A Certain Slant of Light - Laura Whitcomb

Title: A Certain Slant of Light
Author: Laura Whitcomb
Genre: Paranormal
Rating: 2/5
# pages: Audiobook
Date read: August, 2012

In the class of the high school English teacher she has been haunting, Helen feels them: for the first time in 130 years, human eyes are looking at her. They belong to a boy, a boy who has not seemed remarkable until now. And Helen--terrified, but intrigued--is drawn to him. The fact that he is in a body and she is not presents this unlikely couple with their first challenge. But as the lovers struggle to find a way to be together, they begin to discover the secrets of their former lives and of the young people they come to possess.

I can see the charms of this book and understand its reputation, but it's just not for me.

- Love at first sight I can believe. What I don't believe is that a girl raised 150 years ago would immediately fall into bed with a guy at the first chance she got... at school even!
- The only Christians described in the book were religious nut-jobs. I know there are Christians out there like Dan and Kathy, but they're few and far between, and I would have liked to see that acknowledged.
- The entire concept of how the spirits got bodies seemed questionable and contrived.
- I liked Mr. Brown and was very disappointed that his storyline was never resolved.
- The ending seemed like a huge cop-out.

So why do I still give it 2 stars? Well, it did keep me interested enough that I wanted to see how it ended, and the first half actually wasn't too bad. It wasn't until the second half that things started going down-hill.

The Shop on Blossom Street - Debbie Macomber

Title: The Shop on Blossom Street
Author: Debbie Macomber
Genre: Chick-lit
Rating: 4.5/5
# pages: 416
Date read: August, 2012

There's a little yarn store in Seattle.

It's owned by Lydia Hoffman, and it represents her dream of a new life free from cancer. A life that offers a chance at love...

Lydia teaches knitting to beginners, and the first class is "How to Make a Baby Blanket." Three women join. Jacqueline Donovan wants to knit something for her grandchild as a gesture of reconciliation with her daughter-in-law. Carol Girard feels that the baby blanket is a message of hope as she makes a final attempt to conceive. And Alix Townsend is knitting her blanket for a court-ordered community service project.

These four very different women, brought together by an age-old craft, make unexpected discoveries--about themselves and each other. Discoveries that lead to friendship and more...

I picked up "Back at Blossom Street" at a whim at a garage sale, not realizing until I sat down to actually read it that it was the third in a series. Not one to let a small thing like that stop me, I immediately turned to Amazon and as they had the two first ones at a reasonable price, I bought them and started reading. It took me less than 10% to fall in love with the series.

"The Shop on Blossom Street" is a wonderfully cozy story. There's not much plot to it, but it's simply a charming comfort-read. I liked the main characters and enjoyed getting to know their good and bad sides. I especially enjoyed seeing the relationship between Margaret and Lydia evolve.