IT’S MONDAY WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Hosted by Kathryn at Bookdate

I was making pretty good progress on my end of summer reading until the end of last week when life outside of blogging became very hectic. I continue to have quite a bit going on so things on the blog and social media may slow down over the next couple weeks. I’m hoping to at least keep up by doing some mini-reviews of these books as well as Throwback Thursday. I have high hopes I can get my reading back on track this week as well.

RECENTLY READ…

Camino Island is my book club’s Sept pick and while I really loved the Florida setting and the heist theme with books as a backdrop, I thought there was quite a bit of fluff and filler in the story.

Castle of Water was a book I was seeing REPEATEDLY raved about on #bookstagram so of course I had to try it and what a fabulous story it ended up being. At under 300 pages I flew through this in one sitting. Don’t pass this by…review coming soon!

Lie to Me almost didn’t even make it onto my radar due to it being a psychological thriller which would’ve been a HUGE mistake on my part. This was one fun, twisty puzzle that I half listened to and half read. The audio narrator is fantastic so if you decide to listen to this one I think you’ll be happy. Yes, it’s being compared to Gone Girl and while very similar in tone I enjoyed this one more! Review coming soon

 

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO…

The Mothers I know this book was very popular last year but I was never inclined to pick it up until the other day when I heard it talked about on the podcast Recommended. I’m about 30% into it and I love the narrator and the story so far.

READING NEXT….

Lightning Men I’m hoping to start this one today as it releases tomorrow! Early reviews are saying this is amazing so I can’t wait to jump in!

What’s on your reading agendas for this week? I hope everyone has a great reading week!

 

 

IT’S MONDAY WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Hosted by Kathryn at Bookdate

Last week was another pretty great reading week and I managed to finish reading two books and listening to one. I’ve been more in the mood to read rather than write reviews so I’m playing around with a shorter review style, possible changing them up with different formats as well. I’ve got so many books on my fall TBR that in order to get to them all and be able to share my thoughts, I think review writing changes need to be made.

RECENTLY READ & LISTENED TO….

According to a Source  was one of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to. The story was just plain fun and the narrator was fantastic! If you’re at all interested in the behind the scenes workings of celebrity gossip this is the book for you.

 The Heart’s Invisible Furies was my complete obsession Thurs through Sat. night. At almost 600 pages, I finished it in 2 1/2 days and am now left with a very large book hangover. I laughed and I cried and I almost have no words for the amazement of this book….hopefully I can find some soon and get a review up! What I can say is this book may have edged out The Force for my top read of 2017 so far!

Gone to Dust was a much anticipated read for me after I read the preview excerpt on Netgalley. In the end, I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would but in fairness to the story, I read this yesterday while in the midst of my full on book hangover from The Heart’s Invisible Furries. No book was probably going to live up to that one the day after! I hope to have a full review up soon.

 

CURRENTLY READING…..

I started this late last night so I haven’t gotten too far but I’m loving the setting (Venice) and the action and intrigue. I’ve never read a book by either Catherine Coulter or J. T. Ellison so I’m looking forward to seeing what makes them both so popular. I’ll be having a giveaway for this one when I put up my review (hopefully around the end of this month) so don’t forget to check back for that!

 

UPCOMING READING POSSIBILITIES…..

The Salt Line is an out of my comfort zone pick but I loved the idea of a literary dystopian survivalist story with a murderous plot! Sounds intriguing.

The Saboteur  caught my eye because it’s a historical thriller which I don’t read a lot of and it’s based on a true story. I think I read somewhere that it’s a Jason Bourne type character set in the WWII time frame. I haven’t read anything by Andrew Gross so I’m curious to see how this goes.

Have you read any of these or have any interest in doing so?

Have a wonderful reading week! 

 

IT’S MONDAY WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Hosted by Kathryn at Bookdate

I have to say, I think last week was a great reading week overall. I finished 2 books which may not seem like a lot but since one was almost 600 pages, I’m happy! I started several others last week searching for something that would draw me in within the first several pages…this is curse of being a picky mood reader….and I would say the book that most drew me in was Tennison by Lyndia Laplante. I was fully prepared to keep reading this tome (about 600 pages) but then my approval for a much anticipated new release (see below) came through on Edelweiss so I dropped everything to read that one. I will absolutely return to Tennison though, I was really liking Jane. Also, the third book in this series releases in the US in Sept. so I need to get reading to be caught up with the series.

RECENTLY READ…

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter was the book that I dropped everything else for last week! This standalone mystery/thriller was fantastic and if you missed my review you can read it here.

Blind Side by Jennie Ensor is touted as a psychological thriller which at first made me hesitant due to my not having the best luck with that genre lately but I found this to be more a combination romantic/political suspense which I was very pleasantly surprised by…my review will be coming soon.

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO….

According to a Source by Abby Stern is proving to be one of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to since YOU by Caroline Kepnes, narrated by Santino Fontana. For me, the narrator makes ALL the difference and Therese Plummer is amazing. Plus, I’m a People Magazine & Entertainment Weekly junkie so this book is just plain fun! I have to thank Susie at Novel Visits for sharing this audiobook with me via Audible…I owe you one Susie:)

CURRENTLY READING….

I just started this last night so it’s early but so far the story has really drew me in…it’s creepy yet action filled in the first few pages and this book is getting lots of great reviews so I’m excited to see how it progresses. (Published Aug.1)

UPCOMING POSSIBILITES….

I’ve read the preview excerpt of Gone To Dust (Netgalley) and it’s SO good…witty and atmospheric! I’m dying to get my hands on this one when it releases tomorrow...it’s by a writer of the tv show Seinfeld AND as my good friend Joe from  BookReporter.com said..”It’s an ACTUAL mystery!” All of us die hard mystery lovers can appreciate this excitement! I’m also super excited to read John Boyne as well(another new to me author)…plus I want to get back to Tennison…is it possible I can completely shut out everything else and read ALL of these this week?? I’d sure like to try! I hope you all have a wonderful reading week and be sure to let me know what’s on your must-read lists this week…

HAPPY READING!

 

IT’S MONDAY WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Hosted by Kathryn at Bookdate

I had an interesting reading week last week, finishing 3 books…one that was ok, one I didn’t like at all and one that I enjoyed so much I REALLY needed at least 50 more pages from the author! All in all, I’m feeling much more positive about all my upcoming reads as I’ve gotten some potentially great upcoming netgalley reads along with a phenomenol library haul this past week. On the movie front, we saw Girl’s Trip which I absolutely loved and even my husband, who resisted my movie choice, said he liked it!

RECENTLY READ….

The Wife, The Maid and The Mistress was my Throwback Thursday pick last week and although it was an interesting story and I liked the characters, it overall didn’t blow me away.

Fierce Kingdom was a spur of the moment pick based on some super positive reviews and my curiosity about a thriller set in a zoo. There were several pivotal plot occurrences that made this story SO unbelievable and were so distracting that I ended up completely disengaging from the story. This just didn’t work for me

Young Jane Young was the breath of fresh air that I desperately needed. I was really looking forward to this one after loving The Storied Life of AJ Fikrey so much and while I don’t think it’s quite as good or as moving as that one, this was still a really great story. In fact, If I could beg the author for at least 50 more pages I would!

TRIED BUT PUT BACK DOWN…

I can’t tell you how long I’ve been waiting for approval for this book, so when I finally got it on Edelweiss Friday I was so happy. I requested it based on the fact that I read 1 comment on Goodreads that compared it to A Little Life and I just had to have it. Twenty or so pages in, I wasn’t prepared for the darkness of the story and the detailed child sexual abuse that occurs and felt that I don’t want to continue with it at this time. I may revisit this one.

UP NEXT….

Yesterday is one of my top library picks this week and has such an original murder mystery premise that I’m so interested to see how it plays out

Tennison is a recent purchase that I knew I just had to buy after my friend Annie’s awesome review . This seems like a really compelling mystery story and it’s the first book in the series which I think only has 3 books as of now. Plenty of time to catch up on this one!

How was your reading week? Have you tried or want to try any of these?    

 

 

 

IT’S MONDAY WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Hosted by Kathryn at Bookdate

Last week found me struggling yet again with my reading mood swings. Sometimes I think I’m in the mood for a particular book or genre but then I find myself unable to connect for one reason or another.  Does anyone else struggle with being a mood reader? How do you handle it? I thought I’d turn to tv for something different but I didn’t really find anything other than my absolute fav YOUNGER & The Bachelorette (totally boring last week IMO). Movie wise, we watched Baby Driver which was SO weird yet really good! I was able to actually read 1 book last week (I told you…it’s a bad slump), after trying and discarding several:(

RECENTLY READ…

Hum if You Don’t Know the Words Perfect for readers of The Secret Life of Bees and The Help, a perceptive and searing look at Apartheid-era South Africa, told through one unique family brought together by tragedy. I was drawn in by the comparison to The Help and this book totally delivered; it wasn’t the same storyline but evoked similar feelings in me. This was an atmospheric novel that I’d describe as part coming of age, part mystery, part drama and all around great read. Review coming later this week

TRIED BUT COULDN’T GET INTO…..

As I said, it was a long week for trying and not connecting with several books. I know I’ll return to The Fallen I think the pace was just too slow to start for me. As for the others, I probably won’t return to any.  I was pretty bored with the story and/or characters in all 3 and also couldn’t suspend my disbelief enough to keep going with The Marriage Pact.

CURRENTLY READING…

 

The Cartel  a gripping, true-to-life, ripped-from-the-headlines epic story of power, corruption, revenge, and justice spanning the past decade of the Mexican-American drug wars. I decided to dive back into my past tbr and give the shiny new releases a short break. Since I’m on a Don Winslow kick after loving The Force, I jumped right into The Cartel and I have to say I’m loving this saga pitting a DEA agent against the leader of a drug cartel. Suspenseful reading!

 

CURRENTLY LISTENING TO….

 

The Jealous Kind  An atmospheric, coming-of-age story set in 1952 Texas as the Korea War rages. On its surface, life in Houston is as you would expect: drive-in restaurants, souped-up cars, jukeboxes, teenagers discovering their sexuality. But beneath the glitz and superficial normalcy, a class war has begun, and it is nothing like the conventional portrayal of the decade. Will Patton narrates this story and he’s truly one of the best narrators I’ve heard. I love having a great audiobook going for walking the dog, driving, house projects etc. and I’m really liking this one

 

WHAT I MIGHT READ NEXT….

Safe   Ricky Mendoza Jr. is trying to make good. As a teenager, he was a ruthless gangbanger, addict, and killer until he got out and met Rose. As an adult, in recovery and working as a safecracker for the DEA, Ghost is determined to live “clean” to honor Rose’s memory—until he stumbles upon an opportunity to repay the debts of his past. Clearly I’m in a crime thriller mood:)

This is How It Always Is   This is how a family keeps a secret…and how that secret ends up keeping them.  This is how a family lives happily ever after…until happily ever after becomes complicated.  This is how children change…and then change the world.
This is how a family lives happily ever after…until happily ever after becomes complicated. This just came in at the library, I’ve heard great things about it!

Holding  Graham Norton’s masterful debut is an intelligently crafted story of love, secrets and loss. I’m really curious about this one, especially the love and secrets part.

What are YOU reading this week? 

Here’s hoping I can get through more than 1 book this week! Wish me luck. I hope you have a fantastic reading week!