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Holiday Books on the Way!
With Halloween Behind us and Thanksgiving rapidly approaching, it may feel too early for some to be bringing out the Christmas novels and novellas, but if Target can put out their Christmas goodies, well, I can too. It’s never too early for Christmas for me. Well, ok, fine. Before Halloween is too early. And, yes, I’ve already reviewed three Christmas stories already (and you can find them here). But for the next week I’m participating in Caffeinated Book Reviewer and Bookshelfery‘s Ho-Ho-Ho Readathon! So, you guessed it, my blog will be swimming in book reviews this next week (because in addition to the holiday books, I have a few excellent thrillers and a…
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What I’m Reading Wednesday – Lowcountry Bordello
I confess, I can be a bit picky when looking for a new book, and the title plays a big part in what initially grabs my attention. I was unfamiliar with author Susan M. Boyer and the story summary for Lowcountry Bordello intrigued me when I first came across it. But with so many books loaded onto my Kindle, all vying for my attention, I have to be honest – the title of this superb cozy mystery was call to me once I forgot the gist of the story. (This is why I still love real books, where you can SEE the cover.) Boy, am I ever sorry that this one sat to the…
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Two Thrillers for Tuesday
I’m not getting much done lately – including blog posts – because I have had my nose deep in a book (or five), particularly thrillers. This week I have two heart-pounding novels for you! <div:”image:none;”> First up is a thriller by a true favorite of mine, Tess Gerritsen. I’m a huge fan of her medical and crime thrillers, and in particular her Rizzoli and Isles series. If you’re looking for something along the plotlines of these novels: this isn’t it. What it IS: Tess Gerritsen switches things up as she adds a generous helping of historical fiction in her mystery. With Playing With Fire, Gerritsen has crafted a wonderful historical novel of a composer in WWII Italy…
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What I’m Reading Wednesday: House Trained
If you are looking for a sweet tale about love, acceptance and forgiveness, look no further than Jackie Bouchard’s novel House Trained. Alex Halstad is an interior designer who is struggling to keep her business afloat. Her husband, Barry has no idea of the dire straits they are in financially. They live in a beautiful home, impeccably decorated by Alex. Childless by choice, their sweet labradoodle Marie is the object of their love and affection, much to the dismay and thinly veiled criticism of Alex’s mother and sister. So when Barry comes home from the university library where he works with the startling news that he has a teenage daughter he didn’t know…
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Read This: The Ripper Gene
Hey everybody, I’ve been waiting to share a GREAT thriller that I just finished. It’s titled The Ripper Gene, the debut novel for author Michael Ransom. And you know me – I’m not the most patient person – so of COURSE, there will be a good reason for holding off on the review. drumroll I had the opportunity to interview Michael Ransom, and I’m really excited to share the exchange because he has a fascinating background: Michael is also a molecular pharmacologist and an expert in toxicogenomics and pharmacogenetics (dumbed down, the study of the effects of environmental toxins on cells and tissues, and the study of genetic differences that…
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What I’m Reading Wednesday: Cozy Mysteries & Meddling Detectives
I like mysteries, and I like spunky heroines – particularly the kind that never quite go looking for trouble, but always seem to fall face down into it as sure as the buttered side of your bread will hit the floor. Even more fun are those trouble magnets that just have to solve the mystery they’ve stumbled into despite the admonitions of the local police to just stay away. (Seriously…who can stay away?) Enter the “Cozy Mystery”. I confess, I’m relatively new to the term but not the genre. A “cozy mystery” falls under the heading of crime fiction; they take place in a small community, the detectives are almost always…
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What I’m Reading Wednesday – The Dead Key
The days are getting longer and the weather is gorgeous here, so I’m enjoying this brief lull before mosquito season kicks by reading on the patio. My pick for this week’s edition of “What I’m Reading Wednesday” is the 2014 Grand Prize and Mystery & Thriller Fiction winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel award, D.M. Pulley’s The Dead Key. The Dead Key is the story of two women involved with behind-the-scenes dealings of the First Bank of Cleveland, separated by 20 years. The store vacillates between 16-year old bank secretary Beatrice Baker in 1978 and civil engineer Iris Latch, who in 1998 is freed from her tedious desk job to survey the now defunct…
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What I’m Reading Wednesday: Dead Wake
I’ve been reading quite a bit of narrative non-fiction of late, and my book choice for “What I’m Reading Wednesday” does not disappoint. In the way that Erik Larson’s other books have entertained as much as educated, I have found his newest release Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania to be a page-turner and an eye-opener. His telling has plenty of detail and brings the story to life. Did I know the story of the Lusitania? I thought I did, but this book proved that I had a back-cover summary of the events in contrast to the complex reality. The Lusitania was a ship in the British Cunard line that made…
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Anxious Much?
If you know me well, you know I am a nervous talker. I’ve always been a bit of an anxious person. I was an anxious child, a perfectionist – I was more than the usual nervous about saying the wrong thing, putting my foot in my mouth…embarrassing myself… Yikes. I think that is why I so greatly enjoy writing. Two words: Self. Editing. I remember shortly after graduating from college being in that place of unemployment where I needed to bring in my resume to various companies. Pressure was on to find a job – I’d been working retail part-time since graduating – and I spent one afternoon driving past…
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What I’m Reading Wednesday: “A” is for the Alchemist
Happy Wednesday to you! If you have children, you are likely deep in the throes of back-to-school chaos. Mine kids are madly trying to finish up the math workbooks assigned for summer work and looking over their reading logs to make sure they have accounted for every day of reading – the latter being much easier to keep up with as my kids love to read. Both of my kids are big fans of serial books and I am excited to introduce them to a new series created by James Larson – The Winnie and Winslow Adventure Series. The first book in this series, recently released, is “A” is…
