Ooops! Been sort of a slacker!

It's been a while since I've reviewed and my list of books that I've read has grown. I've read Sh*t My Dad Says by Justin Halpern, A Witch in Time by Madelyn Alt, The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Rainwater by Sandra Brown, Wolfsbane & Mistletoe by a collective group of authors, and Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs. It is possible that there could be another one or possibly two but I'm not positive. Since it's been a while since I've read most of these books I'll just give little blurbs. Sh*t My Dad Says was an interesting book. I found the things that daddy Halpern said to fall into three categories; they are as follows: offensive, humorous, and useless. The offensive things I thought were arrogance and I think are what the show based on this book tries to feed off of. The humorous stuff had more to do with the "advise" he felt his sons needed. And the useless stuff I felt were more patronizing and the man just needed to say it to say it. I don't know that man but I think he and I wouldn't get along so well. I give kudos to Justin Halpern for writing the book, the amount of scrutiny he must of have gotten (not just from readers but from his dad as well) deserves the kudos. Plus the "life lessons" he got seemed to hit home in the end. The saying "the end justifies the means" holds true here. A Witch in Time felt like a bridge between books. Like Mrs. Alt had a plan and needed a connection. This was her means. I did like the extra development that you got to see in a few characters, it was a nice detour on the journey of this story. I can say that I am looking forward to reading the next book. Mrs. Alt does a fantastic job of hooking you for the next one. The Alchemist was a profound book. It is one of those books that makes you do the whole inner reflection thing. I do wish I would have read it during the summer months because it made me want to be outside and feel the wind on my face and wonder where that particular has traveled. Doing that sort of thing in the dead of winter is liable to get you chapped. It was a book that moved me. Rainwater is by far one of the best books I've ever read. It was bittersweet, had a strong independent woman in it (especially for the year it was set in), love, loss, and (my personal favorite) one heck of a twist. I cried at a certain part of the book. The passion and the longing in it were heartbreaking. And even though I already knew what was to come (because the problem is presented to you up front) you just couldn't take your eyes away from the pages. Best of all this book makes you wonder where people like that are, long for people like that in your life, and hope that the same types of people still exist for the sake of today's society. I loved this book and plan to return to it again someday. Wolfsbane & Mistletoe is a book that I just happened upon. It's one of those that I've had on a back shelf for a while and just came across it one day. It is one of those anthology books. It had some really good stories in it and some OK ones. It is one that should have been read around Christmas time though. I might have enjoyed it more. I was in the springtime good, winter bad sort of mood. So my opinion might be skewed, who knows? Silver Borne is a good book. The Mercy Thompson series is a series that I've fallen in love with. Mercy is just the the other half of her self (the coyote) always mischievous and always getting into trouble. I find this series refreshing because I'm moving away from the vampire-hype and the shifter style is enticing to me. These books are humorous, entertaining, and have some serious moments all their own. They are an all around good book and I can't wait to read the next book in the series. I'll try to keep up with my books a little bit better. I'm currently reading another book that I can relate to a popular TV series. As a little bit of intrigue... I'm reading The Lipstick Chronicles that remind me a lot of 'Sex and the City'. Enjoy!