TTT - Bookish Items I'd Like to Own

The top 10 weekly meme used to be hosted by The Broke and the Bookish they  handed over the reins to ThatArtsyReaderGirl who can be found HERE.  Each week she will focus on lists which cover various topics related to books and reading. 

Today we're looking at bookish merchandise we'd like to own.  Honestly, I'm not huge on stuff like that but let's see what we can do.  

I'm sure we call all relate to this sentiment at one time or another

Staying with the Pooh theme I think these are absolutely adorable.

While not a huge fan of magnetic bookmarks, I do think these ones are awesome.

I think these are perfect for an Addams Family fan.

I think this is gorgeous and yes, I often read past my bedtime, but it does not match the decor in my house at all.

I would wear this Losers Club sweatshirt proudly.

Same goes for the t-short from The Overlook Hotel!

This is awesome but clowns freak me out so there's a possibility it could end up in the closet.

I really think my tree needs this ornament.

And while it's not book related, it is Prince related and while a tad bit controversial, I NEED this coffee cup.  Only a true fan will understand.  I swear - he means coffee beans!

So there you have it. All of these great items can be found on Etsy - where else??

Beware the Cost of Fame

TITLE: We Sold Our Souls
AUTHOR: Grady Hendrix
PUBLISHER: Quirk Books
PUBLISHING DATE: September 18, 2018

FROM GOODREADS:  In the 1990s, heavy metal band Dürt Würk was poised for breakout success -- but then lead singer Terry Hunt embarked on a solo career and rocketed to stardom as Koffin, leaving his fellow bandmates to rot in rural Pennsylvania.

Two decades later, former guitarist Kris Pulaski works as the night manager of a Best Western - she's tired, broke, and unhappy. Everything changes when she discovers a shocking secret from her heavy metal past: Turns out that Terry's meteoric rise to success may have come at the price of Kris's very soul.

This revelation prompts Kris to hit the road, reunite with the rest of her bandmates, and confront the man who ruined her life. It's a journey that will take her from the Pennsylvania rust belt to a Satanic rehab center and finally to a Las Vegas music festival that's darker than any Mordor Tolkien could imagine. A furious power ballad about never giving up, even in the face of overwhelming odds, We Sold Our Souls is an epic journey into the heart of a conspiracy-crazed, paranoid country that seems to have lost its very soul...where only a girl with a guitar can save us all. 

MY THOUGHTS:  When "We Sold Our Souls" starts out, we are introduced to Kris, a teenager facing long evenings in the cold basement teaching herself to play electric guitar because heavy metal is her one true calling.  We then fast forward 3 decades and see Kris working the night shift as an area hotel, forced to wait on drunks who would rather urinate on her desk than go to their room as asked.  We learn Kris and her friends were able to tour for several years as the heavy metal band, Durt Wurk but right when they were ready to hit it big, "contract night" changed their fates and only the lead singer rose to fame as a single act known as Koffin.  Now Koffin is on his farewell tour and Kris is determined to find out why the rest of the band's life has gone to hell.

If you are a music fan, and in particular a heavy metal fan, "We Sold Our Souls" is the book you've been waiting for.  Hendrix does an exceptional job of weaving the music biz with horror and the result is a novel that starts out slow but ends with a band (at least it did for me).  I also think Hendrix did something really special making the main character a female.  It showed a real insight for how hard it is as a woman to make it in the rock business and I have a newfound respect for any female who chooses that path.  The books has some truly horrific scenes and instead of focusing on someone's rise to fame, it focuses on the fall.  There are no cute fairy tales in "We Sold Our Souls" and really no happy ending along the way.  Still, in the end, the novel lived up to the hype and now I'm excited to see what Hendrix has planned for his readers next.

RATING: 4 Paws

Weekly Reads/Stacking the Shelves/Sunday Post (11-09-18)

To say it's been a heck of a week at The Farm is an understatement.  Many of you already know that I was T-boned Monday by a BIG SUV.  I was at stop light and a lady was pulling out of a side street.  She "looked but didn't see me" and whammed right into my driver's door.  5 hours later at the ER room I was given the clear but each day is a lesson in what hurts now.  It could have been worse though because she was fully insured and completely at fault.  I'm waiting for someone to contact me about repairing my truck and finishing up the medical stuff (which will be ongoing for a while).  I have a rental for 15 more days which will help as well.  I want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and messages!  Enough of that mess.....

On to a new one.  This was also the week the kitchen was getting new flooring and ceiling.  The guy told Mr. Barb he could do it in one long day with his "helper."  We we are now on one long day and three long evenings but I hope that by the time you see this, his part is done!  I really just want to sleep people!

So basically TV watching has been limited (we did watch the Steeler game Thursday) and I managed to get two books read but I really hope to have a somewhat relaxing weekend.  Here are the books I'd like to get to in the upcoming week:

Stacking the Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves or TBR piles, may it be physical or virtual.  This means you cans you cam include books you buy in a physical store, online, books you borrow from the library or friends, review books, gifts and of course, ebooks! The original meme was started over at Tynga's Reviews. And it now has a new co-host where individuals can link up as well - Marlene from Reading Reality.  Clicking on the book (or title) should take you to the Goodreads page.  I'm also now linking up with the Sunday Post which is hosted by Kimberly@Caffeinated Book Reviewer. 

I had an epic library haul this week. I had requested these and since my library chose to order them all (they are so great), they all came in at once.  I've seen awesome reviews of "Sawkill Girls" and can't wait to read it.  I am a tad worried over "The Spellbook of Katrina Van Tassel" because La La in the Library said it was too much romance and I trust her judgement.  "Agony House" has such cool formatting and I adore Cherie Priest and I saw "Riddance" somewhere and was pretty curious. It actually has a much longer title so check out Goodreads - oh, and it's horror.

Finally I got three new review books from Netgalley and the publishers.  "Dead as a Door Knocker" and "A Literal Mess" are the first in new cozy series and "Save Me From Dangerous Men" is a new thriller coming out in March.

So what do you have planned this coming week and did you add any new and exciting books???

Dashing Through the Snow!

So Kimberly at Caffeinated Reviewer is once again hosting this lovely readathon and I had so much fun last year, I can't resist.  Plus, life's been so stressful this past week, I think it's time for some more relaxed reads.  I will post the rules and if you're interested, there's still time!

• *Link-up (it is not necessary to link to goal post, just link to the account/blog you will be using)
• *Before or on November 9th post a goals post to your blog.  If you do not have a blog, declare your intentions on social media, then create a shelf on Goodreads with intended books and link to this page. Be sure and link back to Caffeinated Reviewer. If you do not have a blog or Goodreads account and wish to participate you could use Instagram or Facebook. Contact me if unsure.
• *It might be a good idea to friend, like or follow me on whatever social media site you use so we can see your progress. Just mention #HoHoHoRAT, so I can follow you back.
• *Grab the image and share! Tell your friends, post the image and link on social media using Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google + or Instagram Be sure to include a link to this page, so others may join.
• *Participate in at least one challenge to be eligible for grand prize
• *Read/listen to as many Holiday or Winter themed books as you can. (Winter can be new years setting, snowstorm etc. If you are unsure contact me. Goodreads is a good source for finding Winter settings)
• *Tweet your progress using #HoHoHoRAT
• *Twitter Party! Sunday, November 18, 2018, at 3:30 pm (EST) #HoHoHoRAT Come chat about the books you have read. There will be prizes.
• *Challenge schedule and Grand Prize widget will post on November 9th at/by 8 am (EST)
• *Read-a-thon starts on November 9th 12:o1 am (your time zone) and ends on November 18 at 11:59 pm (your time zone)
• *Challenges will be open from 8 am (EST) on the 9th and stay open until Nov 18th at 11:59 pm (EST)
• *Grand Prize Raffle will be open until November 19th at 11:59 pm (EST) to allow you to submit entries.s 
• *All winners of challenges and the grand prize will be notified by November 20th.

Here's what I hope to read:

Plus we may even get flurries tonight.  I'm not excited about that at all but does seem fitting!

November Cloak & Dagger Link Up

So I hope everyone is doing well with their challenge.  If not, then you still have time to kick it in gear.  I need to tally up my reads and see where I stand.  I'm pretty sure I've fallen behind.  Happy Mystery Solving!

An InLinkz Link-up

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.....

TITLE: 'Twas the Knife Before Christmas (A Christmas Tree Farm Mystery #2)
AUTHOR: Jacqueline Frost
PUBLISHER: Crooked Lane Books
PUBLISHING DATE: November 13, 2018

FROM GOODREADS: A Christmas delight, ’Twas the Knife Before Christmas will charm the stockings off readers of Joanne Fluke and Leslie Meier. 

It’s out of the cupcake tin, into the fire for Holly White’s best friend, Caroline. Can Holly clear Caroline’s name in time to go caroling?

When a body turns up in the dumpster behind Caroline’s Cupcakes, Holly White is horrified to learn her best friend Caroline is the main suspect. Everyone in town, including Mistletoe, Maine’s sheriff, saw Caroline fighting with the victim on the night of his death. Worse, Caroline’s fingerprints are all over the murder weapon, a custom-designed marble rolling pin.

Now, just ten days before Christmas, Holly’s up to her jingle bells in holiday shenanigans and in desperate need of a miracle. Juggling extra shifts at her family’s Christmas tree farm and making enough gingerbread jewelry to satisfy the crowd is already more than she can handle—and now she has to find time to clear her best friend of murder. Add in her budding relationship with the sheriff, and run-ins with an ex-fiancé looking to make amends, and Holly’s ready to fly south until springtime.
But her Sherpa-lined mittens come off when Caroline is taken into custody. Can Holly wrap up the case in time for Christmas…even after she gains the true killer’s attention? Find out in ‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas, Jacqueline Frost’s second pine-scented Christmas Tree Farm mystery. 

MY THOUGHTS: If you would have ever told me I'd fall in love with a Christmas cozy series, I'd have said you were nuts.  Come on, I'm just not that jolly.  However, I have fallen in love with Frost's newest addition to last year's debut.  A new murder has taken place right as the festivities for Christmas Tree Farm are beginning. This time, Caroline is not a suspect and instead the police are looking at her friend Holly.Mistletoe, Maine has one of the cast of characters I've met in a long time.  The reader really gets sucked into this Christmas obsessed town and quickly attaches to many of the characters.  Like most cozies, there is an element of romance, but it's not overwhelming and I dare any reader not to cheer on the main couple. In addition, the mystery element was fun and satisfying.

I was initially worried that the author couldn't sustain a mystery centered around one particular holiday year after year.  However, that is no longer the case and I can't wait to see what happens next.  If you love great characters, good mysteries and a fun setting, you have to give this series a try!

I received a copy of "'Twas the Knife Before Christmas" from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

RATING: 5 paws

Can't Wait Wednesday (183)

Can't Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted at Wishful Endings to spotlight highly anticipated books.  It is based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme which used to be hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

SYNOPSIS: Deep in a Wyoming mine, hell awaits. Nat Blackburn is given an offer he can't refuse by President Teddy Roosevelt. Tales of gold in the abandoned mining town of Hecla abound. The only problem - those who go seeking their fortune never return. Along with his constant companion, Teta, a hired gun with a thirst for adventure, Nat travels to a barren land where even animals dare not tread. Black-eyed children, strange lights and ferocious wild men venture from the deep, dark ghost mine...as well as a sinister force hungry for fresh souls. 

WHY I CAN'T WAIT:  Because it's Hunter Shea and I'm loving all the Flame Tree Press releases!

WHAT BOOK CAN'T YOU WAIT FOR THIS WEEK???