Posted on by Meghan G

Book Review: Antelope in the Living Room

The Antelope in the Living Room: The Real Story of Two People Sharing One Life

Title:  The Antelope in the Living Room: The Real Story of Two People Sharing One Life

Author: Melanie Shankle

Genre: Memoir/Humor/Marriage/Christian

Date Published: February 4th, 2014

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary:

Antelope in the Living Room is written by an author who is also is a blogger. She chronicles her 16 year marriage with husband Perry in a version of short stories within each chapter. Melanie Shankle’s sense of humor is written in every word and truly made this book highly enjoyable to read.

 

What did I think about the book?

I don’t really have anything negative to write about Antelope in the Living Room except that some of the stories can seem randomly woven together at times. Other than that it met my criteria of being entertaining and I didn’t find myself wanting to do something else while reading it. I also bought the book for my mom she has been enjoying too.  She uses pop culture references throughout the book and it does tend to read like a blog but she is blogger so all is forgiven. It’s a good lighthearted book that perfectly jump started me to start reading again after nothing seemed to grab my interest for the past two months. That alone gives it a 5 out of 5 for me.

Who would I recommend this book to?

I would recommend Antelope in the Living Room more of a female audience though any guy might find it funny too, I feel as though it may be more appreciated from a woman was it is a woman’s perspective on her marriage.  I would also recommend this to a group of friend as it could be a great book to read together. And for obvious reasons this would anyone getting married or is married may enjoy it too.

Who would I not recommend this book to?

Someone looking for a serious read may want to steer clear this won’t be your book. Anyone who doesn’t like Christian or Religious aspect, the author is a Christian blogger and her books are sold in the Christian living section (I only note this because people still wrote negative reviews on this simple fact and I’m not really sure how they stumbled across the book if they don’t like that genre.)  It may not also be of interest to a reader if a collection of stories instead of one streamline read is not your style.

Happy Reading,

Meghan

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Posted on by Meghan G

Shades of Doon Review: Book 3 in the Doon Series

**Warning: There may be spoilers for the the other two books in the series.**

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Title: 

Shades of Doon

Author(s):

Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon

 Genre:

Young Adult/Fantasy/Romance

Publish Date:

September 1, 2015

 Dates Read:

March 7 to 10, 2016

Rating:

5/5 Stars

Synopsis:

After cheating death, Veronica Welling is determined to savor every moment in her idyllic kingdom with both her true love and best friend by her side at last. At the same time, Mackenna Reid is enthusiastically building her new life and a theater with her prince. But just as their dreams of happiness are within reach, the world Vee and Kenna have chosen is ripped away, leaving them to face their most horrific challenge yet—their old lives.

Thrust out of Doon, the best friends are confronted with tormentors from their past and no way to return to their adopted land. When the MacCrae brothers rush to their rescue, the girls’ situation turns from nightmare to modern-day fairy tale. But their happiness could be short lived: unbeknownst to them, someone in their closest circle is aiding the witch of Doon in her bid to destroy the kingdom once and for all. (Goodreads)

 

Review:

Shades of Doon picks up where the second book in the series left off. At the end of Destined for Doon, Vee has basically blacked out, leaving the reader wondering exactly what happened to her. And I have to say that ending, I’ve never been more happy to stumble across the first 3 books after they were published because I know I couldn’t wait to know what happens next. Of course the authors of Doon didn’t kill off one of the main characters when the series hasn’t finished yet, but for a moment before reading Shades of Doon you worry. Its safe to say Vee makes it through but finds a very over protective Jamie in the end. As for Mackenna and Duncan they finally make head way and acknowledge the calling they’ve apparently have been having since they were children. So when the start of book 3 begins all is well in the land of Doon, or so it seems. But if you’ve read the first two books you know nothings every happy for long there.

I’ll leave that small part of the summary of the book there for now and go into my review of Shades of Doon. I will say that out of the 3 books so far Shades of Doon is my favorite. I feel like after reading through the first 2 as the reader I’ve learned about the main characters pretty well by now so there doesn’t have to be so much character back story. But don’t get me wrong I know understanding who they are is important but sometimes books can spend a lot of time explaining and not enough time on the actually story line. So I’m really glad that this is a series because I love exploring Doon a little bit more in every book. We get to see more areas of it and learn some Scottish traditions along the way. (Yay Scotland!)

I also loved that the books chapters are even between Mackenna and Veronica because unlike books 1 and 2 where Doon was more from Vee’s perspective and Destined for Doon was more from Kenna’s, Shades of Doon alternates between them. I like it mostly because you can see this story unfold and know how it affects them both without the domination of characters telling of the story. Because I know personally when I read Doon and Destined for Doon I wanted a little more from the other girl’s perspective. And pretty much the other reviews I’ve read or watched have stated the same thing so Shades of Doon really comes through.

And of course much like the first two books, Shades of Doon moves quickly. Nothing ever stays in one place too long which can get you to the end of the book before you even realize your there. I was really grateful for the pace of the book because I could read through my least favorite part quickly. Yes I know I gave a 5 out of 5 stars but you can’t love absolutely everything about everything.

So here’s it goes.

I didn’t care for the Vee and Kenna being sent back to their old lives part. Sure the story line only last there for maybe 3 chapters but I still didn’t like it. Nor did I really care for the fact of seeing Duncan and Jamie experience a brief moment in their girlfriends world. As quickly as Vee and Mackenna showed up in Indiana I was absolutely prepared for them to leave. I guess stubbornly I wanted to stay in Doon even though clearly after reading the back cover I knew that would happen. But a girl can dream.

Other than that, Shades of Doon didn’t falter in keeping my attention. Which for some books can be difficult (I’m looking at you Graceling) but Shades of Doon left me wanting more. And sadly I’ll be waiting a while for the 4th book because Forever Doon doesn’t come out until August of this year. And with the way book 3 ended, I need August to be here like yesterday.

Would I recommend? Yes, I think by my other reviews of the series this is no surprise. I think everyone should read this!

So this review wasn’t as long as the others but after reviewing the other two books I didn’t want to sound to repetitive or give too much away. I hope you enjoy the review though. And I’ll be posting again soon because I just got back from the Biltmore and I have a lot of pictures to share.

Happy Reading,

Meghan

 

Posted on by Meghan G

Destined for Doon Book Review: Book 2 in the Doon Series

**Fair Warning: this review has some spoilers to the series because it is the second book so if you want to read the Doon Series but haven’t read book one you may not want to keep reading.**

Destined for Doon (Doon, #2)

Title: 

Destined for Doon

Author(s): 

Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon

 Genre:  

Young Adult, Fantasy

Publish Date: 

September 2nd, 2014

 Dates Read: 

March 7th to 8th, 2016

Rating: 

4.6/5 Stars

Synopsis: 

In this sequel to Doon, Kenna Reid realizes she made a horrible mistake-choosing to follow her dreams of Broadway instead of staying in the enchanted land of Doon. Worse, she’s received proof she and Duncan are meant to be, along with torturous visions of the prince she left behind. So when Duncan shows up and informs Kenna that Doon needs her, she doesn’t need to think twice. But even if Kenna can save the enchanted kingdom, her happily ever after may still be in peril. (Summary from Goodreads)

Review:

 So book two takes place about 10 months after book one and focuses more on Mackenna where as in Doon Veronica’s story took center stage. I personally really like Mackenna’s character. Not only because I’m a fellow redhead but I was also quite the theater geek back in my high school days. So Kenna is a very relatable character as I can see my 18 year old self in her. Although as a side note, I never became a rising young star as Mackenna does during her time away from Doon in Chicago. Nor did I have a handsome Scottish Prince named Duncan who is in love with me. *Sigh*.

Much like in book one, Destined for Doon is quick paced. In fact when I read the back cover originally I thought there would be a little more time spent with Duncan trying to get Mackenna to come back to Doon. But literally maybe two chapters focus on that as Kenna agrees willingly to return once Duncan simply states Veronica needs her, who at this point in the series is now Queen of Doon. Like she didn’t hesitate at all, and made me scratch my head because why’d she stay back in the first place. But anyway, Duncan and Mackenna are back in Doon fairly fast and the rest of the story remains there. I really liked that because I felt as the reader I was able to visualize Doon a little more and see some of what life would be like to live there.

Of course the book, much like the first, does have both Mackenna and Veronica’s narrating of the story. But where as Doon had more narration by Veronica, Destined for Doon has more chapters narrated by Mackenna. And with all that said you do still get to see the struggle of Veronica now being Queen of Doon and how that affects her, Jamie, and the towns people.  Not to mention Veronica’s struggle with how to battle the zombie fungus (as Mackenna named it) that invades Doon. And what I love most about the dual narration is that you can see Vee and Kenna’s friendship from both characters, so when Veronica struggles to rule a kingdom or Mackenna can’t see her role in saving Doon the reader not only sees it through the eyes of the character going through but also through the eyes of someone who cares about that character.

Speaking of the friendship, that is what I absolutely love most about this series. Yes there’s romance. Yes there’s adventure. And yes there’s even some mystery. But mostly Doon is a friendship story which is highlighted again and again throughout the books about how these girls are really on each others side. They aren’t catty with one another, they aren’t competing with each other, or putting the other one down. And I think its great what Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon have been able to do with Doon. They didn’t just create one strong female character, they created two who together create even better versions of themselves.  This is really highlighted toward the end, which I won’t spoil, but simply state the message that given in these last few chapters is a great message.

Now on to a few things that bother me or confuse me. So now that two modern American girls and a few new destined are now living in Doon some new changes have happened. And while they aren’t massive changes because Doon still holds it’s medieval charm, I struggled a bit with some of the modern elements that get introduced. For example, Veronica has brought modern clothes to women of Doon such as Maxi dresses, leggings, and yoga pants. And while Mackenna also brings her own things with her when she and Duncan cross back into Doon, I can’t wrap my mind around how easy it was for them to just suddenly be able to wear these clothes. Because in the first book Vee and Kenna are subject to the 1600s wear of the everyday Doonian, but in the second book they have things like spandex running pants. And truly I think the only reason I can’t wrap my mind around it is because education wise I’m getting my business degree with an economic concentration, so automatically my mind wants to understand how they got the materials to make the product or why aren’t the people of Doon shocked with the clothes. Of course of all this is minuscule and in no way detracted me from the story just had moments where I’d roll my eyes when the word maxi came onto the page.

But overall another great book in the Doon series, which ended in a cliff hanger but fortunately for myself I already had book 3, Shades of Doon, purchased and literally began reading the moment I finished Destined for Doon. Because to be completely honest I don’t know if I would have been able to read these books when they would first come out because it would drive me crazy that I couldn’t read the next one.

Would I recommend? Yes, it’s a quick read that had me entertained from beginning to end.

I hope you found this review helpful, and with any new blog I’m learning on the best way to format how I write. I figured with my first review of Doon I didn’t like how I laid it out so I created a template. Let me know if you like that better in the comments below. And I’m sure I’ll tweak it over time as I learn what information I want to give as well as what information you all would like to know.

The review for Shades of Doon should be up soon possible later today, so be on the lookout for it.

Happy Reading,

Meghan

 

Posted on by Meghan G

Doon Book Review: Book 1 in the Doon Series

 

So within the first week of March I managed to marathon read books 1 to 3 of the Doon Series. If you don’t know what I’m referring to as marathon reading then let me explain, I pretty much started reading book 1 on a Monday and finished book 3 by Thursday. And I’m not a fast reader by any means but this series kept me highly entertained.

Let me break down what Doon is about. There are 4 books but only 3 are published currently with the 4th arriving in fall of this year (or basically not soon enough). The first book is called Doon, the second is Destined for Doon and the third is Shades of Doon. These stories follow two Midwestern best friends, Veronica and Mackenna, who after vacationing in Scotland manage to transport themselves into another realm across the Brig o’Doon in Alloway (which is the picture I inserted above). Where naturally upon arriving meet two very handsome  brothers who are also princes, Jamie and Duncan. But rather than go into more detail here I’m going to review each individual one. So let’s start with the first book Doon:

Doon (Doon, #1)

4.5/5 Stars

I first heard of this book through a daily email I get from a web site called Bookbub (not sponsored unfortunately) which finds deals on ebooks that might interest the user and sends them directly to your inbox. When I read the summary it peaked my interest but I didn’t have high hopes because I had started another book from the YA Fantasy genre that I just couldn’t read (more on that later). However I was pleasantly surprised and can say that before I even finished this book I went ahead and bought books 2 and 3, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

As I had written above the first book Doon begins with Veronica (Vee) seeing vivid day dreams of a blonde, kilt wearing boy in her school parking lot in Bainbridge, Indiana. Who then seems to follow her to Alloway, Scotland with her and her best friend Mackenna (Kenna or Ken) when they go there to spend the summer. Which can I say that I’m absolutely jealous that at 18 these two girls get to spend an entire summer in Scotland…Anyways the visions of this boy is so real to Veronica that she is can’t imagine he can’t be real so she is determined to figure out who he is, which leads to the discovery of the Doon.

The best way to describe the land of Doon without describing too much (because trust me you’ll want to read it) is it is a land that seems like it is in the past but isn’t really because it is only accessible by the modern world once every centennial  by the portal in the bridge it is more or less frozen in time while the rest of the world ages.  And I only explain it this way because this isn’t a time traveling novel like “Outlander” as Vee and Kenna don’t travel back in time so much as they enter a land that isn’t being affected by the outside worlds modern advances. And I’m only really cryptic about the concept of the land of Doon because it’s a large part of the plot in the first book.

Overall I rated this a 4.5 out of 5 stars because it did entertain me and I felt immersed into the world of Doon. Which is what I look for in a book because I want to visually be able to see the world that book is representing. And I also really enjoyed how it was written as it is told by both Veronica and Mackenna’s points of views, which the girls names appear at the beginning of each chapter so you know who point of view it is. This was also the first fiction book I’ve read that has co-authors. The series is written by Carey Corp and Lorie Langdon, so I’m not entirely sure if one writes for one girl and the other writes for the other girl but surprisingly it worked out well for the book. And another thing I liked is that they write the accents out, meaning when I read the dialogue of Jamie, Duncan, or the other people of Doon I can hear their accents in my head. Because even though I know they’re Scottish sometimes I can have a tendency to read them as American’s because as an American that is the accent I have. So having it written that way really helped me as the reader.

Of course at times the writing can also be a little off for me. For example there is no cussing in the series (which I have no problem with what so ever) so Mackenna especially ends up replacing those words with playwright’s names. Which could throw me off when I would read. But that’s a small thing so it doesn’t get into the way of the story.  And while this book if you’ve ventured into my favorites page (shameless plug) is on the list I didn’t give it a full 5 stars because it isn’t the GREATEST book I’ve ever read. In fact I don’t know if there is the greatest book I’ve ever read but Doon is high on my list none the less. And as for the rest of the series I will review Destined for Doon and Shades of Doon because this post is getting quite long and I feel like I’ll be rambling by review of book 3. Much like I’m doing right now.

So I hoped you enjoyed the review. Again I didn’t write too much about the plot because I don’t want to give anything away if someone reading this might want to read the book. But look out for the other two reviews this weekend and hopefully I should have a twitter account just for this blog up by tomorrow too.

Happy reading,

Meghan