Can't Wait Wednesday (101)

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.

FROM GOODREADS: In this hotly anticipated sequel to the haunting #1 bestseller Stalking Jack the Ripper, bizarre murders are discovered in the castle of Prince Vlad the Impaler, otherwise known as Dracula. Could it be a copycat killer...or has the depraved prince been brought back to life?

Following the grief and horror of her discovery of Jack the Ripper's true identity, Audrey Rose Wadsworth has no choice but to flee London and its memories. Together with the arrogant yet charming Thomas Cresswell, she journeys to the dark heart of Romania, home to one of Europe's best schools of forensic medicine...and to another notorious killer, Vlad the Impaler, whose thirst for blood became legend.

But her life's dream is soon tainted by blood-soaked discoveries in the halls of the school's forbidding castle, and Audrey Rose is compelled to investigate the strangely familiar murders. What she finds brings all her terrifying fears to life once again.

WHY I CAN'T WAIT:  Have I read "Stalking Jack the Ripper" yet - NOPE.  Will it stop me from buying this one - NOPE.  Need I say more?

What book can't you wait for this week? 

 

 

Cover Reveal - Shifters and Glyphs

Shifters & Glyphs
Christina Bauer
(Fairy Tales of the Magicorum, #2)
Published by: Monster House Books
Publication date: October 30th 2018
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

After being raised by the meanest fairies in the history of ever, Bryar Rose is now free to live her own life. For the first time, she’s attending West Lake Prep, a regular high school. Well, mostly regular. Some students are actually hidden members of the Magicorum. In other words, they’re really wizards, fairies, or shifters. Bry doesn’t mind, though. She’s thrilled to enjoy all the new experiences of being around normal kids her age, from locker pranks to lunchtime mystery meat. Everything is going along great, except for one thing.
Bry’s dreams about the pyramids of Egypt have gotten darker and more sinister. Every night, she sees her new man Knox and her best friend Elle in danger.
With no other choice, Bry plans to leave school to explore the pyramids on own. But her new man Knox discovers the scheme and is having none of it. He wants to stay by her side, no matter what. It’s a good thing too, because Bry must solve the mystery of her attraction to the pyramids and soon. Otherwise, it could cost the lives of those she loves most…and that means not only Knox, but also her best friend Elle.

Goodreads / Amazon / Kobo

Author Bio:
Christina Bauer knows how to tell stories about kick-ass women. In her best selling Angelbound series, the heroine is a part-demon girl who loves to fight in Purgatory’s Arena and falls in love with a part-angel prince. This young adult best seller has driven more than 500,000 ebook downloads and 9,000 reviews on Goodreads and retailers. It is now available as an audiobook on Audible and iTunes.
Bauer has also told the story of the Women’s March on Washington by leading PR efforts for the Massachusetts Chapter. Her pre-event press release—the only one sent out on a major wire service—resulted in more than 19,000 global impressions and redistribution by over 350 different media entities including the Associated Press.
Christina graduated from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School with BA’s in English along with Television, Radio, and Film Production. She lives in Newton, MA with her husband, son, and semi-insane golden retriever, Ruby.
Be the first to know about new releases from Christina by signing up for her newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/CBupdates

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TTT - Crucial Items Every Prince Fan Needs

This top 10 weekly meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish and can be found HERE.  Each week they focus on lists which cover various topics related to books and reading. This week we are looking at fandoms. I don't collect a lot of book related stuff other than books themselves so I'm sharing some things I think every Prince fan needs, because it fits with my April theme and I consider myself an ultimate Prince fan. 

Prince books - as many as possible.  I have all 4 of these and probably 7-8 other ones.  I have one on 

pre-order and with more coming out this year, I have my eyes on a few more,  

Prince CDs - Considering quite a few of his albums are multi disc, I own over 50 actual discs.  And yes, there are several copies of the greatest hits and the Purple Rain Soundtrack for some reason.

Prince Collaborative CD's - a true fan knows that Prince wrote a lot for other artists.  Sheila E. probably wouldn't exist without him, he write Stand Back for Stevie Nicks and initially wanted her to pen the lyrics for Purple Rain but she declined thinking she couldn't do it justice.  He played guitar on Like a Prayer on Madonna's album and also has a duet on it.  Finally, he is the writer of Manic Monday, one of the Bangles biggest hits.  These are just a few of his lesser known musical ties.

Prince magazines - Following his death, there were all kinds of Prince publications.  Most of mine are packed up while remodeling the library (I own at least 16)  but the first picture shows some with "Roger."  I know he is technically a stuffie from a cartoon movie, but he was a gift years ago from Mr. Barb and I immediately named him Roger.  The second pic is a newspaper I ordered from New York.  I plan on framing this one because it's one of the best artworks I've seen of him.

Prince decals - Here is my very Prince tricked out laptop.  Complete with a Prince wallpaper and secret Prince passwords.  Our security system passwords are also Prince related.

A signature Prince drink - This is one I found last April called Purple Rain and it's quickly become one of my favorites.  Here's the recipe but warning, it's pretty potent.

1 1/2 shots Vodka

1 part Blue Curacao

1 part cranberry juice

1 part pineapple juice

1 part Grenadine

Ice

Lime

Mix all liquids, poor over ice, and add a squeeze of lime.  

Prince inspired jewelry - I found this in an etsy shop and plan on ordering my own soon.  It has "I only wanted to see you laughing in the purple rain" inscribed on it.

Prince inspired bookmarks - Come on, they combine my love of Prince with my love of reading so it's really a no-brainer.

The movie collection - So I seriously adore "Purple Rain" and have lost count of how many times I've watched it - probably 5-6 in the last year alone.  I can also appreciated "Under the Cherry Moon" and can watch it from time to time.  I think Prince's playful side can best be seen in his facial expressions in the movie.  But I will be the first one to say I STILL don't really understand "Graffiti Bridge" and have maybe seen it twice.  

So there you have it - Crucial items for every Prince fan.  I probably wouldn't have done this feature if I had any other ideas for TTT this week but since I didn't, here's my weekly Prince feature for the first week of April.

The Night the Lights Went Out - Am I the Only One Who Remembers That Song?

TITLE: The Night the Lights Went Out
AUTHOR: Karen White
PUBLISHER: Berkley Books
PUBLISHING DATE: April 11, 2017

FROM GOODREADS:  Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia. It s not her first time starting over, but her efforts at a new beginning aren't helped by an anonymous local blog that dishes about the scandalous events that caused her marriage to fail.

Merilee finds some measure of peace in the cottage she is renting from town matriarch Sugar Prescott. Though stubborn and irascible, Sugar sees something of herself in Merilee something that allows her to open up about her own colorful past.

Sugar's stories give Merilee a different perspective on the town and its wealthy school moms in their tennis whites and shiny SUVs, and even on her new friendship with Heather Blackford. Merilee is charmed by the glamorous young mother's seemingly perfect life and finds herself drawn into Heather's world.

In a town like Sweet Apple, where sins and secrets are as likely to be found behind the walls of gated mansions as in the dark woods surrounding Merilee's house, appearance is everything. But just how dangerous that deception can be will shock all three women....

MY THOUGHTS: 
I don't know why I initially thought this was a chick-lit book. I mean, it's not described as chick-lit (and in case you're wondering, I don't think there's anything wrong with that genre, I just don't read a lot of it). However, "The Nights the Lights Went Out" is a great mystery book that also holds awesome characters and even a little white dog who saves the day.

Merilee and her two children have moved to a rental cottage behind Sugar Prescott's house following her divorce from Michael. Merilee's esteem has really taken a beating as Michael had an affair with her daughter Lily's teacher, who is now pregnant. While Merilee has a job and the reader can tell there is some fire inside of her somewhere waiting to get out, she also has a lot of secrets and has a lot of reasons for hating herself. Merilee starts to make some new friends mainly through contact with the uppity parents at Lily and her son Colin's new school. A lot of people Merilee meet seem fake and what I call "status concerned" which isn't really a priority for her. But on top of that, you have to throw in the character of Sugar. Sugar is a 93/94 year old woman who has lived in the area her whole life. She really has no need for people and mainly just associates with her best friend forever, Willafaye and her grandson, Wade. Sugar and Merilee connect for some reason, even though it's obvious Sugar really doesn't want another connection in her life. They both see parts of themselves in the other one and I think it initially scares them both.

So basically the plot is a lot of character developments, several mysteries including a freshly discovered dead body and remnants of a possible murder from years gone past, a lot of "mean girl" actions, and flashbacks from Sugar's life. There's some romantic interest as well which develops through the course of the book but it's minor and I love that White didn't make it a focal point of the novel. Did I mention how awesome I found Sugar? I don't know if it's because he reminds me of the female equivalent of my 95 year old grandfather who I dearly love or if it's just her spunk and sass, but if I had to have a landlady right now, she would be the one I'd want.

Finally, who knew? There is a little stray white dog who saves the day (but I won't tell you whose day or how because you know, spoilers). Colin finally names her Dixie which is fitting in so many ways but you'll have to read to find out. I honestly think I might be recommending this book for some time to come. I didn't expect to love it so much and those are the kinds of books which tend to stick in my mind. If you are interested in a good book about friendships and family with a decent mystery subtlety thrown in, then definitely consider Karen White's newest release.

I received this book from the Penguin First to Read program in exchange for an honest review. 

RATING: 4 PAWS

 

Sometimes It Snows In April

So, it's almost been a year.  April 21st will make the first anniversary of the death of Prince Rogers Nelson.  Everyone who follows my blog knows how hard this hit me (heck, I'm redoing my library in Prince theme) and I've been thinking about a way to add some Prince related stuff to the blog this month.  So above is one of my favorite pictures of Prince (reading of course).  I'm hoping to do a book review of the new Mayte book this month (I think I'm going to be disappointed from the excerpts I've read), I created an original Prince book tag, and I plan on sharing the recipe for one of my favorite drinks - Purple Rain.  Hopefully it will incorporate enough regarding books that my regular visitors won't get too bogged down by the content.  And hey, if you like Prince, it's just something extra for you!

"Tracy died soon after a long fought civil war

Just after he wiped away his last tear

I guess he's better off than he was before

A whole lot better off than the fools he left here

Sometimes it snows in April

Sometimes it feels so bad, so bad

Sometimes I wish life was never ending

And all good things they say, never last"

LYRICS BY PRINCE 

March 2017 Wrap Up

I'm happy to report that March has been the best reading month yet this year.   And although I did read a few graphic novels which bumped up my monthly total, I read several books which were 400+ pages so I definitely didn't skimp.  And thank heavens the Goodreads challenge is back on track which has been a huge thing for me.  I hate going there and having it taunt me in the face that I'm already behind and it's only March.  Let's take a look at how things are shaping up!

GOODREADS: 23/100

2017 CLOAK & DAGGER CHALLENGE: 12/25

(Night the Lights Went Out, Chew Vol. 1, Chew Vol. 2, Elvis and the Grateful Dead, The Supernatural Pet Sitter, Rose Petal Graves, The Night Ocean, The Jekyll Revelation, The Money Pit)

2017 FLIGHTS OF FANTASY CHALLENGE: 9/18

(The Supernatural Pet Sitter, Rose Petal Graves, Greedy Pigs)

2017 HORROR READING CHALLENGE: 8/25

(The Night Ocean, Greedy Pigs, The Jekyll Revelation)

2017 WHAT AN ANIMAL CHALLENGE: 6/20

(Elvis and the Grateful Dead, The Money Pit, The Supernatural Pet Sitter, Legends)

2017 NEW RELEASE CHALLENGE: 14/61

(The Night the Lights Went Out, The Supernatural Pet Sitter, The Night Ocean, Rose Petal Graves, The Money Pit, Greedy Pigs)

BLOGGER SHAME REVIEW CHALLENGE: 1/12 (and I'm half done with #2)

(The Jekyll Revelation)

So overall I read 11 books which I am completely satisfied with. I'm even finishing the month half done with one which gives me a head start for April.  I had 3 3-paw reads, 6 4-paw reads, and 2 5-paw reads).  My favorite reads were The Money Pit, Greedy Pigs and The Night the Lights Went Out although The Supernatural Pet Sitter was really cute as well.  

So how did March pan out for you???

Stacking the Shelves (105)

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 can 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.  Clicking on the book (or title) should take you to the Goodreads page.

So I really didn't buy any books this week except maybe a few odd Amazon deals I saw.  I pretty much have a budget in my head each month for Amazon books so when I see them really cheap-, I usually grab them rather than just waiting.  I also received a few ARCs for review.  Let's look at them first. 

"Lies She Told" sounds like a pretty good thriller which is due out in September.  I liked the sound of "The Somnambulist and Psychic Thief" which is the start of a new series.  It comes out in May and I'm on the search for a book which will fill the place of my Veronica Speedwell mysteries until the next one comes out next year.  Also, I read "Winter at the Dog & Duck" although it was called "Christmas at the Dog & Duck" in December last year and really liked it so I was thrilled to see "Summer at the Dog & Duck" appear for request.  I received a very speedy approval too,

I also grabbed  a few books from Amazon as I previously mentioned.  They were either free or really cheap (under $3.00) - I don't remember which.  "The Hollows" sounded interesting and I'm slowly collecting the Mexican Cafe Cozy Mystery books when I see them for free. " A Lying Witch"caught my attention because I'm a sucker for witches.

So what did you add to your collections this week???