Tidewater Inn

Currently reading: "Tidewater Inn" by Colleen Coble

BookSneeze.com: They send me free books, asking only that I review them on my blog and share my opinions on them. Easy enough trade, even if writing reviews isn't quite my strong point! First up: Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble.

***

Tidewater Inn begins with historic home renovator Libby Holladay learning that she has just inherited a gorgeous historic inn—and a family she never knew she had. Unfortunately, her newfound siblings are less than welcoming, convinced that she is there for the money and nothing more. Adding to her distress is the fact that she has just witnessed her best friend being kidnapped, and is now under suspicion for committing the crime herself.

Generally speaking, I enjoy Colleen Coble’s books (mystery and suspense, laced with a little bit of romance), so I had hoped that this one would be no exception. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite hit home with me. While I liked the premise of the story, I found that most of the plot felt forced and unrealistic. The first chapter was awkward—so much happened right off the bat with little to no character development, so it made it a little difficult to connect. Much of the story continued in the same manner. The constant suspicion and accusations against Libby became a bit redundant after awhile, and important information that, realistically, would have been presented upfront was withheld until the very end (which I understand in wanting to keep the reader in suspense, but like I said, the way it was done simply felt forced).

If you’re looking to read anything by Coble (which I do recommend!), you might try starting with some of her other books instead. This one isn’t terrible, but it’s certainly not her best!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Quick break from thinking

Listening to: "Wondergirl" by Hey Monday
I discovered this band--and this song--when I went to that All Time Low/Yellowcard concert a couple of months ago. I can't help but love it. Catchy songs always get me.* Also, how gorgeous is that sunset?! I saw it a couple of weeks ago when I was camping at the lake with Kristi and her church college group. Sooo many colors--it was absolutely beautiful.

Since I don't feel like taking the time to actually organize my thoughts into a cohesive post, I'm cheating and making a list. (Thank you, bullet points, for letting me be disorganized without looking like it.)

• Fishing Adventures. If you're ever bored, having a bad day, or just need some entertainment, go fishing with Mike and Jon. I guarantee it will solve any of the above problems. Trust me--I did it for 5 days in a row and have never been more amused in my life. (Having a really bad day? Go to Walmart with Jon beforehand. You will spontaneously buy t-shirts with fishing slogans on them and then attempt to convince him that he should not, in fact, buy a float so he can swim to the middle of the lake and fish off of it.)**
• Worst. Beach. Ever. For anyone looking to go to the beach anytime soon, here's a hint: don't go to the East Beach at Ft. De Soto in St. Petersburg, FL. While visiting my Floridian family last week, we went to said beach. Upon arriving, we encountered swarms of mosquitoes, murky water, broken up shells that hurt to walk on instead of sand, no waves (unless the occasional boat went by, in which case you might have gotten a splash or two...maybe), and SAND FLEAS. Then it rained. Don't go there.
• Ecclesiastes 7:14: "When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future."
• Middle school flashbacks. I discovered a bunch of old CDs in my room from my middle school years (a la Jump5 and Hilary Duff). Naturally, I have proceeded to listen to all of them. In a word: wow (of both the good and bad variety). Is it bad that I still kind of like it?
• Google+. I like it. It needs a few more features (not including Farmville), but once people actually start using it, I think it'll be really awesome! I'm not quite ready to replace Facebook, but I'm pretty interested to see where Google+ goes. Find me here!
• Happy birthday to me! I turned 21 on the 3rd. This is still kind of weird to me...
• BOOKS. While this hasn't exactly been an ideal summer, I have to give it this: I have loved being able to read so much! I've been through so many books in the past 2 months. Kristi loaned me about 6 books when I visited her and I've already finished 4 of them. Not to mention all of the other ones I have on my shelf to reread. Please feel free to send any suggestions my way. I have a whole month to fill and I like reading new things!

On that note, I'm ending this organized-disorganized post. I hope you all are having a wonderful summer! :)

*For more proof of my weakness for catchy music, see bullet point #4...
**Yes, this actually happened, and yes, he was actually serious about it. You're welcome, Jon, for saving you $40+.

Bookstores and adventures!

Listening To: "All I Have" by Mat Kearney
(For whatever reason, I've been semi-obsessed with his music lately. I like his style and I like his lyrics. His album City of Black & White is my favorite at the moment. Good stuff.)

I love bookstores. I could stay in them for hours on end and not ever get bored. I've done this twice within the past week, and still don't feel like I was in there long enough. I get so inspired in them--I like and am interested in so many different things and there just isn't enough time to get to all of it! Every time I go, I have to restrain myself from buying out the whole store. (My bank account does not share my love for bookstores. Heh.)

A couple of days ago, I had to go to Barnes & Noble to get a book for my psych classes before my trip. This resulted in my spending a good amount of time in the psychology section. The book I had to buy was Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. I'm pretty sure I would have bought it anyway, even if it wasn't required. It's basically about his experiences in a concentration camp during WW2 and then he kind of talks about it from a psychological standpoint. Very interesting. (I've always been fascinated by the Holocaust. The fact that I'll be visiting Dachau on my trip was a major selling point for me! Speaking of Dachau, I'll be there in two weeks! Yessss.)

Anyway, after wandering throughout the store, I found the children's section. Best. Section. Ever. I absolutely love kids' books, especially the classics (i.e. Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, stuff like that). I discovered a copy of A Little Princess and absolutely had to buy it. I had never read it, but always wanted to. It is sooo good. I love stuff like that. I also found The Magic Treehouse series that I LOVED when I was a little kid. I read those books countless times in second grade. They are what first inspired me to visit the Amazon Rainforest (it's still very high on my list of places I want to visit). They tended to make me feel like I've been feeling today: dying to go on some sort of adventure!

Reason I've been feeling that way today: I spent the afternoon sitting in the floor at Books-A-Million reading this:

I would've bought it if it hadn't cost $25. Pretty much every single thing in this book looks awesome and I want to do all of them. Well, almost all of them (I could probably do without going to Antarctica, as cool as it would be to say I've done that. Not high on the list). But for real, that is the kind of stuff I am dying to do. There are so many things that I want to try--I just haven't had the chance to (yet!). Seriously, that's pretty much the only reason I would want to have a high-paying job: to travel and do awesome stuff like that (I kind of hate the fact that every sport I would actually really enjoy are the ones that are ridiculously expensive to do). Sigh.

My other find of the day wasn't all that spectacular, but it did make me really happy to see. I was in the travel section (one of my favorites) and picked up a book about Tennessee. They had a section about the Cherokee National Forest, including a short mention of Chilhowee--picture included. The picture (not the one to the right--that one is mine) just so happened to be from the Sugarloaf overlook, which is my absolute favorite place to watch the sun set. Kristi, Mike, Jon, and I were up there a couple of weeks ago, just before the semester ended. I think it was one of the best nights I had all semester long--maybe even all year. Definitely one of my favorite memories. That fact just made finding the picture even better, because it was of the picnic table that Kristi did her homework on that night, and you could see the rock that Mike and I sat on to watch the sunset in the background. Ahhh, good times.

Edit (05/24/10): I didn't really want to write a whole new post just for this, but this picture is awesome (click to make it bigger--it looks better):

Credit

How cool is that?! I just wanted to share. :)