The Books of March

This month I celebrated another birthday.  I suppose I have reached the age where the number no longer matters.  It's just another year, I survived more tough times, and laughed through some good times.  This month I did manage to finish 11 books, and cross 5 more prompts off of the PopSugar Challenge list.  I am really proud of myself for finishing this many books while working 40+ hours a week.  I did work a few overnight shift which helped, and 2 of the books were audiobooks.  I am telling you if you find yourself short on reading time, but have lots of driving time, you should look into audiobooks if you aren't already listening to them.

Butterfly Suicide by Mary Ann Loesch
This is an amazing tale of survival after a school shooting.  Told from the perspectives of the shooter's brother and a victim's sister.  It was very impressive and touching.  School shootings make the news when they happen, but what about the lives of the community after.  This book shed some light on the aftermath of a shooting.  It really opened my eyes to how we have a tendency to hold one persons actions against their whole family.  This book amazed me.  The author to a difficult subject and created a work of art.

Operation Fit-ish by Shannon Myers
If you are looking for a great romantic comedy look no further.  Dakota gets dumped just weeks before her wedding.  She decides not to let life get her down.  She also is not afraid to be herself.  She meets her personal trainer, Zane, and things go crazy from there.  So much happens in this story, I couldn't put it down.  It was such a fun read.  Looking forward to reading the next book in the series and checking out other books by this author.

The Mask Maker by Jody Summers
In this book we join Sean and Kira as the set out on a new adventure.  Both of their abilities are growing, with Sean developing new ones after he meets his biological father.  The parts of the story about the holocaust and death camps written from the perspective of a Jew were a little hard to read.  Those passages were so well researched and written, that you almost felt like you were the one experiencing it.  I loved the second book in the Dark Canvas series by Jody Summers.  I hope there are more books in the future.

Rise of the Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz
In this book we not only rejoin Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos, but we meet some of the other kids from the Isle of the Lost.  Once again it is a great story about how being good is a choice.  If you have seen both of the Descendants movies, but not yet read this book or the second book in the series, you might have felt a bit lost.  This book leads us into the second movie.  I hope they continue writing books for this series, even if they don't make more movies.  This whole series has been incredible.  Such a great series of books for kids.

The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherine Allred
This book was absolutely captivating.  Following the life of the character Alix from her childhood through adulthood from her point of view.  I was amazed by how well the author captured childhood innocence as well as the emotions of adulthood.  This book was so well written.  First love, given a second chance; community secrets; and the south come together to spin an amazing tale.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
While I haven't always been a fan of historical fiction, I really enjoyed this holocaust story.  Prior to this I had only read the Diary of Anne Frank.  So it was interesting to look at it from a German's point of view.  Learning what life was like for them.  The main character, Liesel, enjoys life with her foster parents.  She learns to read with the help of her foster dad.  Then she reads to others in the bomb shelters to help keep them calm.  It was interesting following the life of Liesel.  I loved the author's choice of narrator.

Whispers in the Dark by LeTeisha Newton
At the beginning of this book it didn't think I would be able to finish it. It was so dark, so wrong. But I am glad I pushed on. Once I made it through the original event and torture, the love story that began to unfold grabbed me. It's a strange love, but it works for them.

The Giver by Lois Lowry
This is set in a dystopian future where everything is the same.  Jonas has lived his life not knowing anything different.  That is until he is chosen to be the Receiver of Memories.  He learns that things weren't always the same.  He learns about colors, animals, weather, and love.  With all of these new memories, he begins to question the sameness of his world.  Should people be given choice, or is it better to take away free will?  A great book to make you think.

Brownie Points for Murder by Nicole Ellis
This book was everything you could want in a cozy mystery. Jill, a stay-at home mom of two, who's husband travels often for work, attempts to solve the mystery of her neighbor's murder to clear her pregnant sister-in-law.  There were several plot twists, and it keeps you guessing.  I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Open House by Elizabeth Berg
I loved this audiobook. such a great story told from the perspective of a middle-aged woman who's husband leaves her. The things she goes through in the aftermath help her become herself. I am not going through the same situation at all,but I am going through personal struggles. it helped me realize that things aren't as bad as they may seem. A good book to help you realize that not matter how bad things seem, you will be okay.

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
This book was quite the mystery.  I really felt the title was not at all fitting.  It actually had me a bit confused as I read the book.  The over all mastermind did surprise me.  Overall, the book was fairly well written, with a good pace, and characters.  It was an okay book.  I don't think I will be reading any other books by this author.

Reading on a budget

So I read a lot.  I love reading.  However, buying new books, or sometimes even used books can be expensive.  So how do I manage to read so many book while spending very little?

I have a few tricks.  First, which most of you are probably aware of, is your local public library.  I however, have not set foot inside my library in probably 2 years.  Did you know that many libraries have an on-line library where you can check out e-books and audiobooks?  This has been a lifesaver for my audiobooks.  I have used both the Overdrive app and the Libby app (which is also by Overdrive) on Android, and the Overdrive app on my kindle for the audiobooks.  The e-books for Kindle are checked out in your library, my local library uses Bridges, then delivered through Amazon.  You can check a book out for up to 14 days.  You can place holds on books if they are currently checked out.  You can check out up to 3 books at one time.  I absolutely love using the on-line library.

Next is giveaways.  I have won e-books from Amazon's giveaways.  I have also won e-books, paperbacks, and even signed copies from Goodreads giveaways.  I love entering giveaways.  Do I always win, no, but if I don't enter then I definitely won't win.  So when it comes to Amazon and Goodreads giveaways, I enter as many as I can as long as the book looks interesting.

Let's talk about authors for a moment.  Authors frequently do giveaways.  They will to new release giveaways, celebratory giveaways, random giveaways.  They need to get the word out about their books, and one way to do that is to give away copies to fans, then a good fan will leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or other sites that will entice other readers.  So sign-up for those author newsletters, follow them on social media (Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon), basically stalk your favorite author's any way you can.  You never know how you might be rewarded.

Another way I get free books requires a little work on my part.  I have signed up with NetGalley.  It is a site where publishers and authors can put their work for reviewers to look at.  As a reviewer you can look through all of the books available and request a copy.  You will not always get a copy of every title you request, and you need to leave a review after you have read the book.  Another site I have registered with that works similar to NetGalley is Hidden Gems
Hidden Gems Books.  With Hidden Gems when you sign up you tell them your genre preferences.  Then they will send you an email daily with a title that is looking for reviewers (note: I get about 3-5 emails a day with a title that is available).  If the title looks interesting you can request it, if not, don't.  The email with the title will tell you what day that book will be sent out, it's usually about 4 days after the initial email, it will also tell you when the review is to be posted, usually 7 days after the book is sent out.  This allows you to make sure you have enough time to read the book before you even request it.  Again you won't always get the book, but when you do it's a free book to read, just for leaving a review on Amazon.

So for those of you on a budget there are lots of ways to make sure you always have lots of reading material.  With some of these you might end up with more emails in your inbox.  Some of the time I end up deleting the emails without even opening them just to clear up my email.  Just because you signed up doesn't mean you have to read every email.  Although I do know that some of the authors giveaway a monthly Amazon gift card to one of their newsletter subscribers that took the time to open their monthly newsletter.

February: A Month in Review

This month I went back to work!!!!  While I am so glad to be back at work, I really miss being able to sit at home and read all day.  If I could get paid to read it would be my ideal job.  So being back at work means less reading time, and more driving time.  I decided to help keep up my pace I would add audiobooks to my reading,  that way I can listen to them in the car on my drive to and from work.  That gives me an extra hour of reading each work day.  I also listen to them while I wash the dishes.  Here's a hint on audiobooks: the narrator makes all the difference.  A book could be great, but if the narrator is terrible it's hard to listen to the book.  In February I completed 10 more books, and crossed 6 more prompts off my PopSugar Challenge.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
Did you know that author J K Rowling wrote another series of books under a male pseudonym?  I didn't until I was looking for A Book Written by a Female Author Using a Male Pseudonym for the PopSugar Challenge.  This is the first book in The Strike Series. I want to prepare you now, these are nothing like her beloved Harry Potter Series.  This is a series that follows the Private Investigator Cormoran Strike as he solves crimes.  So I picked up this book after hearing lots of hype about the series in general, knowing the author also wrote the Harry Potter books, and knowing this was a mystery.  I was prepared for it to be a great book.  I was disappointed.  It was an okay book.  The story and mystery were good.  However, the book itself was very slow paced for me.  I will not be reading the rest of this series.

Ryan's Bed by Tijan
This book takes an extremely difficult subject and takes the reader through the healing process with beautifully written words. Tijan masterfully shows the effects of teenage suicide on those closest to them, as well as things like bullying and coping. I was hooked from the beginning, and the ending was shocking. This is truly a life changing book. This was my first book by Tijan, and I can't wait to read more.  I will be adding all of her books to my TBR list.  This book would be great for any high schooler, but still enjoyable for any adult.  

180 Seconds by Jessica Park
Another new to me author!!!  Another that will have all her books instantly added to my ever growing TBR list.  In this book we join Allison, a college junior who loves to fade into the background.  After growing up in foster care she likes being invisible.  This year, that's not going to be as easy when she meets Esben.  Esben is famous on social media.  He uses social media for good, which in this day is amazing.  Allison gets pulled into one of Esben's social media experiments, and things go crazy from there.  This story is just incredible, an emotional rollercoaster. A great coming of age romance.

Dark Canvas by Jody Summers
Romance, paranormal elements, and mystery. This book has all of my favorite elements resulting in a great read.  I was amazed by the things that were happening in Kira's paintings. I love the idea of using cremated remains in a painting to remember the loved one, so much better than scattering ashes. I loved how quickly Sean and Kira realized and acknowledged their love for each other. They didn't care if people said it was fast. When it's right you just know.  This was Jody Summers debut novel.  I would say he nailed it.  

Babyjacked by Sosie Frost
I loved the story this book told. In some places I felt the writing could have been better.  I liked the characters, and the book was fairly easy to read.  I just wasn't blown away by this book.  I am not sure whether or not I will be reading the rest of this series.

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
So I had seen several posts on social media about this series.  So many people appeared to love it. I decided to read it for the Cyberpunk prompt on the PopSugar Challenge.  I discovered that Cyberpunk is not a genre I care much for.  This book felt slow, and the plot felt predictable.  I personally will not be reading the rest of the series.  The characters were the best part of the book.  

Watch Me by Jody Gehrman
Watch Me keeps your heart pounding and you sitting on the edge of your seat. I loved the plot and the thrill of this book. That being said, there were many times when it jumped from one event to another without a smooth transition that left me very confused. I used this book for the PopSugar Challenge prompt a Book with Song Lyrics in the Title.

My Torin by K. Webster
This book warmed my soul, broke my heart in a good way, and made me cry. It is an incredible piece of work regarding living with Autism and living with someone with Autism. The way the learned to communicate with each other through different means to overcome the disability was astounding. I have truly been touched by this remarkably well written story.

Return to the Isle of the Lost by Melissa de la Cruz
In this book we once again join Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos on another adventure.  This book picks up after the Disney Channel Descendants movie.  This time this incredible foursome face their fears and continue to learn that good triumphs over evil.  My absolute favorite thing about this series is how these kids learn that just because their parents were villains doesn't mean that they have to be evil.  Being good is a choice.  Another book that would be great for anyone who loves Disney.  It would be good for a middle grade student to read on their own, or to read aloud as a family to younger children.

The Alienist by Caleb Carr
I mentioned in the beginning of this post that I added audiobooks this month.  This was my first audiobook in a couple years.  I had almost forgotten how much I enjoyed them.  I had seen the previews for the TNT tv show based on this book, and they piqued my interest.  This story was very engrossing.  Learning about the beginnings of criminal psychology.  All the differences between the time period this book is set in and the world we live in today made me realize it must have been incredibly more difficult to solve crimes back then.  The way Dr. Kraizler and his team worked to find the killer by looking into why he does things was incredible.  I am really thinking I am going to have to look into other books by Caleb Carr.  I am usually not real fond of historical fiction, but this one had me hooked.

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a great story about saying goodbye. I loved all of the factual information about Elephants. The twist at the end though. Wow, it caught me off guard at first. Then I thought back to some of the things that happened earlier in the book and was wondering why I hadn't suspected it. An amazing book.

View all my reviews

January: a month in review

Well, I spent most of January sitting on my butt recovering from foot and ankle surgery.  That meant lots of reading time.  I completed 10 books in the month of January.  Eight of these ten I used to fulfil prompts on the PopSugar reading challenge.  Off to a great start for that.

Beauty and Beastly by Melani Karsak
This book was a little difficult for me to wrap my head around, but very enjoyable.  It is set in the 1800's in England, however there are robots, or automatons as they are called.  This is the first steampunk book I have read.  This genre is a little out of my comfort zone.  I did truly enjoy the retelling of the classic Beauty and The Beast.  It was also a fairly easy read, I would recommend it to any young adult who like fairytale retellings or steampunk.

Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco
I used this book for the PopSugar Challenge prompt A Novel Based on a Real Person.  I had been watching a tv show called American Ripper on the History Channel and found my interest in Jack the Ripper peaked.  I loved that this book had historical photos from the time period and locations of the Jack the Ripper killings.  While this book was a fictional tale about a girl who works to solve the case of Jack the Ripper, I was impressed with the amount of fact that was included.  This book really pulled me in, I look forward to reading more books by this author.  I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young adult books, or murder mysteries.

Whispers and the Roars by K. Webster
Wow, just wow.  This was my first book of K. Webster's.  I don't want to give too much away, but this book is absolutely amazing.  I can't even begin to imagine the amount of research she put into this book to be able to portray her characters the way she did.  Going in blind is best, so I am not going to put much more information in this review.  This is a dark romance.  It contains violence, strong sexual themes, and abuse.  None of this is glossed over, so it could trigger some emotional distress in the reader.  With my personal experiences I still found it enjoyable, and even comforting that a writer could write something that felt so real.  The parts that were similar to my experiences were so well written that while they did trigger some memories, making it to the end of the book gave me hope.  Given this I would recommend this for adults only, due to content.  If you suffer from PTSD you probably shouldn't read it.

Stolen by Eden Winter
I enjoyed this short paranormal romance.  An elf and a human stealing heavily guarded jewels for a vampire mafia.  What's worse?  The elf falls for one of the vampires.  This story is very action packed and fast paced.  I actually wish the author would have slowed it down a little, and made it a longer book.  All in all it was a fun, if short, read.

Oasis: Origin Phase Cycle Book 3 by R.T.W. Lipkin
When I started this book I didn't think I was going to like it, let alone be able to finish it. But I gave it time and am glad I did. It turned out being a pretty good book. So many things happening at once.  This book takes place in a dystopian future.  Robots look and act like humans. While technology seems to have advanced, society and culture appears to have regressed, in my opinion. So while this book was not my normal cup of tea I did eventually find it interesting.  I do not think I will look into the other books in this series. I did receive a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.  I used this book to fulfil the PopSugar Challenge prompt A Book Published in 2018.

Spirits, Stilettos, and a Silver Bustier by Deanna Chase
This was a fast paced book about a medium named Pyper.  She is investigating 2 murders with the help of her friends Kane and Jade, and also a ghost named Julien.  This book was fun to read.  I mean how can you go wrong when murder, magic, ghosts and love are involved.

The Sunlight Pilgrims by Jenni Fagan
This book is set in a not so distant future, where a new ice age is upon us.  This was quite possibly the first book I have read with a transgendered character.  In this book we join Stella, her (his) mom Constance and Dylan.  Dylan has recently lost his mom and grandma, and moved to the trailer park next door to Constance and Stella.  This book follows them as they learn how to survive, and interact with each other as the weather gets colder and harsher.  This book is amazingly well written.  It offers insight to the mind of a transgendered teen, as well as her mother and someone who becomes a close friend.  The characters are all wonderfully written and developed.  I feel like while I don't see the climate change happening so dramatically in the short amount of time between now and the time period this book is set in, this book still helped open my eyes to some subjects that I was not well educated on.

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
Such an amazing story. This book is full of adventures. I loved following first Atreyu then Bastian on their adventures through Fantastica. There are lessons to be learned, and adventures to be had in the The Neverending Story. A great book for any age.  If you enjoyed the movie you will love this book.  

The House on Foster Hill by Jaime Jo Wright
This book was amazing. I loved following Ivy's search for the truth in the past, while also following Kaine's search for the truth in the present. Both searching for answers to the same mystery. It was intriguing, and exciting. So hard to put down. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
This book joins two cancer patients as the fall in love.  They enjoy the journey of life together, learning to make the most of what they have.  This book is heart breaking, it is beautiful, it is a must read.  If you have seen the movie, the book is so much better.  You will cry, you will laugh, you will get mad.  All of those emotions help to make this and incredible book.

Let's try this again

So I really thought that I would get better at this blogging thing while I was off work for surgery.  That so didn't happen.  I have been back at work for 6 months.  So I am thinking it is time to try this again.  I have some catching up to do.  Over the next few weeks, I am going to go back over what I have read this year, and do a post with quick reviews for each month from January to August.  Then I plan on attempting to do a post weekly with reviews of what I read that week.  In an earlier post I mentioned that I was attempting the PopSugar Reading Challenge this year.  I have been doing quite well with it.  Once I have completed it I will do a final post listing the books I read for each prompt.  While I am finding some of the prompts more difficult to complete than others, I am enjoying this challenge.

So,  for now I will sign off and hope that maybe I can actually get this blogging thing figured out.  I would like to attempt writing a novel and have a few ideas floating around in my head, but I feel like if I can't maintain a blog, I would probably never complete a novel.  So here goes nothing.

The Santa Thief by Alane Adams

Hey all, Christmas is quickly approaching.  I read a new Christmas story with my kids last night.  I wanted to share a quick review with all of you. 

The Santa Thief is an amazingly cute story about the meaning of Christmas. I truly enjoyed reading it aloud to my kids, (ages 9, 7, and 4) and they all enjoyed the story. I loved following along with Georgie as he picked out the tree with his dad. Such a wonderful story about a young boy learning that Christmas is more about giving than receiving.  A truly touching story, perfect for all families at Christmas.  A great addition to any family library, as well as a great present.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Blind Spot by Dani Pettrey

Blind Spot by Dani Pettrey is book three in her Chesapeake Valor series.  It was the first of her books that I have read.  Without having read books 1 and 2 there were times I felt a bit lost, but not so much as to make the book unenjoyable or hard to follow.  I just felt like I would have understood the characters a bit better if I had read the other books.  I also felt like I might have had a bit more information on the case that Declan and Tanner were working on.

I found it different and interesting that there were at least two different cases going on through out the book.  While Declan and Tanner worked on their case as the main characters of this book; Griffin, Parker, Finley, Avery, and Kate worked another case.  There was also Luke, who was a member of their group, before he disappeared, who is working on something that may tie into someone's case.  This book definitely falls into the Mystery and Drama categories, but I wouldn't call it a thriller.

Now, while this book wasn't bad, and I don't regret reading it, I must say it ended up falling outside my comfort zone.  Before I selected this book to read I read the back of the book and thought it sounded great.  That's how you're supposed to choose books, right!?!  I wasn't prepared for what I found inside.  I will admit that I believe in God, however, I am far from the devoted Christian my mom and sister wish I was.  I most definitely am not a fan of Christian Fiction.  I did make it through this book, and for the most part I enjoyed it.  I did frequently find myself skipping the parts where there characters were praying, either by themselves or as a group.  This happened I would say at least once per chapter.  So, if you like Christian Fiction I think you will like this book, if Christian Fiction isn't your thing, it's probably not for you.  While I find myself wanting to know more about the characters and how things turn out in the end of this series, I don't want to know bad enough to read any of the other books myself.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge

So to follow up from my Thanksgiving post, I have just finished reading the first of my physical books I received for review.  I am working on writing the review, and hope to get it posted in a few days.  I have also been hard at work creating my TBR list for the PopSugar 2018 Reading Challenge.  That has been hard work, but exciting.  Of the 48 books on my list I already own 25 of them, so the other 23 I will probably try to get from my local library.  I have 2 prompts I have yet to find books for.  One of which is a book that was borrowed of given to you, I should have no trouble getting this one taken care of.  I will probably use a book I receive to review after the 1st of the year.  The other prompt I haven't filled yet is a book that was being read by a stranger in a public place, I am going to have to start paying more attention when I am out and about to people who are reading.

Here is a link to my PopSugar 2018 Reading Challenge List.  Books that I have highlighted in yellow are the ones that I do not already have copies of.  If you would like to help me out through out the year Kindle books are loanable, I would have no problems loaning you a book in return.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1LtT__buVXaUsKvAbaB6wOf_qGftbmQzkA-vMqYGE_7U

Enjoy your holiday season.  Keep an eye out for my upcoming review of Blind Point by Dani Pettrey.  Also, read a good book, and join me in the 2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Wow, as I write this I find myself seriously wondering what happened to the time.  It seems like it was just Halloween last week.  I do wish to apologize for my lack of good reviews this month.  It's not that I haven't been reading.  I just haven't been reading as much, and have been seriously lacking the time to write. 

I have been very busy at my full time job.  We recently transitioned to a new computer system and are still working out all of the bugs.  This has been taking up my reading and writing time at work.  I have also been busy with my kids, and myself.  My son just turned 4, we had a nice little celebration, just me and my 3 kids.  I have been and continue to be preparing for my upcoming foot surgery.  So I will be off work, laid up, unable to walk or drive for 3 weeks at Christmas time.  That means I should have more time for reading and writing.

For now, I have decided to make some changes in how I am going to go about this adventure.  Instead of writing a full blog review of each book I read (I sometimes read 3-4 in a week), I am going to be more selective in the books I put full reviews of on my blog.  Any physical books I get for review will receive a blog review.  I will also write full reviews of books that either completely amaze me or ones that were, in my opinion, terrible.  I am going to aim for a minimum of two reviews posted here each month.  However, all of the e-books I receive to review I will review on Amazon.  I have added a link to my Amazon profile to the bottom of my blog page so that you may find those reviews easier.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!!  I also hope that you all find time to read and enjoy a great book.  Once again feel free to offer suggestions of books to read.  I am learning to broaden my horizons.  In fact I recently learned about the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge, and intend to try to complete the 2018 challenge.  Here's the link if you would like to check it out https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/Reading-Challenge-2018-44138581.  I will probably do a full blog review for each book that I read for the challenge as well as update my challenge progress with each post.  I think it will be lots of fun and hope some of you join me.