The Way It Is - 3.5 stars
343319
I decided to buy Keyshia's disc after hearing 'I JUST WANT IT TO BE OVER' this summer.  This song became one of my favorites this summer with it's excellent music arrangement & vocal production. Her voice was not perfect but it was perfect singing this song and given how much I also liked her 2 other single releases, 'I CHANGED MY MIND' & 'I SHOULD HAVE CHEATED', I felt reasonably sure that I wouldn't be wasting my $$.

Reading the liner notes, I was quite surprised to see how involved Ron Fair was in the production of this disc.  I don't know a lot about his background except how heavily involved he was with producing Vanessa Carlton's debut disc. Ron seems to be a "music man" one of the few left within this industry and his input definitely helped create one of the better r&b releases this year in Keyshia Cole.  The music production on this entire disc, even on the filler tracks is stellar - as I listened, I found myself marveling at how beautifully her vocals matched the music and how originally old school/nu school the music sounds.

I've seen Keyshia perform a few times and while she no doubt has talent, a little vocal training could help her better control her voice and find her perfect pitch so that she doesn't strain as often as she does. I think a lot of the Mary J. Blige comparisons come about because in interviews, Keyshia is extremely "rough" and could definitely use a lot of media training to soften the edges - although that shouldn't deter people from giving her music a chance, unfortunately a nasty attitude displayed too many times can turn people off of an artist.

All that aside, this is a really good debut disc and an excellent representation of traditional r&b music for the new millenium.

My standout track choices:

I JUST WANT IT TO BE OVER - I can't get enough of this song!

LOVE, I THOUGHT YOU HAD MY BACK - love the string arrangement

I SHOULD HAVE CHEATED

LOVE - her vocals sound a bit scratchy but that element definitely adds to the drama of the song!

WE COULD BE - pretty ballad

SITUATIONS - I like this song a lot, especially Chink trying real hard to channel Tupac

Overall I would recommend this disc to fans of r&b and those who truly enjoy hearing new talented vocalists. I truly can't say enough about the excellent production of this disc.
1953730
It was ok read. I wasn't overly happy where things were going, but overall its a solid four stars.
1936682
Eric Hutchinson is a singer-songwriter-pianist whose debut is clever. It's made up of overall catchy indie pop numbers that have flashes of soul and jazz. It's definitely somewhat eclectic in sound. I love most of the songs but my 3 favorites are "Food Chain", "It Hasn't Been Long Enough" and "Outside Villanova". I also love the groove of "You've Got You". Most of the songs are good but I found "All Over Now" and especially the repetitive "Oh!" to be average. But 8 out of 10 ain't bad so for me this CD works. Where his second album is overproduced and a bit too pop this one has the right mix.

4.3 stars.
4734523
First of all let me say i am a very harsh critic in General. When i give something a 3 i don't mean it sucks, but that it's average. I'd in fact give it a 3.5 or a 3.25 if the system allowed me, but i will move on.  This album is soothing and relaxing and more of an album for background music played lightly whiled reading or distracted reading web pages or playing your favorite video game. The songs are for the most part unique but none of them is really striking. A couple are slightly better than the others. I found "Audiophilosophy" to be one of the better tracks while a couple of the others like "Magical Moment" and "Super Groovie Style" had a bit cheesier lyrics that seemed to have forced rhymes(a personal pet peeve.)  Is this a good album if you're looking to ad to your music collection? Yeah it's not bad. Is it great or anything? No compared to Jan Johnston, Kirsty Hawkshaw(ignore the Ice Castle) it's just not up to par. Now keep in mind they get to work with geniuses like Oakie and Johnston but it would take that kind of quality for me to give it anywhere near a 5.

To continue a couple of the tracks were purely beats and i found they were ok but lacking. This womans voice is beautiful let's hear more of it, with less forced rhymes.
1192437
I have mixed feelings about this book.  Overall, this was a good 3.5 star story.  To me, it wasn't great like the previous ones.  In fact, this one felt like it had pieces of other stories combined into this one.  I guess that's why it took a little longer for me to read, because I'd read something and it'd make me think of something similar to a previous couple.  It felt too rushed as well.  They went from being best friends, to not talking to one another for 6 years, become coworkers, then about a week later they're friends again, then moving onto lovers.

I liked watching Jillian become stronger and stand her ground, not be the doormat she once was.  And that clearly worked for Brock as well.  I didn't really connect with her though.  Perhaps because I felt like there were pieces of Calla/Teresa/Roxy/Abby that made up Jillian.  Either way, I didn't connect with her character as I did with the others.

I've always liked Brock and wanted to know more about him from previous stories.  Finally reading about him left me meh.  Sure, he's a nice enough guy, sexy, ripped, tatted, but again, I just couldn't connect with him.  I couldn't understand his reasoning for the crap he pulled when they were younger.  I wish there had been more...I don't know....groveling I suppose after everything that had gone down.  Maybe it's just me, but if my best friend (who later admits he knew how she felt all along) treated me the way he did Jillian, I don't think I'd be able to just forgive him as easily as she did once he was back in her life.  Then again, it'd been 6 years, so maybe that helped her.
4069734
I have been waiting for this album for a while and I was excited when it came out. The album contained great songs, with my favorites being When We Were Young, Remedy, and All I Ask. Her vocals also became stronger after the operation (as was confirmed by one BBC article that came out a few days ago) and they are evident in songs such as Hello and When We Were Young (remember that high note?).

I was less enthusiastic about Send My Love - it did not sound very much like her usual style. Maybe a couple of other songs because they felt like a bit of deviation from her usual style. While some may see this as progress, I see this as just plain deviation. So with this mix of songs, it somehow left me wanting for more.
1321042
I'm middle of the road about this book. On one hand the author's style doesn't bother me in terms of structure, but I do find the overuse of vocabulary words (so called because they feel like them in context) to be a bit distracting. The humor is present for those who want it, but it isn't a knee slapping kind...it's more like the having a conversation with someone and they say something and you point and clap and chuckle a bit because they are so right kind to me. I liked it. I would have liked it to have been more refined throughout the book, but as it is...the book is okay
2374087
Second books are often a bit like second musical albums after big debuts.  Good, but somehow lacking the magic of the first effort.  That's how I feel about "A Dedicated Man".  I really debated between giving it three or four stars.
It easily earns three stars as an least average British police procedural.  The writing is competent.  The clues (or lack thereof) all make sense in in the end.  It gets another half star for its many thoughtful observations of the Yorkshire environment - both the landscape and the mentality of the people.  I'm pretty much rounding up the score after that.  I like Banks and plan to keep reading the series which has received considerable praise in recent years.  Still, I haven't found anything so fascinating that I'm going to recommending the book or series to friends---yet.
3145243
It is a bit uneven. There are some well crafted gems on this CD, really great songs. But there are a few few not so-greats sprinkled in as well. This band tends to be a tad schizophrenic sometimes, folksy and then a song that sounds lifted from Arcade Fire. Good stuff, maybe a bit syrupy in some spots, but still solid.
1713323
I was going to give this 3 stars but in the end I'd give it 3.5.

There are wonderful things about this book and not-so-wonderful things. I'll get the not-so-wonderful things out of the way. It took me a while to get into this book. At first it was because I was confused as to what was going on. I don't know if it was the language that confused me but for the first time reading one of these variations I thought whether I'd want to attempt finishing it.

I didn't enjoy how angry and petulant Darcy was throughout the book (there is redemption for him but that will come later). I read complaints about Lizzy being uncharacteristically whiny and needy but if you read carefully she's not a fan of what she's become either. I think Darcy was dealt the short end of the stick character wise, BUT he did improve. Another character I wasn't too fond of was Georgiana. She was quite the manipulator in this story, from deceit over her alleged shy nature to deceit over her dark moods.

Ok so what did I like? Darcy was rather angry and upset a lot, but my goodness when he expressed his love and devotion to Lizzy, you remember why he's such a swoon worthy character. In the end when he opens his heart and bares his soul to Lizzy, you can't help but be moved by it. His love for his children is also endearing. I believe what ultimately improved the story for me was in realizing that the author treated Darcy and Lizzy not as these perfect people who could do no wrong, but human beings. They not only had to adjust and compromise to the demands of marriage but through their trials and heartache, they grew as human beings and I found that realistic and relatable.

As I said in my heading this isn't a light and romantic read. Sure there's romance, but I'm overwhelmed by everything I read that I would need a lot of time if I ever wanted to read this again. But I'd say for the price it's definitely worth reading once.
1707047
After the death of her grandmother, Lindsay helps to clean out the house left to her and her sister.  Unfortunately, the grandmother was a hoarder with a not so clean past.  Instead of family heirlooms, she finds different items that are found to have been stolen from others.  As a detective, she can't stop looking into the details, and eventually, she finds out much more about her family then she might have wanted to know.

The plot itself is fairly interesting and solid.  However, there seems to be a lot going on in this book that, at times, distracts from the story.  While it doesn't always have to be step by step, there are several detours that don't really seem to add too much value to what is going on.  A few too many happenstance situations, and it starts to feel a bit too much like a story.  With some edits and modifications, this could be a great book, but for now, it's just an interesting story.
3469424
It isn't easy to be the daughter of a Congressman, especially when he's running for office. The Hamilton family has returned to their roots of Red Dirt, Texas after it looks like Congressman Hamilton will lose his seat for North Carolina and Kate is caught up in a fiasco at her school after exposing some unfair traditions in recommendation letter writing and her ex put up photos of her that were really innocent but could be taken wrong...and the media got ahold of them. Kate thought they were going back to her Dad's hometown to lie low, but it is soon clear he's got his eye on the seat that just opened in Congress for repping the Red Dirt area. In the midst of that, Kate has her own agenda. She's determined to get a recommendation letter from her former principal, but she has to beat others to the most service hours to get it. She's also working on her photography portfolio to hopefully get into a coveted program, but her photos just seem to be lacking something. And when she walks into the local high school, Kate can't help but try to solve just a few teensy problems. There's the star quarterback just a little too full of himself. The lonely girl someone spread rumors about...and the mysterious and irritating Hunter who always seems to be judging her. Only, maybe Hunter is right because things start to backfire and she realizes maybe she's making more of a mess than helping.

Yes, this is a rewrite of Jane Austen's Emma, but it isn't obvious until Kate gets solidly enmeshed in her plans to try and solve Ana's social problems. That's when there's some glaring parallels. Overall, though, Honeyman has made this so much a unique story that it just feels like the Emma elements are an honoring nod to a master storyteller. Not every character in this perfectly matches up with ones in Austen's story (indeed some have no parallels - like Kate's living and present mother), and even the broader plot points are so different you aren't entirely sure how they will end up. It's like a musical remix that just incorporates some themes from a well-recognized song in the refrain but is overall it's own different song. I really liked the story that Honeyman wove. I haven't read too many stories about politician's kids or the pressures they face to be perfect. Kate comes from a fairly well-off background, but Red Dirt introduces her to both middle class and struggling characters, and helps show that certain things are true for all and cross boundary lines of class. The pressures of the town on the football team were kind of insane, but felt very believable. I'm not a huge football fan, but neither was Kate so I felt I identified with her while other characters are die hard fans, so die hard fan readers will also find someone to identify with. I liked watching Kate's character development as she learns from her mistakes, surprisingly, development of the political race also keeps you reading, and of course, there's a little romance that builds slowly over the book and is cute. It's a fun, high energy contemporary read with a spunky heroine dumped into a small town who learns a lot but does so with grace.

Notes on content: No language issues. No sexual content. (Ok, a tiny little kiss. And another guy tries to force Kate to kiss him but she fights back and he gets his hand slammed in a door.)
953623
Housekeeper Julie meets Lane, her new boss's grandson, and he determinedly pursues her while she delights in bringing life and hospitality back to the ranch.

(Though reviews are inherently subjective, I prefer to provide some organization to my opinions through the use of a personal rubric. The following notes may contain spoilers.)

Plot and Setting: 3.5 -- Plot has unique elements and no major holes, but includes scenes that pull away from the main focus. It basically tries to include too much. The title makes it seem like the courtship is the main focus, but it really isn't. That bit is resolved early on, and then other plotlines are added. Some, like Myrna/Grady and Jack's attic, are nice but don't fit the main focus very well. Others, like helping Trey and the aftermath of Lane's accident, seem like they should be the main plot of a second volume, instead of mashing it all together in one very long book. The hospitality-at-the-ranch plotline isn't strong enough to blend it together well. Setting is clear and believable, but the year is somewhat unclear and inconsistent: Once it says 2009 (Trey's Christmas gift), once math tells me 2012 (new college freshmen are class of '16), and once math tells me 2013 (Julie graduated in '09, and Cara, now 4, was born the next day).

Characters: 4 -- Main characters are relatable, realistic, interesting, and dynamic. Lane and Julie are both almost too good to be true, always helping others and generally happy, but Julie struggles with letting go of Alan's memory in the first bit, and near the end Lane struggles to deal with his injury for a time. Some minor characters have depth, while others may be slightly stereotyped or simplified. There are a lot of characters, and we get glimpses into the personalities of some, but not all, and many come and go in the plot. Definite strong points in the relationships between characters.

Mechanics and Writing: 2.5 -- Scattered typos, punctuation issues, and word errors, including a few major mistakes. The context clues that set us in a variety of specific years are a main example. Head-hopping or similar POV issues. It's all 3rd-person, but more a universal narrator than any one POV, and mostly it tells the actions and words of everybody, with occasional glimpses into the thoughts of characters, mainly Lane and Julie. Average writing, with strong parts and parts that struggle. The very beginning was particularly confusing, as we dive right into phone calls between people we don't yet know, and it took some time to figure out the relationships between them all.

Redeeming Value: 4 -- Multiple (unfocused) uplifting themes or lessons. Julie has a gift for hospitality. Lane listens to the Spirit's promptings as he loves and pursues Julie. Myrna trusts God to care for Grady when she's no longer able. Ben and his team find and nurture the talents of the men in their group home. Julie seeks God in her confusion over her feelings, and finally surrenders her late husband to God and loves Lane. Lane and Julie extend love and support to Trey. Lane struggles with feeling weak while injured, but learns to give it to God, and even to appreciate it as part of God's plan. Sex, alcohol, violence, etc, are not glorified at all. Lane and Julie are very clear about maintaining purity until they are married.

Personal Enjoyment: 3 -- I liked it. It was enjoyable and entertaining. I wouldnt mind re-reading it someday, but its not a priority.
3364180
(3 & 1/2 stars) This is the 2nd album from Ms Frally Hynes.  Her nice song "Remembrance Day," a duet with Teddy Thompson, was recently featured on an episode of the TV show Friday Night Lights.  Otherwise, Frally is thusfar best known for being the ex-wife of Ben Folds, and the mother of his twin children.  Putting that aside, I found her singing to be similar to Aimee Mann's, but with a more acoustic, less rock-oriented style.  The songs on The Light are sometimes excellent (esp. "Remb. Day" and "Not Supposed To Miss You"), but at other times they fall into a kind of gentle lullaby state (ex., "Song Bird") -- very smooth and easy listening, but low impact.  I do feel this album is going to grow on me.  Perhaps if I reviewed it a year from now, I'd give it the full four stars.  By the way, if you download this from Amazon vs. their main music download competitor, you'll save about three bucks! (At least on this review date.)
3864658
I am reading and listening to this book and it's adequate for passing the time on my long commute to and from work.  What I like about the book is that the main character is relatable from her situation with her marriage to her relationship with the dog in the story.  The thoughts she has in her head about people and situations are often, spot on.  What I don't like though is the main character while relatable, is not very likeable.  Basically, she's kinda a bitch; she's both surly and snarky.  The story puts her forth as an "introvert" but what she really is, is antisocial. Her disagreeableness keeps her emotionally distant both in the story and to the reader.  Honestly, if I hadn't bought he Audible narration, I probably wouldn't bother finishing this and would return it.  While it is a unique perspective give the main character's loss, it's hard to care much about what she does.
259470
(3.5 stars) Sunny seems to have the perfect suburban life, with a child, a brilliant husband who is an astronaut, and a picture perfect house. However, what lies beneath the surface is quite different and her perfect world begins to slowly fall apart when a minor car accident exposes her baldness to the world. Her mother is dying and is on life support, her child is autistic, not unlike his father, whose space mission is also perilous. We see Sunny and Maxons childhood and how each of them changed over time influenced by Sunnys mother and by those around them. This is a quirky character driven novel that explores the concept of normality and humanity through a less than ordinary life.
2270759
For me this was more like 3.5 stars but closer to three than four, so that's why I gave it three. Interestingly enough, I read through chapter 7 of The Stones Cry Out and never had the desire to pick it up again, so I didn't. But then I'd read some positive things about this author's work and saw some nominations for awards and thought maybe I missed something. So I agreed to do a blog tour for this book.

I did finish The Clouds Roll Away because I agreed to post a review for the tour, or I probably wouldn't have finished this book. The writing style seemed kind of choppy to me and sometimes spiritual reflection seemed to come out of the sky. It was nice that I read it around Christmas since that was the time period for the majority of the story, but at the same time the continual references to phrases in well-known Christmas songs and hymns annoyed me. Why not just say mom was listening to Silent Night? Or O Holy Night? Most people know the lyrics anyway, so quoting partial phrases didn't make sense to me. Even non-Christians know those songs.

Anyway, I did find some aspects of the FBI theme compelling and it was kinda cool how various seemingly unrelated elements pulled together toward the end. At the same time, I found some of the details a bit gruesome (like people's faces being blown off and then described further than that) and so I got some unpleasant visuals of bloated dead bodies and such. I was scared for her when she kept dealing with the crack house. But other than that, I would have to say if I never read another book by Sibella I wouldn't be sad about it. She just doesn't write the type of stories I enjoy reading. If she had gotten a little deeper into her relationship with her mother or with Demott, then I would have enjoyed the story more. It just seemed too superficial to me and other than worrying about Raleigh on occasion, I didn't connect much with the characters in the story.

On the positive end, I did feel like I knew Raleigh better by book's end, so that was good, but if I hadn't been doing the tour I probably would've stopped reading it about halfway through when the part about finding the dead guys in the water came up, because it grossed me out so much. At that point I still felt like I barely knew Raleigh. It could be one of those situations where reading prior novels in the series would have given me an entirely different perspective.

I did find it interesting that a white author had written so many negative things into this storyline that were racial stereotypes for both white and black folks, and the author hasn't been criticized. Then again, this story was set in the old south, so racial tension has pretty much been a deep thread in Virginia history for centuries, so it fit the storyline. Did this book inspire me? Not really. But it might inspire someone else. The author definitely knows how to weave a compelling, if not a bit gruesome and complex suspense/crime mystery. That was well done.