The books I checked out from the library before the madness started, that I am now returning uncracked:
To the End of June: The Intimate Life ofAmerican Foster Care by Cris Beam.
Isle of Woman by Piers Anthony.
More than a Mistress by Mary Balogh.
A History of Stone and Steel by Christopher Fisher. This book is technically very good, but nothing about it stands out, good or bad. It is unremarkable. It is beige. The only thing that I noted is that not only is it written in present tense, but also first person-- who narrates their own life like that?
based on there not being anything wrong with it, overall score is about an 8.
Caledonia Switch by Steven Lane Smith. The beginning is very interesting, but as it starts going into the stories of the first character's parents, each of their parents, an aunt, and a family friend, it loses the drive. Who is important in this book? Who is/are the main character(s)? Where is this going? The underlying writing style is good, it's the organization that kills it.
overall score is 7-ish.
Tropic Squall by Ben Cherot.
Why are we breaking out the thesaurus every other word? Just tell the story without trying to impress. The writing style the author is striving for in narration-- in addition to feeling forced-- doesn't mesh with the main character's speaking style.
overall, about a 6.
Tears of the Willow by Marie Murphy Duess.
- Some formatting problems: paragraph text overlaps the page numbers in places, etc.
- "paternal twins"? (p. 55) really? this is the point at which I lost most respect for the author.
- annoyed by proofreading errors-- missing quotation marks, 2 people speaking without a paragraph break, etc. I should not have to interpret what the author meant to say.
- the present-day story and the historical story are poorly integrated. the first story feels nearly wrapped up by the time the diaries are brought in, then they are presented in too-big chunks to feel like a part of each other.
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