jbronderbookreviews

The Unbelievable Story of How I Met Your Mother by Preston Randall

Daniel Zurenski feels like a total loser, but he’s about to encounter a crazy array of characters who are going to change his life forever. It starts with Fred Zimmerman (and his unique pet) who scrubs pots at The Spaghetti Barn restaurant and accidentally sets off a disastrous chain of events. There’s the volatile restaurant manager Paolo and his greasy head chef nephew Tony. Then there’s a fanatical sports reporter named Bruce Jagerski who dreams of winning a marathon if only he didn’t have such a bizarre running style. All come together during marathon race weekend in this hilarious tale which will keep you guessing right to the finish line.

My Review

5 stars

Daniel lives at home with his mother. After she passes on her nightly walk he decides to run the Victoria marathon, even though he is a couch potato. On the day of the race, bouts of food poisoning wreak havoc on the race along with other zany events.

I feel for Daniel, especially while he is training. But I love the whole cast of characters. The zany antics just keep rolling throughout the story. And I love the ending.

This is a quick, humorous read. If you need a good laugh you need to read this story. You won’t be disappointed.

To purchase  The Unbelievable Story of How I Met Your Mother make sure to visit Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Goodreads.

I received The Unbelievable Story of How I Met Your Mother for free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Read Full Post »

A Game for All the Family by Sophie Hannah

Justine thought she knew who she was, until an anonymous caller seemed to know better…

After fleeing London and a career that nearly destroyed her, Justine Merrison plans to spend her days doing as little as possible. But soon after the move, her daughter Ellen starts to seem strangely withdrawn. Checking Ellen’s homework one day, Justine finds herself reading a chillingly articulate story about a series of sinister murders committed at the family’s new house. Can Ellen really have made all this up, as she claims? Why would she invent something so grotesque, set it in her own home and name one of the characters after herself? When Justine discovers that Ellen has probably also invented her best friend at school, who appears not to be known to any of the teachers, Justine’s alarm turns to panic.

Then the anonymous phone calls start: a stranger, making accusations and threats that suggest she and Justine share a traumatic past – yet Justine doesn’t recognise her voice. When the caller starts to talk about three graves – two big ones and a smaller one for a child – Justine fears for her family’s safety. If the police can’t help, she’ll have to confront the danger herself, but first she must work out who she’s supposed to be…

My Review

4 stars

Justine Merrison is leaving her current job to move to the country with her family. But this is not going to be the quiet home she was planning. She starts receiving disturbing phone calls from someone that has a lot of information on her but she knows nothing about. Then Ellen starts acting strangely. Ellen comes up with a strange story for a school assignment. The family is odd that get odder and odder as we hear about them and eventually lead to murder. Ellen has also become obsessed with George, a boy that the school insists doesn’t exist. Justine will need to get to the bottom of all of this quickly.

This story is told in two parts that alternate between what is happening with Justine and her family and Ellen’s story. Although there is a lot happening, that seems to more confuse the reader than actually progress the story. I will admit that I was curious about what was really happening. But I’m sorry to say that I was really disappointed in the ending.

Over all this is not a horrible story. I think with a different ending it would have been a better book. It is definitely one to try, I could see this being one of those books that you either really like or really hate.

To purchase A Game for All the Family make sure to check out Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Goodreads and Sophie Hannah’s website.

I received A Game for All the Family for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Read Full Post »