The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, Billy @ Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer relaunched the hop on February 15, 2013. Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book-related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to their own blog. See the latest question below:
I am not necessarily a collector of first editions, but I do collect signed books and I have looked for first editions in the past. I would categorize the question more as “able to afford” instead of hard to find. I saw a first edition of Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers selling for over $500. I can’t afford to spend that on a book right now or in the foreseeable future.
I do have signed first editions of several of Jodi Taylor’s books, both from when she was with a small press and after she signed with Headline. She actually sells signed books on her website and the new books usually come before the publication date, so I have several of those. She lives in the UK and hasn’t yet done a tour in the US. If she ever does, I’ll be there with my book to sign. Also, when an author sends me a book to review directly, I always ask them to sign it. To my author friends: Thank You!
One of the things I plan to do for fun after I retire is travel to lots of book signings by my favorite authors.
This is my signed copy of Jodi Taylor’s first book. Isabel Barclay is the villain in her first book and the main character, Madeline Maxwell (Max), calls her Bitchface. Thus the inscription.
What about you: Do you collect first editions, signed books, or anything book related?
We all remember that one magical summer that changed our lives.
For Joe, it’s 1999. School is over, and with zero idea of what he’s meant to do for the rest of his life, he’s reluctantly accepted a job at the local summer camp. Anything to drown out the sharp grief of missing his dad and move on from what school calls his ‘anger problems’. But getting screamed at by hyperactive ten-year-olds is almost enough to make him quit on day one.
Almost.
Then he sees Amy Ashworth for the very first time, her black hair shining in the sun – and learns that nothing hits harder than first love.
She’s the only person he knows who reads for fun, or who’s seen Titanic fourteen times. But there’s another side to Amy. Soon, she’s the only person he’s ever been to a wild house party with, or kissed under the twinkling stars. It’s the happiest Joe has ever been… until the terrible day when what’s left of his family fractures into a million pieces.
Caught up in Amy’s whirlwind, Joe can’t bring himself to tell the truth about his life. Would his dad have wanted him to fight for the girl he loves, or protect his family, no matter what?
Only one thing is certain: this is the summer Joe will grow up. But when he looks back decades later, will he be ashamed of his choices? And will Amy still be by his side?
Heart-warming, hilarious, nostalgic, and bittersweet, Truly, Madly, Amy explores first loves, last chances, and the summers that shape us. Perfect for fans of David Nicholls, Mike Gayle, and anyone who remembers the carefree days of being just sixteen, when the world was full of possibility.
BOOK REVIEW
This is a coming-of-age story about a life-changing summer, when Joe, still reeling from the death of his father, meets Amy at camp and she opens his eyes to new possibilities. It’s also about the whammy of first love. Joe’s struggles to handle his anger and the stress of his family life while also wanting to change his behavior and future are so well written. The relationship between Joe and Amy and the way she opens him up to new possibilities is touching. The fact that they read Little Women together is endearing.
Does Joe give in to his old patterns or reach for something new? Can you become a new person in six weeks? What is growing up all about? This book will explore all of that through a nostalgic trip to the late 1990’s and an unforgettable first love. Do you love coming-of-age romances? Check this one out.
I received a free copy of this book from Bookouture via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kerry Wilkinson is from the English county of Somerset but has spent far too long living in the north. It’s there that he’s picked up possibly made-up regional words like ‘barm’ and ‘ginnel’. He pretends to know what they mean.
He’s also been busy since turning thirty: his Jessica Daniel crime series has sold more than a million copies in the UK; he has written a fantasy-adventure trilogy for young adults; a second crime series featuring private investigator Andrew Hunter and the standalone thriller, Down Among The Dead Men.
A fire. Her escape. And the realization her entire life has been a lie.
When nineteen-year-old Avery awakens to flames consuming her family’s remote compound, she knows it’s her only chance to escape her father’s grueling survival training, bizarre rules, and gruesome punishments. She and her brother Cole flee the grounds for the first time in their lives, suddenly homeless in a world they know nothing about. After months of hiding out, they are arrested for shoplifting and a shocking discovery is made, resulting in the pair being separated.
Avery is alone and desperate. She is uncertain if her “parents” survived the fire and is terrified to find out. But when the police investigation reveals there may be more survivors, Avery must uncover the truth about the fire to truly be free.
BOOK REVIEW
Triggers: Cults, Murder, Rape, Kidnapping, PTSD
Avery lives in a compound with her parents and many brothers and sisters. Their father is the leader of their group, the Chosen. They know they will be the only survivors after the world around them dies. Avery works hard every day, growing crops, honing survival skills, and sometimes burying babies. Then she is forced to sacrifice even more, and the house is set afire. After escaping with her brother Cole, they eventually make a startling discovery. They were both kidnapped as children. Cole goes to live with his family while Avery struggles to survive on her own and flees from the shadows of her past.
This is the story of a murderous cult and the ones who escaped, but it’s also about trying to make sense of a traumatic past and learning to live again. The description of life in the cult is horrifying but very well done. Avery’s struggles to recover are imperfect and very real to life. We explore the ideas of post-traumatic stress and blocking out painful memories. The characters, love them or hate them, are all so vivid. As in real life, everything is not tied up and perfectly resolved. There are tattered strings left behind, because life is not perfect.
The audiobook was narrated by Jesse Vilinsky, who did a wonderful job of conveying the terror, confusion, desperation, determination, and pain so prevalent in this story.
I received a free copy of this audiobook from Dreamscape Media via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is a freebie. We’re to come up with any topic we want. I decided to go with Top Ten Books or Series Featuring Animals. It can be any animal, but they have to feature prominently in the story.
TOP TEN BOOKS OR SERIES FEATURING ANIMALS
10. MARLEY AND ME
A story about a dog and his family
9. Old Yeller
Who didn’t cry at Old Yeller?
8. The Thin Place
This is a bit of a stretch, but the true story of the many dogs who have inexplicably plunged to their deaths from Overtoun Bridge in Scotland is included in this thriller and remains a mystery to this day.
7. Watership Down
When I was a kid, we always went to the library but had few books we actually owned. Watership Down was one of those, and I read it over and over quite often at a young age.
6. The “CAT WHO” Series by Lillian Jackson Braun
Lillian Jackson Braun died in 2011, but she gave us 29 books in the “Cat Who” mystery series and they are fun cozies featuring Jim Qwilleran and his cats Koko and Yum-Yum. Everyone should this series out if you love cozies and you’ve never read them.
5. Funny Farm
Funny Farm is the story of Laurie Zaleski, her mother, and many, many rescue animals. They started Funny Farm Rescue in the midst of their own poverty and while being criminally harassed by Laurie’s father. Laurie’s mother had left her wealthy father due to abuse, and they started out with nothing in a small shack and began adopting animals. The story of how this all turned into Funny Farm Animal Rescue is amazing.
4. THE JAX DIAMOND SERIES
This is Gail Meath’s amazing cozy mystery series set in early 1920s New York. Jax Diamond is a private detective and he solves mysteries with his German Shepherd sidekick, Ace. The first book in the series is called Songbird. I put up Book 3 because it has Ace on the cover.
3. All Creatures Great and Small
This series by James Herriott about a 1930’s vet in Yorkshire is a heartwarming and realistic look at the life of a country vet in that time. Of course, there is a new TV series based on this book, and it’s fantastic!
2. The Door Into Summer
Dan Davis has had his business stolen from him by his former business partner, Miles, and his former fiancée, Belle. This is the story of how he turns all that around, using cryogenics and time travel, and always assisted by his cat, Petronius the Arbiter (Pete). This is my favorite fictional book and started me on my love of all things time travel. And it’s by the one of the icons of Science Fiction, Robert Heinlein.
The Chronicles of Narnia
From the time Lucy Pevensie stumbles through the back of the wardrobe, she meets a world full of magical, talking animals, including the most powerful of them all, Aslan the Lion. I love this series and have been re-reading it since I was a kid. I just downloaded the complete audio set read by Kenneth Branagh, Alex Jennings, Michael York, Lynn Redgrave, Derek Jacobi, Jeremy Northam, Patrick Stewart
So there are my Top Ten Books Featuring Animals. What are yours?
Ivy Green is returning home after five years, but only because Hollywood has decided to film her Christmas screenplay in her hometown, and in the middle of summer! Also coming along for the ride is her boyfriend and future live-in Drew, who is the producer. What Ivy doesn’t count on is that her ex-boyfriend Nick, who she killed off in the screenplay, will be involved in the movie too. Not only are some of the scenes being filmed in Nick’s vineyard, but the lead actress seems to have a crush on him.
This sounded like a fun listen–Christmas in the Summer–but there are some things that did not work for me. The main character is 30 years old, but the dialogue and the narrator make her sound as if she’s in high school. The sex scenes are cringeworthy and could have been left out. The point of view sometimes changing to some of the lesser characters was off-putting. The romance between Nick’s mother and the movie set caterer is cute, but when Nick wishes it was just a one-night stand instead of love, that puzzled me. No son wants that for his mother. I felt the whole thing went on a bit long, with the same things happening over and over.
The characterization of the movie as a “career-maker” and a blockbuster did not match the description of the movie itself, which sounded more like a tv movie or Hallmark movie. I did think the ending was stronger than the rest of the book. The narration was acceptable overall. As I mentioned before I felt like Ivy’s voice was more high school than adult. The narration of the rest of the characters was fine. Overall, it’s an average rom-com with a decent ending and a lot of awkward and unnecessary moments in between. The “Christmas in Summer” theme was well conveyed.
I received a free copy of this audiobook from Dreamscape Media via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Juliet Giglio is an associate professor of screenwriting at SUNY Oswego. Keith Giglio is a professor of screenwriting at Syracuse University. Their produced films include most recently Christmas in Tune, Dear Christmas, A Very Nutty Christmas, and Christmas Reservations. Their other credits include Disney’s Tarzan, Pizza My Heart, Return to Halloweentown, Joshua, and A Cinderella Story.
The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted here @ Caffeinated Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news~ A post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme
This past week found me working hard, listening to audiobooks, and spending a long weekend watching the grandkids. I did a ton of driving this week, both work and personal, and was able to finish two audiobooks that I got from Netgalley and get well into a third.
I spent Friday, Saturday, and most of today watching our twin three-year-old grandkids. I’m exhausted! Especially since I had to drive over two hours one way to drop them off today. It is rewarding, but also tiring at the age of almost 58.
My diet is going well. I was down 14 pounds in 6 weeks last week. I don’t weigh in again until Tuesday. Slow and steady wins the race, right?
Saturday I will review Self-Published books as part of Self-Published Saturday.
NEW AUDIOBOOKS I RECEIVED THIS WEEK.
Ivy’s Christmas screenplay is being made into a movie–In her hometown in July! And the boyfriend she killed off in the script still lives there.After their house burns down, Avery and Cole find out they’ve been living in a cult most of their lives, and they were kidnapped years ago.
A young couple is given a honeymoon week at the fabulous Pink Hotel, but due to wildfires find themselves confined with the ultra-wealthy guests and the hotel staff, and tension ensues.
NEW BOOKS I RECEIVED THIS WEEK
A psychological thriller about a neighbor with a secret.
A richly rewarding novel about family bonds, the power of words, and the resilience of mothers and daughters in 1930s Appalachia. (Does this sound like it’s up my alley or what?!)A Christmas book by Debbie Macomber should be a light and fun read.
I got a huge haul of books last week, but I’ve already finished two of them, which were audiobooks, on those long drives this week. The one I am most excited to read is Light to the Hills, but I’m excited about them all.
I know it’s Sunday, but I’m late with SPS because I have the grandkids this weekend. I’m about to drive them back home, which is a 4.5 hour round trip for me. Here is SPS, and sorry it is late.
Self-Published Saturday is my effort to share self-published/indie books with the readers of my blog in hopes that they will share them with their readers. Self-published/Indie authors have to do it all, and any help with marketing is crucial.
BOOK DESCRIPTION
Winner of the Firebird Book Award for Fiction. Following the traumatic end of the Knights Templar, a remnant band of knights in hiding attempt to make a new life for themselves in the eastern Byzantine Empire. Chaperoning merchants and pilgrims through perilous lands in the midst of a brewing war, their mettle is put to the test on a daily basis. However, this assignment is unlike any other they’ve taken. Braving infamous clans of assassins and an encroaching army of Ottoman forces, they must escort a girl to safety during a time when their faith is shaken and the girl proves to be more than what she seems. Brought to you by the award-winning author of The Angels of Resistance and the Redeem the Knight Trilogy.
BOOK REVIEW
Torn Asunder is set in the early 1300s after the Knights Templar have been persecuted and destroyed by the King of France. It is about a band of surviving Templars who are just trying to get by and stay alive. They take a job to escort a girl to her cousin, but soon realize she is more than she seems.
This book overall is a unique and solid effort. The character of Parisa is wonderful, and the magical realism/paranormal she brings to the story really lifts it up. But Parisa is not really introduced right away and the story moves slowly until she is. At times I felt the plot dragged a bit and I got a little bit weary as we went from battle to battle without much of a break. I did not connect with the other characters as much as Parisa until near the end of the book. But the idea of a surviving band of Knights Templar is certainly intriguing, and the ending was wonderfully done. Overall, this is a solid story with a great ending. I give it 3.6 stars overall, rounded up to four stars.
Anyone interested in the Knights Templar and magical realism should check this one out.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An award-winning indie dark fantasy and science fiction author from Long Island, David V. Mammina’s novels contain a solid storyline, deep character development, and twists and turns that can challenge any reader. Apart from writing page-turners, he also teaches history to middle school students with learning disabilities. Themes of his work include the redemption of fallen heroes, good versus evil, and the unity of those split by their differences in the face of supernatural adversity. Set in post-apocalypse or dystopian eras, fantasy realms, and the present day, Mammina can satisfy any and all tastes in genre fiction.
*If you buy the book(s), please leave reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, as well as anywhere else you review books. Some people feel very daunted by writing a review. Don’t worry. You do not have to write a masterpiece. Just a couple of lines about how the book made you feel will make the author’s day and help the book succeed. The more reviews a book has, the more Amazon will promote it.
*Please click on the “share” buttons below and share these books with your Twitter, Facebook, and WordPress followers. A little bit of help from all of us will help self-published authors go a long way!
The Book Blogger Hop was originally created by Jennifer @ Crazy-For-Books in March 2010 and ended on December 31, 2012. With Jennifer’s permission, Billy @ Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer relaunched the hop on February 15, 2013. Each week the hop will start on a Friday and end the following Thursday. There will be a weekly prompt featuring a book-related question. The hop’s purpose is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to their own blog. See the latest question below.
This is going to be a much longer answer than anyone probably expected. I do love audiobooks for a few reasons.
Audiobooks for the win:
1. I often prefer listening instead of reading because I do a lot of driving and audiobooks help pass the time, and they help me keep up with my reviews, especially now that Netgalley has audiobooks.
2. I have noticed that when I read a book and then later listen to the audiobook, I always notice something on the audiobook that I missed during the reading. This tells me I concentrate better with audiobooks than with regular reading.
3. The biggest reason why I love audiobooks even more now is because I have a hearing loss that this significant enough that I have to wear hearing aids and use captions on the tv (and can hardly ever hear high-pitched noises). The advent of bluetooth hearing aids has made audiobooks an even better experience because the book is “piped” right into my ears, I hear the book in my head, and I feel I experience it now more than ever.
Audiobook tip: Some narrators are just a bit slower. If I find a narrator is too slow for me, I up the speed to 1.5. That speeds the narrator up and lessens the listening time for the book.
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. Create your own Top Ten list that fits that topic – putting your unique spin on it if you want. Everyone is welcome to join but please link back to The Artsy Reader Girl in your own Top Ten Tuesday post.
You can just tell this is going to be a lot of fun.
1.
The basis for the movie Field of Dreams is about a summer that a farmer plowed his corn, built a baseball diamond, and Shoeless Joe Jackson came to Iowa.
These are my top ten summer covers. What are yours?
In 1945 Molly Hazleton is heartbroken when her fiancé doesn’t return from the war after being reported “missing in action.” So when Aunt Daphne comes to visit with news of having bought a 17th century manor house at auction in Scotland, Molly welcomes the opportunity to start afresh and help her aunt turn Aberdoch Manor into a hotel.
With a strange sense of déjà vu, Molly struggles to understand her connection with the property having never stepped foot inside of it or even Scotland for that matter. Ross McDaniel, the newly appointed gardener, knows more than he is letting on. And when he shows Molly an ancient yew tree named by the locals as the Ghost Tree, after touching it, Molly discovers a remarkable ability to vividly see and experience her own past life – a life of extreme danger and hardship on the road with the Jacobite in 1745, hunted by the Red Coats for crimes she hasn’t committed. She is also in love with a brave, Scot warrior, leader of the McDaniel clan who soon becomes her husband.
Stirring up forgotten memories and an uncontrollable yearning to be back with those she once loved, Molly is hopelessly torn between very different worlds, two hundred years apart!
BOOK REVIEW
This is a really intriguing historical romance set in 1745 during the Jacobite rebellion and in 1945 after World War II. The back and forth between Ella’s life during the Jacobite Uprising and Molly’s life after World War II is well done. The connection between the lives of Ella and Molly is very well done, and the use of a yew tree is brilliant.
I tend to look at this as more of a “past life” romance than a “time travel” romance, which is a good thing, as I have high expectations of time travel novels–my favorite genre–and time travel romances usually don’t hold my interest. However, I was completely captivated by this book. I loved the use of the yew tree to draw Molly into her past life, and I loved all the historical references from the Jacobite uprising in 1745 and post-war Britain in 1945. It was a pleasure to read. Outcast is a well-researched, cleverly plotted, and gorgeously written dual timeline historical romance. I look forward to a sequel.
I received a free copy of this book via Zooloo’s Book Tours. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Claire Voet is an English author, born in Gosport across the shores of Portsmouth Harbour. Claire started writing in 2010 and has since then written a number of books, including The Ghost of Bluebell Cottage, The Other Daddy A World Away, Captain Hawkes, short story A Helping Hand, Echoes In The Mist and the Outcast series.
Claire demonstrates her love for history and also the supernatural in many of her spellbinding stories.
As a commercial participator for the BBC Children in Need Appeal, Claire donates money from her book sales once a year.
You must be logged in to post a comment.