Jonathan's Updates en-US Sun, 27 Apr 2025 08:08:22 -0700 60 Jonathan's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7522906281 Sun, 27 Apr 2025 08:08:22 -0700 <![CDATA[Jonathan added 'Haynes Explains Babies']]> /review/show/7522906281 Haynes Explains Babies by Boris Starling Jonathan gave 4 stars to Haynes Explains Babies (Hardcover) by Boris Starling
My brother was given this after his partner gave birth to my nephew, and he passed it on to me to read as he found it funny to read when he managed to find the time to do so...

The book is hilarious and cleverly written from start to finish. Some things felt somewhat dated especially the line about wanting to stay in bed all day when ill and watching "Trisha", a talk show that hasn't been on since 2010 here in the UK but in the US she hosted from 2012 to 2014 so somewhat dated considering this was written in 2016... I'm guessing a more up-to-date version would be "This Morning" in the UK or "The View" in the US?

Overall, well written and funny to read. I'm glad I'm planning on only being an Uncle for the foreseeable future haha. ]]> Review7336101986 Wed, 19 Feb 2025 08:46:43 -0800 <![CDATA[Jonathan added 'The Smelly Little Dog']]> /review/show/7336101986 The Smelly Little Dog by Enid Blyton Jonathan gave 3 stars to The Smelly Little Dog (Hardcover) by Enid Blyton
A cute little story. This was my brother's favourite story when he was a child, and now that he has a son, he has got this book out again, so I thought I'd read and review it.

A day trip to the beach sees three kids and their mother spend time in the sun while a stray dog that is smelly and little, hangs around them. The mother tries to shoo it away and there's time when the dog feels sad and alone as he has no home to go to. The youngest child ends up getting too deep in the sea, and the mother is asleep at the time... Luckily the smelly little dog goes into rescue mode as the kids have always been nice to him... But will his effort be rewarded? Or is he just another stray?

My mother teared up reading this to my brother when he was younger, and could hardly get through the entire story. Still to this day, and after re-reading it many times, I still don't get why she got so emotional over this. Like, it's cute story, but that's all. ]]> Rating815054402 Mon, 20 Jan 2025 11:11:46 -0800 <![CDATA[Jonathan Currinn liked a review]]> /
Jonathan Currinn liked V. Slobo's review of The Lost Girl: FBI Mystery Thriller (Ella Raven FBI Mystery Series Book 1):
The Lost Girl by Tara Darkwood
"Super fast paced and never a dull moment! These are the best qualities one can ask for thriller/mystery genres. I loved it and cant wait for the second book in the series. Also secretly hoping for Raven and Hunter to be more than just investigation partners 🤞"
]]> Rating815053810 Mon, 20 Jan 2025 11:10:08 -0800 <![CDATA[Jonathan Currinn liked a review]]> /
Jonathan Currinn liked Trina Jones's review of The Lost Girl: FBI Mystery Thriller (Ella Raven FBI Mystery Series Book 1):
The Lost Girl by Tara Darkwood
"OH WOW this was thriller of a story. It was page turner and the suspense was action packed of drama and danger. Ella and Hunter just the FBI Academy. It was mind blowing and chaos. This book caught my eye and attention as the danger and madness. They have to solve a case of a missing girl. But their emotions will affect them of making the right decision in preventing more deaths or kidnapping. Lives will depend on them to save this child life in time.
I definitely recommend this book and you won’t be disappointed. I received advance copy of this book via and am voluntarily leaving my honest opinion. Trina Jones "
]]> ReadStatus8462980160 Sat, 28 Sep 2024 23:00:14 -0700 <![CDATA[Jonathan has read 'Strangers with Candy']]> /review/show/6886354811 Strangers with Candy by G.A. Hauser Jonathan has read Strangers with Candy by G.A. Hauser
]]> Review3302528645 Tue, 27 Aug 2024 23:53:10 -0700 <![CDATA[Jonathan added 'TwiLite : A Parody']]> /review/show/3302528645 TwiLite by Stephen Jenner Jonathan gave 1 star to TwiLite : A Parody (Paperback) by Stephen Jenner
Parodies aren't my thing at all, and this book certainly nailed in that coffin. It was just too bizarre and felt like it was taking the mickey out of Twilight, which essentially it was, but I was hoping to read a humours taste while also not being wacky and out there, but they took it to the extreme and not in a good way.

I honestly don't know how I managed to read every page of this, but it certainly came off as if I had just wasted my time in reading this. I'm unlikely to read another parody book again, any time soon. ]]> Review5789808327 Tue, 27 Aug 2024 23:38:54 -0700 <![CDATA[Jonathan added 'Too Late']]> /review/show/5789808327 Too Late by Colleen Hoover Jonathan gave 4 stars to Too Late (Paperback) by Colleen Hoover
Kind of wanted to see what all the hype was about surrounding Colleen Hoover's books since one of my best friends are obsessed with her novels... Only, I was kind of expecting a light romance novel and completely didn't expect to be transported into a gritty thriller.

While there were brilliant moments of being on the edge of my seat and plenty of brilliant character development, I felt the writing style was somewhat lacklustre and I found it difficult to want to be enveloped in this world, there was just something missing that didn't quite hook me, and I do wonder if it has to do with it being one of her newer books and may have been subjected to tight deadlines as when an author goes viral, publishers tend to want to have more books ready to go to keep up with the hype train.

I just wanted to like this more and came off slightly disappointed as I still don't know what all the hype is about. I'm definitely not eager to read another one of her novels again, any time soon, but maybe I just ended up reading the wrong first book from her collection and maybe her other books are better? I guess I'll find out one day as she is a super popular author at the moment and so I wouldn't be surprised if I come across another one of her books again in the near-future. ]]> Review6283381300 Tue, 27 Aug 2024 23:13:37 -0700 <![CDATA[Jonathan added 'What Does That Mean?: Better Understand Idioms, Phrases, and Sayings | And Discover the Fascinating History Behind Their Origins']]> /review/show/6283381300 What Does That Mean? by Cooper The Pooper Jonathan gave 3 stars to What Does That Mean?: Better Understand Idioms, Phrases, and Sayings | And Discover the Fascinating History Behind Their Origins (Paperback) by Cooper The Pooper
Definitely interesting in finding out the history between some of these sayings, but they're nothing people can't ask Google for answers and certainly doesn't add anything more.

Intriguing and a great light read, but I felt some could've been explained better with more historical information about the sayings. ]]> Review5785723237 Tue, 27 Aug 2024 22:54:43 -0700 <![CDATA[Jonathan added 'Hello Mum']]> /review/show/5785723237 Hello Mum by Bernardine Evaristo Jonathan gave 3 stars to Hello Mum (Paperback) by Bernardine Evaristo
As Quick Reads go, this was definitely one of the better ones I've read. I loved the concept and the fact that the book is a letter to a mother from her dead son telling her all the stuff he wishes he had mentioned to her as well as explaining what happened.

While it works well as a short story, it lacked a bit of development to keep me gripped entirely. Regardless, the idea behind it was intriguing and definitely worth a read.
]]> Review6797400968 Tue, 27 Aug 2024 22:28:30 -0700 <![CDATA[Jonathan added 'On a Different Day']]> /review/show/6797400968 On a Different Day by L J Band Jonathan gave 2 stars to On a Different Day (Paperback) by L J Band
Not quite sure what to make of this one... There were some great characters in the story but then others just lacked emotional connection with me... I feel the opening chapter was effective, engaging, and definitely hooked me into wanting to know more and to understand what happened, but I felt it kind of lost its way as the story continued and some chapters came off as "meh" and I just felt that the entire storyline just didn't wrap up all too well...

I was definitely left disappointed by the ending and a little unsurprised. I also wished that we had heard more from certain characters as some only got a chapter or two to tell their version of events and then we never returned to them. ]]>