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Felicia J. (FeliciaJ) - Reviews

1 to 20 of 137 - Page:
The Austere Academy (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Bk 5)
Review Date: 3/16/2006
Helpful Score: 4


Another fun episode in the lives of the unlucky Baudelaire orphans (fun for the reader, but not for the protagonists). Violet, Klaus and Sunny wind up (naturally) at the world's worst boarding school.

The plots of these books are pretty predictable, but I love the wordplay. I laughed out loud several times while reading this one.


The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Bk 1)
The Bad Beginning (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Bk 1)
Author: Lemony Snicket
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 590
Review Date: 12/8/2005


If you do not like reading books in which terrible things happen to intelligent children, you should not order this book. But you might just like it if you enjoy black humor, clever wordplay and resourceful characters.


The Boleyn Inheritance (Boleyn, Bk 2)
The Boleyn Inheritance (Boleyn, Bk 2)
Author: Philippa Gregory
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 291
Review Date: 1/1/2007
Helpful Score: 6


Philippa Gregory has drawn convincing portraits of Henry VIII's fourth and fifth wives: Anne of Cleves, sensible, warm-hearted and wise; and Katherine Howard, foolish, impulsive and self-centered. Her grasp of Jane Boleyn's character is not as strong, and the novel drags in the middle, but overall it was a good read and better than "The Other Boleyn Girl."


The Book of the Lion (Crusader Trilogy, Bk 1)
The Book of the Lion (Crusader Trilogy, Bk 1)
Author: Michael Cadnum
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.2/5 Stars.
 7
Review Date: 1/29/2006
Helpful Score: 1


This astonishing novel of the Crusades brings to life the stink, sweat and squalor of the Middle Ages. It is the coming-of-age tale of young Edmund as he embarks on a dangerous voyage to the Holy Land and encounters the horrors of war. With brutal, intense language, Cadnum shows what it must really have been like to have fought in the siege of Acre, alongside Richard the Lionheart in the Third Crusade.


Callander Square (Charlotte and Thomas Pitt, Bk 2)
Callander Square (Charlotte and Thomas Pitt, Bk 2)
Author: Anne Perry
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 94
Review Date: 1/7/2006
Helpful Score: 2


Another good read in Perry's "Thomas and Charlotte Pitt" mystery/thriller series. Perry really knows the Victorian era. Her characters speak and act as people from that time would have, not like modern people in fancy dress. While reading this book, I got so interested in the Callander Square families and the skeletons they had in their closets, I forgot to wonder who the murderer was.


Cardcaptor Sakura (Cardcaptor Sakura Authentic Manga)
Cardcaptor Sakura (Cardcaptor Sakura Authentic Manga)
Author: Clamp
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 12
Review Date: 7/26/2006


Vol. 1 of 6. An adorable, fun manga for all ages.


The Cater Street Hangman (Charlotte and Thomas Pitt, Bk 1)
The Cater Street Hangman (Charlotte and Thomas Pitt, Bk 1)
Author: Anne Perry
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 141
Review Date: 1/7/2006
Helpful Score: 2


The first book in the "Charlotte and Thomas Pitt" series is a real winner. It's a penetrating social critique disguised as a murder mystery. The book explores how families are torn apart by doubt and suspicion after a series of murders occurs in their fashionable neighborhood.


Catholic Girls
Catholic Girls
Author: Amber Coverdale Sumrall
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 5
Review Date: 2/12/2006
Helpful Score: 1


An anthology of stories by Catholic women recalling their childhoods.


Ceil Dyer's Wok Cookery
Ceil Dyer's Wok Cookery
Author: Ceil Dyer
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 10
Review Date: 12/30/2005
Helpful Score: 1


This book shows you how to cook all sorts of meals in your wok, not just Asian dishes. A great book for people just getting started with a wok.


Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Author: Lois Ehlert (Illustrator), Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.4/5 Stars.
 104
Review Date: 1/6/2006


This classic is a lively, fun alphabet book.

"A told B and B told C, meet you at the top of the coconut tree. But when all the letters race up the tree, oh no! Chicka chicka boom boom!"


Chronicles of King Arthur
Chronicles of King Arthur
Author: Andrea Hopkins
Book Type: Hardcover
  • Currently 5/5 Stars.
 1
Review Date: 3/18/2007
Helpful Score: 1


In this beautifully illustrated book, Andrea Hopkins weaves together many of the medieval retellings of Arthurian legends to create a narrative of the best-known tales about Arthur and his knights. A good introduction to "The Matter of Britain."


Cicada
Cicada
Author: Jasue Menjivar
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 2
Review Date: 6/23/2007
Helpful Score: 1


This short graphic novel tells the story of a man whose childlike, pathetic desire to be liked leads him into numerous extramarital affairs, and eventually to lonliness and isolation.

Menjivar captures very subtle emotions in his art. The story isn't too deep but worth a look, especially if you're a fan of alternative or "underground" comics.


The Courts of Illusion
The Courts of Illusion
Author: Rosemary Hawley Jarman
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4.2/5 Stars.
 3
Review Date: 6/8/2006
Helpful Score: 3


This historical novel tells the story of Perkin Warbeck, who in the reign of Henry VII claimed to be one of the "Princes in the Tower," the lost sons of Edward IV who vanished when their uncle, Richard III, took the throne.


Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody, Bk 1)
Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody, Bk 1)
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 324
Review Date: 5/29/2006
Helpful Score: 1


I adored this book, the first in the Amelia Peabody mystery series. Clever and charming, it made me want to visit Egypt myself and perhaps even excavate alongside Amelia and Emerson.


The Curse of the Pharaohs (Amelia Peabody, Bk 2)
The Curse of the Pharaohs (Amelia Peabody, Bk 2)
Author: Elizabeth Peters
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 218
Review Date: 5/29/2006


Radcliffe and Amelia Emerson return to Egypt in this second novel of the series, which was a fun read but not quite as good as the first book.


The Dark Queen  (Dark Queen, Bk 1)
The Dark Queen (Dark Queen, Bk 1)
Author: Susan Carroll
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 130
Review Date: 1/27/2006
Helpful Score: 3


The plot was sometimes cliche, dragged on too long and at times defied logic, but I enjoyed reading this book anyway. This breezy novel pits Ariane Cheney, the wise woman of Faire Isle, against the dark machinations of Catherine de Medici, the dowager Queen of France. Ariane must unravel a murder plot, defy witch hunters and keep her headstrong sisters out of trouble, all while trying to deny her attraction to the powerful, enigmatic Comte de Renard. I liked the characters enough that I will probably read the rest of the trilogy, which continues with "The Courtesan" and "The Silver Rose."


Daughter of Witches (Lyra, Bk 2)
Daughter of Witches (Lyra, Bk 2)
Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 27
Review Date: 1/31/2006
Helpful Score: 1


Ranira, an innkeeper's servant in the repressive city of Drinn, has feared magic ever since her parents were burned as witches. But she must use her innate spellcasting talents to assist a healer and two mercenaries in their struggle against the dark priests of Chaldon.

This novel was a quick, somewhat enjoyable read marred by slow plotting, an abrupt ending and inconsistent rules of magic. What the characters could achieve through spellcasting changed according to their needs; they never faced perils magic could not eventually get them out of.


Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, Bk 1)
Dead Until Dark (Sookie Stackhouse, Bk 1)
Author: Charlaine Harris
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 2428
Review Date: 1/28/2006


This just wasn't my kind of book. I found the romance boring and the mystery nearly nonexistent.


Dreadstar, Volume 1: Metamorphosis Odyssey
Review Date: 8/19/2005


Book description from Amazon.com:

Slave Labor reprints for the first time the original classic episodes of Metamorphosis Odyssey comic book series from Epic Illustrated. These gorgeous, painted pages, reproduced in black & white, originally appeared in Epic from 1979 to 1982, and introduced audiences to Vance Dreadstar and the other characters whose saga continued in the Dreadstar graphic novel and Epic series in the early eighties. This trade paperback edition will contain additional sketches and other tidbits for fans, plus a new introduction by Jim Starlin.


The Dream Stalker (John O'Malley, Bk 3)
The Dream Stalker (John O'Malley, Bk 3)
Author: Margaret Coel
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 56
Review Date: 8/28/2005


"The Dream Stalker" has everything you could want in a mystery novel -- a suspensful and compelling story, well-drawn characters and setting, an intriguing glimpse into the Arapaho culture and frustrated love.

The villain was one of the most chilling killers I've ever encountered in mystery fiction, a person made all the scarier because of their absolute conviction that what they are doing is justified.


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