Time Pullers (Book Review)

Title: Time Pullers
Author: Horton Deakins
Publisher: 4RV Publishing
Source: Bought

Goodreads Summary:
Time Pullers may forever change the way people think about UFOs, but here, readers will find no reference to alien craft of any kind.What do Napoleon Bonaparte, an Osage Indian dancing and singing to the stars on a lonely hill on a dark night, and a semi-trailer truck trying to run a gate on a US Air Force Base have in common? Only Time Pullers will tell.

Thoughts:
This book starts off very slowly and with a lot of technical physics words. In some ways this helps to make this science fiction idea seem more real, but it is a bit excessive at times. However, once I discovered that the story makes just as much sense if I simply skimmed over these sections instead of trying to read the whole thing, I began to really enjoy the story.
It is not the kind of novel that I usually enjoy: the story is more developed than the characters and I usually prefer the opposite tilt, but this story was so creative and engaging that I couldn't help but enjoy it.
The idea is very unique and is presented in a very realistic fashion. You really could almost imagine this story being true. 
The only major complaint I have, and I hate to say this because I know you should never judge a book by its cover, but the cover is horrible. Obviously, if you are reading this than you have already seen it. It looks to me as if a five-year-old did the design work. Unfortunately, in my opinion, this could really hurt the book as it is so intelligently written but you would never guess that from looking at it.
I would definitely recommend this book and suggest that if you are getting lost in the beginning, stick with it because it is definitely worth your time.

Rating: 3.5/5

Top Ten Tuesday: Halloween

Top Ten Books to Get in the Halloween Spirit

Goosebumps by R. L. Stine. 

(Come back on the 25th for the chance to win a Goosebumps book that I had personally signed by R. L. Stine)!

Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling.

Carrie by Stephen King

 

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwart

The Complete Tales and Poems by Edgar Allen Poe

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

The Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney

 

Wicked by Gregory Maguire

The Corridors of the Dead by Jonathan Allen

The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfield

Teaser Tuesday: Time Pullers by Horton Deakins

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

"Williams, how is it that you heard all this and I didn't?"

"Well, since you asked, maybe it's because I was paying attention to Mr. G, while you were concentrating on a certain someone."

Time Pullers by Horton Deakins

Wizards, Wardrobes and Wookies (Book Review)

 Title: Wizards, Wardrobes and Wookiees: Navigating Good and Evil in Harry Potter, Narnia and Star Wars
Author: Connie Neal
Publisher: IVP Books
Source: From author for review

Goodreads Summary:
Luke Skywalker. Lucy Pevensie. Harry Potter. For millions of children and adults alike, these names and stories are as familiar as those of close friends and family. We read and watch their adventures over and over again. We feel their fears and betrayals. We are inspired by their courage. And perhaps we wish we could live in their worlds, fight important battles and have our chance to become heroes.In these pages Connie Neal shows that we too--in our seemingly ordinary world--have a call on our life that's just as powerful, just as adventurous. While we won't run into Darth Vader or the White Witch on the street, we face villains as formidable as they. And though we don't have Obi Wan Kenobi or Dumbledore to mentor us, Wizards, Wardrobes and Wookiees reminds us of the Helper who teaches and guides as we walk through each day. By highlighting adventures from Star Wars, Narnia and Harry Potter, as well as true stories from Scripture and her own life, Neal shows us the way to victory over evil in the battles we face.This hope-filled, encouraging book takes us into mythical worlds we love in order to help us live wisely and well in our own so that our stories, in turn, can inspire all who see and hear.

Thoughts: 
This is an interesting book that brings together Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Harry Potter in order to talk about the Bible and the hero journey in our own lives. I was definitely skeptical going into it because so much as already been said about Harry Potter and the hero's journey as well as Harry Potter and Christianity. (I know the same is true for Star Wars and Narnia as well but I haven't personally read anything like that about these works before). However I think that this book has a very good take on the subject.
There are a few things that bothered me a bit about this book. The first is that there are a few times when the author compares being a Democrat to being evil. Now, I certainly think that there are plenty of relevant topics if you want to compare these works to politics. But the author states that not believing in the non-existent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and not believing that Voldemort had returned to power are the same and that that implies that those who didn't think we should have gone to war in Iraq are sinners. That argument doesn't follow.
There are also quite a few inaccuracies in the book. There are many little things I noticed about Harry Potter specifically, but as I know more details to Harry Potter than the average person, I was able to over look most of these since they didn't take away from the message of the work. There were some time-related discrepancies that did bother me. For example, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets can't be a reflection of life after September 11, 2001 because it was published well before then.
Having said all that, I think this book did a very good job of making the Bible more exciting and interesting by relating it well to pop culture. And as this is the main aim of the book, I would say that overall this book is a great success.

Rating: 4/5

Reviewers Wanted: Influenster

A friend of mine recently told me about this really cool site that allows good reviewers to try out a bunch of really cool products and share their reviews with others. Since I know many of you who read this blog love to review, I thought I would let you know about it. It's called Influenster. It's become really popular and is now invite only. I still have a few invites left if you're interested! Just send me an e-mail at katherinehschneider at gmail dot com.

(Note: I am not being compensated for this post, I just thought I would share this cool site)

Schooled (Book Review)

Title: Schooled
Author: Tali Nay
Publisher: Corner Chapter Press
Source: From author for review

Goodreads Summary:
"Do you have to have sex to have a baby?" It's a question that ten-year-old Tali Nay asked the office assistant at her elementary school after the woman had done her best to explain how it all happened to a roomful of confused girls. Or maybe Tali was the only one who was confused. It's entirely possible, for if there's anything she knew at this point in her schooling, it was that she—without fail—was the last to know about anything interesting. Take her first day of kindergarten, where it turned out that every other kid already knew which letters were the vowels. Her first lesson as a student was consequently one of humiliation, and her second—only slightly less important—was that puking in a classroom tends to start a chain reaction. A refreshingly honest deep-dive into what we actually take away from a public education, this hilarious and heartfelt memoir captures the things we learn in school that are never part of any lesson plan yet somehow have the biggest impact upon the shaping of our perceptions over the years we spend in a classroom. Things like competition, failure, scandal, popularity, disillusionment, triumph, guilt, and, of course, throwing up in public. From the glorious to the gloriously awkward, this everyman tale is a story of growing up, one semester at a time.

My Thoughts:
Warning: Mild Spoilers
I really struggled coming up with a rating for this book. In some ways, I really loved this book and in some ways, I just couldn't stand it. I'll start with the good points. Tali Nay is a very talented writer and I really loved her writing style and it kept me wanting to read more. I would definitely buy any other book she wrote. Her writing is funny and fun and very enjoyable to read. Each little story was worth reading and helped to add bit by bit to the story and I really liked the structure of the novel.
However, I didn't much care for the story itself. While often describing her life in words like tragic, humiliating, and unpopular, it's kind of hard to hear these words describing a schooling which I can only think of as just about perfect. As the valedictorian, prize-winning writer, lead actress, lead singer, prom queen, and class officer who is almost angelically perfect and naive, I really fail to view her life as anything close to tragic. I just got frustrated listening to the complaints for a student who really couldn't have asked for much more.

Rating: 3/5

Menthol Kisses (Book Review)

Title: Menthol Kisses
Author: Abby Stewart
Publisher: Self-Published
Source: From Author for Review

Goodreads Summary:
When Logan’s sister, and closest confidant, moves off to college, Logan must get used to her new life. A solitary high school student in a small town, Logan embarks on a journey to follow in her sister’s footsteps and do something that will allow her to escape, forever. 

Logan’s new friends bring weekends of alcohol and drug fueled pasture parties -- but friendship turns to betrayal when Logan is raped by a boy she trusts. Lost and desperate, she seeks comfort in drugs. Logan struggles with her faltering friendships, alcoholic father, and complicated feelings for an older guy who promises her the world. As Logan loses herself in a false reality, her escape from small town life becomes less and less likely. 

Menthol Kisses’ sweepingly dramatic plot will remind us of the human capacity for redemption, forgiveness, and our persistent will to live. 

My Thoughts:
I couldn't put this book down. I have been so busy this week but I have been squeezing in reading time everywhere to make room for this book. It's a fantastic read. The characters in this book feel so real and the pain that Logan goes through becomes very tangible. She is terrific character; perfectly flawed and searching for a better life that she doesn't know how to find. It's a dark story but one that shows how people are capable of overcoming so much. I highly recommend this book.

Rating: 5/5