go to get groceries, and the local doctor can come and go at will to treat their various injuries etc. Not a series I'm inspired to follow.

Not sure exactly what I expected, but this was not it. Physically, it is a lovely book. I was just expecting a bit more from the story.

This may not be the worst waste of time ever, but it's perilously close. Nothing about it makes any sense under even the smallest amount of scrutiny. The main character has zero redeeming traits. She's supposed to be a Detective, but if there is even the most rudimentary psych eval prior to hiring, this gal would have never made it through the front door. And just to rub salt in the wound, the epilogue (yes, I did actually read it to the end) concludes with some shadowy mystery character stalking her. It's bad. Truly bad. You've been warned.

SPOILER AHEAD: I can't believe I wasted hours of my life reading this tripe! The male half of the detective team is the narrator and about as big a wimpy and whiny drama queen as you could ever imagine (re-reading my review of her other book, apparently this is all I can expect, so I doubt I'll make the mistake of getting another one) There is a murder to be solved--that of a 12-year-old ballet prodigy. But the whole basis of the book begins with three 12-year-old best friends going into the woods and only one returning, nearly catatonic, covered in someone else's blood, and (of course!) with no memory of what happened. This little survivor grows up to be the sad-sack detective who is investigating the recent murder that happened in the same woods. There is some occasional mention of a mythical "bogeyman" type monster that lives in the woods, and periodically this miserable detective imagines he sees creepy slithery things from the corner of his eye, that of course no one else can see.
***SPOILER***
And guess what! The entire premise that the book is based on? Yeah, never gets an answer. The kids' bodies are never found, the woods are razed to make way for a highway and no dark creepy howling "things" are unearthed. The detective is punished for his stupidity in handling the case, he thinks he might be in love with his (now former) partner, but she WISELY has married another detective instead. What a miserable sack. I can only assume that in the British Isles, wimpy whiny show more helplessness is admired in both male and female protagonists, because it happens too often to be a coincidence. Awful book. Criminal waste of my time. Two stars is generous. show less

I've tried to formulate a review for this book, but my thoughts on it would just go on and on. So much to address. But I'm going to distill it down to one thing:

This is a book that needs -- NEEDS to be read by parents or who may become parents. And not just parents of boys. The message here is that God gave you children to protect. Your job as a parent is to protect your children, even when they might not agree with you. You don't let them play in the middle of the freeway just because they think it would be fun. You don't let them jump off a bridge onto the rocks because they don't understand the concept of paralysis or death. You don't give your 8-year-old a pack of cigarettes, light them up for him and follow it up with a tumbler of Scotch so he can show you how tough he is, or just because it's something YOU enjoy! When your 8-year-old tells you he wants to play football, and all his friends are playing...if you think it's dangerous and a bad idea, stand up and be a parent! It's your job! You might be right. You might be wrong. But either way, we don't let children make life-altering decisions for themselves, because they don't have the judgment or the experience to make them wisely. This is not a difficult concept, people.

After Zac's brain damage and suicide, the second most tragic thing about this story is that the adults lived it (or more accurately, ignored it), and yet here is what the author says about Zac's father, football coach Myles Easter:
" 'They're show more trying to make a sissy game out of football.' Even after all he'd been through, that's still how Myles Easter ultimately felt about his beloved game of football. All these new rules were weakening the sport. He missed the old days. More accurately, he missed the naive days, when you could play football and coach football and watch football without knowing exactly what those hits to the head were doing to the players' brains." I'm sorry--isn't your ignorance exactly why your son is dead today? And you think that was a good thing?

I cant even. show less

Okay. This is my "jump the shark" Memory Man book. Reading back over my previous reviews I can see that I was not all that impressed, but could get through them. This one is just plain awful. Decker is pretty much an empty suit, Will Robie and his partner swoop in from their separate series and essentially kick butt and take names, blow up everything in sight and kill bad guys by the dozens every time Decker gets himself in trouble. Robie is basically 007, MacGyver, and Rambo all in one. When they get captured by the last remaining bad guy and chained in the basement (who knows why), Robie has lock picks in his belt and plastic explosives and detonators in the heel of his shoe. Groan. And don't get me started on Decker's -- sidekick? Partner? Her only contribution to the story is to tag around after him like a 4-year-old tugging on his shirttail saying Why are we going here? Why are we talking to them? What are we doing this for? Oh you're so difficult, Amos! Gag me!!!!! This is the last Memory Man book I will ever read. I really had to force myself to grind through it--it was torture. I should have quit the first or second time I wanted to.

This one just wasn't for me. I couldn't get even slightly interested in the jumpy style, her vivid descriptions followed immediately by the statement that none of it ever actually happened. What? I truly hope the author feels better after writing this book because it appears that this was its main goal.

I live in the area in which this story is set, so I was eager to see if it actually bore any relation to this part of Texas ( I HATE it when clueless authors decide to set their novels in Texas and then have the characters start from the Rio Grande, have lunch with a friend in Dallas, and be back home in time for dinner...seriously...have they ever looked at a map? But I digress).

We start right off the bat with SAPD Detective Alvarez investigating a string of burglaries in Leon Valley. Which wouldn't be a problem except that Leon Valley is a real place, and it is its own city, with its own Police Department. SAPD would not be called to investigate burglaries in another town. Strike One.

Then Alvarez mentions several times that her dad died right before her "Quinceañero". Which would be fine if she were a boy, but since she isn't, and since much is made of her hispanic family, you would expect her to know that her celebration is called a "Quinceañera". Strike Two. This was not an auspicious beginning.

HOWEVER, I kept reading, and I'm so glad I did! This was a really good story, likable, believable characters, and no foul language in every sentence. (I'm not offended by foul language, but it IS extra refreshing to find a book that is every bit as engaging without resorting to the easy literary crutch of nasty speech.) I enjoyed the teamwork in the investigation that allowed each of the characters to participate in trying to work out the pieces of the puzzle.

There is a show more teaser after the end of "Collision" that begins with Detective Alvarez's first case after being transferred to Homicide -- I can't wait until it comes out!!! show less

Not a single likeable person among any of the main characters. The one nice guy gets killed, setting the basis for the entire story. His younger cousin is the second-best person but he barely makes an appearance so... The 3 women are a bunch of psycho morons who are supposed to be sooo brilliant and drop-dead gorgeous, but with no discernible moral code. Kate was the personification of just an evil slut. Every male (and actually her 2 roommates too) who sets eyes on her is instantly and permanently obsessed with her. Literally. It's ridiculous. I finished it because I was curious about what happened to her, but I pretty much hated everyone, so whoever was found to be responsible for the opening chapter mystery wouldn't hurt my feelings one little bit. (PS: Just read the LibraryThing reviews--apparently I'm not alone)

Beautiful book! Gorgeous mouth-watering photos! Truthfully, I haven't yet made any of the dishes, but I've read it cover to cover, and it all sounds delicious. I've been fixing grain-free, gluten-free meals for quite a while now, and these recipes seem to be some of the very best, simplest to make, and "real food", that real families would enjoy. There are Instant-Pot dishes, slow cooker dishes, stove-top, oven, and outdoor grilling dishes. I can't imagine not being able to find a whole list of things to love in this book. I plan to get her original book too, now that I've seen the recipes in this one. Thank you, LibraryThing for a free copy!

This could have been a fabulous book--it seemed to start out that way until I kept tripping over typos and mistakes. At only 1/3 of the way into reading through it, I got to the Gyros recipe where the directions said to mix the PORK with the onions, and the ingredients only listed LAMB. I threw in the towel. I couldn't trust any of the recipes -- who could tell if there were less obvious screw-ups (until you tried and discovered it tasted awful)?

I received this ARC from LibraryThing Early Reviewers, so I felt obligated to actually read it before I reviewed it. Oh my word, this one really scores at the top of the "eye-roll scale". I should investigate more thoroughly in the future to ensure that I stay far away from these "psychological thriller" things about British women. And before any actual "real" British women get insulted, I don't know any of you personally, but I'm going to bet none of you are actually as pathetic, weak and wimpy as the fictional ones. The characters were beyond unlikable, with the exception of the little girl. The conclusion was off-the-charts ridiculous, so if anyone reads this while they're still in the middle of the book, and you're wondering if you should continue in the hope there will be a payoff in the end -- just close the book now and walk away -- you won't be sorry.

Multiple timelines and a lot of characters and names that you need to work to keep organized in your mind. I guess I haven't been in the right mood to really tackle it whole-heartedly--I should definitely pick it up and give it another go. I received this book as a LibraryThing Early Reviewers advanced copy.

I gave "Dark Matter" 4-1/2 stars because it played with the question about the many ways your life could have been different had you made different decisions along the way. This one is kinda like it, but with no existential questions accompanying it. Hoping to help Alzheimer's patients such as her mother, a scientist invents a method to capture a person's memories and reinsert the person back in time, into that memory, where they can relive their life from that point, and change the things they did wrong. Spoiler: it did not go well.

Really? Seriously?? A long involved courtroom drama centered around the trial of a 16-year-old accused of murdering his father, with his bio-mom and step-mom (sisters, by the way) doing whatever it takes to see that he is not convicted. And then I get to the end to find who the real murderer is and all I can think is "this does not compute". I guess as long as you don't stop to think too hard about that, it's a fair run-of-the-mill family drama/thriller. And the shenanigans the sisters indulge in after the trial pretty much answer the question of which is "the better sister". Answer: Neither