Not My First Visit To Wild Lake
584547
I love Ms. White's writing, she takes you along for the adventure and you really experience it.
1508536
Would you live on an island ? An island reached by crossing four miles of water or ice ? This wilderness island is without electricity or conveniences we know today. There are fish, small game, an occasional  moose or bear. Before trying this lifestyle, you may want to walk trap lines in wet frigid temps, sit in the dingy as your 10hp motor grunts against treacherous winds to bring you to shore. After your boat ride, you might try the 9 mile oneway walk to town while carrying your. 44magnum,and gas can. Returning you'll carry the same but now a full 5 gallons along with other supplies needed.. On this lap you may be lucky to catch a calm day that you can relax, take in both quiet and sounds around you, realize the reasons you're there, ..until you reach the boat and load. Then it happens,  you question Skilak's up and down dramatics, a  reasonable or scarey show today on this lake, your ride home ? . always suspense ! Can you do it ?..an easy test- join Bonnie & Sam and you'll be sharing their reality dream to live with nature. 'Reality' for a great movie !!..one  that would have the audience on edge with feeling fear,resilience,hope and 'win' as living happens on Skilak's wilderness island.
Thanks to Bonnie and Sam  for taking us along through their lives, a wonderful story !
202209
This book was not for me!  I can't believe I stuck with it to the end.  I don't like super natural happenings.  There was way to much violence.  It was interesting how the character's lives interconnected.  The author can write well but the book just wasn't for my taste.
1097407
I was given an electronic copy by Hague Publishing and NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Cold Faith by Shaune Lafferty Webb is the first book in the Safe Harbour Chronicles.  Rab is taking a journey up north for survival's sake, but he did not count on being forced to take three children with him.  After they escape their dying village, they make the acquaintance of Sunny and her Grandfather.  The travelers soon realize that life away from their village is not what they had expected.

This book is more about the journey than the destination.  The bleakness of the landscape and the dire situation in which Rab and the children find themselves helps to set the scene.  This dystopian novel is merely a set up for more books in the series, since the slow pace helps to build the suspense for future novels.  The plot meanders along and, with the exception of a big twist near the end, does not really go anywhere.  The biggest negative to Cold Faith is the fact that I could not connect with the characters.  Although their survival is at stake, I really just could not feel any emotions coming the main characters.  The unfamiliar landscape, both indoors and outside, should have sparked Rab and the children, but they never had the "kid in a candy store" reaction.  I am curious to see if book 2 helps the series to come together, so I will be reading more by this author in the future.
3073451
I want to start off by saying II love the Misadventures Series.  This was my first time reading anything by Elizabeth Hayley and I have to say if this is an example of her writing style and storytelling capabilities I could take it or leave.  It was really hard to connect with Blake and Gavin as a couple.  The book seemed make me zone out on more than one occasion.
2293943
Was not what I expected, Did not list all hotels by names or places to eat.
1534022
I used to enjoy the outdoors. Trips to Yosemite with the family. Camping in the shadow of Half Dome. Walks throught he woods to one of the beautiful waterfalls. Seeing deer, coyotes, bunnies and foxes. Then I read Ursa Major. Thanks a lot John!
3527456
Hard to evaluate when I haven't been there yet!
4265910
I must be getting old (actually, I think I realized that a while ago).  I can't get through the first big challenge.  I'm constantly being slaughtered.  I suppose, if I did some research, I might be able to figure out how to kill the baddies but, it's a game and I don't have the patience.  I love RPGs and enjoyed Zelda, the Myst series and other puzzle solving RPGs games (does that indicate how old I am?).  But this one drove me beyond my patience threshold and dropped me, bleeding and defeated on the forest floor. So, now Dragon Age sits in my MAC waiting for that day when I have ABSOLUTELY nothing else to do.  Maybe then I'll spend a few hours honing my killing skills and send my team of soldiers back out into the Dragon's world.
1189805
For some reason I had a hard time reading this book and I really can't say why. I think maybe there were just too many trippy moments in this book. I typically like books about the supernatural but this one, not so much. There was a weird flow to the book as I was reading it, for me the story did not seamlessly flow together like so many other supernatural books I have read it felt choppy and awkward. The characters were ok but I never connected with any of them like I often do in books. I didn't hate the book but at the same time there several moments where I almost just quit reading the book without much worry about the end. There were times that I would just graze over a page just to pull out enough information to keep me moving through the book. This is not one of those books I will revisit to read again, once was enough for me. I am sure it is just me and my particular taste in books, I am sure there are others out there who will love and did love this book, I am just not one of them.
764956
Enjoyed reading Echo Lake.  It was not the page turner that I expected but it was good.  Will read this author again.
4366773
Why this book was named 'Wild' was lost on me.  A better title would have been 'Found'.  Possible Strayed was describing her wild past, rather than the wild outdoors.

This book is in essence, a story about being completely lost within oneself, on drugs, through multiple failed relationships, young and dumb, and pulling oneself up by one's own bootstraps.  Yes, the PCT and backpacking are in there, but it could have been a voluntary entry into a drug rehab center with psychological counseling described in detail instead of the PCT.

I am an avid backpacker and older woman.  I was frankly bored with the personal background segues.  But I read on because I wondered if she would finally be amazed with her surroundings on the PCT; if the message was how true wildness heals.

Strayed never expresses that ecstasy and wonder of the natural world...o.k. there are a few sentences here and there...but she walks alone in order to process [and detox] her tumultuous life.  Walking was her meditating and therapy, not really the 'Wild' or wilderness. More like solitary confinement, than awe and wonder.  In fact, the first 2/3 descriptions of her life on the PCT do not give you a feeling for the trail, but more for her swollen feet and all her aches and pains.  Strayed most 'Wild' encounters include a fox and coyote howls and a brief sighting of a black bear in which she sings and talks all day after that because she was so afraid.

If you are looking for a self-help story, this is a great one.  If you want to get a feeling for the 'Wild', there are many other fine books out there.  The Wild Excellence is one of those books about a woman alone in real wilderness.
4812809
Ever since a quiet away from home Thanksgiving with family when I didn't bring enough books Kelley Armstrong has been my go to Author for Romance, Supernatural and Horror in just the right amounts. So When I found out she was writing about (gasp!) normal people- who didn't turn into wolves or cast spells or live in hell dimensions or anything- I was shocked. So shocked I didn't even bother trying the book out.

Well, I eventually managed to come around to rectifying my error. "Exit Strategy" is about Nadia Stafford, a Canadian Lodge owner that caters to people looking for an actual taste of the great outdoors with some extreme sporting thrown in. This is what she does most of the time. Arrange nature hikes, give shooting lessons, skydives. Very occasionally she kills someone.

That's right. Our wholesome nature lodge owner is also a former Police officer turned hitman. And when one of her hits is accidently mistaken for the latest in in a series by a serial killer being called the helter skelter killer (HSK for short) she's in big trouble-until an old sort of friend stops by. Jack is Nadia's mentor and he has a proposition- going under the impression that the HSK is a former hit man he has backing to put a team together to take him out- before it gets too hot for anyone in the profession to operate. And Nadia makes the cut for the team.

Working with hit men isn't easy though, even if they're working together. Everyone is holding something tight to the vest and they're all playing games. But as the hunt gets more and more dangerous it becomes clear that games are only going to get them killed.

This series really isn't that different from the "women of the Otherworld." Yes- there is no supernatural element. And I do believe this is the first Kelley Armstrong novel to have no romantic element play an important role. But the flavor is the same, the writing feels the same. The story is very different but overall this book can be enjoyed with a feeling of comfortable familiarity (in fact, almost disappointing simplicity.)

I have to be honest. While I enjoyed reading this I'm starting to get a very repetitious feeling from Armstrong's novels- It's nothing bad- but it can be tedious and it's very much there.

Four stars.
574065
I just finished The Blue Bistro and loved it.  I was looking for another Nantucket escape but this is not it. While I'm sure it's a fine read, it's not what I was looking for.  I will finish it though but as some of the other reviewers have done, I am starting to skim over pages to find out the secret.  I will probably read all of Elin Hilderbrand's books -- I love her stories -- but this is not my favorite one.
3819864
After reading this concise guide to adventure, I wanted to head west and experience it all myself! Rather than something you read once and set aside, you will want to refer to Mr. schecter's guide as you roam the country, although I think I will skip the doll museum; sounds creepy!
2687961
Disappointed you didn't get to Kataudin.  I was there!
I was awaiting this part of the trip although the Skyline
Drive section was very special!
1689265
September is missing her friends in Fairyland. She fears that Green Wind may have forgotten about her as it has been a long time she September left Fairyland. While outside September hears some voices. She sees a rowboat with people in it. She goes running after the boat. September is so busy running that she does not see the hole in the ground. She tumbles down the hole and back to Fairyland.

I was very excited to read this book. I had a fun time reading the first one so I could not wait to continue the adventure with September and the rest of the characters in Fairyland. Unfortunately, the spark that was in the first book was missing in this one. I had a harder time finishing this book. It moved slower and I found the newer characters not as intriguing. They were kooky but still this was not enough to keep me interested. I was sad about this. However I do like September and Fairyland. I think that this series is somewhere in between the original Alice in Wonderland and Tim Burton's version. Hopefully the next book will get back to what book one was like.