The Swallows' Nest

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Blown Circuit

Title: Blown Circuit (Circuit Series #2)

Author: Lars Guignard

Genre: Spy/Thriller/Mystery

Publisher: Fantastic Press (December 12, 2012)

Buy Links:

amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Blown-Circuit-Adventure-Thriller-ebook/dp/B00AMRGX2A

amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blown-Circuit-Adventure-Thriller-ebook/dp/B00AMRGX2A

Synopsis: From the bestselling author of Lethal Circuit comes the long-awaited sequel, BLOWN CIRCUIT. Michael Chase is back. He survived China. Barely. But now he's got bigger problems. He has enemies. Deadly enemies.

A pair of coordinates broadcast on an obscure frequency have brought Michael to Istanbul, Turkey where credible chatter has emerged that a terrorist group plans to use a devastating device to hold the world hostage. Designed by Nikola Tesla, arguably the greatest inventor of the Twentieth Century, the device is experimental, it is capable, and it has been missing for almost sixty years. If Michael is to prevent a catastrophe, he'll need to get to the device before the Conspiracy or risk upsetting the global balance of power forever. Of course, finding the Tesla Device is one thing, knowing whom he can trust with it is another matter entirely. If Michael is to survive, he'll have to do both. If he doesn't, what started as a bad day is about to become a disaster.

Review: Blown Circuit is a sequel, but it doesn't read like one, in the best way possible. I haven't read the first book, and I found no problems in following the story of Blown Circuit. It works great as a stand alone novel. It's an exciting adventure and while it is not a young adult novel, I feel that teens would enjoy this book as well as adults. There were times, during the action scenes, where it got a little hard to follow, but I think that's just the nature of the beast. It's hard to write clear action scenes; it's much easier to see them. Overall, Blown Circuit is a well-written adventure that many will enjoy reading. 4 Stars.

Author Bio: Lars Guignard is a former film and television writer and graduate of both McGill University and the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. His bestselling novel, Lethal Circuit, has been a TOP 100 Amazon Spy Thriller since its release. In addition to the Circuit series, Lars is the author of the children’s adventure series, Zoe & Zak and the Ghost Leopard, Zoe & Zak and the Yogi’s Curse and the paranormal mystery series, Brood.

Ever since attending high school in the Indian Himalayas, Lars has been an avid backpacker and traveler. He now makes his home in the Pacific Northwest where he is busy completing the third Michael Chase thriller for release in 2013.

For news about new releases, please join his email list here:http://www.larsguignard.com/contact/

He can also be reached at the following places:
Blog: www.larsguignard.com
Twitter: @Lars_Gu
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LarsGuignardAuthor

I am a book tour host with CMBook Tours: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book for the purposeof review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Broken Bridges

Title: Broken Bridges

Author: Roy Kindelberger

Genre: Children's middle-grade

Publisher: Black Rose Writing (August 21, 2013)

Buy Links: Black Rose Writing - Amazon

Espresso Book Machine - Amazon UK

Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Rey is sent to an old rundown steel town near Pittsburgh, where he has to deal with his aging grandparents, isolated dad, missing mom, bullies, broken bridges, and horseradish sauce. While Rey sits on an airplane bound for Pittsburgh, he clutches a crumpled note. It’s been forty-one days since his mom left—no words since. Rey’s dad is sending him to Pittsburgh for the summer to stay with his grandparents, so his dad can pull his life together. Rey feels so alone. Somehow Rey has to find himself. He’s timid, unsure, yet has to make choices. These choices lead Rey to become more confident, as he makes the transition into his teenage years. Rey arrives in the middle of a heat wave. He quickly runs into trouble with some bullies and is in several difficult situations. Rey hangs out with his friend, Jason and discovers a mentor in his grandfather—bonds which are all put to the test when his grandfather becomes extremely sick and Rey has a final confrontation with the bullies. And then there are his parents. Will things ever return to normal?

Review: Well, I certainly enjoyed the sentiment of Broken Bridges. I found it difficult to read at some points, because the accents of the characters don't flow and sometimes don't make sense. The grandpa is often seen saying "yunz," which I have never read any any book nor ever heard-and I consider myself to be well versed on small town hick. (I grew up in a small town in Utah and spent time in the South, maybe it's something more specific to where Kindelberger grew up. I don't know. It just bothered me.) There are also a great deal of sentence fragments in the story, and not on purpose as style (which I totally get; I do it, too) but just as mistakes. The story itself is rather sitcom-y in parts and has simple typos. I feel like Kindelberger just needs a really good editor to fix the errors and tighten up the novel. I think it would be well worth the cost. But back to the story itself. Broken Bridges is a very touching story with great characters. I think it would be a very relevant read for today's children, as many have divorced parents or other family troubles. This novel would help them to understand that they are not alone in their difficulties. 3 Stars.

Author Bio: Roy was born near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He loves sharing stories with his children and students. They are always looking out for a story, book, poem, or song that makes a difference in their lives. Roy taught kindergarten for fifteen years. He now teaches second grade. Roy lives with his wife, Laura and two wonderful children, Emily and Hailey in Bothell, Washington. You can reach him at: http://www.roykindelberger.com/ Author Links: Website, Blog, and Facebook.

I am a book tour host with CMBook Tours: I received a complimentary e-copy of this book for the purpose of review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Colors Quiet Book

Before Ellie was even born, I saw some cute quiet books on Pinterest and new I wanted to make some for Ellie. I thought a colors book with some different textures would be a great first one. Mostly she just likes to chew on it, but sometimes she does feel the different things on each page. I got the idea from Pinterest, but I made up each page all by myself. I did each page by hand, and then sewed the pages together with my mom's sewing machine.

Monday, October 7, 2013

6 Months

I can't believe baby girl is now six months old! We had a checkup last Monday and she passed with flying colors. She's still a little small at about 15 pounds, and her height has remained pretty consistent since her last check-up. Most of her 3 to 6 months size clothes are too small and we put them into storage, but some still fit.

Ellie has gotten better at taking naps, though! She can also sit up completely by herself -except when something distracting pulls her attention, and then she falls over. She loves eating food and can pick up the small baby puffs with her hands. Ellie is getting bigger every day and I can't wait to see what the future holds.

Friday, October 4, 2013

Aminöa's Birthday Party

Our cute cousin Aminöa turned two, and we went to her party last Saturday. Ellie and I brought her back a stuffed Sully from Disneyland. Aminöa exclaimed, "Mike 'azowski!" Pretty close :)

See that smile? I give good presents!

And what's a post without pictures of Ellie? Ellie with cousin Lillie. They love each other!

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Disneyland '13

The last week of September, I was so very lucky to go to Disneyland with Mom, Jordyn, and Ellie. The drive was long, but the girls were troopers. We had a blast. Here's our trip in pictures!