To Be Read Thursdays is a meme hosted by The Writer’s Inkwell. This is a way to feature the books you’ve added to your TBR list over the past week or a newly added book that you are excited about reading in the near future. Anyone is welcome to participate in this meme. Please just link back to the hosting page so she can read your posts.
What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by It’s 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…
1. The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
2. I’m going to deviate a little and take my quote form the beginning of the book instead of page 34. I think that after reading the first paragraph of this story, you will either be sucked in with an immediate need to know why (like I was), or you will run the other way, comfortable in the knowledge that this book is not for you. As a little taste of what I’m talking about, here is the opening line….
Carolyn, blood-drenched and barefoot, walked alone down the two-lane stretch of blacktop that the Americans called Highway 78.
3. I’m not that far in yet, which makes it hard to tell. Right now, the story is taking place in the American south, which would be ok, I guess, as long as I wasn’t actually near any of the Librarians in the story. I have a feeling by the end of the book I’ll want to change my answer to a resounding NO!
What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by It’s 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…
1. City of Gold by Carolyn Arnold
2. It wasn’t like he never visited the artifacts he’d tracked down. He just preferred not to see them on their opening nights.
3. The characters actually make their home in Canada, and I wouldn’t mind living there. However, in this story they take off for Bolivia in search of the City of Gold. I’ve lived in South America, but nowhere quite so remote as this. I don’t think I’d like it at all! I’ll stick with reading about it. 🙂
So what is everyone else reading this Wednesday?
Be sure to visit the blog tour page for a chance to win your own copy in the Rafflecopter giveaway!
Fans of Joyce and Jim Lavene will thrill at this collection of thirteen short stories—many are set in the worlds of their national bestselling mystery series, including the Missing Pieces Mysteries, the Renaissance Faire Mysteries, the Retired Witches Mysteries, and an upcoming mystery novel!
These stories contain the elements of mystery and fantasy the Lavenes are famous for, as well as some new things their readers have never seen. Several stories feature characters interacting with ghosts, magic, and the supernatural—the healing woman in “Courtship;” the Civil War widow in “One with the Darkness;” the city girl who summons a wizard from the past in “The Magician and the Sorceress/Accountant;” and the young introvert in “Aunt Edna” who finds her calling with help from a ghostly visitor.
Poignant, charming, and captivating, Joyce and Jim Lavene bring their characteristic wit and heart to these stories and introduce each one with a passage about its origin or how it ties into the universe they’ve created. Gone by Midnight is a treasury of tales that will delight the mind and touch the heart from one of the most prolific writing duos of our time.
My Review:
4 of 5 stars (****)
Genre: Short stories / SciFi / Fantasy / Paranormal
Gone by Midnight is an entertaining and eclectic collection of stories. From the opening sweet ghost story “Aunt Edna”, to sci-fi, fantasy, and everything in between, I enjoyed them all. My favorites were the fantasy tale within a tale, “Inn of Many Pleasures “, and the futuristic “Assasin!”.
About The Authors
Joyce and Jim Lavene write award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook, and Ellie Grant. They have written and published more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional publications. They live in rural North Carolina with their family.
www.facebook.com/joyceandjimlavene
http://amazon.com/author/jlavene
https://twitter.com/AuthorJLavene
Purchase link: http://www.amazon.com/Gone-Midnight-Joyce-Lavene-ebook/dp/B019AJC1XU
Be sure to visit the blog tour page for a chance to win your own copy in the Rafflecopter giveaway
NOTE: I received a free digital copy in exchange fr an honest review.
To Be Read Thursdays is a meme hosted by The Writer’s Inkwell. This is a way to feature the books you’ve added to your TBR list over the past week or a newly added book that you are excited about reading in the near future. Anyone is welcome to participate in this meme. Please just link back to the hosting page so she can read your posts.
What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by It’s 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…
1. I actually just finished the short story Knock, Knock, You’re Dead by M.C. Beaton this morning, and am about to start my review copy of Death of a Nurse, also by M.C. Beaton. It’s Hamish Macbeth #31.
(short review of the short story – it is very short, and you will be able to figure out who did what right away, but it’s so typically Hamish that I enjoyed it, and recommend giving it a read if you are a fan.)
2. “The suspects seem to be building up,” he said. “It’s going to take a lot of research unless Hamish gets one of his flashes of intuition.”
3. I would definitely like to visit the Scottish Highlands. I wouldn’t even mind living there for a while, but I think I’d miss home too much to stay permanently.
To Be Read Thursdays is a meme hosted by The Writer’s Inkwell. This is a way to feature the books you’ve added to your TBR list over the past week or a newly added book that you are excited about reading in the near future. Anyone is welcome to participate in this meme. Please just link back to the hosting page so she can read your posts.
Since I’ve signed up to participate in several cozy mystery book tours, most of my TBR right now is comprised of soon-to-be-released mystery novels, some of which I do not even have my hands on yet. Besides those cozies, here are a few I hope to get to soon….
I won a copy of this graphic novel in a Shelf Awareness sweepstakes a couple of months ago, and I’ve been trying to get around to reading it ever since. I love the illustrations and the rather unique description (from Goodreads):
Discover the horrible fate of Jonathan York as he sets out on his journey through a spooky forest with an alarming party of travelmates!
Jonathan York has led a boring life — a pointless degree from the community college, a lackluster job at the General Store, and never any desire for something more exciting. But when fate leaves him stranded in a sinister land, he finds himself seeking an adventure of his own. Along the way he encounters ghoulish thieves, ravenous swamp monsters, a dastardly ice cream conspiracy, and a necromancer bent on human sacrifice.
This one has been sitting on my bookshelf staring at me since November!
From Goodreads:
In a heartbeat, everything changes…
Rachel Jenner is walking in a Bristol park with her eight-year-old son, Ben, when he asks if he can run ahead. It’s an ordinary request on an ordinary Sunday afternoon, and Rachel has no reason to worry—until Ben vanishes.
Police are called, search parties go out, and Rachel, already insecure after her recent divorce, feels herself coming undone. As hours and then days pass without a sign of Ben, everyone who knew him is called into question, from Rachel’s newly married ex-husband to her mother-of-the-year sister. Inevitably, media attention focuses on Rachel too, and the public’s attitude toward her begins to shift from sympathy to suspicion.
As she desperately pieces together the threadbare clues, Rachel realizes that nothing is quite as she imagined it to be, not even her own judgment. And the greatest dangers may lie not in the anonymous strangers of every parent’s nightmares, but behind the familiar smiles of those she trusts the most.
Where is Ben? The clock is ticking…
What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by It’s 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…
1. Gone by Midnight by Joyce and Jim Lavene
A collection of 13 stories
2. “I wanted your death. Slow and painful. I wanted to hear you to beg.” Her weapon was just out of reach near the bed port under the light. If she could manage to stretch forward-
3. Too hard to say – with 13 different stories, I think I’ll just plan on staying home to read this week. 🙂
Don’t forgot to tell me what you’re reading this Wednesday, or leave a link to your own post if you have one.
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…
2. You may have noticed, but I’ve been on a cozy mystery kick for a while! 🙂
Beauty, Beast, and Belladonna by Maia Chance
Available 2/2/16 ~ I’m reading an advanced copy for an upcoming blog tour…
2. It was snowy, yes, but until the police came and went, she wouldn’t have a chance to break things off with Griffe. How could she simply sit still?
3. It would be fun to visit 1867 for a short time, but I wouldn’t want to stay there!
What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by It’s 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…
1. Off the Books by Lucy Arlington
A Novel Idea Mystery, #5
I received an advanced copy for review from the author, but you can pick up your own copy on 2/2!
2. Page 34 only contains about 1/2 of a paragraph at the end of a chapter, but here goes…
So I simply shrugged and turned away, busying myself with gathering files and paperwork I’d need for the status meeting. Behind me, I heard the scurried clicking of claws against the hardwood floors, then a loud hiss and a sharp doggie yelp, followed by Bentley’s own form of barking: “Ms. Crump, get that cat into the break room now!”
3. Inspiration Valley North Carolina sounds like my kind of place, with all the southern charm you’d expect from a town in a cozy mystery. I’m sure it would be a great place to live.
The Book's the Thing 