Freud's Mistress Book Review

Freud's Mistress by Karen Mack
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads
This is the fictionalized version of the true love affair between Sigmund Freud and sister in law Minna Bernays. Told in the third person account we are traipsing behind single woman Minna as she leaves her previous employer and comes to stay with her sister’s family. Apparently Minna and Freud have always had a correspondence relationship but in spending more time together their feelings start to grow toward each other.
Previous to having read this I was and are still are unfamiliar with Freud’s work and know is has to do with the Psyche. From what this book tells me it appears he was a difficult man with many interchangeable relationships. Or I would just say he is a man-child who indulges himself and mopes when things don’t go his way. Minna is just one figure that is a passing fancy in his life, but it seems that she gets a bit too attached and it is all very tiresome.
I understand that this is in a certain time in history where women are still beholden to men or family, but I just wish she was bit more headstrong in her actions then in how she thought of herself. She felt she was brighter and more independent then her sister yet she still succumbs to him. She feels guilty and that she has committed the ultimate betrayal yet again her actions play out differently. Despite her behavior she keeps coming back.
Then there is Martha, Freud’s wife who has an opiate addiction lets her six children run wild, very little intervenes unless it involves pumping them full of drugs to put them to bed. She nags her husband and puts the burden of child rearing on her sister and nanny. The only pity one could have for Martha is that she is married to a brute who does not appear to care much for his family but later we see some depth of wisdom to the gal which comes a bit too late in the novel for one to care.
Although I found most of the characters dreadful it was all very appealing. They did a good job of portraying the atmosphere of late 19th century Vienna but I think some of the language may have been a bit simplified, nonetheless it was enjoyable.


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Release date: July 9, 2013

On the Move: Mass Migrations Book Review

On the Move: Mass Migrations by Scotti Cohn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a great book. Excellent way to teach children about migration, climate, seasons and geography. Fantastic full page illustrations with large text and no dead space. The layout design was skillfully done. The writing by Cohn gave just enough insight to fully explain yet still open up to more questions and was fun and playful. The back of the book gave even more details for each set of animals and had a quiz along with a source for multimedia to learn even more. Must have animal book for young children.

View all my reviews Received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

The End of Night Book Review

The End of Night: Searching for Natural Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light by Paul Bogard
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

This was like reading one long news article and that was not good. What was good was the different stance taken on why we should preserve darkness and what we lose if we don’t. This felt like an academic book which only appeals to a certain crowd, but not likely to garner the mainstream into being interested. On the subject of darkness you never get a clear sense of Bogard’s actual concern. Mostly he just misses looking up at a starry sky yet he uses other arguments to validate why darkness is important but he doesn’t give the impression that he cares about those other reasons. Most of it falls on astronomy and that isn’t much selling point. If all creative non-fiction reads like this then count me out. It was jarring coming from an eloquent argument made by a lighting designer to another 2 pages about eating pasta in Italy. The transitions sucked and it made me not care. Everyone else’s opinion is so much clearer or inspiring than what the writer himself had to say and all he does is mirror or echo there viewpoint. If you were to eliminate all the quotes and excerpts you might be left with about 20 pages of the authors own writing which isn’t saying much. While the topic is fascinating the book itself is not. Everything good written here comes from someone who is more learned in the topic. Unless someone has a direct interest in this area, you should pass.

View all my reviews Coming out July 9, 2013 Received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

My Husband's Girlfriend Book Review

My Husband's Girlfriend by Cydney Rax
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Anya has lost her sexual drive and she and her husband seem to be drifting apart, so in order to save her marriage she grants him a contract to get satisfaction from someone else, but a breach of contract may destroy this family.
This story is told from different character narratives, jumping from wife to husband to mistress. With a title like My Husbands Girlfriend one would expect drama and plenty of scandal, yet this story was so mundane with only a few sizzling moments. A lot of it was dialogue of each coupling arguing or contemplating. It’s not that the story was boring but after each episode I kept asking myself when do we get to a juicy part. There is an incident involving antibiotics that could have been so much better. Everything was very vanilla and ordinary, maybe a bit too realistic. The book was deceiving in keeping me reading because the dialogue was great and it is well written yet nothing really happened. Hooray for a happy ending.


View all my reviews Received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

The Fantastic Adventure of Krishna by Demi Book Review

The Fantastic Adventures of Krishna by Demi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Had to take off a star, because I found there to be some layout and design problems which made they book less prized. There was a lot of dead space on the side bar and I am not a fan of illustrations being split on 2 pages. The scale could have adjusted for some or the publisher should have requested more illustrations and story to fill up the space. It has beautiful illustrations, but not as avant-garde as I would have expected given other reviews. The story was simple and straightforward enough for someone very young, but it lacked a bit. There could have been more story or detail, that wouldn't be lost on a little one. in general it was a pleasant educational read with enjoyable illustrations.

View all my reviews Received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

Cookbook Series I - Italian Sausage Hero Sandwich

Pizza in a sandwich. I added a green pepper and next time I will add some pepperoni to the sandwich. Messy but delicious. 5 out of 5.

The Submissive Book Review

The Submissive by Tara Sue Me
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Why oh why, do I keep putting myself through this? Are there any good erotica books being written these days or just a bunch of BDSM drivel? From what I gathered from another review is that this story was the pre-cursor to FSoG. FSoG is a book I loathe and has almost completely put me off the genre. While the characters in that book are painfully annoying, this book gives you nothing. The characters are boring and not well developed; the sex is boring and hardly arousing. Plus maybe I am the only one, but I felt that there were some anatomy issues. Not worth a look, if you want similar scenarios check out Bared to You or if you want good BDSM something by Rachel Kramer Bussel.
Bared to You
Rachel Kramer Bussel

View all my reviews Received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.