Waiting on Wednesday (73)

"Waiting on" Wednesday" is weekly meme hosted over at Breaking the Spine which spotlights upcoming anticipated releases. 

November 1, 2016

FROM GOODREADS:
In the latest Library Lover’s Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of A Likely Story, a decades overdue book puts library director Lindsey Norris hot on the trail of a cold case...
 
When the Briar Creek Public Library holds its first overdue book amnesty day—no fines for late returns—the volume of incoming materials is more than Lindsey and her staff can handle. In a bind, Lindsey drafts the crafternoon ladies to help check in and sort the stacks of books.

But one tardy tome catches her attention—a copy of J. D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, twenty years past due. When Lindsey looks up the borrower, she’s shocked to discover it was a murdered school teacher named Candice Whitley, whose killer was never found.

Candice checked out the novel on the day she was murdered. Now Lindsey wonders if it could provide a clue to the decades-old cold case. No one noticed who brought the book back in, but could it be Candice’s killer? Lindsey is determined to catch the culprit one way or another, because justice for Candice Whitley is long overdue... 

WHY I'M WAITING: This is one of the few cozy mysteries that I manage to keep current with and I'm thrilled the next installment is coming out soon.  I love this small town and really need to visit it again.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR THIS WEEK???

  

TTT - Top 10 ALL TIME Favorite Stephen King books

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 our top 10 books from a certain genre.  Since I've featured similar lists in the past (horror, dog-related, cozy mystery) I kind of cheated and made Stephen King his own genre. 

 Oh well, my blog, my rules!  Anyway here they are in no particular order!

THE SHINING - I would have to go out on a limb and admit this is probably my favorite book of King's.  I love so much about it and especially the setting.

SALEM'S LOT - No sparkly, glittering vampires for King.  These vamps are terrifying!

NEEDFUL THINGS - I really appreciate how King's settings are actually a character all on their own and he does it well in this one.

CHRISTINE - King started my fascination with evil cars!

JOYLAND - If you haven't read this one, you are definitely missing out.

FROM A BUICK 8 - Another evil car.  And now that I've seen this cover, I have to find this edition.

IT - I'm sure Pennywise gave me nightmares as a child (and yes, I was THAT child who read Stephen King books).

REVIVAL - I know this one got mixed reviews, but I really liked it!

11/22/63 - It's not really horror and I honestly didn't think I'd like it much - boy, was I wrong!

PET SEMATARY - I won't ever discuss what a disappointment the movie was for me.  It was probably the beginning of my "the book is always better than the movie" crusade.

So...........what all made your lists this week?  Are you a King fan as well?

The Reader - A Little Something For Everyone (review)

TITLE: The Reader (Sea of Ink and Gold #1)
AUTHOR: Traci Chee
PUBLISHER: Putnam
PUBLISHING DATE: September 13, 2016

FROM GOODREADS: Sefia knows what it means to survive. After her father is brutally murdered, she flees into the wilderness with her aunt Nin, who teaches her to hunt, track, and steal. But when Nin is kidnapped, leaving Sefia completely alone, none of her survival skills can help her discover where Nin’s been taken, or if she’s even alive. The only clue to both her aunt’s disappearance and her father’s murder is the odd rectangular object her father left behind, an object she comes to realize is a book—a marvelous item unheard of in her otherwise illiterate society. With the help of this book, and the aid of a mysterious stranger with dark secrets of his own, Sefia sets out to rescue her aunt and find out what really happened the day her father was killed—and punish the people responsible.

MY THOUGHTS: 
I know this book is getting a lot of hype, which often scares me and to be brutally honest, usually turns me against reading a title until it has been out a while. However, when I learned this was a book about reading AND had the opportunity to read an advanced copy, I simply couldn't pass it up. I feel pretty safe in saying this book is well deserving of the hype it is given and I really enjoyed it for the most part.

I must start out by saying this book has a lot going on it it. When it starts out, we are introduced to Sefia and her aunt Nin, who have been on the run for several years following the murder of Sefia's father. Sefia is in possession of a magical square item she keeps hidden in the bottom of her pack and when Nin is kidnapped, Sefia slowly uncovers her past and learns the power of this item. She also learns how important this book is and as she teaches herself to read, starts to understand why it is such a coveted object. Along the way Sefia meets up with Archer, a mute boy whom she rescues from a life of fighting, and together they go on a heck of an adventure. This book has it all - books, a mystical library, assassins, pirates, fighting, family and a small amount of romance. And by small, I mean a minute, slow-build kind which I am TOTALLY accepting of in books.

Chee clearly has a mind for adventure. She weaves Sefia and Archer's tale in and out of various settings and worlds with ease. The book kept me engrossed and I found myself very invested in Sefia and Archer's characters and was truly interested in what happened to them. The only real problem I had with this book is that it jumps around a lot and it takes a while for the reader to to get a good grasp on the various characters. There are a lot of POV's and time shifts throughout the entire novel. While I found this annoying at first, there is definitely an "A-HA" moment in the book which makes it all worth while.

I think "The Reader" will be a very popular book and if you enjoy adventure and fantasy, this tale is probably for you. I also know a lot of readers absolutely have to pick up anything with pirates in it so this should definitely go on their TBR's. I'm glad I started the "Sea of Ink and Gold" series and will not eagerly anticipate the next installment.

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

RATING: 4 PAWS

Hammers on Bone (review)

TITLE: Hammers on Bone
AUTHOR: Cassandra Khaw
PUBLISHER: Tor.com
PUBLISHING DATE: October 11, 2016

FROM GOODREADS: John Persons is a private investigator with a distasteful job from an unlikely client. He’s been hired by a ten-year-old to kill the kid’s stepdad, McKinsey. The man in question is abusive, abrasive, and abominable.

He’s also a monster, which makes Persons the perfect thing to hunt him. Over the course of his ancient, arcane existence, he’s hunted gods and demons, and broken them in his teeth.

As Persons investigates the horrible McKinsey, he realizes that he carries something far darker than the expected social evils. He’s infected with an alien presence, and he’s spreading that monstrosity far and wide. Luckily Persons is no stranger to the occult, being an ancient and magical intelligence himself. The question is whether the private dick can take down the abusive stepdad without releasing the holds on his own horrifying potential.

MY THOUGHTS: 
While I enjoyed this book, I think I would have enjoyed it better had it been a full length novel. All the time I was reading it I kept thinking I had missed reading the first book and since there isn't one, I can only believe I needed more information to make the story work for me.

John Persons is a private investigator with a secret, he not only hunts monsters, he is one himself. So in other word, John Persons really isn't a person at all. One day he is approached by a young boy who wants him to kill his stepfather who is infected with some evil presence and whom the boy believes will eventually harm him and his brother more than he already has. Persons is an interesting character and I hope there is more in this series because I would like to learn more about him. The end indicates there may be additional novellas coming so I must keep my eyes peeled. I did enjoy the "monster" aspect of this book and along the way, Persons meets some pretty interesting characters, some who I found more interesting than him.

If you like fantasy, books with a Lovecraft feel and detective novels with a twist, you should consider giving this one a try. Since it's a novella, you really have nothing much to lose. Also, I was super tempted to give this book 4/5 simply because there are tentacles on the cover but I forced myself to be objective - bummer.

RATING: 3 PAWS

 

Stacking the Shelves (80)

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 should take you to the Goodreads page. 

I received the following from Netgalley and the publishers.

EVERYBODY CURSES, I SWEAR!: Carrie Keagan -  I loved Carrie when she hosted for VH1 and she strikes me as a really off-the-wall person so I can't wait to delve into this one.

THE JEKYLL REVELATION: Robert Masello - I can blame my friend Stormi for this one.  She featured it on Waiting on Wednesday and knew I'd be sold once I saw the Jack the Ripper reference.

CHRISTMAS AT THE DOG & DUCK: Jill Steeples - I'm planning on reading a few cute stories around Christmastime and if they feature dogs, all the better.

MARESI - Maria Turtschaninoff - Don't know a lot about this one but after reading the synopsis, I'm curious.

EYES OF AUTUMN - Cynthia H. Wise.  

I grabbed a few books from Amazon that I've wanted since I heard of their release.  Both are from authors I love.

THE SIGHT: Chloe Neill and DEJA WHO: Maryjanice Davidson.  Although I'm not too keen on either cover, I love both authors and am glad Davidson finally has a new series.

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

Weekly Reads (9/8/16)

It's been a super busy week at The Farm and I don't know if it's really going to slow down much until at least summer.  It's also been in the 90's most of the week and I am super ready for Fall weather to kick in. I did quite a bit of reading over the weekend but it has slowed down somewhat since then. That being said, I hope to get a few books knocked out of the way this coming week.  I have about 150 pages yet to go on The Reader and while I'm finding it good, I'm also finding it slow going at times.  Here's what's next on the stack this coming week:

It was also a slow movie week, although we watched quite a few good football games.  We ended up watching Barbershop 3 which was entertaining and I always like Ice Cube in movies.  Hope some good horror movies come out soon though.

Other than that, the family and pups are fine.  So what are your 

plans this week???

It's a Bird, It's a Plane....No It's Squirrel Girl!

TITLE: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 2 - Squirrel You Know It's True
AUTHOR: Ryan North and Erica Henderson (Artist)
PUBLISHER: Marvel
PUBLISHING DATE: December 8, 2015

FROM GOODREADS: The breakout character of 2015 continues her one-woman crusade against injustice and jerks! These TAILS of the Squirrel Girl will show you the Marvel Universe's most powerful super hero from a bunch of brand-new perspectives, several of them QUITE ASTONISHING.

COLLECTING: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl 5-8, GLX-Mas Special 1 (first story), The Thing 8 (pages 1-8), Age of Heroes 3 (Squirrel Girl story)

MY THOUGHTS: 
Similar to the first one, this volume of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl continues to entertain me. In this volume, I found the first issue to be one of the cutest. Lots of people are being held hostage in the Statue of Liberty and while they wait for rescue, some of them tell stories about how they know Squirrel Girl and all of them but her roommate (which is still a secret) are WAY off base. The book did kind of lose me with the introduction on 'Munk Hunk and Koi Boy but hey, it's a comic that doesn't seem to take itself too seriously This volume also has appearances from Thor, Loki and Cat Thor (you have to read it to believe it). As long as my library keeps getting these volumes in, I will continue to read them because the story is fun and the artwork is bright and colorful.

RATING: 4 PAWS