Category: books

Book Birthday · book review · books · crime · meet the mrs · Publishing Day · suspense

Happy Publishing Day! 1-9-18

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Two books that I have done reviews on are now available for purchase today!

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen {St. Martin’s Press}

I read and reviewed this book back in November and gave it 4.5 stars. It is definitely a good psychological thriller to start off your 2018 year of reading. It has some great twists in it that you don’t see coming. I always love to be taken by surprise with a thriller.

The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor  {Crown Publishing}

I read and reviewed this book last week. It was my first review of the year. If you like England and kids doing weird things like being kids and being mischievous, with a dash of crazy thrown in, then you’ll definitely enjoy this read. I forgot to put my star rating in my review, so I will put it here, I gave 4.5 stars. ESPECIALLY because of the ending!

Thank you to both publishers for providing me with advanced copies of these books and giving me a chance to review them. I hope that everyone enjoys these novels as much as I did.

Both books will have you like:

Happy reading, folks!

ReaderthenBlogger

books · podcasts

Not a review, just some words

KalaLeave a comment

This week is off to a good start. I binge watched  Stranger Things season 1 this past weekend and picked up Janet Evanovich’s Hardcore Twenty-Four from the library. I probably could have finished that book yesterday but I was in the middle of a hardcore binge session, lol.

I like to start my week off by listening to the podcasts that I am subscribed to. Mondays have a longer work morning for me at work than any other day of the week, unless there is a holiday that I am off. I work in a post office, btw. This morning because of all the mail, I was able to listen to 3 Book Girls and one of the Book Riot podcasts called The Podcast. My podcasts get my work week going and my book week going.

This week I plan to finish Hardcore Twenty-Four and also continue reading The Heart’s Invisible Fury by John Boyne which won Book of the Month’s  Book of the Year award. I can definitely see why. I will be honest, the month that this book was offered in Book of the Month, I picked it solely based on the number of pages. I wasn’t all that familiar with the storyline until I heard about it on one of the podcasts that I listen to. I am looking forward to doing a review on this book once I am finished.

So, it is a new year and I know many people have resolutions. I don’t usually make any but this year one of my resolutions is to read more of the books that I already own. And, of course I have a mile long list of books that are coming out this year that I want to read as well, lol. Ha! I just got another blog post idea from this paragraph, which is a really good thing because I also want to become more active with my blogging.

Well folks, that’s about all I have for you at this time. Happy reading! See ya soon!

ReaderthenBlogger

book review · books · crime · psychological thriller · suspense

The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor {Review}

KalaLeave a comment

Hello everyone!!! Welcome to my first book review of 2018!!!

So here we have one of 2018’s scheduled for release thrillers, The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor. This is her debut novel.

The story follows Eddie and his four childhood friends who grow up in an English village. You think you have just the typical group of friends who grow up together and go thru the typical adolescent trials and tribulations. However, there are much darker issues that they have to deal with and secrets that they keep. Eddie is our narrator and he narrates the story flipping between current day 2016 and past 1986. The form of the story put me in the mind frame of Stephen King’s It. I think that is what drew it to me most.

In 1986, Eddie and his friends stumble upon a dismembered body of a local girl who survived a freak accident only to come up dead later. What draws them to this body are chalk figures which were an idea of the kids to communicate with each other but someone has found out about their secret language and used it against them, or so they think.

Fast forward to 2016, Eddie and his friends are all grown and living their own lives not thinking about what happened to them back in 1986. However, certain events lead them all back to their home and to the secrets and events that they have all tried to forget. As the story unfolds, more secrets are discovered.

The story unfolds as a thriller should but then you get to the end and BAM!!!! HOLY COW!! I literally cursed out loud at the character in the book.

This was not a long novel and can probably be read in one sitting. Even though it was a quick read, I feel that the story was developed in a timely fashion and I absolutely LOVED the ending. Definitely a great debut novel from CJ Tudor and I look forward to see what else she has in store.

The book will be available for purchase January 9, 2018. I received this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for an honest review.

I gave this novel 4 stars!!!

books

Thank you!

KalaLeave a comment

Well, I want to start of by thanking everyone who read my posts, liked my posts and a very special thank you to my 10 followers. That’s not a lot to most folks but it is a lot to me. I started my blog a couple of years ago but only really got into blogging this past summer. Now that I am almost getting the hang of it, I plan to blog even more in 2018. I have had an amazing year filled with a new job that I enjoy and expanding my love for reading into a blog and a bookstagram account. I was even a guest on the podcast 3 Book Girls(which was exciting, fun, and totally wrecked my nerves cause I was nervous, lol). I hope you all had a wonderful 2017 and hope that you have an even better 2018. I have spent my last day of 2017 reading, cooking, eating, spending time with my bookworm children, and lastly working on my TBR for 2018. Love and blessings to you all!

Happy New Year!

book review · books

Lola by Melissa Scrivner Love {review}

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Drugs, money, loyalty. A man’s world, or is it?

I will admit that I had some reservations after I received this novel and didn’t think I would enjoy it. I then found myself wanting to know what was going to happen and when. This is not the typical type of novel that I usually read but I am so glad that I stepped outside of my box this time. What looks like sugar isn’t always sweet. Lola definitely defied the stereotypes types of a gang banger and I appreciated that fact. Lola was a hardcore thug. I honestly thought that she would soften around the edges when it was crunch time but she was ruthless throughout the entire story, even when it came to her own family. She was a woman after my own heart though. She knew how to take care of home and was willing to take risks to protect what was hers or what she deemed needing protection. The only soft spot she had was for Lucy whose mother was a junkie willing to pimp out her child for her next fix. Lola’s past made her protective of Lucy. I would recommend this story to anyone needing a break from the mundane suspense, thriller type novels or the stories where the man is always leading the pack. This is my first novel by this author and I look forward to reading more by her. Maybe Lola will get a sequel, lol.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this honest review.

book review · books · suspense

The French Girl by Lexie Elliot {review}

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Goodreads Blurb:

They were six university students from Oxford–friends and sometimes more than friends–spending an idyllic week together in a French farmhouse. It was supposed to be the perfect summer getaway–until they met Severine, the girl next door.

My Review:

When the story starts, I can say that I did not really like Kate. I thought she was just an uptight, jealous woman. She seemed high strung, but as the story carries along you realize why she is the way that she is. Her best friend Lara did seemed to be as self centered as Caro was. The men were a different story altogether. Tom, who has recently returned from Boston after a divorce was my first suspect in this crime that has recently resurfaced.

Basically what you have is a cold case that resurfaces and 5 lives are disrupted 10 years later. Five of the six friends who are alive, learn things about each other from that summer holiday so many years ago. As things go along, fingers start to point and it even comes to the point where they have decided to point the finger at their friend, Theo,  who has died in combat during his military career. Which I found quite ballsy. I couldn’t blame them. Why not blame someone who isn’t there to defend their own innocence if it means keeping yourself out of jail. The character I did not like the most was Caro. As the story develops and I learned more about her, it made me dislike her even more. She was just one of those characters who has always been unlikeable and does what she has to do to manipulate things to her satisfaction.. Seb didn’t warrant much sympathy from me because of his drunken behavior which apparently was a habit.

This is one of those stories that make you look at your friendships closely wondering if you really know your friends and wonder what their behavior would be if something like a murder case popped up in your lives many,  many  years later after a person has disappeared. How far would you go to protect or defend your innocence?

I will admit I was almost finished with  this novel before trying to figure out “who dun it” because I was enjoying the storyline. I never did get even close to the actual killer was, lol. What I enjoyed most about reading this novel was the fact that it is not set in the United States. I will have to admit that I was not all that excited by the ending but it did not deter my enjoyment of the novel.

I would like to thank Net Galley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. This novel will be published February 10, 2018.

I give this novel 4 stars!

book review · books · Family

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah {Review}

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Hello everyone, I hope that you all enjoyed your holiday and hope that you were able to get some good deals shopping if that is what you participated in. I was fortunate to receive an ARC of Kristin Hannah’s new book that is set to be released February 6, 2018 from St. Martin’s Press.

Goodreads Description:

Alaska, 1974.
Untamed.
Unpredictable.
And for a family in crisis, the ultimate test of the human spirit.

From the author who brought you the phenomenon of The Nightingale.

Review:

Let me just start by saying get ready to go on an emotional adventure. Kristin Hannah does it AGAIN!!!

In this novel we meet the Albrights. They are a family of three. Ernt(dad), Cora(mom), and Leni(daughter). This novel takes place in the mid seventies, after the Vietnam War. Ernt has returned home after being captured and held captive for 6 years. He suffers from what would not be called PTSD. There really wasn’t a word for it then. The men were just described as “being changed by the war.” He cant hold down and job and he has anger issues. Cora tries to pacify him by giving in to his grand ideas and constant moving around, although their daughter, Leni, has to suffer because of all the changes.

The dynamic of the relationship of Cora and Ernt is not apparent at first but quickly surfaces once the family moves to Alaska. Ernt has been gifted a house and some land by a fellow war comrade. When they first move to Alaska, things seem as if they will be okay. As the time goes on, Ernt takes a turn for the worse. While he is spiraling out of control, Leni is beginning to grow into a young adult and she is becoming a mentally strong young woman. She begins to see things in her parents that she had not noticed before and is having a difficult time accepting them.

Leni meets Matthew Walker, a young man who is going to play a key role in her life. As will his family in her father’s breaking point.

I will stop there because I really do not want to give away much more about the story. Just know that there is so much more that is going on in their lives.

This is one of those novels that will make you think about how mental health and love can affect relationships. It also shows how unconditional love can either make or break a person. As I said earlier, this novel is another emotional adventure. I read The Nightingale a couple of months ago and was emotionally exhausted when I finished it. I love a book that can make me feel that way and The Great Alone did the same thing. Hannah puts on paper real life issues and makes you think and feel with her characters.

I may have had some watery eyes with the end of this novel, but I will neither confirm or deny it. I strongly suggest purchasing this novel when it is published if you are a fan of Kristin Hannah and if you have not read any of her novels, this is a great introduction to her style of writing. This book isn’t even out yet and I am already looking forward to her next novel. I guess I will have to go get one of her older novels off my shelf to hold me over.

I give this book 5 stars!

books · meet the mrs · suspense

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen {Review}

Kala4 Comments


I was very shocked and happily surprised to have received an advanced copy of The Wife Between Us from St. Martin’s Press. I was going to wait and read this novel around Christmas because I had some reservations about it,  but something kept drawing me to it so I decided to read it this past weekend and I am so very glad that I did. I will have to give this novel a 4.5 star rating.

The story opens with the prologue which is told from the ex-wife’s point of view. I immediately assumed that she is just some jealous, scorned woman. We are then introduced to Nellie. She is a preschool teacher who is about to be married to the man of her dreams. He is rich, good looking and he takes good care of her. Even if he does seem a bit possessive(to others). As the story goes on alternating between the ex wife and the new wife-to-be, I realize that both women have some pretty intense pasts and secrets. I soon find out who Nellie really is(turns out to be Vanessa) and who the new wife to be is(Emma). Nothing in this story is what it seems and no one is who they seem. I went in with the mindset that the ex wife was just some heartbroken hag who let herself go and pushed her husband away into the arms of a young woman who has it all together. As the story develops, you find out that she is not a heartbroken hag, but actually a woman with a plan. This rich successful man, Richard,  is not the man I thought he was. He doesn’t actually have it all together. He may be rich and good looking, but he is a twisted man. This pretty new wife to be, Emma,  isn’t as innocent as she portrays either. She too has her own agenda. Vanessa and Emma end up sharing a past and don’t know it until the end of the story once all the secrets start unravelling. Vanessa thinks she is manipulating the  situation and she is to a certain extent but she is being manipulated as well. Although Richard is not a great guy, I almost had to feel sorry for him because he ends up being a pawn in this twisted mind game that is being played.

Two questions I ended up asking myself while reading this novel were how far does a person go to get out of an unhealthy situation and how far does a person go to seek vengeance. This story, in my opinion was a perfect blend of Gone Girl meets Girl on the Train with a bit of Sleeping with the Enemy thrown in. I see this novel being a satisfying page turner to all who read it. The plot keeps twisting and turning and keeps you guessing until the very end. Every time I thought I had the story figured out, the authors threw a serious curve ball at me and I enjoyed that very much. I would definitely like to see more work from these ladies.

This novel is set to be released January 9, 2018. It will be a great pick for an after the holidays read.

books · Family · Salem · Salem Witch Trials

The Fifth Petal by Brunonia Barry [Review]

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Initially when I finished this novel today, I thought it had taken me forever to read but in reality it only took 7 days. I’m not quite sure why I thought it took me longer. Anyway, here is my review:

This novel is set in Salem, home of the Salem Witch Trials. It follows a case that is opened after the sudden death of a local boy. This boy is said to have been killed by one of the town’s local witches, Rose. This death makes the chief of police consider the fact that it could be connected to a cold case from several years ago. A case in which Rose was at the center of at that time as well. We are also introduced to Callie who is the only known survivor of the “Goddess Murders.” Her mother was one of the women who were killed in that case and the killer was never found and Callie was shipped off to grow up in the state foster care program. All this time she has believed that Rose was dead but soon discovers that she isn’t once the story airs about the young man who was possibly murdered by her. Callie heads back to a territory that she has not so wonderful memories of. She returns to a place filled with superstition, betrayal, and revenge. True to the manner of a Salem Witch based novel, we have our characters who are the accused, the accusers, the believers, and the non believers. We see what some are willing to do in order to protect what they think is rightfully theirs, even if it means employing “black magic” or witchcraft. We also see what others are willing to overlook if it means “saving face.” And what would a novel of this subject be without some love? There is a healthy dash of love affairs and finding love in this story. Not too much romance but enough to keep the story going. And for this subject, you do have to have the aspect of a love story. Face the facts, love is probably the top reason people turn to this type of lifestyle. Either the want of love or the want of revenge on someone who was loved but was hurt by the one they loved.

I would have to give this novel a rating of 3 stars out of 5 only because I felt as though it moved a bit too slow at first and then everything was rushed at the end. There are still some points of the story that I was hoping would have some closure but they didn’t. Maybe this is why I thought it took me so long to read. I do appreciate the bit of history in it along with the mystery/thriller aspect. The novel unravels in about a years time with bits of flashback thrown in. I will admit that the way Barry wrote the story makes you wonder if witchcraft is indeed real. She doesn’t use fanciful events to touch on the possibility of witchcraft, she uses events that cause the reader to stop and wonder and I appreciated that aspect. This is my first novel by this author and I am definitely interested in reading her other works even if this novel is not at the top of my list of books that I enjoyed reading.

I received a copy of this novel from Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review.

 

 

books · Family · World War 2

The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan{Review}

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I have received a copy The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this honest review.

 

Book Blurb:

Told through letters and journals, The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir moves seamlessly from budding romances to village intrigues to heartbreaking matters of life and death. As we come to know the struggles of the charismatic members of this unforgettable outfit — a timid widow worried over her son at the front; the town beauty drawn to a rakish artist; her younger sister nursing an impossible crush and dabbling in politics she doesn’t understand; a young Jewish refugee hiding secrets about her family, and a conniving midwife plotting to outrun her seedy past — we come to see how the strength each finds in the choir’s collective voice reverberates in her individual life. The novel is set during World War II.

 

Review:

This story is about a local choir who was at first being shut down because there were no men available to sing with the women until Miss Primrose Trent arrives and decides to make it an all women choir. The choir is brought together to be a positive outlet during a time of war. The ladies and girls in the choir come from various backgrounds but work wonderfully together. Thru the journal entries from each woman (nurse, midwife, sisters, and refugee), we learn secrets of love, devotion, and deceit. Not everyone is who they seem at first and there is tremendous growth in the ladies as they take on the challenge of being a woman only choir during a terrible time of war. They experience laughter, love, and tragedy. I enjoyed how the story was developed thru each of their views. I found that appealing because it makes you image how people really may have felt during that time period. There aren’t too many stories set during World War II that have a comedic type of appeal to them. I was able to more than just the feeling of dread. I was able to laugh with some of these ladies. Although the story is told thru the women, you do get a feel of how the men acted who weren’t at the front fighting and even those who came home to visit from the fighting. Some men were supportive, some were abusive, and there were those who were loving. Being in the choir gave strengths to each of the women that were needed to help them develop as people. Jennifer Ryan’s style of writing made this an enjoyable and easy read. I look forward to reading more from her.