Alice in Wonderland

I think I have read this book a long time ago, but it was another one of the books I found for free on Amazon.  I really enjoyed it, and was surprised again how closely the Disney version stayed true to the book.  Because I am so familiar with the Disney movie of this book, it was quite easy to picture all that was happening in the book with the movie, although there were parts that were left out of the movie. Although a good story and enjoyable, it kind of a strange story, when you think about it.  But it was one that I continue to enjoy.

Cinderella

Another free book I found.  A very quick read of the fairytale of Cinderella.  I was actually quite surprised how closely the Disney movie followed this book.  I would have thought Disney would have made more changes from the original story.  This is a story that has been handed down for a long time, but the book I read, was a quick easy, enjoyable read, and is a classic fairytale that continues to be one of my favorites.

The Mansion

I chose to read this book because it was one of the books President Monson said he reads every Christmas, and it is also a free book, so I figured why not.  It is a good book with a great message.  Also a very quick read.  It is about a man you realizes that his good works on earth do not count much in heaven because he received his reward on earth.  Only when we do good works with the right intent, to help our fellow man and not for our own benefits do we receive our reward in heaven.  A great read, especially around the holiday season.

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was the first book I read on the Kindle.  You can get it for free, it is one of the free classics that you can get at Amazon.  I have read it before, but it has been a long time ago. I have also seen many different versions of it on TV, my favorite being The Muppets Christmas Carol. Anyway, what is there to say but that it is a great read.  It is a quick read, and I am amazed how closely most of the TV versions of it stay true to the actual story and dialogue in the book.  I love it and would recommend it to everyone.  Even if you know the story of how Scrooge learns to love Christmas, you should really take that time to read it.  Great story.

The Skin Map

I was given a free electronic copy of The Skin Map by Stephen Lawhead to review by BookSneeze.

I have to admit, I had a hard time getting into this book.  I think part of it was the British writing was hard for me to follow at first, but also the book is confusing.  When I first started reading it, I lost interest and stopped reading. However because I had made a commitment to write a review, I decided I needed to finish it, so I started the book again after several months had past.  It was easier for me to follow the second time, and I started to get into the story.  It is about traveling to different worlds and times.  Once you know who all the characters are and begin to understand the story line it does get interesting.  However the book jumps back and forth between different characters and different time periods and places, it is hard to follow.  It is the first book in a series, which means even at the end of the book not very many things are clear and you are left hanging.  I feel like this is one of those series books that you will have to reread again when you have finished the complete series, so you can understand all the details from the beginning to the end. I am not sure that I would recommend this book, however since I have started the series I will probably read the next book, so I can know what happens.  Even though I did not like this book very much, I can see how others might really enjoy it.  

Kindle Touch

I got a Kindle touch for Christmas and I love it.  I thought I would post a little bit about it here, since I will be reviewing most of the books I read on it here.  I have read more books since Christmas than I have in the last 6 months.  It is awesome how this ereader works.  The screen looks exactly like a book, there is no glare at all.  There is no source light either, so you need an outside source of light to view the screen, just like if you were reading a book.  I really like it, and there are quite a few books you can get for free for it, especially classic books.  I am going to try to review every book I read this year on this book, including the books I get from booksneeze, which was why I created this blog to begin with.  I am already behind since I have read 6 books already (some of them have been short). I discovered that majority of the books available for reviews on booksneeze are electronic books, which was kind of a bummer, since I didn't have an ereader until now, but now I will be able to read more of them and review them as well as other books I get for the kindle.  I think I will review all the books that I read this year, just to keep track of all the books I have read. Don't expect my reviews to be that insightful, mostly I may just talk briefly about the books and mention whether or not I like it, and a few thoughts here and there, especially on the ones that are not from booksneeze.  I will try harder on the reviews I do for booksneeze, since they are giving me the books for free so that I can review them.  I really like the Kindle touch. The touch technology is okay, it is not as good as Apple, but it works most the time.  They are a few games that will also work with the kindle they also have an experimental web browser on it as well, but it is not that good.  It also plays mp3s and audio books, however I have not tried that feature out yet.  It also has a Text-to-speech feature, which is cool, if you need it.  It also has wifi, so you can download books on the go as well.

If you want a device that can hold a lot of books that you can easily put in your purse and take with you everywhere, it is awesome.  I really am excited about it, and am curious how much more I will be able to read with it.

Book Sneeze

I just found this cool site that will send you books for free if you review them on your blog. So I have created this blog for my reviews.  I can't tell you my reviews will be that insightful, but I really do enjoy reading, so I will try it and see how it goes.

http://booksneeze.com/