Weekly Round-Up 11/26/2017

Sorry guys, I totally lost track of my day yesterday and didn’t get this up. So here goes:

TBR – I finished 1 book and did not add any so the new total is 278.

NetGalley score – Still at 84%

Goodreads challenge – 4 books behind schedule. I’m starting to get a little anxious about this.

Coming Up – My review of “A Lady in Shadows” by Lene Kaaberbol, probably tomorrow. I’m currently reading “The Tea Planter’s Wife” by Dinah Jeffries. And “The Bookworm” by Mitch Silver. That’s it for now. See you again next week.

Happy Reading!

 

“X” by Sue Grafton

Kinsey Millhone is probably my all-time favorite female detective and she did not disappoint me with this investigation. In “X”, Kinsey is on the trail of a woman who hired her under false pretenses and then paid her in counterfeit bills. She has also discovered an unfinished investigation that Pete Wolinsky was working on at the time of his death and decides, rather reluctantly, to see it to completion. And just to make her days a little more interesting, she and Henry have some annoying neighbors and a water leak on the property.

As usual, I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with Kinsey. She continues to delight me with her somewhat caustic personality and her persistence. I also really enjoy getting to hang out in sunny California while reading this series. Sue Grafton continues to deliver with carefully crafted plots that flow seamlessly from beginning to end. This story, in particular, has several different threads weaving through it that all work together to present an engaging mystery. Another job well done. Mystery lover should not miss out on this one, or any of the books in this series.

Alinefromabook’s rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  5 stars!!!

Happy Reading!

To purchase on Amazon US click here

To purchase on Amazon UK click here

To view on Goodreads click here

The Snow Queen Seventh Story – Journeys Through Bookland

At last, it is here! The final installment in The Snow Queen series. This will tie up all the loose ends of this series of stories. I hope you enjoy. Runtime is about 8 minutes.

Happy Listening!

“Poison” by Galt Niederhoffer

The story told in “Poison” is riveting and totally blew my mind. This is very much a psychological thriller that will leave you breathless. Cass and Ryan Connor have what looks like the perfect marriage and family. A nice home in a nice neighborhood, 3 kids around the table, jobs they enjoy: what could possibly be wrong? Cass starts to notice things that just seem a bit off. Ryan takes longer than necessary getting home from the airport and he smells of alcohol. Was he with somebody else? But his explanation makes so much sense. Then Cass starts to feel ill, nausea and vomiting. Ryan seems more short tempered than usual. That fish he brought home just doesn’t taste right. Is there any validity to her suspicions? Why will no one believe her?

This story really gets into Cass’s head, exploring her thoughts and her perceptions in a way I’ve never experienced before in a book. At times I believed Cass was right, but then there were moments when I thought perhaps she was losing her mind. And you really have to go all the way to the end to find out whose story is the truth. But then I was wondering if Cass was going to make it to the end of the story. This is really good stuff! “Poison” is the first book I have read from this author and I am so impressed that I will have to check out more. The story is masterfully written, the characters are beautifully drawn and the ending was very satisfying. I highly recommend this one!

Alinefromabook’s rating:    5 stars!!

Happy Reading!

To purchase on Amazon US click here

To purchase on Amazon UK click here

To view on Goodreads click here

“Accessories to Die For” by Paula Paul

Irene and P.J. are back with another mystery to solve. This is book 2 in this series and just as good as the first. In this installment, Juanita’s son Danny has gone missing and a Frenchman has been murdered. It seems that the Frenchman was running a scheme of buying Indian artifacts cheap and selling them at European auctions. Juanita is arrested for the murder, then escapes from jail. Irene, her self-absorbed mother Adelle and P. J., everybody’s favorite lawyer, are hot on her trail. The story takes us into the Pueblo where Juanita lives and out into the desert under the relentless August sun in Santa Fe. Some of the Capitolista gang members get involved and there’s plenty of danger for all concerned.

Ok, so this is a really fun story, set in Santa Fe, NM, in the summer. As usual with this series, there is Indian culture mixed in with designer dresses, and a whole host of delightful characters. I would classify this story as a cozy mystery but it does have a bit more violence than is typical of a cozy. I always look forward to new work from this author because I find her characters to be so original. This would make for a great holiday read, especially if you’re in a cold place. I highly recommend this book or any of the author’s other work.

Alinefromabook’s rating:    4.5 stars!!

Happy Reading!

To purchase on Amazon US click here – available Dec. 5th!

To view on Goodreads click here

 

Weekly Round-Up 11/19/2017

I may not have done much reading this week, but my son and I did manage to finish all his college application and I think that counts for something. Now on to holiday planning. I’m assuming you all saw my Mid-Week Book Haul on Wednesday and so we can anticipate that the numbers have taken a hit this week. So let’s take a look at how much damage was actually done.

TBR – I added 7 books to the TBR this week 😱. I finished reading 1 book. That brings us to the new total of 276. I guess that’s not sooo bad.

NetGalley Score – Since half of those books I acquired are from NetGalley, I did take a hit here. My score dropped from 86% to 84%.

Goodreads Challenge – This number distresses me the most. I am 5 books behind schedule as of this morning. I do have that 1 book that I finished that I haven’t written the review of yet, so technically I’m only 4 books behind, not much comfort really.

Coming Up – I hoping to make some movement on that challenge this week. We have Thanksgiving coming up on Thursday this week and I get 3 days off of work. Sounds like a good time to do some eating, I mean reading. 😎

My review of “Accessories to Die For” by Paula Paul will probably go up tomorrow. I anticipate finishing “X” by Sue Grafton later today so that review will be coming this week also. In the queue are “The Tea Planter’s Wife” by Dinah Jefferies, and “A Lady in Shadows” by Lene Kaaberbol I absolutely loved the first book in this series and I’m so excited to read this one that I think my family may have to starve until I finish reading it. That’s all I have for you today.

Happy Reading!

Mid-Week Book Haul

So, I’ve gone a little off my head in the past 3 days and acquired 7 books. I am so astonished at myself that I feel compelled to share. Let’s dig in:

The first 4 I requested from NetGalley and the are –

The Curious Affair of the Witch at Wayside Cross by Lisa Tuttle The paranormal answer to Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Jesperson and Lane are turning the Victorian era upside down in this bewitching series from John W. Campbell Award winner Lisa Tuttle.

Next up is The Memory Detective by T.S. Nichols So many memories. So little time. In an astounding thriller ripped from tomorrow’s headlines, cutting-edge technology and a pulse-pounding manhunt lead to a conspiracy of money, power, and sex.

Third is Darkness at the Edge of Town by Jennifer Harlow A complicated, charismatic forensic psychologist tries to rescue her brother from the clutches of a maniacal cult leader in this edge-of-your-seat psychological thriller from the author of Beautiful Maids All in a Row.

Number 4 is Gods of Howl Mountain by Taylor Brown In Gods of Howl Mountain, award-winning author Taylor Brown explores a world of folk healers, whiskey-runners, and dark family secrets in the high country of 1950s North Carolina.

I recieved from First to Read a copy of The Broken Girls by Simone St. James A breakout suspense novel from the award-winning author of The Haunting of Maddy Clare.

Finally, I received 2 books from Pen & Sword Publishing. Death, Disease & Dissection by Suzie Grogan The life of a surgeon-apothecary 1750-1850.

And, Bad Girls from History by Dee Gordon

So that’s it. These acquisitions brings the TBR up to 278 and I am not ashamed!

Happy Reading!

 

Weekly Round-Up 11/12/2017

Hello, Hello, Hello! and welcome to the Weekly Round-Up! It’s been cold here this week and we did get a little snow that didn’t really accumulate much. Weatherman says that this coming week the high temperatures will get above freezing again for a few days, so something to look forward to. In addition to reading, I’ve been helping my son to get his college applications in. So speaking of reading, let’s take a look at the numbers:

TBR – So I added 3 books to the TBR this week. I finished reading 4 books, Yay! TBR now stands at 270.

NetGalley score – 3 of the 4 books I finished were NetGalley books, but the 3 I added are also from NetGalley, so score is 87% again.

Goodreads challenge – I had a couple of days of panic when I started the week 5 books behind schedule. With the reading I did I was able to get that down to 3 books behind schedule today. 😖

Coming Up – I am currently listening to “Dark Hollow” by John Connolly. Not sure I can finish it this week, but I’ll give it a try. I am reading “Accessories to Die For” by Paula Paul, one of my favorite cozy mystery writers. This one will be available Dec. 5 and I will publish my review on that date. I think I’m also going to try to finish “X” by Sue Grafton. So that’s the plan. Check back next week to see if I stuck to it!

Happy Reading!

 

“The Stolen Marriage” by Diane Chamberlain

It’s the 1940’s. America are fighting two wars. One on foreign soil and one at home, in the form of the polio epidemic that surges every summer. Tess is a young woman in Baltimore, studying to be a nurse. She is also engaged to her childhood friend Vincent who has recently become a doctor. While Vincent is away in Chicago studying polio, Tess and her friend Gina take the train to Washington, D.C. for an overnight visit. But something unexpected happens to Tess while she is there and it turns her life upside down and destroys her dream of a life with Vincent. Tess suddenly finds herself all alone in the world and grasps desperately at a chance for redemption that takes her to Hickory, NC. Here she comes face to face with the issues of racism and gender bias.

I was captivated by this story from the beginning. Tess is a well-rounded young lady with a lot of spunk (as my grandmother would say). She has a great deal of empathy for others and she fit in perfectly with my image of working class young ladies during the period. The author very deftly guides her through the hard choices that she finds herself having to make and surrounds her with a whole host of wonderful characters. While reading this book, I really felt like a “fly on the wall” of Tess’s life. It’s also obvious that the author put in a lot of time researching life at the time in Hickory and the realities of treating polio patients. The story moved at a really good space and every scene helped to push the story forward. This is a book that you won’t want to miss.

Alinefromabook’s rating:   4.5 stars!!

Happy Reading!

To purchase on Amazon US click here.

To purchase on Amazon UK click here.

To view on Goodreads click here.

“Treachery and Retribution” by Andrew Rawson

England’s Dukes, Marquesses, and Earls: 1066-1707

This book takes a look at the history of England’s nobility as it corresponds to the various royals during the time frame. The chapters are broken down by the royals but describe the conflicts, deception, betrayals and unions that took place within the noble class during the monarch’s reign. It is in large part a listing of events and sometimes the events feel very isolated because the author doesn’t give much context. I think this book would be helpful if you are looking for an overview of historical events, but you will have to look elsewhere for an in-depth story. I found a lot of characters in this book that I had never heard of before and learned of some events I would like to know more about. Overall, the book does a good job of presenting an overview of the time period and could be a good addition to an English history library.

Alinefromabook’s rating:   3 stars!

Happy Reading!

To purchase on Amazon US click here.

To purchase on Amazon UK click here.

To view on Goodreads click here.