Category Archives: Kindle

Book Review, 3 Treasure Boxes, Kindle, Goodreads, Autobiography

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl Written by Herself (Harriet Ann Jacob)

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Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes
First published: Boston: Published for the Author, 1861, c1860, where it could be obtained at the Anti-Slavery Offices in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and of Thos. Hamilton, 48 Beekman St., New York.
Format: Kindle Edition, File Size: 374 KB, Print Length: 252 pages, Publisher: Mobile Reference (October 5, 2008), Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Language: English, ASIN: B001HHM60C 

This book was originally written in 1859 by Harriet Ann Jacob who was born into slavery in North Carolina.  When she wrote the book, she changed the names and represented herself as Linda Brent. This is the story of her trials and tribulations as an oppressed non-citizen. It shows the true picture of life as a slave, where people were treated worse than animals. It was the first book written by a woman slave.  

The story was very well told, it follows in chronological order, the story of her life.  It starts out with her childhood, where she had a good master who taught her how to read and write and showed her kindness.  Once this master died, she was given to a very mean, uncaring master who made her life hell.  She tells in great detail the great wrongs that were committed on a regular basis to the slaves in her community.  While reading this book, I felt horrified and sickened by what I read.  I always knew that slavery had existed, but I did not really think what it would be like.  Her tale truly bought the reality of that life to me.  

In order to save her children from a life of slavery she decided to run away.  To achieve this end and escape her horrific master, she had to endure seven years in a tiny hidey-hole that was not even big enough to sit up in.  She was required to spend all her time in this space and as a consequence her muscles atrophied so she could hardly move.  This put me in mind of the story of Anne Frank and shows the correlation of wrongs done in both instances, although I felt Miss Jacob’s situation was far worse.  The most surprising thing I gleaned from this story was Miss Jacob’s synopsis of how being a slave-holder harms themselves and their families. I thought these ruminations were very insightful, deep and full of truth.  

This book is an autobiography and it is written in the first person narrative as Miss Jacob describes her life growing up as a slave girl.  She goes into great detail how it is much harder to be a girl in this tyrannical and degrading environment. She struggles with her own decisions and fights with everything in her power to save her children as it was not uncommon for a slave women’s children to be ripped from their mother’s loving arms and sold to some stranger far away. I recommend this book to everyone to read. It is a true story filled with wisdom, hope and love.   

   

 

   

 

 

 

   

Kindle, Goodreads, Book Review, 3 Treasure Boxes, Chick Lit

Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

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Book Review: 3 Treasure Boxes
6th Book in the Shopaholic Series
Publisher: The Dial Press (September 21, 2010), Format: Kindle Edition, File Size: 589 KB, Print Length: 448 pages, Language: English, ASIN: B003EY7IUY

Becky tells an amusing story of the numerous interesting things that she needs to deal with in her life. One of these is her rambunctious 2 year old daughter who is a handful and very much a mini-shopaholic and another is her attempt to plan a surprise birthday party for Luke.

Mini Shopaholic is the 6th book written by Sophie Kinsella that centers around a lovable character, Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) who loves to shop. She has also written four other novels under this pen name. All of these novels including Mini Shopaholic are considered chick lit. They are also quite funny and amusing. The story is told in the first person narrative with Becky’s voice and thoughts as we follow her through her life.

Becky and Luke Brandon now have a 2 year old daughter named Minnie and she is a mini-Becky in many ways. However, Minnie, as most 2 years olds can, creates a lot of havoc. With the economy in a down swing Becky needs to cut back and it is not easy, especially when she is planning a special surprise birthday party for Luke.

The story is amusing and I absolutely LOVED the end of the book, it was a real feel good conclusion.   I did not think it was as funny as some of the other books, but it certainly did have me chuckling throughout the book.  I thought the beginning was a bit slow to get going and other than Becky’s idea of pockey money for Minnie, did not have any laughs for the first quarter of the book. I also thought the letters at the beginning of the book where a bit too much.  But as the story progressed so did the depth of the book. This story really shows the true character of Becky, what a thoughtful and caring person she is, but by no means perfect.  She is the queen of rationalization.  There was a certain amount of character development, especially when Becky was forced to really look at her shopping addiction. The story had a really good build throughout with a great conclusion at the end. 

This is a stand alone books that can be read independently from any other book in the series, but I would recommend that you read the books in order.  Since each book is very enjoyable and the story does build from book to book. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading chick lit and who enjoys a laugh. The second half of the book was really good and is the reason I gave the book a 3 Treasure Box rating. The first half was slow in getting going but I recommend you keep going  because you will not be disappointed.

Fantasy, 2 Treasure Boxes, Kindle, Goodreads

The Sword and The Dragon by M. R. Mathias

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This entry is part [part not set] of 3 in the series The Wardstoned Trilogy

Book Review: 2 Treasure Boxes
Publisher: Michael Robb Mathias Junior (July 24, 2010), File Size: 1014 KB, Print Length: 522 pagess, ASIN: B003X9775Q
Book One of the Wardstone Trilogy


I was captivated with this book from the first page. Initially it is a mystery as to where the story is going and the book keeps you wondering as the plot unfolds, right up to the end. The book starts out with the introduction of two brothers; Gerard and Hyden Skyler, they are members of the Skyler Hawker’s clan who once a year risk their lives to gather the precious hawkling eggs from the high cliffs.  The brothers clearly love each other.

Each brother has received a unique gift but whether it is good or evil remains to be seen. Gerard found a magic ring. One of Hyden’s Hawk eggs hatched which, according to legend, has never happened before but is a very special event.

The book moves back and forth between the two brothers and numerous unrelated events and people within the Kingdom. These include the dead king’s squire who has been given a secret mission to deliver the King’s magical sword to the King of the Giants and the evil wizard who wants to control the dead King’s son.

A tale is then woven together following these various groups.  As you read the book you are not sure how they will interrelate, but you do know that somehow they will all be tied together and the author delivers.

I found the story to be very complex with lots of people and events and at times it was a bit confusing and hard to follow.  Overall the story was interesting and I wanted to find out what was going to happen to all the various people involved. The story was very original and it left you guessing and unsure as to what was going to happen next which is always enjoyable to read.

There were plenty of graphic action scenes in the book some of them quite gory. There was a very diverse range of characters, both good and evil. I liked that the author showed two sides to most of the characters.  Although you know who is good and who is evil, they each had fairly well rounded personalities, although some more than others.

However there were a couple of big plot holes which affected the main storyline.  First, if the good King Balton knew that Pael the wizard was evil, why did he leave him to raise his son to be evil?  Why didn’t he intervene, get rid of the evil Pael and raise his son to be good like himself.  He was able to raise his bastard son Mikahl to be good so why didn’t he raise his legitimate son to be good?

Second, if the Goddess, the White Lady knew how to close the seal forever, why wasn’t this done in the first place?

I liked the ending of the story, although I did find it to be sad.  I really liked that the story came to a good and satisfying conclusion.  The story also left a stepping stone to the next book in the series with lots of story left to be told.

I am really interested to see what happens with Shaella and Gerard as well as Pael.  I will be interested to read the next book in the series.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to support a new author and who likes fantasy novels with lots of graphic action.  Just be prepared to follow the story as it does get confusing at times following all the different people and events, but this certainly does keep it interesting.
To Purchase: “The Sword and the Dragon” from Amazon, click here or on picture above