Month: September 2022

Top Ten Tuesday #Booksthatimpressedme #Indiebooks #Favoritebooks

BonnieReadsAndWrites30 Comments

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.

TOP TEN BOOKS I LOVED SO MUCH I HAD TO GET A COPY FOR MY PERSONAL LIBRARY.

As bloggers, we get a lot of books. Many of them are ebooks, and if I find one that I truly love, I might buy the hard copy or the audiobook. Below is a list of 12 of those, as I could not stop at ten. They are in no particular order.

I loved the ebook version so much that I decided to buy the audiobook.

This is my favorite book of all time, and I have it in ebook on both Kindle and Apple Books, and two or three copies in paperback. I also purchased the audiobook. This is an older book and longtime favorite, so it was never received for free, but I felt it worth mentioning because I maintain so many extra copies of it to make sure I always have one.

The Chronicles of St. Mary’s. My favorite time travel series by the amazing writer Jodi Taylor. Above is the first book. Click on the cover to see all the books. I have this in ebook, hardcover, paperback, and audible. I re-read/listen to it often. That’s how much I love it.

I received a temporary digital copy of this cookbook by the Great British Baking Show star and King of Bread Paul Hollywood and had to buy the hard copy for my kitchen.

I am fortunate to have edited this book and I love it. It’s an Indie book that has done very well and has received 351 reviews on Amazon so far with a 4.5 star rating. It recently won a Reader’s Favorite Silver Medallion. I have this on ebook and I cherish the signed print copy I received from the author Gail Meath. It is the first book in the Jax Diamond cozy mystery series set in 1920s New York City. The second book, Framed, is also out, and the third book, Deuce, will be out September 20th.

This is a wonderful Christian poetry book by Louise Belanger. She has two out right now: Your Words and Your Words, Your World. The third in the series, Your Words, Your Heart, will be available for preorder soon. Your Words, Your World was recently awarded a Gold Medallion by Reader’s Favorite. I have it in ebook and a much-loved signed paperback.

I was so impressed by this space adventure penned by young Indie author Ian Wall that I had to purchase the ebook even though I already had a free copy for review.

Adria Carmichael’s Juche series, a young adult dystopian series set in a concentration camp in North Korea, is both action-packed and heartbreaking. Although I receive free review copies, I always buy the books too because I am so impressed with this series and this author.

This was one I received in ebook from The Historical Novel Society for review, and then I bought the audiobook because I enjoyed it so much. It’s WWII historical fiction about a prisoner of war camp that was actually located in the United States.

This Indie thriller by Tim Dittmer about Hmong mysticism, the Vietnam War, and so much more was so fascinating that I had to buy the ebook even though I read it for free.

Also set during the Vietnam War, this is a fascinating and meticulously researched Indie novel written from the perspective of a South Vietnamese soldier. I read it on Kindle Unlimited but also purchased it as an ebook and also received a signed print copy from the author.

I purchased this book outright and was introduced to the wonderful writing of Liz Gauffreau. Check this book out by clicking on the cover.

Book Review: The Duchess of Idaho #OregonTrail #TimeTravel

BonnieReadsAndWrites4 Comments

This is another book that I reviewed for The Historical Novel Society, although I added the second to last paragraph for this blog after publication.

Grace Wentworth’s parents, James and Sarah, share a bond so close that nobody can truly fathom it, not even their daughter. Grace also senses they are keeping a secret that involves her in some way. And then there are her vivid dreams of the past. When Grace goes to visit her grandmother’s farm in Idaho, the mysteries begin to reveal themselves. This is the fifth book in The Loving Husband series. It can be read as a standalone.

This is a fascinating mashup of history, time travel, and the paranormal that will keep you guessing. It starts in present-day California and Idaho and then goes back in time to the Oregon Trail in 1850. There is a strong cast of characters that surrounds Grace in every time and place.  The history of the Oregon Trail is well-researched, and the danger, monotony, and sadness of the trail are well portrayed. Magical friends in both timelines help Grace in her search to understand the truth. Secrets are revealed, and the veil between the real and magical worlds becomes thinner than ever. This is a unique and compelling mix of history and the supernatural that will captivate and sometimes surprise the reader.

As always the method of time travel is important, and this book uses an object fairly well. The rules of time travel in this book seem to be governed by love, the paranormal, and “souls connecting across time.” That’s not my favorite trope, but it’s common in time travel romance. My rating is 3.8 stars.

I received a free copy of this book from Copperfield Press via The Historical Novel Society. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Meredith Allard is the author of the beloved bestselling paranormal historical Loving Husband Trilogy. Her sweet Victorian romance, When It Rained at Hembry Castle, was named a best historical novel by IndieReader. Her other books include Christmas at Hembry Castle; Down Salem Way, the prequel to the Loving Husband Trilogy set around the Salem Witch Trials; Victory Garden, a novel of the American women’s suffrage movement; Woman of Stones, a novella of Biblical Jerusalem; That You Are Here, a contemporary sweet romance; The Window Dresser and Other Stories; and Painting the Past: A Guide for Writing Historical Fiction. When she isn’t writing she’s teaching writing, and she has taught writing to students ages five to 75. She loves books, cats, and coffee, though not always in that order. Her latest release is The Duchess of Idaho, a time-travel romance set on the Oregon Trail. She lives in the hills of Southern Nevada near Las Vegas. Visit Meredith’s website here.

Follow Meredith on Facebook.

BUY LINKS

Amazon | Amazon UK | Google

Self-Published Spotlight: Fall in love with #MediterraneanCuisine

BonnieReadsAndWrites4 Comments
by Bernetta Paris

*Not a book review

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Awesome photos, video tips, and proven recipes – just three reasons you’ll definitely fall in love with this book!

Trust us, this book will turn your ideas about e-cookbooks upside down!

If that’s not enough to convince you, here are seven more reasons:

  • The main benefit of any cookbook is the recipes (you buy it to cook food, right?). And in “Falling in Love with Mediterranean Cuisine” you are guaranteed to find both traditional time-tested recipes and contemporary ones that are already well-loved by professional chefs and nutritionists.
  • High-quality photos will give you a clear idea of how each dish looks. These photos are guaranteed to get you inspired and whet your appetite.
  • In the unique table of contents the title of each recipe comes with the time needed to cook it, and the level of difficulty. So you’ll know for sure if a particular dish is right for the moment without even opening the recipe.
  • Video tips are provided for processes which require experience. You’ll learn how to cook like a true chef and get the best results!
  • You’ll find useful hints in the margins of the recipes – everything you should know about the choice of products, the cooking techniques, the professional secrets of chefs, storing the prepared dish, and more.
  • The book design deserves special mention. Each section is color-coded for easy navigation, and ingredients and step-by-step instructions are on one screen – you won’t miss a thing!
  • We’ve put cross-references in the recipes – if a recipe matches with another dish in the book, or a sauce accompanies it, or there’s a helpful tip in the “How to…?” chapter, you’ll find a link to it right in the recipe. Pretty handy, right?

Once you pick up this book, you’ll never settle for less again!

BUY LINKS

AMAZON | AMAZON UK

*Kindle Unlimited Subscribers can read this for free.

From Bonnie: Although this is not a book review, it’s an opportunity to check out a book on Kindle Unlimited that you might enjoy. If you do enjoy it, please be sure and leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. I am currently reading it and I’ll post a review after I get a chance to try a recipe.

#BookBloggerHop

BonnieReadsAndWrites14 Comments

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.

It depends on what you mean by “local bookstore.” We have a Barnes and Noble in Johnson City, TN, and of course it has all the new books. If “local bookstore” means a locally owned shop, then the answer is not really. We have a wonderfully old and dusty Moody Bookstore which isn’t even fully lighted and I can wander into darkened shelves and find some interesting old books. I enjoy those expeditions very much.

My second hometown, Bryson City, has a bookstore owned by the local library where they sell extra books and donated books, and proceeds benefit the library. They sometimes have new books. I would like to donate some of my ARCs to them, but they all say “not for resale” so I’m not sure if I can.

Comment below and tell me about your local bookshop.