Yawning at Tigers - 5 Stars
932076
About - We often talk about God's loving kindness, mercy, and companionship. Yet, in making God a buddy, we tend to bring God down to our own understanding, taming the tiger that He is. Beautiful and majestic yet capable of being ferocious and dangerous. With detailed sources from the Bible as well as scholars, Drew Dyck takes readers though an adventure of seeing both sides of this loving yet dangerous God that we call Abba, follow, and love.

Personal Opinion - The premise of this book, that we shrink God down to a size we understand thus remove his awesomeness, hit home because it is something not only have I done but have seen in similar instances that Dyck cited. I loved how he used personal and media stories to introduce the topic of each chapter, bring it home, and the quotes he used to support his points. I also love that, despite this book is about not shrinking God to being your best bud but also seeing his wonder and power, it was not fire and brimstone either but brought back to the contradiction, near and fare, merciful but just, loving and wrathful, He has always been. This book was true to life and made me think of God in a new way but not contradictory to my faith. Instead, renewed the view of him. One thing I wish this book had done more was give ideas of how to renew that image and relationship with God. It mostly brought an awareness of what was happening but maybe that is a good start to changing how we approach and treat our Lord.

Disclaimer - In exchange for an honest review, I received this book for free from the publisher through BookLook.com.
1316432
Another fantastic installment. I keep comparing this series in my mind to my all-time favorite books series Ilona Andrews's Kate Daniels Adult UF series.
The mythology and idea behind The Tiger Saga are varied and well-conceived, which is SO rare, so very rare. I mean, many books have one good idea, or even a couple good ideas, these books have hundreds in each. And the romance, oh the romance! Its like someone put my guts in a blender until I feverishly turned to the last page.
I think that many book addicts get jaded, I know I am quickly approaching, but these books are like surfacing from a lake of mediocrity and tired ideas. Not that other books I have read lately haven't been good, great even (especially the ones by Juliet Marillier-which are just as fantastic), but this series is growing like a great tree in my book heart and casting a gentle shadow on its fellows.
3658669
The last full-length book in the Magnus Pack series is about Angelina. You would think shes the sanest of the three but that is so not the case. I think she may be worse than the other two. She looks so girly and put together, but shell smile as she breaks someones face with a toilet lid. (yes, this happens).

Shes the one who tries to keep everyone happy and sane, or at least on an even keel. If that means she has to knock some heads together to do it, thats okay too. Once you get to know her though, you realize under that perfectly dressed and made up exterior is the soul of a redneck woman. She can cuss like a marine sergeant and fights as dirty as she possibly can, utilizing every tool at her disposal, whether its a folding chair or a baseball bat. Shes creative that way. She doesnt really have a lot of respect for men in general thinking theres not any worth the effort out there, so why in Gods name would she even want to fall in love.

Nik is just an alpha tiger going through life as happy as can be. Hes rich, hes hot, and hes got lots of land with dinner on the hoof just waiting for him to chase it down. Tigers don't settle down with anyone, and procreation seems like more of a transaction than anything else (although they do take care of their children and make sure they know they are loved). Unfortunately, his Dad is a freak who only has eyes for one woman, his mother. There is no way Nik would ever settle for one woman. Ever. Well, until Angelina assaults him.

These two fell into insta-lust the first time they ran into each other in an airport. Then they spent an inordinate amount of time fighting it, which was okay because this book is hilarious and their chemistry was so combustible even their arguing was hot. They were both trying to be in control of feelings that were uncontrollable and this worked for me in all sorts of ways because they weren't in control at all.

Niks family is definitely a freak show worthy of a whole lot of laughs. In fact, I really wish there were books on all of them. With some unexpected lion shifters wanting a truce plus those damned Hyenas causing issues this book kept me on my toes. The icing on the cake was it was scorching hot. There were times I swear I saw smoke wafting out of my iPads ports.

I hated saying goodbye to Here Kitty, Kitty because its hilarious, but SL did give it an epilogue worthy of the series greatness. Its good that her Pride series is set in this world because every time the Magnus pack is mentioned I find myself fangirling and doing little twirls.

Here Kitty, Kitty was a laugh-filled, action-packed treasure of a book plus it was hotter than hell. I loved every word of it.
3454863
Well written. Lots of humor and despair. Makes you think. Thought certain sexual descriptions were unnecessary. It's called reading between the lines. Ultimately, you may wonder what "sleeping tiger" resides in you.
4349773
I am a huge Twilight fan and I am so happy to finally find such an awesome series that competes head to head with Twilight!  I bought Tigers curse on Kindle thinking if I don't like it, I only paid $0.99 for it.  I ended up falling completely in love with the characters!  As soon as I finished this book, I bought the 2nd book.  Now I can't wait until the the third book is out, but I hope it will be available on Kindle!
2275916
So. Either you are reading this because you want to know more about this book, or because you want to know if anyone else loves/hates this book as much as you do. The phrase 'don't judge a book by its cover' takes on a whole new meaning with this book to me. It took me over a year to pick up the thing and read it, after my best friend had been harassing me into it ever since we met. I'm not the type of reader who likes fantasy and creatures and my biggest hatred is, drum roll...talking animals. Magical creatures. Adventure weirdness. I have always loved depressing teenage books about normal stuff I can relate too. So just hearing the name 'tigers curse' made me shake my head and say no thanks. But, after reading all 4 books, I wish I could forget them and read them all over again, and again and again. The beginning is incredibly slow. Where is this going?, I thought. But once you pass that boring first few background chapters, this novel (and the other 3) are so amazing I literally can't find words that measure up. Please read this. I hope you don't regret it.

And if you don't like this book, then screw you because it rocks.
1052953
Tiger Tail Soup left me feeling as though I had watched the most vividly beautiful movie. Every word is a delight to the senses, the writing as elegant as the author's description of a tiger. I could see the golden sheen of his fur and count the perfectly carved pieces of night that were his stripes.

As the sub-title warns  the subject matter is China at war. But carefully woven through a story of loss and hardship are numerous threads of beauty.

The author is a craftswoman when it comes to painting a scene or aptly describing an emotion. The moon is a fishhook over the sea, peace soaks through the crust of skin and sun-warmed rocks are fragrant. Consider this passage when An Lee is preparing to send a batch of letters shes written to her husband, Yu-ming. I pulled out a green silk ribbon, the exact color chosen long ago: a soft lotus-leaf green for the wind-skirts and the water-pads of a lotus pond. Seeing the ribbon, he would think of mandarin ducks swimming in pairs among white lotus flowers blooming pure and untouched above the muck. No matter the challenges and privations faced by An Lee as the war drags on and life on the small island of Kulangsu becomes more and more brutal, her life is lived with her thoughts turned to beauty.

The tiger thread that makes its wending way through this novel is strong. It was as if I could feel the padding of the large animals paws as it walks alongside me. It seemed to me that everyone loved tigers  their beauty and strength, the danger they represented. Tiger-ness, that what I love, the idea of a tiger, the myth.

Throughout the novel, the author is relentless in showing us An Lee as she is  flaws and all. By the end of the story, I felt as satisfied as any doting mother would be at An Lees maturity. She reflects on what life reunited with her husband will be. Yu-ming is only a man, after all. Hes not a mold that fits around all my corners. He isn't a river that will forever flow into the basin of my emptiness.

This is the type of book that caused me to slow down as I neared the end. I didn't want it to be over. It is a story to savour. It is a story to remember.
1459704
The position of cats in human society seems to oscillate slowly from worship to tolerance to grudging acceptance to opprobrium, then gradually back again to worship. We no longer have expensive cat mummies, as the Egyptians did, or have civic occasions for hurling cats off towers, as did the medieval Belgians. Moderation has triumphed and we seem to be in an era when we can objectively admire the sophisticated ways that cats take advantage of us while we grumble resignedly about our cat hogging the most comfortable place to sit when we want to relax and read a while.

The Big New Yorker Book of Cats is like a Joseph Cornell box: it's easy to describe what it is and what's in it, but that doesn't begin to cover the overall effect and the way the individual contents play off against one another. The book begins with a lively foreword by New Yorker film critic Anthony Lane, reprints short pieces by J.F. Powers, John Updike, Margaret Atwood, Maeve Brennan, Brendan Gill, T. Coraghessan Boyle and dozens of other names who have made The New Yorker what it is.

Something to notice is that many of the stories are told from the cat's point of view. This means that the writers have been trying to get into the mind of a cat. If you, like me, have spent a long time trying to do just that, you'll really appreciate this book. If you, like me, think that The New Yorker gets a little too self-reverential sometimes, you'll see that the effort involved in getting into the mind of a cat completely forestalls this failing. This book is by turns funny, sad, soothing and disturbing; just like cats.
699508
I thought it was interesting at 1st and then I got really angry (which is a good sign bc it means I care about the characters) and then I took a nap. The most amazing thing happened, I had a bad dream about this book! I love that, I never had a bad dream about a book before. So then when I woke up I started readying again and I LOVED the rest of the book. I loved the ending even though it made me a little sad. I am a cat person so that was an added bonus. After I was finished reading I read that this author also wrote Stardust and I loved that movie so now I am excited to read more of his work. (I usually prefer to read rather than watch, but after I watch I can't go back and read. So no reading Stardust for me.) I recommend this book. I read a review with two stars that said that they felt it would be better as a short story. I can actually see that, So I can tell this author is good at short stories and can't wait to dig in to his collections.
1211717
I imagine that it is not often that a person reviewing a book from #Netgalley stops less than 1/4th of the way through a book and goes online and buys six copies of a book for herself and other crazy cat people!! This reviewer just did that!!  .My cats own me to the point where I sleep curled around them so I do not disturb their naps on my bed. I also get a "fish facial" (aka my entire face licked) at least 3x daily which would gross out any non-cat people but my mother would probably vomit hearing that. (Mind you, I never ever, ever get a cold or the flu so maybe cat spit is immune-boosting??  Better cat kisses than kale!!!)
I was laughing so hard reading this book that tears and snot were dripping down my face and the photos are funny and beautiful (the one in the preface I have done a jigsaw puzzle of and the rest I want to frame.
If you LOVE cats GO OUT AND BUY THIS BOOK!!! If you know a cat lover, GO OUT AND BUY THIS BOOK.

Five BRILLLIANT stars.
884035
He didn't understand what this Graywhatsit was meowing about, but he sensed the threat had passed.

This was my third or fourth reread of Into the Wild, but my first in several years. Now that Im in my mid-twenties, I was very worried that I had grown out of it since my last read. Fortunately, that wasn't the case at all.

Every time I do a reread of this series, I am thoroughly impressed by the vast culture that the authors have created. The clan cats have naming schemes, rituals, societal roles, and treaties between clans. For a book aimed at elementary school children, it has a very sophisticated culture and political climate.

I was surprised, but not bothered by the number of deaths that happened in this under 300-page book. I think its realistic, though, because feral cats generally have high mortality rates. But narratively, it did seem very one right after the other.

While I seem to recall liking Spottedleaf a lot and not really caring for Yellowfang when I was younger, its definitely opposite now. I loved reading Yellowfangs character development and enjoyed her generally grumpy demeanor. I think shes one of the most interesting characters in this first book.
I don't know where my very positive impression of Spottedleaf came from (maybe a future book or books in the series?), but I thought she was a very bland character.

By far my favorite part of this book (and series) is the friendship between Firepaw and Graypaw. They respect one another and bounce off of each others personalities to make for what seems to be the adorable beginnings of a long-lasting, devoted friendship. They trust each other even when they're unsure and will put their neck on the line for the other even if they don't know all of whats going on. Its a fantastic friendship!

Additionally, I think the plot is engaging and fast-paced. Sometimes the transitions between chapters or periods of time is a little funky, but overall the plot drives you and Firepaw through learning about and adjusting to ThunderClans world. While I think future books will have to include more compelling events and intrigue to keep up with this book, this story skillfully introduced and embellished an unfamiliar world, but still kept the plot moving forward.

Im happy to say I still dearly love this book and will be continuing my series reread with high expectations!
4306856
To me, Joe Queenan is the Thomas Poling of contemporary commentary.
Let me explain. Tom Poling is a booking agent in Nashville. I first met him through my work; the work relationship, as occasionally happens, developed into a friendship. This was due in large part to the fact that Thomas is a veritable Bartlett's of colorful expressions, many of which I have unabashedly and unashamedly appropriated as my own. Another related factor is that I am unable to complete a conversation with Tom without at some point finding myself on the floor, laughing and unable to catch my breath at some acerbic comment he has made.
The same is true of Joe Queenan. Queenan is the anti-Barney, a keen observer of all those things that prick and irritate the human spirit, of those things that drag us down as a species. It is impossible to read anything he writes without experiencing at least a twitch, if not a full-blown seizure, of painful self-recognition. You'll be laughing so hard, however, that you won't care.
Queenan's books are either collections of essays or treatises on a particular subject. TRUE BELIEVERS is a treatise dealing with sports fans. If you have absolutely no interest in sports, don't fear; I am not by any definition of the term a "sports fan" (this, only because mud wrestling is not yet considered a sport) but, like most people, I am well acquainted with a multitude of individuals who are. They are all in TRUE BELIEVERS, pinned to its pages like butterflies twitching on a fourth grader's science fair project display. The chapter titles tell it all. They include: "Fans Who Love Too Much", "Fans Who Just Enjoy It", "Fans Who Are Short" (a chapter for the kids) and my personal favorite, the one that I have read verbatim to several formerly close friends, "Fans Who Misbehave."
Queenan, in the latter chapter, describes in great detail and with laser-accurate viciousness the escapades of a couple of individuals at a baseball game. You can feel the heat, smell the mix of stale popcorn and rapidly warming beer, and experience the tedium broken by the antics of the people a few rows in front of you. And it is more than hilarious. It is breath-catching, heart-stopping, call-911-I'm-comin'-Elizabeth hilarious. Queenan provides a laugh like this every page or so. TRUE BELIEVERS should probably come with a warning label. You don't want to read it within a half hour or so of consuming a bag of White Castles, one of those new Enchilada Bowls from Taco Bell, or the Reuben Platter at the Tick Tock Diner on Route 3 in Clifton, New Jersey. Your laundress won't appreciate it.
TRUE BELIEVERS is for sports fans, the people who live with them, the people who love them, and the people who can't stand them. It is, in other words, the ultimate book for everyone. Very highly recommended.
  --- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
590321
(SPOILERS)

If you've read the previous books in the series, you know that every time a New Species falls in love and takes a mate, Tiger groans, especially when that female is human. He makes fun of the guy, and reavows his steadfast refusal to take a mate or even be with a female human.  So Tiger's "dating" a human and trying to cover it up is amusing; it's very I uncharacteristic since New Species are known for their sometimes brutal honesty. It's even funnier when his friends realize he's fallen in love and one friend even makes cracks at Tiger when he figures out she's human. The previously mellow guy snarls and growls at his pals, very unlike the Tiger they know.

Of course it's not smooth sailing for any New Species or any human who works  for or cares for them. It's worse for women who date a New Species. Ask Zandy Gordon. Those hate groups are still out there. And they don't stop at just protesting the front gate.

It's because of his temporary change in Tiger that can make this the most amusing of the series so far, but it's not without its dark moments, typical of the books.

I think because this one's about Tiger, the former confirmed bachelor, it's my favorite so far.
474451
I first learned about Otto Carius at the Saumur Tank Museum where a likeness of him was featured next to their Tiger tank.

During the course of reading Tigers in the Mud, it saddened me to hear that Otto passed away at the age of 92. I understand he happily owned and operated a pharmacy after the war called Tiger Apotheke.

Aside from eating T-34s for lunch, there are several the duties of a Tiger tank commander that I never considered before. Otto spent a lot of time on a motorcycle or in a kubel doing reconnaissance patrols prior to the attack. Afterwards he would have to go back with his tank and recovery vehicles to rescue other damaged Tigers. These operations were often more hair-raising than the actual battles.  Also, little details like the tanks not having a heating system for the crew really blew my mind. Those poor guys were sitting in a steel ice-box in the middle of a frigid Russian winter. Parts of his body were frost-bitten from simply touching the inner walls of his Tiger.

Leadership is a major theme in this book and the frustration of new commanding officers who wouldn't heed the advice of seasoned front line tankers seems to be a recurring event. (It brought to mind the classic John Ford western, Fort Apache.) Many things go wrong in the memoir and Otto is not afraid to admit mistakes and learn from them. Many soldiers fell victim to work-related injuries, accidents and friendly-fire. One of the saddest parts of the story is when their entire infantry is wiped out by their own Nebelwefer artillery barrage.

It took me about a week to finish the book and on the kindle version 75% is actually the end of the novel. The remaining 25% is documents and field notes and glossary.  I would actually recommend looking over the glossary prior to reading to familiarize yourself with some of the terminology.
The dry, bare-bone accounts at the end make me appreciate Otto's ability to make his story compelling and full of intrigue, excitement, frustration, pain, and ultimately complete disappointment. Those Amazon reviewers that criticize Ott's writing need to give the guy a break..he's a German tank commander not a poet. The only weakness of the book is a lack of maps that show the location of these villages and towns as his unit lumbers around eastern Europe. Also some of the 'score charts' and award documents at the end could have been integrated into the text. Every so often, I would have liked to know his running total of kills to judge how far along he was in his career.

Overall, highly recommend reading this if you have any interest in tank warfare or Tiger tanks in general.

In closing I would like to share a quote from Otto that sums up his basic philosophy as a soldier:

"We held our positions and gave it our best because we were bound by law. And when we couldn't even think of that anymore, because we were half-mad from the hardship, cold, and hunger, then we held out because of fear and instinct."
1124505
Just wow. I read a lot, and recently I have been having a hard time finding a book that can hold my interest beyond the first 5 chapters. This one however, kept me up all night until, alas, with burning eyes and breath stealing yawns, I admitted defeat and fell asleep. It was a burning, bothersome presence in the back of my mind all day while trudging thru the monotonous daily grind of work, and I found myself driving home as if I was one race away from winning the Daytona 500, the Triple Crown, and the pig races at the local county fair all rolled into one just so I could finish this book.
With sqealing tires, I raced up my driveway, parked my car, ran into the house, went pee (cuz y'know, gotta take care of things before you start reading so there are no interruptions), and proceeded to kick the cat and dog off my bed so I could settle in and finish this book before the kids got home! And boy, am I glad I did.
130930
Tiger, Tiger Tiger... This game is somewhat of a letdown? I mean - there is so much more to the game that we don't get to experience... where is the Phil "I have man boobs" Mickelson getting up tiger for not having the best equipment... Where is Tigers smokingly hot wife? Where is john Daley throwing down a six pack before the third tee? Where is the option to use the broomstick putter? I mean - come on EA - give me 30 minutes with your design team and we will have much more realistic golf game.

If I had my way - I would have player commentary... I know they are professionals - but when you shank the ball - you let out one of 300 expletives... this needs to be in the game. "But they are professionals - they would not do that". Please - they are human - and they swear.  How funny would it be for tiger to let out a few curse words when his three iron sends the ball into the brush?... Let me answer for you... VERY!

There should be a "cough" button to hit whenever you opponent has a pressure shot. Another thing would be able to walk through the line of the guys lining up the putt. How fun would it be to able to get tiger to perform the old "foot wedge" out of the rough? Let me answer for you... VERY!.

That being said - the game was a joy to play with my friends James "the Aussie" and Joe "I break things". Yes we played against each other - yes you had to have a shot when you lost the hole and - yes our game got worse. Two things about Australians I didn't know that this game taught me... Australians can drink and two - Australians don't like going to the bathroom when the game is on the line.  Two things I learnt about Joe from this game - he pees more than any person alive and two - HE PEES MORE THAN ANY PERSON ALIVE.  I mean - we are drinking the same amount pal - how about you grow a bladder?

GREAT IDEA - have a "Drinking Game" option where you set the rules for the game. Ie "Drink when hitting into water", "opponent drinks when you hit 30+ foot putt", "three drinks for a hole in one". Then when you play the game... Tiger comes up whenever a drinking infringement occurs and goes "DRIIIIIIIINK B*TCH" or something like that. How good would that be? Let me answer for you... VERY!.

Anyway - back to the game... it is fun to play - even better with Alcohol - even better with two different nationalities.

I know this was helpful to you all - including the EA people who should read these reviews. So may all your drives be long, your irons sweet and your putts lucky.

PS. Get this game - it is lovely.

PPS. Joe - get a liver.
4831056
This book truly told the tales (no pun) of Flying Tigers. It was fun, sometimes scary, sometimes sad, but a wonderful quick read of wonderful people and their stories. Having worked for Flying Tigers for 20 years I was involved in a couple of these stories. Any one that has an interest in aviation history, brave aviators, including flight attendants and mechanics would enjoy this book. Put your leather jacket on, kick back and view the ride.