WAYRW / Giveaway (Ended) – House of Thieves

August 12, 2015December 17, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ 3 Comments

What are you reading Wednesday – 8/12/15

What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Its A Reading Thing. To participate, open the book you are currently reading to page 34 (or 34% in your ebook) and answer these three questions.

The Questions are:
1. What’s the name of your current read?

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a complete sentence. (or two!)

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

Now for my answers this week…

I’ve been a little slow this week. I’m still reading House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure, which was my last What Are You Reading Wednesday post. Instead of repeating myself, I’ll leave the link to my previous post in case anyone would like to see it, and share a giveaway for the book instead. I hope you’ll still tell me what you are reading, or leave a link to your post this week!

***GIVEAWAY Ends Wednesday, September 30th***

HOUSE OF THIEVES (ON-SALE: September 15; 978192617891; $25.99; Hardcover)

Sourcebooks Landmark is holding a Rafflecopter giveaway for signed copies of the book and some other great prizes. Click the cover image to go to the entry page.

Grand Prize (1): barware set with everything you need to make a Manhattan cocktail

Second Place (5): set of 4 cocktail glasses

Third Place (10): Copy of House of Thieves, signed by Charles Belfoure

Good luck!!

Top Ten Authors I’ve Read The Most Books From

August 11, 2015August 11, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ 13 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every Tuesday they post a new Top Ten list prompt. This week’s list is Top Ten Authors I’ve Read The Most Books From. I’m sure these aren’t quite in the right order, but here they are. Let me know who your most read authors are, or leave a link back to your list in the comments!

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Review – Speaking In Bones by Kathy Reichs

August 10, 2015August 9, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ 9 Comments

Speaking In Bones by Kathy Reichs

Temperance Brennan #18

Genre: Mystery
My Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

In Speaking in Bones, Temperance Brennan (Tempe to her friends) is approached by a woman named Hazel Strike who claims to have information regarding an unidentified set of remains in the lab. Hazel is a websleuth, an amateur who tries to solve cold cases using information available on several websites dedicated to the pursuit. Skeptical and busy as always, Tempe isn’t convinced until Hazel herself turns up dead. On other fronts, Tempe still can’t decide what to do about Lt. Andrew Ryan and his marriage proposal.

This was a good mystery, full of twists, and fast paced. Tempe thinks she knows who killed Hazel and who the remains belong to only to find herself proven wrong. I was kept guessing right along with her. While I really enjoyed the mystery, Tempe’s indecision regarding her on again / off again relationship with Detective Ryan was starting to get to me. There was some resolution on that front near the end though, which is why the book gets 4 stars from me instead of 3.

If you’ve been following the series, you won’t want to miss this installment. While the mystery is completely stand-alone, I think this is one that will be more enjoyable if you read at least some of the earlier books first.

***Disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

Audiobook Review – An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir

August 6, 2015March 9, 2016 ~ Erika K ~ 9 Comments

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir (audio CD edition)

Narrated by Fiona Hardingham and Steve West

Genre: YA / Fantasy
My Rating: ***** (5 of 5 stars)

I had been listening to this audiobook for about a week during my commute to and from work, and when it ended on my way home, I couldn’t believe it. It couldn’t end there. It just couldn’t. I wasn’t ready. I wanted to know, no, needed to know what happened next! While not a cliff-hanger, there are so many things left unresolved at the end of this story, so many things left to be done, that I really hope Ms. Tahir has at least another 2 or 3 books up her sleeve. (NOTE: Since writing this review I have scoured her Goodreads page and found that yes, book #2 is in the works. I can breathe a little easier now…)

An Ember in the Ashes is the story of Laia, a Scholar girl, and Elias, a soldier in training for the Empire’s army. The Scholars are the lowest class citizens in the Empire, and many of Laia’s people have been killed or enslaved. Her own parents and older sister were killed for being rebels. Elias is just finishing his training as a Mask, one of the Empire’s elite soldiers. When Laia’s remaining family is raided one night, she goes undercover as a slave at the military academy to try to gain information she can trade to the Scholar resistance, so that they will help her find and free her brother who was captured during the raid.

There was a bit of a love triangle, which I usually hate, but each individual seemed so real, each with his own flaws and redeeming qualities, that it was easy to understand Laia’s feelings. And I loved Laia herself. She was no super-woman, just a frightened girl determined to do whatever she had to in order to save the only family she had left. She was scared, she second guessed herself, but she never gave up. I admired her determination, and it’s been a long time since I read a book that made me care so much about what happened to its characters.

I have to mention the narrators as well. I thought both of them did a great job, and having both a male and female narrator helped distinguish the point of view for each chapter. I hope they will be available to read again when the next book in this series is ready!

If you enjoy Young Adult Fantasy, then I can’t recommend this book enough. I will be buying a copy of book number two just as soon as it is available!

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What Are You Reading Wednesday

August 5, 2015September 17, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ 6 Comments

What are you reading Wednesday – 8/5/15

The Questions are:
1. What’s the name of your current read?

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a complete sentence. (or two!)

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

1 – This week I have an advanced reading copy of House of Thieves by Charles Belfoure
House of Thieves: A Novel
Available September 15, 2015 from Sourcebooks Landmark

2 – When you present your calling card to the butler, Julia, you must wait to see if the lady of the house will receive you. If the butler tells you, “She’s not at home to callers”, that’s perfectly acceptable. Don’t take it as a slight.

3 – I love reading about 1880’s New York and the ins and outs of society, and I wouldn’t mind cruising around town in a horse drawn carriage. I don’t think I would want to stay forever though. I would miss too many modern conveniences, especially my air conditioning and my Keurig brewer…. 🙂

Top Ten Fairytale Retellings

August 4, 2015August 4, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ 25 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every Tuesday they post a new Top Ten list prompt. This week’s list is Top Ten Fairytale Retellings I’ve Read. Since I can’t remember having read that many fairy tale retellings, I’m cheating a bit this week and using mythology and children’s stories as well. As always, if you have a book to add to my list, or want to leave a link back to your own list, please leave a comment!

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Review – Isolation by Mary Anna Evans

August 3, 2015 ~ Erika K ~ Leave a comment

Isolation by Mary Anna Evans

Faye Longchamp Mystery #9
Available August 4, 2015 from Poisoned Pen Press

Genre: Mystery
Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

***NOTE: I received a free review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***

Another series I started in the middle – I really need to stop doing that! While you don’t need to have read the first 8 books in the series to enjoy Isolation, I think it would be better to read the earlier books first. There were several references I didn’t fully understand, but nothing that really impacted the mystery at hand. I would have liked to better understand the nuances of the relationship between Faye and her husband Joe, so I may have to go back and read some of the earlier books…..

Faye Longchamp lives on a small island with her family. Going to the mainland for breakfast one morning, her husband and recently-released-from-jail father-in-law find a local woman dead in the water off her restaurant’s pier. Fearing that her father-in-law might make an easy scapegoat, Faye starts looking into the murder

This book started out slow, and I wasn’t sure I was going to like it. In the beginning of the story, we learn that Faye has recently suffered a miscarriage, and she’s having trouble coming to terms with the loss. Faye muddles around in a haze for several chapters, but as she starts to come back to herself, the book picks up pace as well. Once it gets going and you look back on the slow beginning, you can see that it is fitting considering Faye’s state of mind. I’m glad I didn’t give up during the slow part, because it finished up as a quick-moving, can’t-stop-until-I-know-who-did-it mystery.

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The Book's the Thing

Month: August 2015