tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36058185088070773142024-03-19T08:14:21.245-04:00The Quarterly Book ReviewBrandi Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11142971069841222467noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605818508807077314.post-68740326811269828852017-02-15T09:00:00.000-05:002017-02-15T09:00:05.129-05:00Dr. Sleep, by Stephen King<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Dr. Sleep</span></b></div>
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<b>THE BLURB:</b><br />
Stephen King returns to the character and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this instantly riveting novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance and the very special twelve-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.<br />
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On highways across America, a tribe of people called the True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless—mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky twelve-year-old Abra Stone learns, the True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the steam that children with the shining produce when they are slowly tortured to death.<br />
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Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel, where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father’s legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence. Finally, he settles in a New Hampshire town, an AA community that sustains him, and a job at a nursing home where his remnant shining power provides the crucial final comfort to the dying. Aided by a prescient cat, he becomes “Doctor Sleep.”<br />
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Then Dan meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan’s own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra’s soul and survival. This is an epic war between good and evil, a gory, glorious story that will thrill the millions of devoted readers of The Shining and satisfy anyone new to this icon in the King canon.</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 25%:</b></div>
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This book doesn't have quite the same creep factor as The Shining did, but I love the way King stayed so true to Dan Torrance and the way he was impacted by his childhood traumas. I also love the sneak bits of pop culture hidden in the story, and particularly enjoyed the brief mentions of towns from other Stephen King novels. But where with The Shining I was already a little horrified by this point, in Doctor Sleep I'm not so much horrified as I am curious.</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 50%:</b></div>
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It has taken me a while to get this far but not because I lack interest in the book itself. Truthfully, I've been super busy with work, focusing on building my other blog - but I've been missing reading so much! This book is fascinating in a strange way; it fits perfectly with the Shining and is a great sequel, but so far it lacks the sense of horror I usually feel with Steven King. Instead, I'm still curious ... so intensely curious. It's nothing like a train wreck, but I still can't look away just out of a need to see how it all unfolds and where the story is going next.
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At this point, Abra's in trouble and Dan has realized he really has no choice but to help. Things are heating up with the True, and ... well, we'll see where it goes.</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 75%:</b></div>
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Still not horrified, but at this point I'm pretty much utterly unable to put this book down. Not because it's irresistible but because the sense of fascination that's been with me this whole time is still here. Dan Torrance's development of his talent is amazing, and his quick relation to Abra as a fellow shiner feels like finally coming home after a long day. And to see him surpassed by her power - to see him both fascinated and afraid of her capabilities ... I have to keep going simply because I can't stop until I know how it all turns out.<br />
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Stephen King is a genius ... But then, I already knew that.
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<b>My thoughts at 100%:</b></div>
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I really loved the way this book ended - it fit so perfectly, not only with the stories of the characters, but with Kong's style of wrapping everything up so nicely. There was a great surprise in this section of the book too, a flashback to The Shining which was a nice relief. Dan Torrance has now stepped up to take his place as my all-time favorite Stephen King character, and I'm as glad that I took a chance on Doctor Sleep as I was glad to have finally read The Shining last year.<br />
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Five stars for</div>
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great entertainment value,</div>
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strong characters,</div>
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and a plot only Stephen King could dream up.</div>
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Buy It <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Sleep-Novel-Shining-Book-ebook/dp/B00A6CCF0K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486930103&sr=8-1&keywords=stephen+king+dr+sleep">Here</a>.</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Sum It Up: A Thousand and Ninety-Eight Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses, and a Life in Perspective.</span></b></div>
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<b>THE BLURB:</b> Pat Summitt, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history and bestselling author of <i>Reach for the Summitt</i> and <i>Raise The Roof,</i> tells for the first time her remarkable story of victory and resilience as well as facing down her greatest challenge: early-onset Alzheimer's disease.<br />
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Pat Summitt was only 21 when she became head coach of the Tennessee Vols women's basketball team. For 38 years, she broke records, winning more games than any NCAA team in basketball history. She coached an undefeated season, co-captained the first women's Olympic team, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and was named <i>Sports Illustrated</i> "Sportswoman of the Year."<br />
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She owed her coaching success to her personal struggles and triumphs. She learned to be tough from her strict, demanding father. Motherhood taught her to balance that rigidity with communication and kindness. She was a role model for the many women she coached; 74 of her players have become coaches.<br />
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Pat's life took a shocking turn in 2011, when she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease, an irreversible brain condition that affects 5 million Americans. Despite her devastating diagnosis, she led the Vols to win their sixteenth SEC championship in March 2012. Pat continued to be a fighter, facing this new challenge the way she's faces every other - with hard work, perseverance, and a sense of humor.</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 25%: (3h 20m - audiobook)</b></div>
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I have known about Pat Summit for many years, and have admired her from a distance, but I never knew her in person and never knew quite as much about her as did the people around me. Living in Knoxville, I heard her name often and held great respect for what that name meant, both for women and for athletes. But reading (listening to, actually) this autobiography has given me an entirely new perspective not only on her career as a headstrong and determined woman in basketball, but also as an independent and much-admired woman facing the loss of the life she had worked so hard to build. I found this book just after Pat Summit died when, in learning more about her from local memorial programs, I began to get more curious about her career, her Alheimer's diagnosis, and her life in general. Through this book so far, I feel that I've fostered a sense of camaraderie with her ... a sense of understanding her as a woman, a sense of learning from her as a mentor even though she is no longer in this life - and a sense of new compassion for my own grandmother, who is currently degrading due to her own battle with Alzheimer's disease.</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 50%: (6h 40m - audiobook)</b></div>
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Wow. This woman was phenomenal. Strong and determined, she struggled sometimes to find a balance between her tenacious passion for life and her love for her team, friends, and family, but she managed her own struggles well and always seemed to meet whatever life gave her with her head held high. If ever a young woman facing adversity of any kind needed a hero, she need look no further than Pat Summit for inspiration of the highest caliber.</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 75%: (10h - audiobook)</b></div>
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This book hasn't yet failed to amaze me. No, Pat Summit wasn't the most gentle coach, nor did loving kindness always come easily for her - especially when she knew her players needed tough love in order to be pushed to success. But she did love her players nonetheless, and she did make sure they knew it. I'm sure plenty of players not mentioned in Sum It Up might argue otherwise - Pat was admittedly a very hard-voiced, insatiable coach who sometimes pushed her players to the brink of giving up the game - but her legacy lives on nonetheless, both in the team she helped to build during her career, and in the bonds now broken with those who loved her, those who must surely still mourn her loss.</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 100%: (approx. 12h 20m - audiobook)</b></div>
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I cried at the end of this book, listening to Pat's words (although not spoken in her voice) as she literally summed up her life and her career, proud of her accomplishments but willing to accept the fact that her path in this life was coming to a close. I heard my grandmother in Pat Summit's strengths, and wept for the loss of what these women had once been. Having read this book, I will be forever grateful to Pat Summit, not only for her dedication to women both in and out of athletics, but for having the courage to share the vulnerabilities of her story in such a public way. I will never forget the sense of understanding she lent me with her words, nor will I forget the admiration and determination her story gave me.</div>
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Thank you, Pat, not only for the legacy you left behind, but also for the ferocity you lent this world while you were here. Four stars.<br />
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Buy It <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sum-Ninety-Eight-Victories-Irrelevant-Perspective-ebook/dp/B00985E9HS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486930635&sr=8-1&keywords=sum+it+up+pat+summit">Here</a>.</div>
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Since I started this blog so late in the year, <a href="http://authorbrandikennedy.blogspot.com/2016/12/five-star-reads-2016.html">here's a list of the books I loved most in 2016</a>, which I posted recently on my author blog. The first four books featured in the list linked above are not reviewed on this site because I read them before the launch of The Quarterly Book Review - but the post <i>does</i> include links to my reviews on Amazon.</div>
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Featured books include:</div>
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<li>Girl Least Likely To Marry, by Amy Andrews (Contemporary Romance)</li>
<li>The "A Dance With Destiny Series", by JK Ensley (Epic Fantasy)</li>
<li>Wonder, by RJ Palacio (Children's Fiction)</li>
<li>Girl In The Water, by Dana Marton (Romantic Suspense)</li>
<li>Slammed, by Colleen Hoover (Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction)</li>
<li>The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green (Teen/Young Adult Fiction)</li>
</ul>
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<b>THE BLURB:</b> Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.</div>
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Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 25%:</b></div>
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I'm so confused. Why is this book hilarious, with all its witty banter and thoughtful philosophy? Shouldn't I be crying over the depth of the subject matter? Shouldn't I be feeling broken by the abject loss of the power of death - the way it's so all-consuming and doesn't care who it touches or who it hurts? How is it that I keep smiling this delighted smile and laughing gleefully over the way these characters find joy in spite of their suffering? Maybe it's the irony of Hazel's cynicism, I don't know.
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<b>My thoughts at 50%:</b></div>
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Okay. The end of Chapter 10? I can't stop crying. Augustus is funny and smart and intellectually stimulating. He's quick and clever and patient and gentle. But he's also a little bit of a smartass and he's impossibly fun. It's brutally endearong, especially combined with Hazel's matter of fact personality, her acceptance of life as what it is and not what she wishes it was. My emotions are so raw right now ... I need a break from the story ... And yet I cannot force myself to take one.</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 75%:</b></div>
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I wear glasses because chronic dry eye syndrome gives me progressively horrifying eye fatigue, which blurs everything more and more the longer the day goes on. But right now I'm reading with my glasses off, and everything is a blur, because I can't wear glasses while crying.</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 100%:</b></div>
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I finished this book somewhat disappointed. I didn't cry my way through the end, as I had expected to. But I read that last word, closed it out, and promptly burst into tears. For its appreciation of both life AND death, for its humor AND its realistic portrayal of devastation, for its twists AND its inevitable turns ... For its lessons and its inspiration ... Five stars.</div>
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Another great book to add to your collection - and a story you'll be glad to have experienced.<br />
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Buy It <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wonder-R-J-Palacio-ebook/dp/B0051ANPZQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486930776&sr=8-1&keywords=wonder+rj+palacio">Here</a>.</div>
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<b>THE BLURB</b>:<br />
Michelle was a young single mother when she was kidnapped by a local school bus driver named Ariel Castro. For more than a decade afterward, she endured unimaginable torture at the hand of her abductor. In 2003 Amanda Berry joined her in captivity, followed by Gina DeJesus in 2004. Their escape on May 6, 2013, made headlines around the world.<br />
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Barely out of her own tumultuous childhood, Michelle was estranged from her family and fighting for custody of her young son when she disappeared. Local police believed she had run away, so they removed her from the missing persons lists fifteen months after she vanished. Castro tormented her with these facts, reminding her that no one was looking for her, that the outside world had forgotten her. But Michelle would not be broken.<br />
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In Finding Me, Michelle will reveal the heartbreaking details of her story, including the thoughts and prayers that helped her find courage to endure her unimaginable circumstances and now build a life worth living. By sharing both her past and her efforts to create a future, Michelle becomes a voice for the voiceless and a powerful symbol of hope for the thousands of children and young adults who go missing every year.<br />
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<b>My thoughts at 25%:</b></div>
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I can't decide what's more heartbreaking about this book: the subject matter itself, or the fact that I relate so closely to much of it. Most of what's mentioned specifically didn't happen to me, but the feeling of invisibility and insignificance in early life resonates deeply. The desperation to survive, the sheer resilience and the will to keep going, the love of a mother for her child ... I've been in tears more than once already, reading this book.<br />
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<b>My thoughts at 50%:</b></div>
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I don't even have words for this book. I have always known monsters were real and that true evil is something most people can't really comprehend ... but this woman's will to keep living in spite of everything that happened to her, her ability make the most of it and to even find joy in the small things is more inspiring than I can express.<br />
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<b>My thoughts at 75%:</b></div>
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This book reads so matter of factly, it's almost easy to lose sight of the idea that it's true, that it's an accounting of a real woman's real life. It's hard to imagine how the author managed to handle everything emotionally, and still come out strong enough to have been willing to share her story in such a personal way.<br />
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<b>My thoughts at 100%:</b></div>
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This is one of the most inspiring books I've read in a long time. To reach the end of the story and soak in the strength, courage, and positivity of Michelle Knight is a feeling I won't soon forget, and the lesson of forgiveness and resilience throughout her story is one that will stick with me for a long time. Four stars.<br />
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Buy this book, and see if you find it as inspiring as I did.<br />
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Buy It <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Me-Reclaimed-Cleveland-Kidnappings-ebook/dp/B00HSNMGBI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486930851&sr=8-1&keywords=finding+me+michelle+knight">Here</a>.</div>
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</script></div>Brandi Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11142971069841222467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605818508807077314.post-27006266879951471632016-11-02T10:53:00.003-04:002017-02-12T15:22:08.921-05:00Slammed, by Colleen Hoover<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8PwMnc37KAV3byhQW3Ar28y1ylMogghCM3t9tQ1se1BD3YB-UedFRa8C3zlQGPbzPeDa7fSvAQjnT95XLGuDnb3i_hXsdUCBnuotsJ1xvs6R3shEiUPV6F0jRj5wnqBtzPL0_RLzMQ/s1600/15817362.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ8PwMnc37KAV3byhQW3Ar28y1ylMogghCM3t9tQ1se1BD3YB-UedFRa8C3zlQGPbzPeDa7fSvAQjnT95XLGuDnb3i_hXsdUCBnuotsJ1xvs6R3shEiUPV6F0jRj5wnqBtzPL0_RLzMQ/s320/15817362.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
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<b>THE BLURB</b>: <i>Falling in love can feel like poetry. Or it can feel like a slam to the heart.</i><br />
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Colleen Hoover’s romantic, emotion-packed debut novel unforgettably captures all the magic and confusion of first love, as two young people forge an unlikely bond before discovering that fate has other plans for them.<br />
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Following the unexpected death of her father, eighteen-year-old Layken becomes the rock for both her mother and younger brother. She appears resilient and tenacious, but inside, she's losing hope. Then she meets her new neighbor Will, a handsome twenty-one-year-old whose mere presence leaves her flustered and whose passion for poetry slams thrills her.<br />
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Not long after a heart-stopping first date during which each recognizes something profound and familiar in the other, they are slammed to the core when a shocking discovery brings their new relationship to a sudden halt. Daily interactions become impossibly painful as they struggle to find a balance between the feelings that pull them together and the forces that tear them apart. Only through the poetry they share are they able to speak the truth that is in their hearts and imagine a future where love is cause for celebration, not regret.<br />
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<b>My thoughts at 25%:</b></div>
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How is it that I'm only at the 25% mark and I've already fallen in love AND had my heart broken? I love Lake and Will, I already love Kel and Caulder, and I like Eddie too. Bold and brazen, that one, but I'm curious about the heart tattoos ...</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 50%:</b></div>
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I can't put this book down. It's past midnight and I have to be up at five. My eyes are so tired I can't see and everything is a blur. But I can't put this book down.</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 75%:</b></div>
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"So you keep your ocean, I'll take the Lake." I don't know if I'm delirious from exhaustion (it's 1:45am) or if Colleen Hoover some kind of witch doctor ... But I can't stop crying. The mom and the balloons and the slam ... It's just ... I can't. I just can't.</div>
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<b>My thoughts at 100%:</b></div>
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It's 2:30 in the morning and I have to get up at five. I have no idea how I'm going to function tomorrow, when I'm supposed to be editing my 8th book for the final time before publication on Tuesday. I have no idea how I'm going to be productive and be a calm and patient mother when I'll be running on less three hours of sleep. And I have no idea how long it's going to take me to recover from this book ... But I bet it's gonna be a while. Five stars. If I could, I'd give it fifty.</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Slammed-Novel-Colleen-Hoover-ebook/dp/B008TRUDAS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1486930908&sr=8-1&keywords=slammed+colleen+hoover">Buy this book</a>. Believe me, you want to.</div>
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</script></div>Brandi Kennedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11142971069841222467noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3605818508807077314.post-7461054229608570572016-10-25T17:07:00.003-04:002016-10-27T12:07:36.883-04:00Welcome!<div style="text-align: justify;">
Stories are my <a href="http://authorbrandikennedy.blogspot.com/">job</a>. But they're also my passion, my stress release, my escape from a sometimes stressful life. Truly, my most favorite thing to do when I'm not writing books is to curl up in a corner and read one. But for most of my life as a reader, I <i>wasn't</i> much of a reviewer - honestly, I just read the books, and I either loved them or I didn't. If I loved them, I told my friends, and if I hated them, I told my friends. Ambivalence over an average book lead only to radio silence from me as a reader. But now, as an author, I've learned how very important it is to take the time to write reviews of the books I read. An author's career can be made or broken by the number of reviews their books attract, and as a supporter of the lively community I've become so much a part of, I wanted to be sure I was doing my part.<br />
<br />
For years now, I've made it a personal policy to review nearly every book that I read, but in my time as an author, I've also learned how unreliable certain review sites can be, with reviews being bought and paid for - or worse, with legitimate reviews being pulled for reasons unknown. So, to protect my reviews from being lost, to store them in a central place, and to give my own readers a reliable spot to find books to read (after they've read all of mine, I hope), I launched my very own book blog, where you can find <b>honest</b> reviews of books by author, by genre, or by <a href="http://quarterlybookreview.blogspot.com/p/policies.html">rating</a>.<br />
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I'm a choosy reader though, and it's rare for me to give a book a five-star rating - though I'm always on the lookout for the next unforgettable story. In time, this site will be full of reviews of great books, so I hope you'll check back often, and join me in my quest to find my next 5-star read.</div>
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