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Only You

Book Review of Only You, by Cheryl Holt

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Only YouI won a signed copy of Only You, by Cheryl Holt, through Night Owl Reviews.

Description from Goodreads:
Lady Theodosia Postlewaite, known as Theo to her family and friends, has always had the worst luck. On the night her betrothal was to be announced, she was unwittingly caught in a compromising situation. With her engagement ended and her reputation in tatters, her incensed father demands she flee the gossip by accompanying her dour, grumpy aunt on a sightseeing trip to Egypt. Theo reluctantly agrees, and she’s determined to spend the months abroad proving she possesses the highest moral character. Most especially, she vows to never so much as speak to a handsome man ever again.

Soloman Grey has lived in Egypt for the past decade. His own scandal chased him out of London, and he’s built a new life for himself as an adventurer and explorer. Because of the gossip that ruined him, he doesn’t trust anyone, and he constantly vows that he’ll never so much as glance at a pretty woman ever again.

But when Soloman meets Theo, he’s dragged into her world in a dozen ways he never intended. She’s beautiful, funny, and lonely, and he can’t resist. Yet, he’s the bastard son of an earl, so he could never be worthy of her. When her relatives would do anything to keep them apart, dare he risk all to have her for his very own?

Review:
Gosh, I try so hard to like this sort of book. I really do. I really want to. But, while this was a fine book, it certainly didn’t light my fire. Victorian romances (yes, despite that deceptive cover it is a Victorian romance) just so often include things that annoy me and I don’t just mean because of the supposed conservatism of the time. But the common elements of the books (I’m trying not to say tropes, because i’m not really talking tropes) frequently annoy me.

One of the big one revolves around the sex scenes. Two things I strongly dislike in a sex scene: the idea that a woman’s vagina is a button and a man just has to touch it once and, click, she’ll orgasim. This especially enrages me when dealing with virgins. And two, the innocent little wide-eyed virgin that orgasims (usually at a simple touch) who then has to ask, “What was that?” “What’s happening to my body?” Gah, I hate this so much, I just can’t tell you how much! And these sorts of books always seem to have this scene, this one included. It’s the whole representation of women, their bodies and their sexuality that makes me want to kick a puppy or something.

Similarly, so often these sorts of books, this one included, always have to girl putting herself out there and the man never emotionally reaching for her (often ‘for her own good). This one felt especially egregious in this department to me. Theo spent the whole book informing Soloman that he’s a good man and she wanted him. Then we had the obligatory separation and she suffered horribly. But when he decided he wanted her again, he came to her and forced her to expose all her vulnerabilities and tell him she wanted him before he’d say he wanted her. I never felt that he was contrite over his behavior and he was never in an emotionally vulnerable position for her, that was ALWAYS her place.

The writing itself is fine. There was a tendency to repeat phrases. Several times men ‘sat back grinning and preening.’ People had a tendency to grab one another and then be ‘kissing and kissing.’ I also felt a little of the language was anachronistic, but it was more an over all impression than anything specific. Did woman say butt out in Victorian times? Maybe they did, but the bold way women spoke in general sometimes didn’t feel right to me. But overall the writing was fine. There’s some amusing banter between Theo and Soloman (though not always believable). It’s not a bad book and if such books didn’t annoy me in general, no matter how often I give them another try, I might have liked it more. As it was I’m barely keeping my rating about the centre mark.
Cheryl Holt signature

What I’m drinking: Beef sipping broth from Boylard’s Meat & Provisions. It’s delicious; flavored with ginger, kaffir lime & lemongrass. I gotta have it extra hot though!

DYSCONNECTED

Book Review of Dysconnected, by Anton Scamvougeras

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Dysconnected

I won a copy of Dysconnected, by Anton Scamvougeras through Goodreads.

Description:

Isolated By Our Mobile Devices’ features striking images alongside thought provoking quotes that together encourage us to be mindful of the ways in which our mobile devices are changing our lives.

We all know how useful, powerful, and delightful our cell phones or tablets can be, but a growing number of us also have a sense that there’s something potentially disturbing about the way they have so rapidly taken up such a large and central space in our lives. Smartphones have been shown to interfere with our ability to concentrate on a lecture, drive a car, empathize with a stranger, respond to a family member, or get a good night’s sleep.

Are we losing the capacity for quiet solitude? Are we filling all previously-empty spaces in our days with electronic ‘busy-ness’? Have online ‘friends’ taken the place of the other sort? Have second lives replaced our first? And, if this is the case, should it be cause for any concern?

‘Dysconnected’ is a series of over 75 striking pen and ink illustrations depicting humans isolated by their personal technology. Accompanying quotes, opinions, ideas, and facts all encourage reflection.

The book also includes two dense pages of ‘Phone Facts’. The images show the effects that mobile devices are having on friendships, couples, families, work, play, study, life, and our capacity for solitude. In all, a thought provoking visual essay with brief passages of interwoven text. Designed to be read through, or dipped into time and again.

Review:

I have to admit I’m not all together sure how one goes about reviewing a socially commentative art book. But I’m gonna give it a go. I read this in one sitting and it took half an hour or so. I could have read it faster, but I pondered over some of the pictures. They are a collection of familiar scene, some from real life, some from famous art pieces. All altered to highlight the isolating tendencies of modern mobile technologies. The image on the cover is pretty indicative of what you’ll find inside, just loosely drawn images instead of a photographed backdrop.

Honestly,  I didn’t find anything new or exciting in this. I’ve seen several artist address this subject in much the same manner recently. But is was thought provoking to see it collated in an actual book and I think it’s a great conversation starter. I’ve left out on the coffee table and several people have flipped through it.

It’s also probably worth noting that while I read it, both of my children were playing on their tablets and I received a text from my husband that I put the book down and checked. So, there are real, relatable points to be made around human technology usage.

What I’m drinking:  Oh, this is a bit embarrassing, but it’s Bota Box red wine, from Costco.

The One We Feed

Book Review of The One We Feed (The Apocalyptic Series #2), by Kristina Meister

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The One We Feed

I won a copy of Kristina Meister‘s The One We Feed through Library Thing. I read/reviewed book one in the series, Craving, here.

Description from Goodreads:
After the bizarre suicide of her sister, Lilith Pierce discovered that the world was full of dangers and villains she could not have imagined, and that the history of human civilization was far from complete. Now, gifted with tremendous powers she barely understands, Lilith is determined to stop whatever plots and schemes her immortal cousins, the Sangha, can hatch. When a simple reconnaissance mission ends in tragedy; however, Lilith’s entire focus changes.

Attempting to save a child she’s never met from a fate worse than death will require every ounce of Lilith’s strength, forge new and treacherous alliances, and possibly change the world forever. Suddenly all eyes are on her, and the destiny of the human race is on her shoulders.

Review:
While I enjoyed the humor, the geekery and the actual writing, and I really do think it presents a thought provoking  philosophy, I was generally disappointed in this book. The reason for this actually started in book one, with the too perfect heroine. It only gets worse here. Essentially, Lilith is indestructible and she knows it. So, there is no challenge to her from anyone, which means no challenge to the reader. This whole book is her wandering around making witty quips, teasing Jinx (who I adore), and almost lazily figuring a thing or two out. Oh sure, there are some fight scenes, but she’s faster, stronger, smarter, more invisible, more skilled, etc than any of her opponents, so the result is a foregone conclusion and comes far too quickly. It’s dull, no matter how much action is happening.

The book also falls into what I consider a tempting trap when dealing with immortality. All of a sudden, almost everyone Lilith meets is a famous historical character. All the billions of people who have lived throughout history and the immortals happen to be ones we’d have heard of?

The book is worth reading to engage the Buddhist (and such) arguments, but it doesn’t have quite the flare and appeal as the first book, in my opinion.

What I’m drinking: It’s a bit of a bastardized, homemade version of Turmeric Tea, sometimes called Golden Milk. Here is some information and a recipe from Health Ambition. It’s not exactly the one I used, as I didn’t actually use a recipe and, I didn’t have coconut milk, so I used unsweetened almond milk. But hey, it was still good and good for me, worth checking out.