Week of Jan.27, 2020
Week of January 20, 2020
Book Review:
The Thicket
By Joe R. Lansdale
Over the past few years I’ve heard Joe R. Lansdale’s name come up from time to time. I watched and enjoyed Netflix’s Hap and Leonard, and with a full-length movie in the works, I thought that The Thicket would be a great place to begin my own Joe R. Lansdale reading experience.
*See my full review...
December - 2019
Holiday Edition
At the end of the year I always find it fun to take a look back at the fantastic books that I had a chance to read over the past twelve months. It's never easy putting a list like this together, there are so many great books that I read, some just have to be there, then there are some others that I ask myself, how can that not be on the list? But I suppose that is the challenge, picking the cream of the crop. I hope that you had a great reading year, and here's hoping that 2020 is filled with more amazing reads!
*See my list of favorite books...
Book Review:
When a Child is Born
By Jodi Taylor
When a Child is Born was a free short Audible in Jodi Taylor’s The Chronicles of St. Mary’s series. Taylor really seems to enjoy writing these little Christmas tales, and I’ve enjoyed them as well. Technically speaking, When a Child is Born is book 2.5 in the series. From my own experience, a reader or listener can jump into Taylor’s shorts anywhere along the way.
*Read my full review...
Book Review:
Ninth House
By Leigh Bardugo
I am always intrigued when a popular YA author decides to leave their comfort zone and expand to a new audience. It is a competitive genre, with a very demanding fan base. How is this author going to adapt? Will they connect with me, someone beyond this YA target market?
As for the second question, Bardugo did a fantastic job! She created a couple of characters: Alex and Darlington, that were exceptionally developed.
*Read my full review...
Book Review:
I Am C-3PO: The Inside Story
By Anthony Daniels
I’m really not a non-fiction kind of guy. I like my stories to take me away from the here and now, but when I saw this book set a long time ago in my favorite galaxy far, far away, I knew that this was one to go for.
I went with the Audible version of I Am C-3PO, and what could be better than listening to C-3PO narrate his own story.
*Read my full review...
November - 2019
Book Review:
Chokehold
(The Final War #3)
By David Moody
Authors are able to accomplish some incredible things: they create worlds that captivate people, they imagine characters that complete strangers connect with, they make people forget, temporarily, about the normal lives they live. David Moody has accomplished all of this with his Hater world.
*Read my full review...
Book Review:
Imaginary Friend
By Stephen Chbosky
Perhaps I’ve lived under a rock my entire life, but I have never, ever seen The Perks of Being a Wallflower; the name Stephen Chbosky meant nothing to me. We all have our things.
I went with the Audible of Imaginary Friend based on solely on the spectacular synopsis.
*Read my full review...
Book Review:
36 Righteous Men
By Steven Pressfield
Steven Pressfield has put his own unique twist on the apocalypse/future that we are hurdling towards. Set in the not too distant future, Pressfield’s characters are not only dealing with a bloodthirsty killer, but also the natural elements that have evolved and are out of control.
36 Righteous Men is a book of layers. It is a murder mystery slash thriller mixed up with futuristic environmental touches and a flash of religious fiction.
*Read my full review...
Book Review:
Breakfast at Tiffany's
By Truman Capote
So, I listened to Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I never saw the movie, but I loved the song. I can’t say that I know anyone who didn’t like it. It was enough to make me want to read Capote’s book.
There are certain books that everyone knows, even though they haven’t read them. Breakfast at Tiffany’s was one such book for me. When I saw it on a daily Audible deal, I thought that it was a great chance to experience it.
*Read my full review...
October - 2019
Book Review:
Rewind
By Catherine Ryan Howard
Catherine Howard intrigued me with her concept and synopsis. I love a story that kicks off with a heinous violent crime (a fictional story anyway). Rewind is a classic who-done-it.
The concept and execution may be lost on the younger generation. Rewind read like a cassette tape…fast forward to this…pause here…rewind to get the back details.
*Read my full review...
Book Review:
The Institute
By Stephen King
Once or twice a year I find myself reading a book by this Stephen King fellow. I’m starting to think that this guy might be able to quit his day job and make a go of it as a full-time author.
Some people just won’t have the patience for a book like this, I love the involved, detailed world building that King embellishes his stories with. I want to take my time and embed myself within his stories.
*Read my full review...
Book Review:
1Q84
By Haruki Murakami
1Q84 is an intimidating read to me. The hardcover is listed at 925 pages, I opted for the 46 hours and 45-minute Audible version.
Murakami took me 35 years into the past and half a world away. It was a mesmerizing journey.
There was a lot that I loved about 1Q84: the author’s patience, the careful world-building, the depth of characters.
*Read my full review...
In Five Years
By Rebecca Serle
Things in Jars
By Jess Kidd
Week of Jan. 27, 2020
This week's list of new
releases is posted below.
Enjoy!
It’s no secret that I am
always looking forward to
reading a new book by
Colleen Hoover. Regretting
You was like getting two
stories for the price of one:
the mother’s and her
daughter’s. I was hooked!
When I began Regretting
You, I was all in. It
captured me right from
the beginning and I was more
than a little interested in seeing where the story was going to go. Everything was moving along at a quick and entertaining pace and then she threw in a twist, a real humdinger that had me gasping out loud. Oh, yes, I was invested.
New Releases!
- Unexpectedly Yours – By Rebecca Shea
One night of unbridled passion.
It was the only thing Andrew McPherson and Grace Morgan could afford.
Intense.
Sexy.
Unforgettable.
They promised they would never see each other again, but fate had other plans. Andrew’s entire life has been spent working toward one goal—to own the top advertising and public relations company in the world. He’s driven, ruthless when it comes to business, never letting anything stand in his way…until Grace.
Grace has worked hard to build her advertising career. She’s fiercely talented and dedicated to her clients. Grace has no interest in getting involved with a man when she knows her focus should be on her career and paying off her mounting debt.
Andrew knows better than to get involved with a woman who is completely off limits, but he never backs down from what he wants, and he won’t stop until Grace is his…only this might cost him more than he’s willing to give.
- We Are One: Volume One – Anthology – 100% of proceeds will go towards the Australian Bushfires! Nine full-length novels!
- We Are One: Volume Two - Anthology - Ten full-length novels!
- Even If It Hurts – By Marni Mann – Marital strife!
OLIVER
When I met her, I couldn’t take my eyes off her.
We were so young and so passionate.
We studied business in the day and each other’s bodies at night.
We always knew it would end with the semester, so we loved hard with no regrets.
LANCE
When I met her, I couldn’t get her off my mind.
We were fresh out of college and ready to take on the world.
We fit each other like missing puzzle pieces.
And just when I thought my life was perfect, it got better. She became my wife.
CHLOE
I met my first love while studying abroad in London.
When I moved home, I didn’t think I’d ever fall in love again.
Until I met him. The man who became my husband.
The one I promised a lifetime to.
Then, my first love came back into my life …
And I realized that love was bigger than any one man.
- Fashion Jungle – By Kathy Ireland & Rachel Van Dyken - Based on true stories and events!
Four women… Four very different paths. One incredibly cutthroat world.
Welcome to the Jungle...
- Marriage on Madison Avenue – By Lauren Layne
- A Favor for a Favor (All In #2) – By Helena Hunting
- Heartland – By Sarina Bowen - Standalone.
Dylan is my best friend, and the only person in my life who understands me. He doesn’t mind my social awkwardness or my weird history. The only glitch? He doesn’t know that I’ve been hopelessly, desperately in love with him since the first day we picked apples together in his family’s orchard.
But I know better than to confess.
Now that I’ve joined him at college, I’m seeing a new side of him. This Dylan drinks and has a lot of sex. None of it with me.
Until the moment I foolishly ask him to tutor me in more than algebra…and he actually says yes.
One crazy night sets our friendship on fire. But now my heart lies in ashes, and nothing will ever be the same again.
- Rules of Engagement – By J.T. Geissinger - Sports/Romantic comedy!
- Wherever You Are (Bad Reputation Duet #2) – By Krista & Becca Ritchie
- When We Were Vikings – By Andrew David MacDonald
Sometimes life isn’t as simple as heroes and villains.
For Zelda, a twenty-one-year-old Viking enthusiast who lives with her older brother, Gert, life is best lived with some basic rules:
1. A smile means “thank you for doing something small that I liked.”
2. Fist bumps and dabs = respect.
3. Strange people are not appreciated in her home.
4. Tomatoes must go in the middle of the sandwich and not get the bread wet.
5. Sometimes the most important things don’t fit on lists.
But when Zelda finds out that Gert has resorted to some questionable—and dangerous—methods to make enough money to keep them afloat, Zelda decides to launch her own quest. Her mission: to be legendary. It isn’t long before Zelda finds herself in a battle that tests the reach of her heroism, her love for her brother, and the depth of her Viking strength.
- The Arrangement – By Sylvia Day, Minerva Spencer & Kristin Vayden – Historical romance!
- And Then One Day - By Samantha Chase
- Twenty – By Debra Landwehr Engle
At age fifty-five, Meg’s life is too filled with loss for her to remember what magic feels like. All she has left is a yard brimming with plants that are wilting in the scorching Iowa summer—and a bone-deep feeling that she’s through with living.
Meg has something else too: a bottle of mysterious pills, given to her years ago by an empathetic doctor. He promised that they would offer her dying mother a quick, painless end in exactly twenty days. Though her mother never needed them, Meg does. But a strange thing happens after Meg swallows the little green pearls . . .
Now that she’s decided to leave this world, Meg is rediscovering the joy in it. She sheds everything she no longer needs—possessions, regrets, guilt—and reconnects with those she cares for. Finally confronting the depth of her grief, she’s learning that love runs deeper still. But is it too late to choose to stay?
- The Romeo Effect – By Lila Monroe
Seth Harding is a real-life cupid. If you get trapped in an elevator with a handsome stranger, or stranded on a moonlit cruise with the man of your dreams, chances are, it’s not fate bringing the two of you together, it’s Seth somewhere, pulling the strings.
At least, that’s what I find out, when someone hires Seth to help win my heart. It would be romantic… if he weren’t all wrong for me. And Mr Right…?
Well, he might just be the guy behind the scenes.
Suddenly, my faith in soulmates is hitting a major complication. Seth is cynical, and argumentative… and seriously irresistible. Soon, the sparks between us are impossible to ignore. But can this hopeful romantic really find love with a man who engineers happily-ever-afters for a living? And when all the tricks and tests are stripped away, what makes two people truly meant to be?
- Feisty – By Julia Kent - Romantic comedy!
- January 29 – Dirty Girls – By Lily White
- January 30 – Cowboy Villain Damsel Duel – By Ginger Scott
- January 30 – Intern Girl (Southern Girl #3) – By Georgia Cates
- January 30 – Dying for Rain (The Rain Trilogy #3) – By B.B. Easton
- January 30 – Red Rocket (Vegas Crush #3) – By Raine Miller - Hockey romance!
- January 30 – Hot Shot – By Robin Bielman
- February 1 – The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock – By Jane Riley
Happy Reading!
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