My Library "Blog"

LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK!! No2 of 3 - BEST in the series! (Although all of them were brilliant!)

Never have I cried so much reading a book!

Devastatingly Beautiful & Awfully Romantic!!!

I also loved and appreciated the fact that book one carried over into book 2 and 3.

Normally the previous characters take a back seat in the following books, but not in this series!

LOVED IT!

Did not like the female character Selina. She is frustratingly feeble and whiny. She will do just what pleases everyone else around her, doesn’t have a backbone and can’t fight for herself. I sincerely doubt she has a brain or that she knows what she wants.

Irritated to the maximum with this outer beauty business and how everything just revolves around it and never one mention about personality traits however bad they may be. Also - grow a pair women! Seriously girly and poor me victim irritation!

Vision in White - Nora Roberts (#1 The Bride Quartet)

Love the Author. Some of her books I can't like, but most of the are winners. She is extremely witty and they tend to be feel good novels. This first book in The Bride Quartet Series was light and fun. Totally wanted to slap Mac's mom (all the time!) But loved the plot, setting & characters (Parker is still gets a frown from me, can't decide)

Mackensie & Carter

Mac is all over the place when it comes to her personal life, but there are no room for grey areas or drama in her professional life. This poor girl just has drama drama drama. When she thinks it's all getting better another problem arises! Love her get down to business attitude! 

Carter seems like a awkward dorky nerd in the beginning, took me some time liking him. But once you start you can't stop. An actual sweetie pie :) Very calm collected reserved level headed bloke. Can defuse Mac's freak outs easily and Hallelujah this guy actually pays attention to detail and when you talk to him! :) Only in fairy tales :)

Good Easy Funny Read, you kept waiting for something dark and terrible to happen and I find myself thankful that it did not.

Well Done!

The Bride Wore Pearls – Liz Carlyle.

First of all, I love the personal maid and valet in Rance & Anisha’s home. The poor valet to Rance – haha! What he needs to go through every morning! Love Anisha’s boys! Naughty little gremlins they are indeed! And Love Aisha’s parakeet! Rance is the ultimate bad boy in this series. Dishonorable past, lots of emotional baggage and a sword still haning over his head. He’s all but thrown caution to the wind and given up on what he wants and needs, just surviving from one day to the next, not caring about propper decorum. He has accepted the ton’s perception of him as a rogue womanizer and is living up to it with gusto. Even though he is a clear stay away, Anish refuses to do so. She is the only woman who brings forth Rance’s true self. He is charming, loyal honest and a true gentleman. LOVE Anisha's character too.

This book got to me big time. You read 20books and then there is one that mirrors you so closely you have a hard time reading it. Of the 3 men in this series I have read so far, I think its between Rance and Adrian. Looking forward to starting the last book, but a bit apprehensive about Royden Napier’s character. I must also mention that I did not like Besset at some points. There is just something about him I cant do but I think it might be the cover photo of him. Crazy right. The Bride by Moonlight here we go . . .

LOVE LIZ CARLYLE. - Fraternitas Aureae Crucis Series #1

Very funny, Very witty.

Love the plot, Love the setting, Love the writing style. LOVE LOVE LOVE "Raju" / Adrian :) Jip, you guessed it, I'm a sucker for the mysterious bad boys.

Truely enjoyed this book. My Fav quote in this book is from Milo the parakeet "Skwwwaak British Prisoner, Help Help Help Skwwwaaaak" haha! Also love Nish's character. She comes across as cheeky and playful and teasing. Love the Devil may care attitude Adrian has. Life would be so much easier if i could be like that too. He is one of my favourite boys :)

Cant wait for book 2!!

PS.  - Fraternitas Aureae Crucis (FAC)

The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis, also called the Rosicrucian Order (AMORC), is a worldwide philosophical and humanistic fraternal organization devoted to "the study of the elusive mysteries of life and the universe."^[1] The organization is non-sectarian and it is open to both men and women of legal adult age (18 years old in most countries) regardless of their various religious persuasions. The current open cycle of AMORC was activated by Harvey Spencer Lewis in 1915.^[2]Lewis received authority to do so from the Supreme Council of the Rosicrucian Order after being tried, tested and finally initiated into the Order in 1909, Toulouse, France. AMORC is said to be the modern day manifestation of the ancient Rose-Croix Order which has its origin in theAncient Egyptian mystery schools.

AMORC's teachings draw upon ideas of the major philosophers, particularly Pythagoras, Thales, Solon, Heraclitus, Democritus, traditional healing techniques, health, intuition and the psychic consciousness, material and spiritual alchemy, sacred architecture, mystical sounds, breathing techniques, meditation, natural, mystical, and artificial symbolism, the great religious movements, the psychic body, karma and reincarnation. ^{(Thank you Wikipedia)}

LOVE LIZ CARLYLE. - Fraternitas Aureae Crucis #1

Very funny, Very witty.

Love the plot, Love the setting, Love the writing style. LOVE LOVE LOVE "Raju" / Adrian :) Jip, you guessed it, I'm a sucker for the mysterious bad boys.

Truely enjoyed this book. My Fav quote in this book is from Milo the parakeet "Skwwwaak British Prisoner, Help Help Help Skwwwaaaak" haha! Also love Nish's character. She comes across as cheeky and playful and teasing. Love the Devil may care attitude Adrian has. Life would be so much easier if i could be like that too. He is one of my favourite boys :)

Cant wait for book 2!!

PS.  - Fraternitas Aureae Crucis (FAC)

The Ancient and Mystical Order Rosæ Crucis, also called the Rosicrucian Order (AMORC), is a worldwide philosophical and humanistic fraternal organization devoted to "the study of the elusive mysteries of life and the universe."^[1] The organization is non-sectarian and it is open to both men and women of legal adult age (18 years old in most countries) regardless of their various religious persuasions. The current open cycle of AMORC was activated by Harvey Spencer Lewis in 1915.^[2]Lewis received authority to do so from the Supreme Council of the Rosicrucian Order after being tried, tested and finally initiated into the Order in 1909, Toulouse, France. AMORC is said to be the modern day manifestation of the ancient Rose-Croix Order which has its origin in theAncient Egyptian mystery schools.

AMORC's teachings draw upon ideas of the major philosophers, particularly Pythagoras, Thales, Solon, Heraclitus, Democritus, traditional healing techniques, health, intuition and the psychic consciousness, material and spiritual alchemy, sacred architecture, mystical sounds, breathing techniques, meditation, natural, mystical, and artificial symbolism, the great religious movements, the psychic body, karma and reincarnation. ^{(Thank you Wikipedia)}

Devil Water, Anya Seton.

- Biography of Jacobite James Radcliff, 3rd Earl of Derwentwater, Dilston, Northumberland. 1689-1716, Royal Tudor & Stuart Lineage to King James 1688-1766 and Bonny Prince Charlie Stuart 1720-1788

- Biography of Jacobite Charles Radcliff, titular 5th Earl of Derwentwater, Dilston, Northumberland. 1693-1746, Brother to James Radcliff.

- Biography of Jane (Jenny) Radcliff. Daughter of Charles Radcliff, titular 5th Earl of Derwentwater, Dilston, Northumberland. Relocated to Snowdon located on the James River, Virginia, North Carolina.

Jacobite Uprising to restore a Stuart King the the throne of England: To me it seems like unnecessary killings and lives wasted for something they were not at all sure will ever happen. But it was more than just restoring one person to a throne. It was about England and Scotland. It was about the people, the way of life and the future of a nation. They gave up everything for this cause. They neglected there homes, families, never saw their wives, never knew their children, often not even knowing if they were still alive. Everything revolved around their rightful King.

I dare not criticize this book or author on characters, plot or settings because it was real. Real people, real lives, real hurt, real hardship and real loyalty to King and Religion. I can however say the first couple of chapters were crammed way too full with all the people and places and relations to each other. It was just a difficult read until she started focusing on the main characters.

I must commend Anya Seton on a job extremely well done. I can only guess what hard work went into this book to get all the facts together and to try and paint a picture for the reader with limited information about numerous chapters in the character's lives. Not to mention the effort she problably went to to make this a story, not just a boring diary about someone's life 296 odd years ago.

Reading this book is hard workat first, but I would definitely read it over and over.

For the first time in hardcover, here is #1 New York Times bestselling author Karen Marie Moning's novella Into the Dreaming, a tale of Highland fantasy, star crossed lovers, and the timeless manipulation of the ancient, immortal Unseelie king. Written during her Highlander series, this is Moning at her romantic, funniest, finest. Free him from his ice-borne hell... Stolen from his beloved home in the Highlands of Scotland, imprisoned in the Unseelie king's dark, frosty kingdom, Aedan MacKinnon endured centuries of torture before becoming the icy, emotionless Vengeance, the dark king's dispatcher of death and destruction in the mortal realm. And in his century you both may dwell... Aspiring romance novelist Jane Sillee has always believed that she was born in the wrong century, but she's managed to make a decent enough life for herself--if only she could stop having those recurring dreams about a man too perfect to exist. In the Dreaming you have loved him... Haunted every night of her life by a devastatingly sexy Highlander who comes to her while she sleeps, Jane tries to write him out of her head and heart. As a child he protected her, as a woman he loves her. Now in the Waking you must save him... When an ancient tapestry bearing the likeness of her beloved Highlander arrives on her doorstep, Jane is whisked back in time to fifteenth-century Scotland, to the castle of Dun Haakon on the isle of Skye, where she is given one chance to save her dream lover...or lose him forever to the Unseelie king. Caught in a deadly game between the light and dark courts of the Fae, Jane must find a way through the ice to the heart of her Highlander. But will the love of one mortal woman be enough to defeat such ancient and ruthless immortal enemies?

I CRIED THROUGH THE WHOLE BOOK

Cathy Glass is a bestselling British author, freelance writer and foster carer.
Her work is strongly identified with both the True Life Stories and Inspirational Memoirs genres, and she has also written a parenting guide to bringing up children, Happy Kids, and a novel, The Girl in the Mirror, based on a true story.
Glass has worked as a foster career for more than 20 years, during which time she has fostered more than 50 children. Her fostering memoirs tell the stories of some of the children who came in to her care, many of whom had suffered abuse.

Although Jodie is only eight years old, she is violent, aggressive, and has already been through numerous foster families. Her last hope is Cathy Glass. At the Social Services office, Cathy (an experienced foster carer) is pressured into taking Jodie as a new placement. Jodie's challenging behaviour has seen off five carers in four months. Despite her reservations, Cathy decides to accept Jodie to protect her from being placed in an institution. Jodie arrives, and her first act is to soil herself, and then wipe it on her face, grinning wickedly. Jodie meets Cathy's teenage children, and greets them with a sharp kick to the shins. That night, Cathy finds Jodie covered in blood, having cut her own wrist, and smeared the blood over her face. As Jodie begins to trust Cathy her behaviour improves. Over time, with childish honesty, she reveals details of her abuse at the hands of her parents and others. It becomes clear that Jodie's parents were involved in a sickening paedophile ring, with neighbours and Social Services not seeing what should have been obvious signs. Unfortunately Jodie becomes increasingly withdrawn, and it's clear she needs psychiatric therapy. Cathy urges the Social Services to provide funding, but instead they decide to take Jodie away from her, and place her in a residential unit. Although the paedophile ring is investigated and brought to justice, Jodie's future is still up in the air. Cathy promises that she will stand by her no matter what -- her love for the abandoned Jodie is unbreakable

Victoria Lynn Hayden, known as Torey L. Hayden (born May 21, 1951 in Livingston, Montana) is a child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer and writer of non-fiction books based on her real-life experiences with teaching and counselling children with special needs.
Subjects covered in her books include autism, Tourette syndrome, sexual abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome, and elective mutism (now called selective mutism), her specialty

Torey Hayden's book "Just Another Kid" is not just another book.  Though each page turns on the mysteries of emotional disturbance, sex, alcoholism, violence and crime of all dimensions, the reader emerges from the experience convinced the world can be loving, caring, warm and orderly. The diagnostic labels on the six children in this story - elective mutism, schizophrenia, autism, mental retardation - hardly suggest the repugnance of these little people, who will not speak, who move their bowels at random, who hoot and masturbate on chair legs. Yet, we become intensely involved in how and when they will be transformed. 

And if the six small boys and girls are not enough, a disordered parent arrives on the scene. She is Ladbrooke, mother of autistic Leslie, formidably elegant, seductive, bristling with beauty, but also alcoholic, promiscuous and speechlessly hostile.

The core of this story is Ladbrooke's and Torey's developing friendship, reminding us that love takes many forms.  Ladbrooke wants to be "just another kid" in the class.  The colloquial title signals the moral of this book: life is most fully realized while relating to and engaging others.  And this remarkable teacher's memoir convinces the reader that one of the most demanding jobs in education, a task not long ago dismissed as hopeless, may be richly and creatively rewarding.

Torey didn't set out to write about Ladbrooke in JUST ANOTHER KID.  She only intended to write about the children and include Ladbrooke only in her capacity as aide in the classroom. But as the book progressed, Torey was surprised to find it had become Ladbrooke's story. 

Alarmed that her publishers might not like this deviation from the synopsis they'd purchased, she mailed the 250-page uncompleted manuscript in a panic to her editor over Christmas that year to find out if she should proceed. Fortunately, everyone liked the "story that wrote itself".

Victoria Lynn Hayden, known as Torey L. Hayden (born May 21, 1951 in Livingston, Montana) is a child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer and writer of non-fiction books based on her real-life experiences with teaching and counselling children with special needs.
Subjects covered in her books include autism, Tourette syndrome, sexual abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome, and elective mutism (now called selective mutism), her specialty

His name was Kevin but his keepers called him Zoo Boy.  He didn’t talk. He hid under tables and surrounded himself with a cage of chairs. He hadn’t been out of the building in the four years since he’d come in. He was afraid of water and wouldn’t take a shower.  He was afraid to be naked, to change his clothes.  He was nearly 16.

Desperate to see change in the boy, the staff of Kevin’s adolescent treatment center hired Hayden. As Hayden read to him and encouraged him to read, crawling down into his cage of chairs with him, Kevin talked. Then he started to draw and paint and showed himself to have a quick wit and a rolling, seething, murderous hatred for his stepfather

Hayden writes very readably. Though Kevin must have been scary, he is rarely scary to her and this is not a frightening book. It is reassurance we all need. In the wreck of this world, love still works. We can heal each other, if we listen.

MURPHY’S BOY (SILENT BOY) remained Torey’s favorite book for many years. 

“I felt I had found my writing voice with MURPHY’S BOY, “ she says.

  “My youth showed a little too much for comfort in ONE CHILD and I would completely re-write SOMEBODY ELSE’S KIDS, if I had my choice.”

Victoria Lynn Hayden, known as Torey L. Hayden (born May 21, 1951 in Livingston, Montana) is a child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer and writer of non-fiction books based on her real-life experiences with teaching and counselling children with special needs.
Subjects covered in her books include autism, Tourette syndrome, sexual abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome, and elective mutism (now called selective mutism), her specialty

His name was Kevin but his keepers called him Zoo Boy.  He didn’t talk. He hid under tables and surrounded himself with a cage of chairs. He hadn’t been out of the building in the four years since he’d come in. He was afraid of water and wouldn’t take a shower.  He was afraid to be naked, to change his clothes.  He was nearly 16.

Desperate to see change in the boy, the staff of Kevin’s adolescent treatment center hired Hayden. As Hayden read to him and encouraged him to read, crawling down into his cage of chairs with him, Kevin talked. Then he started to draw and paint and showed himself to have a quick wit and a rolling, seething, murderous hatred for his stepfather

Hayden writes very readably. Though Kevin must have been scary, he is rarely scary to her and this is not a frightening book. It is reassurance we all need. In the wreck of this world, love still works. We can heal each other, if we listen.

MURPHY’S BOY (SILENT BOY) remained Torey’s favorite book for many years. 

“I felt I had found my writing voice with MURPHY’S BOY, “ she says.

  “My youth showed a little too much for comfort in ONE CHILD and I would completely re-write SOMEBODY ELSE’S KIDS, if I had my choice.”

Victoria Lynn Hayden, known as Torey L. Hayden (born May 21, 1951 in Livingston, Montana) is a child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer and writer of non-fiction books based on her real-life experiences with teaching and counselling children with special needs.
Subjects covered in her books include autism, Tourette syndrome, sexual abuse, fetal alcohol syndrome, and elective mutism (now called selective mutism), her specialty

Sheila came into Torey Hayden's class for "special children" at the age of 6 after having tied a 3-year-old child to a tree and critically burned him.

ONE CHILD is Torey Hayden's story of her attempt to tap the unbelievable capacity of this tortured child.

Parts of this book - the savage sexual molestation - will enrage you. Parts of this book - Sheila's quiet description of her anger and fears and doubts - will make you cry. And parts of this book - Sheila's gradual realization of her own potential - may make you cheer.

Whatever your reaction, I think you will agree that it has been a long time since you have read a book with the sheer emotional impact of ONE CHILD.

ONE CHILD did not start out as a book. Torey wrote it as a personal story to record for herself her extraordinary time with Sheila. It was only after the story was completed that she considered publishing it.

ONE CHILD is Torey's first book and it was the first thing she ever submitted for publication.  The story itself was written very quickly - only eight days from start to finish. 

It took only 42 days from the time she started writing ONE CHILD until she signed a contract with G.P. Putnam's Sons to publish it.

ONE CHILD is currently in 28 languages and has been adapted in several diverse forms, including a one-act opera, a Japanese puppet play and a TV movie.

Victoria Lynn Hayden, known as Torey L. Hayden, is a child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer and writer of non-fiction books based on her real-life experiences with teaching and counseling children with special needs

Conor is nine and autistic, or at least this is what his mother, Laura, an aloof, self-absorbed novelist, thinks when she entrusts his care to child psychiatrist James Innes as a stop-gap while the family finds the boy a new residential placement. In contrast, Conor’s rancher father, embroiled in divorcing Laura, does not feel there is anything wrong with boy. Six year old sister Morgana insists Conor really does see ghosts.

Only when Laura falls into her role as a storytellerdoes James gain access to the complex turmoil engulfing the family, learning of Laura’s own difficult childhood, full of loneliness and abrupt change which combined with vivid imagination to create the fantasy figure of Torgon, a woman with sacred powers, a sort of alter ego with whom Laura establishes a rapport so profound that it has affected not only her life but the lives of all those around her.

Between his sessions with Conor and Laura’s haunting stories, James slowly uncovers a world where what is imagined is as real as what is physically present but is still not enough to contain the terrible truth that lies at the heart of Conor’s problems.

TOREY says that although the story is entirely fiction, she wrote it to explore her own experiences with creativity. She had a very vivid fantasy life as a young child which started much the way Laura's did in the scene from the book and it carried on well into her twenties. She says that also, like Laura, she used to "drive people nuts" when she was an adolescent by making up scenarios and characters and "testing" them in real life to see if they were realistic.

Originally THE MECHANICAL CAT was not accepted for publication in English. Now published in the UK titled OVERHEARD IN A DREAM.

In rejecting the novel, her publisher told her this was because the book did not fit into an existing genre. It was actually described as "too novel". As a consequence, the book haSd its world debut in Sweden, followed a week later by the Italian publication and in Finland. Now published in Japanese, it has gone on to become a best seller in all four countries.

Victoria Lynn Hayden, known as Torey L. Hayden, is a child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer and writer of non-fiction books based on her real-life experiences with teaching and counseling children with special needsI

Seven-year-old Venus Fox's unresponsiveness was so complete that Torey Hayden initially believed the child was deaf.

Venus never spoke, never listened, never even acknowledged the presence of another human being in the room with her. Yet an accidental playground "bump" would release a rage frightening to behold, turning the little girl into a whirling dynamo of dangerous malice. Of the five children in Torey's classroom that September, Venus posed the greatest challenge-though the other four had serious problems of their own that could not be overlooked.

The six-year-old twins, Shane and Zane, suffered from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) and its accompanying mix of high agitation and low concentration. At nine, cocky, aggressive Billy had already been expelled from school twice. Eight-year-old Jesse suffered from Tourette's Syndrome.

And then there was Venus. Though they all had different needs and afflictions, they each shared two things in common: a profound, sometimes violent dislike of one another, and the desire to be almost anywhere other than Torey's class.

NOT FOR THE FEINT HEARTED. NON-FICTION. TOREY HAYDEN IS ONE EXCEPTIONAL WOMAN!

Victoria Lynn Hayden, known as Torey L. Hayden, is a child psychologist, special education teacher, university lecturer and writer of non-fiction books based on her real-life experiences with teaching and counseling children with special needs

Jadie never spoke. She never laughed, or cried, or uttered any sound. Despite efforts to reach her, Jadie remained locked in her own troubled world—until one remarkable teacher persuaded her to break her self-imposed silence. Nothing in all of Torey Hayden's experience could have prepared her for the shock of what Jadie told her—a story too horrendous for Torey's professional colleagues to acknowledge. Yet a little girl was living in a nightmare, and Torey Hayden responded in the only way she knew how—with courage, compassion, and dedication—demonstrating once again the tremendous power of love and the relilience of the human spirit.