books

Ten Books to Make You Laugh

~ Erika K ~ 11 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 prompt is… Ten Books To Make You Laugh. This one is a challenge for me! I don’t usually read humor. I just looked at my Goodreads shelves and there are a whopping 7 books classified as humor. And 2 of those are Grumpy cat books! 🙂 Well, let’s see what I can do…

Don’t forget to leave me a link to your own post in the comments, or suggest a humorous book that you’ve enjoyed.

10. The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
The Library at Mount Char
Not at all a comedy (dark fantasy / horror), but there is a scene with Steve and the lions that had me laughing out loud…

3. Most any Grumpy Cat book

The Grumpy Guide to Life: Observations from Grumpy Cat
Maybe they aren’t roll-on-the-floor hilarious, but they make me chuckle.

2. I Work Better With an Audience: Thoughts on Life, Love, Food and Jiggly Bits by Jennifer Inglis
I Work Better With An Audience: Thoughts on Life, Love, Food and Jiggly Bits
A humorous collection of stories / essays. As the author says, “Come along for the ride. There will be snacks.”

1. Cake Wrecks by Jen Yates (Kindle Edition)
8142950
From the creator of cakewrecks.com – an ebook full of cakes that have gone terribly awry.

 

So, did I pull it off, or did you notice that my list goes from #10 straight to #4? That’s all I have for this week! I hope someone has some good humorous suggestions for me. 🙂

 

Reading Up a Storm by Eva Gates – WAYRW

~ Erika K ~ 2 Comments

whatareyoureadingwed

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. Reading Up a Storm by Eva Gates (Read my recent interview with her here)
Reading Up a Storm (Lighthouse Library Mystery #3)
Lighthouse Library Mystery #3

2. “Forgot about the differences between common sense an a darn fool, sounds like,” Josie whispered to me. I kept my face impassive. That they could have been killed, and that the coast guard rescuing them were putting themselves in danger, seemed not to matter to Marlene.

3. Cheating a little – I already answered this question when I featured Booked for Trouble (book # 2) on WAYRW! My answer then – “Definitely – the Bodie Island Lighthouse sounds like a beautiful place to work (and live).” I still agree with that assessment.

 

Ten Books for Chocoholics

~ Erika K ~ 40 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 prompt is… Top Ten Books Every (fill in the blank) should read. Since I’m in the mood for chocolate, I’ve decided to fill in the blank with chocoholics! The list is mostly fiction, but there are a few non-fiction titles I’ve enjoyed that are included here as well.

Don’t forget to leave me a link to your own post if you have one, or mention your own favorite chocolate-related title in the comments!

chocbar2

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Rest in Peach by Susan Furlong

~ Erika K ~ Leave a comment

Rest in Peach (Georgia Peach Mystery #2) The annual Peach Cotillion, Cays Mill, Georgia’s biggest event, is fast approaching and Nola Mae Harper is just as excited as the rest of the town—even though she’s busy juggling both the cotillion dinner and the grand opening of her new shop, Peachy Keen. But she never expected that plans for the cotillion would end up in the pits because of the cutthroat competition between local debutantes.
 
When Vivien Crenshaw, insufferable church organist and despised mother of the town’s spoiled-rotten Peach Queen, is stabbed to death, the police turn to Nola’s friend Ginny as prime suspect. Apparently the two had fought over a one-of-a-kind cotillion gown. As Nola steps in to prove Ginny’s innocence she soon finds herself picking through a bushel of suspects, twice as many motives, and at the mercy of a killer all too keen on killing again.

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Georgia Peach Mysteries, Book #2
My Rating: **** (4 stars)

 

What a sweet treat! This was my first Georgia Peach mystery, and I really enjoyed it. The story and the setting just ooze southern charm. Nola Mae Harper is working hard to get her Peachy Keen shop ready to open on time when a murder occurs in town, and her best friend is the prime suspect. She knows the safe thing to do is to stay out of police business, but will the sheriff really look any farther with such a convenient suspect at hand? When it seems that she won’t, Nola and her group of friends get together to try save Ginny’s reputation, the Peach Cotillion, and a romantic relationship or two.

Nola, Hattie, and Ginny are an engaging group of friends with very individual, believable personalities, and there were enough suspects and clues in this mystery to keep me guessing right up to the end.

This is book #2 in the series. While I think it might have been nice to know a little more about Nola’s first case, since she refers to it occasionally during the story, you don’t need to have read book #1 to enjoy this one.

 

NOTE: I received a free copy from the author in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

What Are You Reading (and listening to) Wednesday

~ Erika K ~ 10 Comments

whatareyoureadingwed

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?

I’m going to give you double the answers this week…one book I’m reading, and the 2nd is the audiobook I’m currently listening to while commuting.

I’m Reading:

1. Rest in Peach by Susan Furlong
Rest in Peach (Georgia Peach Mystery #2)

2. Sorry, left my book at home today without getting my quote from page 34, so here’s something from another page….

“She just called her a backstabbing snob, that’s all. That’s not the same as threatening to stab someone”.

3. I think I would like to visit Georgia, especially during peach season, but the times I’ve visited it’s been a little too humid for me to want to live there.

I’m Listening to:

1. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

2. Again, no quote form page 34….since it’s an audiobook, I’ll have to give you a random quote (or three). These do a decent job of illustrating the protagonist’s thought process.

Metaphors are lies.

I find people confusing.

And then I thought that I had to be like Sherlock Holmes and detach my mind at will to a remarkable degree so that I did not notice how much it was hurting inside my head.

3. This story takes place in what feels like a typical small town, but seeing it through Christopher’s eyes, I’m not sure I’d want to live there. I can’t even put my finger on the reason why, but the place makes me feel a little uneasy.

How about you? What are you reading (or listening to) this week?

 

 

Ten Great Bookish Instagram Accounts

~ 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 prompt is… Ten Bookish People to Follow on Social Media. I have a separate Instagram account (@booksthething if you’d like to follow me!) for my blog, so here are 10 bookish accounts that I enjoy.

Be sure to leave me a link to your own post if you have one!

10. Shelf Obsessed

9. Bookish Pretties
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDo59XfEbSG/?taken-by=bookishpretties_

8. Bookwormaniac
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDIdeElxTp_/?taken-by=bookwormaniac

7. Readbooks

6. Paper Journeys
https://www.instagram.com/p/BCTIZlRCNcn/?taken-by=paperjourneys

5. The Book Meadow
https://www.instagram.com/p/BC8owSdNtMu/?taken-by=thebookmeadow

4. American Antiquarian Society

3. Crime of Rhyme
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDxq4KLza1o/?taken-by=crimeofrhyme

2. Paperfury
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDp-XE3vL8F/?taken-by=paperfury

2. Maes Larson – when you just need to look at beautiful book photos!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDqVPgoQWWH/?taken-by=maes_larson

Are you on Instagram? If so, leave your handle in the comments below if you’d like a follow!

 

Ten Best Recent Reads

~ Erika K ~ 28 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 prompt is… Ten Of The Best Books I’ve Read Recently. These are all 4 or 5 star books that I’ve read over the last several months. They’re in chronological order here – I read number ten in November of last year, and reviewed number one just today. Let me know what you thought if you’ve read any of them!

Be sure to leave me a link to your own post, or let me know what you’ve read recently that was good in the comments below.

10. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Station Eleven

9. Ashley Bell by Dean Koontz
Ashley Bell

8. Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Crimson Shore (Agent Pendergast, #15)

7. The Diviners by Libba Bray
The Diviners (The Diviners, #1)

6. Off the Books by Lucy Arlington
Off the Books (Novel Idea, #5)

5. Death of a Nurse by M.C. Beaton
Death of a Nurse (Hamish Macbeth, #31)

4. Try Not to Breathe by Holly Seddon
Try Not to Breathe

3. The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
The Library at Mount Char

2. The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum by Kirsten Weiss
The Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum

1. Girl on the Run by Daryl Wood Gerber
Girl on the Run

 

5 Stars – Girl on the Run by Daryl Wood Gerber

~ Erika K ~ 1 Comment

Girl on the Run by Daryl Wood Gerber
Girl on the Run Synopsis from Goodreads: When a fairytale fantasy night becomes a nightmare, Chessa Paxton must run for her life…but will the truth set her free?

Chessa Paxton, an event planner in Lake Tahoe, celebrates a successful night at the Happily Ever After Ball, but her dream quickly becomes a nightmare when she wakes up beside the body of her dead husband. Nauseous and confused, feeling as if she’s been drugged, she can’t explain to the sheriff why her princess costume is bloodied. With her father already a convicted murderer, she feels invisible shackles ratcheting onto her wrists and ankles. She runs! But she can’t escape vivid flashes of memory: a massacre in a meadow; men and women in fairy tale costumes; Snow White’s dead body shielding her from bullets.

Though Chessa is a former costumer and a master of disguise, she quickly learns that hiding while trying to prove herself innocent is the most difficult task imaginable. Especially when the sheriff wants to throw her in jail and the real killer wants to silence her forever.

Genre: Mystery
My Rating ***** (5 stars)
Available 4/9/16 from Amazon, or pre-order now

I love Daryl Wood Gerber’s cozy mysteries, and was both curious and excited to get my hands on this, her first novel in the suspense genre. I was not disappointed!

At first glance, it appears to be a standard setup – woman found with her dead husband and accused of murder – but it quickly takes off in its own direction and never stops. Once Chessa decides that she is going to have to find the truth on her own and takes off running, the suspense doesn’t stop. She doesn’t know what is going on or who she can trust, and seems to encounter more questions than answers in her search for the truth. I was completely sucked in and had a hard time putting the book down.

Chessa is my favorite type of female heroine – strong and smart, but not perfect by any means. She’s just too stubborn to give up.

I really enjoyed this new venture from a favorite author, and hope there will be more to come!

Daryl Wood Gerber also writes the Cookbook Nook Mystery series and as Avery Aames, the Cheeseshop Mystery series. You can visit her at http://www.darylwoodgerber.com/ for info on all her books.

NOTE: I received a free advanced copy from the author in exchange for my honest review.

Robert Eggleton – Guest Post

~ Erika K ~ 3 Comments

I was recently contacted by an author whose science fiction novel, Rarity from the Hollow, had a unique premise. I knew it would be some time before I’d be able to read and review this book, but the author, Robert Eggleton, has written a guest post for us to tell everyone a little more about the book, and why he chose to write it. Be sure to keep reading past the author bio for an excerpt.
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