Cold and Rainy Fall Days....

I've been home sick for two days with some kind of virus, and have felt so bad I didn't even want to read. That never happens! I feel a bit better today, and am a bit behind in my book reviews; so here goes:

What I Recently Read

I finally finished Daniel Silva's latest Gabriel Allon book, The Other Woman, and 4 different formats were used to read this one! I listed to the e-Audiobook on my phone in the car with the Cloud Library app, read some on my Ipad through the Amazon WhisperSinc app for Kindle, listened to the audibook in CD Format and finally finished up the print copy I received from my friends at Library Love Fest (HarperCollins Library Marketing Division).  It was a great book, with a head-scratching plot hole at the end that I happily overlooked. (I overlook a lot of things from favorite authors - I'm just so happy they keep writing)! And I've recently learned on Twitter that the next title in the series will be out next summer! Something to look forward to. I am fan-girling so much that this author follows me on Twitter!

I also finished The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager, author of Final Girls (which I also now want to read). I started this book a while back and put it down to read something else; but not because it wasn't good. It's just so hard not to start new books I'm excited about! At a summer camp for wealthy adolescents, three girls go missing, never to be seen again. One of the campers was greatly affected by this tragedy. When she is asked, 10 years later, to come back for one summer and help open up the camp again, she agrees, hoping to get some closure. But there are a number of lies by all parties involved that will come to light in this great thriller, and it's one that surprised me a number of times! Highly recommended.

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle is probably the most unique and complex novel I've read this year. A number of people are gathered for a house party somewhere in England, in some unknown era, and one of the characters will be murdered at 11pm. Every night. And unless the main character, who wakes up in a different guest's body every day for 8 days, can solve the murder, the time loop will never end. Can you imagine keeping all the details of a story like that straight? It takes some focus and concentration, but readers who hang in there will be richly rewarded. And kudos to this author who, except for a few plot holes, manages to bring this whole story to a satisfactory and surprising end!

What I'm Reading Now

When I was sick as a dog on Monday night, and nothing sounded good to read, I picked up Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Book Store by Robin Sloan that was lingering on my prodigious book shelf! It's about an unemployed tech/marketing millennial who takes a job as the night clerk at a 24 hour book store and discovers a number of mysterious goings-on that are related to some strange books in the store. It's a delight for book lovers, for sure!

I'm a big fan of Australian author Jane Harper whose debut, The Dry, was a break-out hit last year, followed up by Force of Nature, a loosely connected sequel that was also excellent. This next novel, being published in February, 2019, is the story of three brothers who own neighboring properties in the Australian Outback. And when it says "neighboring," it means that it takes several hours to get from one property to the next. When one of the brothers is found dead at the border of two of the properties, the remaining siblings must delve into some hidden secrets to discover what happened. It hasn't "grabbed" me like The Dry did, but it's good and I will keep reading!

I love, loved Sally Thorne's debut, The Hating Game, a humorous contemporary romance with a big heart, so I was very excited to see that her second novel will be published in January.  Library Love Fest sent me a print ARC (thank you, thank you!!), and I am enjoying it. This author does an excellent job of characterization, dialogue and keeping up the tension between the characters. I don't like it as much as I did The Hating Game, but it's still an enjoyable "escape" read and sometimes that's just what you need.

What I'm Reading Next

Choices, choices! 

I'm finishing up all my reading for the TLA Lariat List Committee (55 books were nominated, and I had to read them all)! I will have a lot of extra time to read after December, and I can't wait! Laura Bickle has a great contemporary dark fantasy series known both as "Dark Alchemy" and "Wildlands." The next book in in the series is Phoenix Falling, published in February, 2019, and I may dive into that. This series has a great coyote sidekick named "Sig," whose next shenanigans I'd love to read about. But I have lots of books to choose from, just the way I like it!!

Happy Reading!!

It's almost time for #FridayReads!

I found this meme on Facebook yesterday! I'd love to give credit to its creator, but it is so ubiquitous on Google that I'm not sure who the originator is. Either way, I had an ear worm all day after seeing this. And it is a nice day for a light sweater, indeed, in Texas: 59 degrees yesterday morning and 55 today when I left the house. Finally, after a hellish summer, Fall weather has arrived. I'm so happy!

And I've gotten some reading done, so YAY! 

What I Finished Reading

I've been a fan of Charlaine Harris for a while, and not even for her Sookie Stackhouse novels. She wrote a series of mysteries set in Shakespeare, Arkansas with a woman named Lily Bard as the main character. Lily settled in Shakespeare to escape a VERY dark and violent past, and works as a house cleaner and errand runner for folks in her small town. Of course, dead bodies turn up in Lily's life, and she finds a way to solve the mysteries. I enjoyed these books primarily because the main character was very well-developed and had such a difficult past to overcome - yet she found a way to make a life for herself in spite of what happened to her.

I finally dove into Charlaine Harris' new title, An Easy Death, last weekend, and came up for air (and snacks, and a bathroom break) quite a long while later! I I love this world she's created - a fractured US that has weakened, causing parts of the country to be gobbled up by Canada, Mexico, Russia and England.

The main character, Lizbeth "Gunny" Rose lives in the South where there is a lot of lawlessness, and makes her living with a crew who will take travelers from her area North into New America. Lizbeth is a "gunny," basically a hired gun, and she is one TOUGH gunslinger! I love that the author has created some great characters: men and women who are strong, as they must be, to survive in this new world order. When Lizbeth's crew is killed by bandits and her cargo is kidnapped, leaving her the lone survivor, she sets out to track them down and finish the job she set out to do. She does, and how!  Her next adventure involves some Russian wizards, a secret from her past, and much more Wild West action. There are a lot of gunfights and deaths in this book, but it isn't over the top, and didn't feel gratuitous - it's just the way of life in this world.

My only criticism is that in the last bit of the book the author seemed to run out of things to say and struggled to end it in a way that would produce a sequel. That made it a 4 star rather than 5 star read for me. This book is very plainly narrated, which matches the no-nonsense main character, and the writing reflects that. As a side note, I just saw today that An Easy Death will be adapted for the small screen. It will make a great series!

What I'm Currently Reading

I'm slowly savoring this small book which is a love letter to bibliophiles everywhere. Anne Bogel, creator of the Modern Mrs. Darcy blog and life-long reader, shares some beautiful essays about the reading life, and I can relate to each and everyone. I especially love the chapter called "Bookworm Problems" which is written in list form, and expresses all those situations that book lovers have experienced, such as:

• All your library holds coming in at once
• You pack 12 books for a five-day vacation because you can't decide what to read next
• You keep reading "one more chapter" until 2 a.m. and then are too tired to work the next day
• You finish a great book and realize the next in the series won't be published for a year
• Your TBR list is too long to finish before you die
• And my favorite: You pile your stack of books in your passenger seat, and the car yells at you because it thinks you have an unbuckled passenger!

It's a lovely book and I highly recommend it for anyone who is a reader and loves books.

I've had my eye on The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle for a while, and finally started it last night. I've heard that it's a very good mystery, but you have to pay attention! The setting is at an estate in the English countryside, sometime in the past (the author is British). Every day, Evelyn Hardcastle, the daughter of the estate owner, is killed at 11 p.m. Every day, Aiden Bishop awakens to find himself inhabiting the body of one of the guests, and he must try to figure out who killed Evelyn before it happens again. There are a lot of characters, but luckily the author provides a cheat sheet in the form of a Party Invitation at the beginning of the book that provides details on everyone to help keep them all straight in your head as you read. It's well-written, and I have not gotten too confused yet!

I also started this book last night: The Gauguin Connection by Estelle Ryan (yes, I often read more than one book at a time)! It's about an insurance investigator in Strasbourg, France, who is a high-functioning autistic woman with tremendous abilities to read facial expressions and recognize patterns in things she reads and sees. Dr. Genevieve Lenard is a great character, and the first book was free for Kindle yesterday, so I had to have it!. I read about this series on Modern Mrs. Darcy's blog, when some of her readers were commenting on the types of books they like to read when the weather turns cooler (mainly gothic stories and the classics, apparently). As for me, I don't have seasonal reading habits. If it looks like a good book, I'll read a Christmas book in July or a beach read in November. I just want to be reading a good book - every day of my life!

What I'm Planning to Read Next

I received  ARCs or e-galleys of all these books this week, and I will have a hard time choosing! They will all be published in winter or spring of 2019. Jane Harper, an Australian author, burst on the literary scene with The Dry, followed by Force of Nature, both excellent mysteries, and I have no doubt that her next novel, The Lost Man, will be good as well.

 The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is based on the historical blue-skinned people of Kentucky and the Kentucky Pack Horse library service, and should be loved by librarians and biblophiles everywhere!

Bowlaway is a "sweeping and enchanting new novel from the widely beloved, award-winning author Elizabeth McCracken about three generations of an unconventional New England family who own and operate a candlepin bowling alley." This one caught my eye because my grandmother was born in 1899 in a small town and was named Bertha - the same as one of the main characters in this book!

Finally, The Magnetic Girl is an historical fiction novel based on the true story of Lulu Hurst, who was a "mentalist" with the power of electricity, or was she?

My hope is that you, too, are reading something wonderful!

Happy Reading!

Burden of Proof by DiAnn Mills ~ Lone Star Literary Book Blog Tour: Author Video and Giveaway!

BURDEN OF PROOF

FBI Rapid Response, #1

by

DiANN MILLS

   Genre: Inspirational /Mystery / Suspense / Romance
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers

Date of Publication: October 9, 2018

Number of Pages: 416

Scroll down for the giveaway!

Reeling from a negotiation gone wrong, FBI Special Agent April Ramos is caught off guard when a frazzled young woman shoves a crying baby into her arms, then disappears. Worry for the child’s safety quickly turns to fear when a man claiming to be the girl’s father abducts them at gunpoint. April puts her hostage negotiation skills to use to learn more about who she’s dealing with: Jason Snyder, a fugitive accused of murder. 

As Jason spins a tall tale about being framed for the killing of his business partner, April must sort through his claims to find the truth. A truth that becomes all the more evident after April overhears a conversation between Jason and the local sheriff and realizes something more sinister may be happening in their small town of Sweet Briar, Texas. But aligning herself with a known fugitive to uncover the burden of proof could cost April her job . . . or worse, her life and the lives of other innocent people.

PRAISE FOR DiANN MILLS:  "The tension level rises as layers of lies are peeled away in multiple plot twists." --Library Journal "DiAnn Mills is a master of fast-paced and intricately plotted romantic suspense." --Colleen Coble, Bestselling author "[A] fast-moving, intricately plotted thriller." --Publishers Weekly

CLICK TO PURCHASE

DiAnn Mills shares insights into the ideas and writing of Burden of Proof.

CHECK OUT THE BOOK TRAILER! 

DiAnn Mills is a bestselling author who believes her readers should expect an adventure. She combines unforgettable characters with unpredictable plots to create action-packed, suspense-filled novels.

Her titles have appeared on the CBA and ECPA bestseller lists; won two Christy Awards; and been finalists for the RITA, Daphne du Maurier, Inspirational Reader's Choice, and Carol Award contests. Firewall, the first book in her Houston: FBI series, was listed by Library Journal as one of the best Christian fiction books of 2014.

DiAnn is a founding board member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and a member of Advanced Writers and Speakers Association, Sisters in Crime, and International Thriller Writers. She is co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, where she continues her passion of helping other writers be successful. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country.  DiAnn has been termed a coffee snob and roasts her own coffee beans. She's an avid reader, loves to cook, and believes her grandchildren are the smartest kids in the universe. She and her husband live in sunny Houston, Texas. DiAnn is very active online and would love to connect with readers.

 ║ Website ║ Facebook ║ Twitter ║   ║ Instagram║ Goodreads ║ LinkedIn ║ ║ YouTube ║ Pinterest ║ Google+ ║ BookBub
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OCTOBER 9-18, 2018

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VISIT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:

10/9/18	Excerpt	Hall Ways Blog
10/9/18	Author Video	Kelly Well Read
10/10/18	Review	That's What She's Reading
10/11/18	Top List	The Page Unbound
10/11/18	Top List	Story Schmoozing Book Reviews
10/12/18	Character Interview	Chapter Break Book Blog
10/13/18	Review	Missus Gonzo
10/13/18	Excerpt	All the Ups and Downs
10/14/18	Playlist	StoreyBook Reviews
10/15/18	Review	Momma on the Rocks
10/16/18	Review	Reading by Moonlight
10/16/18	Excerpt	Books and Broomsticks
10/17/18	Video Guest Post	Sybrina's Book Blog
10/18/18	Review	The Clueless Gent
10/18/18	Review	Forgotten Winds

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Kelly Well Read Reviews - Happy Fall, Y'all!

I've been enjoying the nice cool front in North Texas the last couple days. I can feel the Fall weather getting closer! On my grocery stop this morning before work, I saw all the Fall flowers and decor, and couldn't resist an Instagram opportunity! Of course, it will be back up in the high 80s in a week, so carpe diem and all that!

What I Just Finished Reading:

I actually finished two books over the last week. The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang and Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

The Kiss Quotient is an erotic romance, but that is not the whole story. It's written by a debut author who was diagnosed, as an adult, with Asperger's Syndrome. She is married, with two children, and used her personal experiences to create the main character, Stella. I emphasize the erotic part because you need to be prepared for some steamy scenes and the erotic language that goes along with this type of book. But it's also a good story, with the well-developed main characters going through some major challenges along the way to their HEA. Enjoy this one if you like spicy romance novels: just don't say I didn't warn you!

One of my favorite this year is Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens - another debut (I love debuts)! Set in the 1950s and 1960s in and around the marsh-lands of North Carolina, this novel has it all: evocative descriptions of the natural world, a haunting coming-of-age tale, a meditation on survival and the need for human connections, as well as a mystery with a suspenseful court room scene and an unexpected twist at the end.  The criticisms I've seen for this book have to do with two things, and I experienced them as well.

 First of all, the author uses a Southern dialect in her dialogue that is a little disconcerting at first "Where ya goin'" and " I don' 'member," for example, rather than the proper terminology. Even being from the South, myself, this was a little off-putting at first. But the story is so absorbing that I quickly just let that go and went with the flow. Secondly, the pace of the book is slower than I usually read. A lot happens, but there are long passages of descriptions of nature, and even some poetry, that interrupt the action of the story. Again, I was willing to read on, as I really wanted to know what happened to all the characters. It did take me longer to read this book than normal (several weeks); but it was so worth it to get to the end. I just hugged it to my heart and said, out loud, "This...this is what it feels like to have a true literary experience."  I don't know if everyone I recommend it to will have the same feeling, but I'm satisfied with my opinion of it: it's excellent! 

What I'm Reading Now:

A lot, actually! Many people can't relate to reading more than one book at a time, much less 4 or 5, but librarians do this frequently. In order to be able to confidently recommend books to customers daily, I have to expose myself to a lot of different books on a regular basis. Sometimes I don't finish them all (blasphemy, I know)! But, I will read enough to know that the a book is well-written; to be able to speak about elements such as pace, tone, and themes; and to become familiar with any issues that might affect me recommending it to certain patrons, such as graphic violence, language or sex scenes. I don't censor other people's reading, but I do get asked often about those things, and want to be able to speak to that when I recommend a book.

Right now I'm devouring Robert Galbraith's 4th title in the Cormoran Strike series, Lethal White. A couple things about this book: Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym for J. K. Rowling and she ran a contest to decide the title of this book!  This series has also been televised, first in the UK and then in the States on Cinemax, under the name "C.B. Strike." It's really good, too!  The first book, Cuckoo's Calling is my favorite; the ones that have come after have been progressively darker and more violent (kind of like the Harry Potter series, actually)! But I've become attached to the characters, and will just skim over parts that are too much for my sensibilities!  This book is currently #1 on the combined print and eBook NYT best-seller chart. Lethal White is more introspective than the other books, revealing more about the main characters and their lives, and is much longer than I expected: 656 pages.  It will take me a while!

I also just got my library hold for Anne Bogel's I'd Rather Be Reading, her first book. Ms. Bogel is the creator of the blog, "Modern Mrs. Darcy" (https://modernmrsdarcy.com/), which I love, and this book talks about her experiences with reading and recommending books. Perfect for bibliophiles and librarians! It's a slim book, only 160 pages, so I should get through this quickly.

And because I'm a grammar nerd, and really loved Kory Stamper's Word by Word, about her experiences as a lexicographer for Merriam Webster,  I grabbed an older book called, Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss, an extremely funny and sardonic take on the declining use of correct punctuation in the English language (nerd, I know)!

I'm also still working my way through the audiobook of Daniel Silva's latest Gabriel Allon novel, The Other Woman, on my commute (George Guidall, narrator!), and will be listening to The Big Inch, a historical fiction title by Kimberly Fish, narrated by Sydney Young, for the Lone Star Literary Book Blog Tour coming in November.

What I'll Read Next?

I never know, exactly, as it depends on my mood and other reading commitments; but I'm excited about a few that are coming early next year:

 

And so many more to choose from!!  Until then...

Happy Reading!!

Mistletoe Miracles by Jodi Thomas ~ Lone Star Literary Book Blog Tour: Promo, Giveaway, and Excerpt!

MISTLETOE MIRACLES

Ransom Canyon

by

JODI THOMAS
  Sub-genre: Holiday Romance / Western

Publisher: HQN

Date of Publication: September 25, 2018

Number of Pages: 354

Scroll down for an exclusive giveaway from Jodi Thomas! 

A small-town Texas Christmas story, where hearts are lost, love is found, and family always brings you back home.

Griffin Holloway is desperate: the Maverick Ranch has been in his family for generations, but lately, it’s a money pit. He’d sooner marry one of his horses than sell the ranch. Marriage, though, could be a solution. If he can woo a wealthy bride, he might save the ranch—just in time for Christmas. Jaxon O’Grady likes his solitude just fine, thank you very much. But when a car accident brings the unexpected to his door, he realizes just how much one person can need another. Crossroads is the perfect place for Jamie Johnson: avoiding nosy questions about why she’s single, she’s happy to keep to her lakeside home. So she’s baffled when she gets the strangest Christmas present of all, in the form of a Mr. Johnson, asleep on her sofa. Who is he, and why does everyone think he’s her husband? In this uplifting novel, three unlikely couples discover just what Crossroads, Texas, can offer: romance, belonging, and plenty of Christmas spirit. 

”Deeply poignant moments and artfully rendered characters create a rich story that transports readers to an idyllic place.” – Publishers Weekly

EXCERPT

From Mistletoe Miracles

by Jodi Thomas

Looking at his two brothers was like staring at one of those paintings with hidden figures masked in the folds of dots. There had to be depth in them, something that made sense, but damned if he could find it.

Griffin Holloway considered his own faults. Well, his one fault, really. That’s all he’d allowed himself in this lifetime. Some people might consider being born Texan a flaw, but he loved his state and this land that generations of Holloways had been born to.

He cussed, though. Far more than allowed, he fig­ured. His mother had washed out his mouth so many times when he was a kid that he’d grown to like the taste of Ivory soap.

But his two younger brothers were not nearly as dis­ciplined. If they had to carry all their shortcomings in a sack, they’d both be permanently bent over.

Holloway men might all top six feet and they were reasonably good-looking, but Griffin wasn’t sure any, including him, could claim to be long on brains.

Cooper, the youngest at twenty-three, was lanky and limber as a bungee cord. He thought the ranch was his private playground. Hell, he should’ve been born free like a coyote or a hawk. As a kid, he hadn’t bothered to wear clothes unless their mother made him when she was expecting company.

He was so wild, she swore if he’d been able to grow fur, she could have sold him to the circus. Griffin wasn’t sure, even today, that his little brother wasn’t more critter than human.

Growing up hadn’t changed him much.

Right now, Cooper was standing, covered in mud, in the headquarters’ great room, and it wasn’t even eight o’clock in the morning. He didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the weekly family business discussion, but that was nothing new. He obviously wanted to get the talking over with and head out to roam the land—fishing, hunting, exploring for Aztec gold—doing anything but work.

Elliot, the middle brother, tried to look like he was following Griffin’s weekly lecture about how broke the ranch would be by Christmas. At least Elliot did his share of the work and had since the day he’d come home from college to help run the place. But Elliot’s heart wasn’t in ranching, never had been. He spent ten hours on his computer for every one he spent on a horse. He made Griffin think of a bit actor who’d accidentally stumbled onto the wrong set.

Facing them both, Griffin cleared his throat and got straight to the point. “We have a problem with a simple solution. I’m thinking we’ve tried everything else and now it’s down to only one answer.”

They both looked clueless. Elliot started texting and Cooper scratched his brown hair, dry and dirty as a tumbleweed.

I’m adopted, Griffin thought. It’s the only explana­tion. Or they are. He’d been around when his mother went to the hospital to deliver them both, but he hadn’t actually seen the births. He’d been eight when Elliot was born and eleven for Cooper. He could have han­dled watching. After all, he’d seen his dad pull dozens of calves by then. Even helped with some.

How much different could it be?

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AMAZON     BARNES & NOBLE

A fifth-generation Texan, New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Jodi Thomas chooses to set the majority of her novels in her home state, where her grandmother was born in a covered wagon. A former teacher, Thomas traces the beginning of her storytelling career to the days when her twin sisters were young and impressionable. 

With a degree in family studies, Thomas is a marriage and family counselor by education, a background that enables her to write about family dynamics. Honored in 2002 as a Distinguished Alumni by Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Thomas enjoys interacting with students on the West Texas A&M University campus, where she currently serves as Writer in Residence.

Commenting on her contribution to the arts, Thomas said, “When I was teaching classes full-time, I thought I was making the world a better place. Now I think of a teacher or nurse or mother settling back and relaxing with one of my books. I want to take her away on an adventure that will entertain her. Maybe, in a small way, I’m still making the world a better place.”

When not working on a novel or inspiring students to pursue a writing career, Thomas enjoys traveling with her husband, renovating a historic home they bought in Amarillo and checking up on their two grown sons.

◆  WEBSITE  ◆  FACEBOOK  ◆  TWITTER  ◆

◆  AMAZON AUTHOR PAGE  ◆  INSTAGRAM
   ◆  GOODREADS AUTHOR PAGE  ◆ 

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An exclusive giveaway from Jodi Thomas!

(No purchase necessary. Transportation is not included. Winner will have one year to select available dates. Limit of four people at the condo for selected dates. No exchanges.)

click the image to enter the giveaway

CHECK OUT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:

9/25/18	Promo	Hall Ways Blog
9/25/18	Promo	Story Schmoozing Book Reviews
9/26/18	Review	That's What She's Reading
9/27/18	Author Interview	Chapter Break Book Blog
9/27/18	Excerpt	Kelly Well Read
9/28/18	Review	The Book Review
9/29/18	Author Interview	Carpe Diem Chronicles
9/29/18	Excerpt	Reading by Moonlight
9/30/18	Review	Book Fidelity
10/1/18	Review	All the Ups and Downs
10/2/18	Excerpt	Momma on the Rocks
10/2/18	BONUS Review	Missus Gonzo
10/3/18	Promo	Forgotten Winds
10/3/18	BONUS Review	StoreyBook Reviews
10/4/18	Review	The Page Unbound
10/4/18	Review	The Clueless Gent

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