deep220 Challenge Categories
Converses2015 Category Challenge
Afegeix-te a LibraryThing per participar.
Aquest tema està marcat com "inactiu": L'últim missatge és de fa més de 90 dies. Podeu revifar-lo enviant una resposta.
1deep220
Jan 1st TBR #
I have never been able to read 10 books a month but I really want to push myself. This is going to be the largest number of books I have ever put as a target.
Wish me luck!
The Categories:
1. Massive Tome -Any Door stop on the shelf
2. History
3. Biography
4. 1001 Books to Read Before You Die
5. Horror
6. Romance
7. Farming/ Self Sufficiency
8. Paranormal
9. Horror
10. Historical
11. Ficiton
12. Mystery
13. Adventure
14. Shinny Baubles
15. MTR
Alphabet Challenge:
A. Artic Drift by Clive Cussler
B. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
C. The Carriage House by Carla Neggers
D. Drood by Dan Simmons
E.
F. Far Away Home by Susan Denning
G. Green Lake by S.K. Epperson
H. The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
I. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
J. Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food by Jamie Oliver
K.
L. Lonewolf's Woman by Deborah Camp
M. Maude by Donna Foley Mabry
N. Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
O. One Pot by Food Love
P. The Passage by Justin Cronin
Q.
R.
S. So We Bought the Farm by Steve Riddle
T. To The Grave by Steve Robinson
U.
V.
W. Winter Study by Nevada Barr
X.
Y.
Z. Zero Hour by Clive Cussler
I have never been able to read 10 books a month but I really want to push myself. This is going to be the largest number of books I have ever put as a target.
Wish me luck!
The Categories:
1. Massive Tome -Any Door stop on the shelf
2. History
3. Biography
4. 1001 Books to Read Before You Die
5. Horror
6. Romance
7. Farming/ Self Sufficiency
8. Paranormal
9. Horror
10. Historical
11. Ficiton
12. Mystery
13. Adventure
14. Shinny Baubles
15. MTR
Alphabet Challenge:
A. Artic Drift by Clive Cussler
B. The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
C. The Carriage House by Carla Neggers
D. Drood by Dan Simmons
E.
F. Far Away Home by Susan Denning
G. Green Lake by S.K. Epperson
H. The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
I. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
J. Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food by Jamie Oliver
K.
L. Lonewolf's Woman by Deborah Camp
M. Maude by Donna Foley Mabry
N. Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
O. One Pot by Food Love
P. The Passage by Justin Cronin
Q.
R.
S. So We Bought the Farm by Steve Riddle
T. To The Grave by Steve Robinson
U.
V.
W. Winter Study by Nevada Barr
X.
Y.
Z. Zero Hour by Clive Cussler
4deep220
3. Biographies
1. Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen
2.The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad 6/2
3.Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie Leduff
1. Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen
2.
3.
5deep220
4. 1001 books to read
1.Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
2. Quicksand and Passing by Nella Larsen
3. Cry, the beloved country by Alan paton
4.In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 2/12/2015
1.
2. Quicksand and Passing by Nella Larsen
3. Cry, the beloved country by Alan paton
4.
6deep220
5. Horror-
1.Nightmare by S.K. Epperson
2.Graveminder by Melissa Marr
3.Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
4.Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
5.Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
7deep220
6. Romance
1.The Write Man for her by Christine Walker Bos
2.The Carriage House by Carla Neggers 3/25/2015
3.The Harvard Hottie by Annabell Costa
4.Long Time Coming by Edie Claire
5.Always Faithful, Always Yours by Lorraine Britt
6.Highland Stone by Sloan McBride
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
8deep220
7. Farming/ Homesteading
1.So we bought the farm by Steve Riddle 1/2
2.5 Acres & a Dream by Leigh Tate
3.The Five-Years Guide to Self-Sufficiency: A Simple Life Made Simpler by Amelia Barrows
4.Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart
5.
6.
7.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
9deep220
8. Paranormal
1.Beyond the Veil by Quinn Loftis
2.Out of the Darkness The grey wolves series by Quinn Loftis
3.Just One Drop by Quinn Loftis
4.Prince of Wolves by Quinn Loftis
5.Blood Rites by Quinn Loftis
6.Spooky Michigan by S. E. Schlosser
7.The First Book of Demons by Raquel Dove 2/9/2015
8.Leopard Moon by Jeannette Battista
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
10deep220
9. Cookbooks
1.One Pot by Parragon Books 1/5
2.Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food by Jamie Oliver 2/17
3.Food and Wine Annual 2011 by Editors of Food & Wine
4.At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen by Amy Chaplin
5.But I could never go Vegan by Kristy Turner
6.The Best of Cooking Light Everyday Favorites
7.Meatless by Martha Stewart Living
8.Real Simple Easy, Delicious Home Cooking
9.The Complete Mexican, South American and Caribbean Cookbook by Jane Milton
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
11deep220
10. Historical fiction
1.The Looking Glass byRichard Paul Evans
2.Drood by Dan Simmons 3/15/2015
3.Outlander by Diana Gabaldon 7/6
4.The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
5.The Legend of the Bloodstone by E.B. Brown
6.Girl in Hyacinth Blue by Susan Vreeland
7.Montana Star by Deann Smallwood
8. Lonewolf's Woman by Deborah Camp 1/18
9.Far Away Home by Susan Denning 1/20
10.A Lantern in the Window by Bobby Hutchinson 1/25
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
12deep220
11. Fiction
1.The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James 1/24
2.The Husbands Secret by Liane Moriarty 1/31
3. The Godson by Leo Tolstoy1/26
4.Cauldstane by Linda Gillard
5.Time and Again by Deborah Heal
6.Maude by Donna Foley Mabry 5/27
7.The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
8.The Ladies Room by Carolyn Brown
9.Confessions of an Ugly Girl by Alice Wasser
10.Daughters of the Dragon by William Andrews
11 .
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11 .
13deep220
12. Mystery
1.Green Lake by S.K. Epperson 1/1
2.5th Horseman by James Patterson 4/6
3.Dark Places by Gillian Flynn 4/22
4.Dead Sleep by Greg Iles 4/27
5.An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell5/21
6.Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman
7.What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
8.Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid
9.
10.
11.
12.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
14deep220
13. Adventure
1.Troll Mountain by Matthew Reilly 1/1
2.The Striker by Clive Cussler 1/16
3.Zero Hour by Clive Cussler1/30
4.Sea Hunter by Paul Garrison 5/21
5.White Death by Clive Cussler
6.Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler
7.Ghost Ship by Clive Cussler
8. Deep 6 by Clive Cussler
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8. Deep 6 by Clive Cussler
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
15deep220
14. Shiny Baubles
1.Death's Excellent Vacation by Charlaine Harris
2.To Each Her Own by Molly Mirren
3.Talking Pictures by Ransom Riggs
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
16deep220
15. MT TBR
1.Immortal Words by Terry Breverton 2/16/2015
2.Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs
3.Brida by Paulo Coelho 4/2/2015
4.Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
5.Death Factory by Greg Iles
6.To the grave by Steven Robinson
7.Swamp Bones by Kathy Reichs 7/13
8.Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher 5/14
9.Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans 4/3
10Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
18DeltaQueen50
Great to see you here, Jenn. Good luck with your increased target.
23deep220
Book 1
Green Lake by S. K Epperson
5 of 5 stars
Can't really say why I loved this read as much as I did. Other than I really liked the characters. I was really interested in the relationships that were developing, not a lot of twist or turns but the book flows nicely.
Amazon book description:
The suicide of Madeleine Heron’s husband leaves her at her sister’s lake house for the summer, until she can ‘sort things out’ for herself and find a new direction, but life in the lake community is anything but conducive to calm; right away a three year old girl goes missing from the dam, Madeleine is nearly assaulted when her truck breaks down, and she discovers her neighbors have an affinity for digging holes and burying things in their yard, usually things they find floating in the lake, like a hand, or an arm… Native American conservation officer Eris Renard appears to be the only sane person around, and without warning Madeleine finds herself falling for him, but he’s an adopted Indian who’s just found his birth mother, a famous artist who hates Madeleine.
Green Lake by S. K Epperson
5 of 5 stars
Can't really say why I loved this read as much as I did. Other than I really liked the characters. I was really interested in the relationships that were developing, not a lot of twist or turns but the book flows nicely.
Amazon book description:
The suicide of Madeleine Heron’s husband leaves her at her sister’s lake house for the summer, until she can ‘sort things out’ for herself and find a new direction, but life in the lake community is anything but conducive to calm; right away a three year old girl goes missing from the dam, Madeleine is nearly assaulted when her truck breaks down, and she discovers her neighbors have an affinity for digging holes and burying things in their yard, usually things they find floating in the lake, like a hand, or an arm… Native American conservation officer Eris Renard appears to be the only sane person around, and without warning Madeleine finds herself falling for him, but he’s an adopted Indian who’s just found his birth mother, a famous artist who hates Madeleine.
24deep220
Book 2
Troll Mountain by Matthew Reilly
1 of 5 stars
Love Matthew Reilly- This was a free download to introduce this series... don't think I will read the additional episodes.
Amazon description
A dauntless young hero.
An army of brutal monsters.
An impossible quest.
Journey to the mountain ...
In an isolated valley, a small tribe of humans is dying from a terrible illness.
There are rumors, however, that the trolls of Troll Mountain, the valley's fearsome overlords, have found a cure for the illness: a fabulous elixir.
When his sister is struck down by the disease and his tribal leaders refuse to help him, an intrepid youth named Raf decides to defy his tribe and do the unthinkable: he will journey alone to Troll Mountain and steal the elixir from the dreaded trolls.
But to get to Troll Mountain, Raf will have to pass through dangerous swamps and haunting forests filled with wolves, hobgoblins and, worst of all, the ever-present danger of rogue trolls ...
The journey to the mountain has begun.
IN THIS, THE FIRST OF THREE SERIALIZED EPISODES, MATTHEW REILLY TAKES YOU ON HIS WILDEST RIDE YET: A HEADLONG QUEST TO THE DARK HEART OF THE KINGDOM OF THE TROLLS.
Troll Mountain by Matthew Reilly
1 of 5 stars
Love Matthew Reilly- This was a free download to introduce this series... don't think I will read the additional episodes.
Amazon description
A dauntless young hero.
An army of brutal monsters.
An impossible quest.
Journey to the mountain ...
In an isolated valley, a small tribe of humans is dying from a terrible illness.
There are rumors, however, that the trolls of Troll Mountain, the valley's fearsome overlords, have found a cure for the illness: a fabulous elixir.
When his sister is struck down by the disease and his tribal leaders refuse to help him, an intrepid youth named Raf decides to defy his tribe and do the unthinkable: he will journey alone to Troll Mountain and steal the elixir from the dreaded trolls.
But to get to Troll Mountain, Raf will have to pass through dangerous swamps and haunting forests filled with wolves, hobgoblins and, worst of all, the ever-present danger of rogue trolls ...
The journey to the mountain has begun.
IN THIS, THE FIRST OF THREE SERIALIZED EPISODES, MATTHEW REILLY TAKES YOU ON HIS WILDEST RIDE YET: A HEADLONG QUEST TO THE DARK HEART OF THE KINGDOM OF THE TROLLS.
25deep220
Book 3
So we bought the farm by Steve Riddle
1 of 5 stars
Ebook
So not very entertaining but also not informational.
So we bought the farm by Steve Riddle
1 of 5 stars
Ebook
So not very entertaining but also not informational.
28deep220
Book 5
The Passage by Justin Cronin
4 of 5 stars
I have been waiting to read this one for some time. With classes I haven't wanted to take on anything over 30-400 pages.
Well worth the wait. Only a couple points in the book that lingered a little to long and my interest started to drift. But the author quickly pulled me back in.
Amazon Description
n epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.
The Passage by Justin Cronin
4 of 5 stars
I have been waiting to read this one for some time. With classes I haven't wanted to take on anything over 30-400 pages.
Well worth the wait. Only a couple points in the book that lingered a little to long and my interest started to drift. But the author quickly pulled me back in.
Amazon Description
n epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.
29LittleTaiko
One of these days I will finally read The Passage, in fact I think I have it slated for one of the months in the SFF challenge. Your review haws helped me look forward to reading it a bit more.
31DeltaQueen50
I loved The Passage when I read it last year and have been trying to work the next one, The Twelve into my reading schedule but it never quite seems to make it. I am bound and determined to get to it sometime this year!
32deep220
Book 6
The Striker by Clive Cussler
4 of 5 stars
Clive Cussler is one of my go to authors when I am in a mood for a good adventure mystery. Haven't read many in the Bell series. Really like that it is a historical mystery.
From Amazon:
It is 1902, and a bright, inexperienced young man named Isaac Bell, only two years out of his apprenticeship at the Van Dorn Detective Agency, has an urgent message for his boss. Hired to hunt for radical unionist saboteurs in the coal mines, he is witness to a terrible accident that makes him think something else is going on…that provocateurs are at work and bigger stakes are in play.
Little does he know just how big they are.
Given exactly one week to prove his case, Bell quickly finds himself pitted against two of the most ruthless opponents he has ever known—men of staggering ambition and cold-bloodedness who are not about to let some wet-behind-the-ears detective stand in their way.
33lkernagh
I actually bought my copy of The Passage based on Judy's review last year. Great to see you were drawn into the story and found it worth the wait!
34deep220
Book 7
Lonewolf's Woman by Deborah Camp
3 of 5 stars
Didn't really capture my interest but at least moved along enough that I didn't give up. Characters where pretty flat. Not interested is anything else in the series. Probably won't pick up another book by this author.
From Amazon:
Orphaned, penniless, and determined to keep her family together, Elise St. John hastily arranges to marry the half-Apache Missouri landowner, Blade Lonewolf, who has agreed to adopt her younger sister. It is a marriage in name only, intended to make the unconventional adoption acceptable.
But as they try to form a family—a Baltimore debutante who can’t even cook and an outcast Indian whose heart is closed to love—they are beset by needs and desires they never anticipated. Living with Blade becomes a sweet torment.
His vitality awakens Elise in a desire that’s too dangerous to acknowledge—but just as impossible to ignore. For Blade, true love becomes a tantalizing promise held just out of reach. It is only when they are in greatest danger of losing everything that they find the fulfillment of their most splendid dreams.
Lonewolf's Woman by Deborah Camp
3 of 5 stars
Didn't really capture my interest but at least moved along enough that I didn't give up. Characters where pretty flat. Not interested is anything else in the series. Probably won't pick up another book by this author.
From Amazon:
Orphaned, penniless, and determined to keep her family together, Elise St. John hastily arranges to marry the half-Apache Missouri landowner, Blade Lonewolf, who has agreed to adopt her younger sister. It is a marriage in name only, intended to make the unconventional adoption acceptable.
But as they try to form a family—a Baltimore debutante who can’t even cook and an outcast Indian whose heart is closed to love—they are beset by needs and desires they never anticipated. Living with Blade becomes a sweet torment.
His vitality awakens Elise in a desire that’s too dangerous to acknowledge—but just as impossible to ignore. For Blade, true love becomes a tantalizing promise held just out of reach. It is only when they are in greatest danger of losing everything that they find the fulfillment of their most splendid dreams.
35deep220
Book 8
Far Away Home by Susan Denning
2.5 of 5 stars
Did not like this book. Kept with it to the end. Not worth it.
The main character is do depend on the people around her. Although she was written to be intelligent and sassy her dependence on pleasing all the men in her life just made her read as weak. It takes half the book for her to realize she doesn't love a character who is in love with someone else. Yes, you know I love a main character that pines for a man that is in love with someone else. Why do women write women to be so pathetic.
It only rates a two because it did make me cry and I did actually make it to the end of the book. However I wish I hadn't because the ending is horrible.
Amazon Description:
In post-Civil War New York City, sixteen-year-old Aislynn Denehy cannot find a job, she has no place to live and no family to help her. Some might think this is a problem; Aislynn believes it is an opportunity, but she has a lot to learn. No formulaic romance, this well-researched love story depicts life as it truly was for the thousands of women who went west reaching for a new life. Aislynn's journey begins in a New York City tenement and leads her across the frontier to a Utah mining camp where she must cope with the three very different men in her life: smart, solicitous Tim, good-natured, good-guy Johnny and the intense but intriguing Liam Moran. Life in the roughshod camp brings small joys and devastating losses. The novel races through authentic experiences involving historical events until it erupts in an unexpected ending. In today's troubled world, Far Away Home will make you believe no matter how many challenges fate sends your way, the human spirit can triumph.
Far Away Home by Susan Denning
2.5 of 5 stars
Did not like this book. Kept with it to the end. Not worth it.
The main character is do depend on the people around her. Although she was written to be intelligent and sassy her dependence on pleasing all the men in her life just made her read as weak. It takes half the book for her to realize she doesn't love a character who is in love with someone else. Yes, you know I love a main character that pines for a man that is in love with someone else. Why do women write women to be so pathetic.
It only rates a two because it did make me cry and I did actually make it to the end of the book. However I wish I hadn't because the ending is horrible.
Amazon Description:
In post-Civil War New York City, sixteen-year-old Aislynn Denehy cannot find a job, she has no place to live and no family to help her. Some might think this is a problem; Aislynn believes it is an opportunity, but she has a lot to learn. No formulaic romance, this well-researched love story depicts life as it truly was for the thousands of women who went west reaching for a new life. Aislynn's journey begins in a New York City tenement and leads her across the frontier to a Utah mining camp where she must cope with the three very different men in her life: smart, solicitous Tim, good-natured, good-guy Johnny and the intense but intriguing Liam Moran. Life in the roughshod camp brings small joys and devastating losses. The novel races through authentic experiences involving historical events until it erupts in an unexpected ending. In today's troubled world, Far Away Home will make you believe no matter how many challenges fate sends your way, the human spirit can triumph.
36deep220
Book 9
The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
5 of 5 stars
This one took no time at all. I had to know Maddy's story. Team Maddy all the way. A little wicked of me to enjoy reading about her getting her revenge. Characters were interesting enough.
From Amazon:
Sarah Piper's lonely, threadbare existence changes when her temporary agency sends her to assist a ghost hunter. Alistair Gellis-rich, handsome, scarred by World War I, and obsessed with ghosts- has been summoned to investigate the spirit of nineteen-year-old maid Maddy Clare, who is haunting the barn where she committed suicide. Since Maddy hated men in life, it is Sarah's task to confront her in death. Soon Sarah is caught up in a deperate struggle. For Maddy's ghost is real, she's angry, and she has powers that defy all reason. Can Sarah and Alistair's assistant, the rough, unsettling Matthew Ryder, discover who Maddy was, whereshe came from, and what is driving her desire for vengeance-before she destroys them all?
The Haunting of Maddy Clare by Simone St. James
5 of 5 stars
This one took no time at all. I had to know Maddy's story. Team Maddy all the way. A little wicked of me to enjoy reading about her getting her revenge. Characters were interesting enough.
From Amazon:
Sarah Piper's lonely, threadbare existence changes when her temporary agency sends her to assist a ghost hunter. Alistair Gellis-rich, handsome, scarred by World War I, and obsessed with ghosts- has been summoned to investigate the spirit of nineteen-year-old maid Maddy Clare, who is haunting the barn where she committed suicide. Since Maddy hated men in life, it is Sarah's task to confront her in death. Soon Sarah is caught up in a deperate struggle. For Maddy's ghost is real, she's angry, and she has powers that defy all reason. Can Sarah and Alistair's assistant, the rough, unsettling Matthew Ryder, discover who Maddy was, whereshe came from, and what is driving her desire for vengeance-before she destroys them all?
37deep220
book 10
A Lantern in the Window by Bobby Hutchinson
4 of 5 stars
Great little free kindle download. Very quick read, novella. Suprisingly I like the characters.
Amazon Description:
MAIL ORDER BRIDE--A WESTERN PRAIRIE BRIDES ROMANCE
Ever wondered what it might be like to be a mail order bride?
Or the groom, already married to a woman he’s never laid eyes on?
On the Canadian prairies in 1886, having a mail order romance wasn’t unusual. Noah Ferguson desperately needed help on his farm. Annie Tompkins knew she couldn’t go on working in Lazenby’s cotton mill.
˃˃˃ So she’d been a little less than honest in her letters, was that really so terrible?
It was unforgivable, Noah fumed. He’d wanted an older widow, and Annie was a young virgin. But even that wasn’t the full extent of her lies.
Problem is, Noah hasn’t exactly been straight with Annie, either, and his secret has the power to break Annie’s heart.
A Lantern in the Window by Bobby Hutchinson
4 of 5 stars
Great little free kindle download. Very quick read, novella. Suprisingly I like the characters.
Amazon Description:
MAIL ORDER BRIDE--A WESTERN PRAIRIE BRIDES ROMANCE
Ever wondered what it might be like to be a mail order bride?
Or the groom, already married to a woman he’s never laid eyes on?
On the Canadian prairies in 1886, having a mail order romance wasn’t unusual. Noah Ferguson desperately needed help on his farm. Annie Tompkins knew she couldn’t go on working in Lazenby’s cotton mill.
˃˃˃ So she’d been a little less than honest in her letters, was that really so terrible?
It was unforgivable, Noah fumed. He’d wanted an older widow, and Annie was a young virgin. But even that wasn’t the full extent of her lies.
Problem is, Noah hasn’t exactly been straight with Annie, either, and his secret has the power to break Annie’s heart.
38deep220
Book 11
The Godson by Leo Tolstoy
4 of 5 stars
From Amazon:
Tolstoy communicates the teachings of Jesus through brilliantly crafted Russian characters and imaginative stories.
The title story, "The Godson," is an intriguing tale of atonement and obedience as a man deciphers what it means to live a Christian life.
"The Devil's Persistent, but God Is Resistant" powerfully demonstrates how God is greater than the Devil, no matter how cleverly he schemes.
The third story, "The Two Old Men," tells of two friends who begin a journey together to the Holy Land. One is detoured by the needs of a starving family, and the other man makes it to Jerusalem.
Exquisite translations of these stories maintain their original Russian folktale flavor while spotlighting Tolstoy's fervent and thoughtful faith. This collection makes a timeless gift for readers of all ages. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was one of Russia's most celebrated writers and a great moral thinker. Although he is most famous for his two great novels, Western readers today are rediscovering Tolstoy's religious stories and essays
The Godson by Leo Tolstoy
4 of 5 stars
From Amazon:
Tolstoy communicates the teachings of Jesus through brilliantly crafted Russian characters and imaginative stories.
The title story, "The Godson," is an intriguing tale of atonement and obedience as a man deciphers what it means to live a Christian life.
"The Devil's Persistent, but God Is Resistant" powerfully demonstrates how God is greater than the Devil, no matter how cleverly he schemes.
The third story, "The Two Old Men," tells of two friends who begin a journey together to the Holy Land. One is detoured by the needs of a starving family, and the other man makes it to Jerusalem.
Exquisite translations of these stories maintain their original Russian folktale flavor while spotlighting Tolstoy's fervent and thoughtful faith. This collection makes a timeless gift for readers of all ages. Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) was one of Russia's most celebrated writers and a great moral thinker. Although he is most famous for his two great novels, Western readers today are rediscovering Tolstoy's religious stories and essays
39deep220
book 12
Zero Hour by Clive Cussler
4 of 5 stars
When I finally run out of Clive Cussler books I will be so very disappointed. One of my favorite authors to pick up for a nice adventure/ mystery read. Has never really disppointed. Of course all the books follow the same general idea... hero saves world. Don't expect any deviation. Which is good for me because I happen to love hero saves world books.
From Amazon
It is called zero-point energy, and it really exists—a state of energy contained in all matter everywhere, and thus all but unlimited. Nobody has ever found a way to tap into it…until one scientist succeeds. Unfortunately, his intentions are far from noble.
The scientist is determined to avenge himself upon those who have scorned and vilified him, and constructs machines that will use the zero-point energy to unleash an apocalypse of earthquakes and cracks in the Earth’s tectonic plates.
With disaster drawing closer, Kurt Austin and the NUMA team race to find the machines before they’re activated. For if they fail, the world will literally be torn apart
Zero Hour by Clive Cussler
4 of 5 stars
When I finally run out of Clive Cussler books I will be so very disappointed. One of my favorite authors to pick up for a nice adventure/ mystery read. Has never really disppointed. Of course all the books follow the same general idea... hero saves world. Don't expect any deviation. Which is good for me because I happen to love hero saves world books.
From Amazon
It is called zero-point energy, and it really exists—a state of energy contained in all matter everywhere, and thus all but unlimited. Nobody has ever found a way to tap into it…until one scientist succeeds. Unfortunately, his intentions are far from noble.
The scientist is determined to avenge himself upon those who have scorned and vilified him, and constructs machines that will use the zero-point energy to unleash an apocalypse of earthquakes and cracks in the Earth’s tectonic plates.
With disaster drawing closer, Kurt Austin and the NUMA team race to find the machines before they’re activated. For if they fail, the world will literally be torn apart
40deep220
Book 13
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
5 of 5
Loved it.
From Amazon
My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died. . .
Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .
Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
5 of 5
Loved it.
From Amazon
My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died. . .
Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .
Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.
41lkernagh
>40 deep220: - Oooohhhh... 5 out o f 5 and a book about a dark secret being revealed. Sounds good!
42LittleTaiko
>40 deep220: - that was such a good book. Have you read her latest Big, Little, Lies? Just as good I think.
43deep220
>41 lkernagh: Run out and get it.
>42 LittleTaiko: I downloaded it. I am pretty sure it will make it on this year reading list. I am trying to wrap up a couple I started off my shelves first. Create some motivation to clear the dusty ones so that I can reward myself with the new shiny book.
>42 LittleTaiko: I downloaded it. I am pretty sure it will make it on this year reading list. I am trying to wrap up a couple I started off my shelves first. Create some motivation to clear the dusty ones so that I can reward myself with the new shiny book.
44mamzel
>43 deep220: If you wait long enough it will develop it's own virtual dust.
45deep220
Book 14
The First Book of Demons by Raquel Dove
2 of 5 stars
Free kindle download which was good because I wasn't sure if I would really like the demon genre. Not very well written and disjointed in places. I found myself re-reading the previous page to see if I missed something.
Amazon Description
Alexandra’s world is shattered when the only family she has is brutally murdered. A series of strange encounters, and her relentlessly curious nature, lead her into the woods where she meets a destiny that has been chasing her since birth. She is brought into a world of demons that is fraught with turmoil and deadly power struggles. Lord Balthazar, a demon prince trying to hold his new kingdom together, seizes the opportunity, taking her hostage in a bid to gain the power he so badly needs. Alexandra’s strong-willed, defiant personality not only gets her into heaps of trouble, but also manages to gain the unlikely affections of the handsome demon prince that is holding her captive. As time begins to run out for both of them, sacrifices must be made. By the time they realize their true desires, it may be too late
The First Book of Demons by Raquel Dove
2 of 5 stars
Free kindle download which was good because I wasn't sure if I would really like the demon genre. Not very well written and disjointed in places. I found myself re-reading the previous page to see if I missed something.
Amazon Description
Alexandra’s world is shattered when the only family she has is brutally murdered. A series of strange encounters, and her relentlessly curious nature, lead her into the woods where she meets a destiny that has been chasing her since birth. She is brought into a world of demons that is fraught with turmoil and deadly power struggles. Lord Balthazar, a demon prince trying to hold his new kingdom together, seizes the opportunity, taking her hostage in a bid to gain the power he so badly needs. Alexandra’s strong-willed, defiant personality not only gets her into heaps of trouble, but also manages to gain the unlikely affections of the handsome demon prince that is holding her captive. As time begins to run out for both of them, sacrifices must be made. By the time they realize their true desires, it may be too late
46deep220
book 15
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
4 of 5 stars
When I was reading this I was not aware that the book was based on an actual event. (from conversation with others I seem to be the only one not aware of this).
Amazon description:
On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
4 of 5 stars
When I was reading this I was not aware that the book was based on an actual event. (from conversation with others I seem to be the only one not aware of this).
Amazon description:
On November 15, 1959, in the small town of Holcomb, Kansas, four members of the Clutter family were savagely murdered by blasts from a shotgun held a few inches from their faces. There was no apparent motive for the crime, and there were almost no clues.
As Truman Capote reconstructs the murder and the investigation that led to the capture, trial, and execution of the killers, he generates both mesmerizing suspense and astonishing empathy. In Cold Blood is a work that transcends its moment, yielding poignant insights into the nature of American violence
47mamzel
I believe it is regarded as the first example of a true crime novel, too. It stands as a paragon of the genre, too, IMHO.
48deep220
book 16
Immortal Words by Terry breverton
4 of 5 stars
I've been reading these as a one a day for some time. Very interesting.
LT description:
An anthology of history's most memorable, uplifting or thought- provoking quotations from all ages and nations. The texts are drawn not only from the works and words of great writers, thinkers and orators, but also from less well-known sources such as gravestones, book dedications, speeches and political manifestos
Immortal Words by Terry breverton
4 of 5 stars
I've been reading these as a one a day for some time. Very interesting.
LT description:
An anthology of history's most memorable, uplifting or thought- provoking quotations from all ages and nations. The texts are drawn not only from the works and words of great writers, thinkers and orators, but also from less well-known sources such as gravestones, book dedications, speeches and political manifestos
49deep220
I've been working on the Blind Assasin by Margaret Atwood. It hasn't been going well. I feel like I am pulling my teeth trying to get into this book. So.... I am going to put it down for now and try to pick it up another time. Highly disappointed at this point. This one will stay on the shelf for a while more.
50deep220
Book 17
Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food by Jamie Oliver
5 of 5 stars
Oh my goodness. Some of the best looking dishes! This is actually a book I checked out from the library. But I have added it to my amazon wishlist. I am making the superfood salad this week. Just happen to have all the ingredients on hand. Trying to narrow down the dishes I want to make this weekend.
Amazon Description
Jamie's new cookbook brings together 100 ultimate comfort food recipes from around the world. It's all about the dishes that are close to your heart, that put a smile on your face and make you feel happy, loved, safe and secure. Inspired by everything from childhood memories to the changing of the seasons, and taking into account the guilty pleasures and sweet indulgences that everyone enjoys, it's brimming with exciting recipes you'll fall in love with.
Jamie Oliver's Comfort Food by Jamie Oliver
5 of 5 stars
Oh my goodness. Some of the best looking dishes! This is actually a book I checked out from the library. But I have added it to my amazon wishlist. I am making the superfood salad this week. Just happen to have all the ingredients on hand. Trying to narrow down the dishes I want to make this weekend.
Amazon Description
Jamie's new cookbook brings together 100 ultimate comfort food recipes from around the world. It's all about the dishes that are close to your heart, that put a smile on your face and make you feel happy, loved, safe and secure. Inspired by everything from childhood memories to the changing of the seasons, and taking into account the guilty pleasures and sweet indulgences that everyone enjoys, it's brimming with exciting recipes you'll fall in love with.
51mamzel
Jaimie really does have a knack at making cooking fun and adventurous as well as full of love! I'm sure you've seen him on any of his TV series. His style of cooking is such a breath of fresh air after watching competitions where the chefs use long tweezers to place a tiny leaf just so.
52deep220
>51 mamzel: Yes! I love how often he tells you use your hands.
53-Eva-
>50 deep220:
He's a big favorite in my house as well!
He's a big favorite in my house as well!
54deep220
Book 18
Winter Study by Nevada Barr
5 of 5 stars
I love the american parks system. So big surprise that I really enjoy the Anna Pigeon series. A murder mystery set in some of our nations most beautiful places.
Amazon Description:
It is January, and Park Ranger Anna Pigeon is sent to Isle Royale in Lake Superior to learn about managing and understanding wolves, as her home base of Rocky Mountain National Park might soon have its own pack of the magnificent, much- maligned animals. She’s lodging in the island’s bunkhouse with the famed wolf study team, along with two scientists from Homeland Security, who are assessing the study with an eye to opening the park in the winters - an act that would effectively bring an end to the fifty-year project - so that the area can be manned to secure the scrap of border with Canada.
Soon after Anna’s arrival, the wolf packs under observation begin to behave in peculiar ways. Giant wolf prints are found, and Anna spies the form of a great wolf from a surveillance plane. The discovery of wolf scat containing alien DNA leads the group to believe that perhaps a wolf/dog hybrid has been introduced to the island. When a female member of the team is savaged, Anna is convinced she is being stalked, and what was once a beautiful, idyllic refuge becomes a place of unnatural occurrences and danger beyond the ordinary. Alone on an island without electricity or running water, with temperatures hovering around zero both day and night, Anna fights not only for the wolves but for her own survival as well.
Winter Study by Nevada Barr
5 of 5 stars
I love the american parks system. So big surprise that I really enjoy the Anna Pigeon series. A murder mystery set in some of our nations most beautiful places.
Amazon Description:
It is January, and Park Ranger Anna Pigeon is sent to Isle Royale in Lake Superior to learn about managing and understanding wolves, as her home base of Rocky Mountain National Park might soon have its own pack of the magnificent, much- maligned animals. She’s lodging in the island’s bunkhouse with the famed wolf study team, along with two scientists from Homeland Security, who are assessing the study with an eye to opening the park in the winters - an act that would effectively bring an end to the fifty-year project - so that the area can be manned to secure the scrap of border with Canada.
Soon after Anna’s arrival, the wolf packs under observation begin to behave in peculiar ways. Giant wolf prints are found, and Anna spies the form of a great wolf from a surveillance plane. The discovery of wolf scat containing alien DNA leads the group to believe that perhaps a wolf/dog hybrid has been introduced to the island. When a female member of the team is savaged, Anna is convinced she is being stalked, and what was once a beautiful, idyllic refuge becomes a place of unnatural occurrences and danger beyond the ordinary. Alone on an island without electricity or running water, with temperatures hovering around zero both day and night, Anna fights not only for the wolves but for her own survival as well.
55deep220
Book 19
Leopard Moon by Jeanette Battista
3.5 of 5 stars
Not a bad little read. Not good enough to generate any additional interest in the series.
Amazon Description:
How do you disappear when you come from a family of predators?
A wereleopard, Kess is forced to flee her home and family in Miami once her brother's obsession with her turns violent. She runs from city to city, trying to stay one step ahead of the investigators her family has dispatched to bring her home. Kess ends up in the mountains of North Carolina and attracts the attention of Cormac, a young man with a secret of his own. As she attempts to live as normal a life as her were-nature allows, her brother Sek continues to hunt for her. He believes she is the key to revitalizing their weakened clan and is driven to extreme measures to ensure their continued existence. As Kess' relationship with Cormac deepens, Sek closes in, threatening Cormac's life and Kess' freedom.
Leopard Moon by Jeanette Battista
3.5 of 5 stars
Not a bad little read. Not good enough to generate any additional interest in the series.
Amazon Description:
How do you disappear when you come from a family of predators?
A wereleopard, Kess is forced to flee her home and family in Miami once her brother's obsession with her turns violent. She runs from city to city, trying to stay one step ahead of the investigators her family has dispatched to bring her home. Kess ends up in the mountains of North Carolina and attracts the attention of Cormac, a young man with a secret of his own. As she attempts to live as normal a life as her were-nature allows, her brother Sek continues to hunt for her. He believes she is the key to revitalizing their weakened clan and is driven to extreme measures to ensure their continued existence. As Kess' relationship with Cormac deepens, Sek closes in, threatening Cormac's life and Kess' freedom.
56deep220
Book 20
The Ladies Room by Carolyn Brown
5 of 5 stars
Kindle Lending Library
Fantastic read! Loved the characters, the story and the humor. Nice one day read when you want to lose yourself in a quick little story.
Amazon description:
Secrets told in the church ladies' room are supposed to stay in the ladies' room. But that doesn't mean that what Trudy overhears there during her great-aunt Gertrude's funeral won't change the rest of her life.
Trudy has a daughter in the middle of a major rebellion, a two-timing husband who has been cheating for their entire married life, and a mother with Alzheimer's residing in the local nursing home. She doesn't really need a crumbling old house about to fall into nothing but a pile of memories and broken knickknacks.
Billy Lee Tucker, resident oddball in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, lived next door to Gert, and in her will she leaves him the funds to help Trudy remodel the old house. That's fine with Billy Lee, because he's been in love with Trudy since before they started school. And just spending time with her is something he'd never ever allowed himself to dream about.
A beautiful home rises up from the old house on Broadway, and right along with it rises up a relationship. But is Trudy too scarred from what she heard in the ladies' room to see a lovely future with Billy Lee?
The Ladies Room by Carolyn Brown
5 of 5 stars
Kindle Lending Library
Fantastic read! Loved the characters, the story and the humor. Nice one day read when you want to lose yourself in a quick little story.
Amazon description:
Secrets told in the church ladies' room are supposed to stay in the ladies' room. But that doesn't mean that what Trudy overhears there during her great-aunt Gertrude's funeral won't change the rest of her life.
Trudy has a daughter in the middle of a major rebellion, a two-timing husband who has been cheating for their entire married life, and a mother with Alzheimer's residing in the local nursing home. She doesn't really need a crumbling old house about to fall into nothing but a pile of memories and broken knickknacks.
Billy Lee Tucker, resident oddball in Tishomingo, Oklahoma, lived next door to Gert, and in her will she leaves him the funds to help Trudy remodel the old house. That's fine with Billy Lee, because he's been in love with Trudy since before they started school. And just spending time with her is something he'd never ever allowed himself to dream about.
A beautiful home rises up from the old house on Broadway, and right along with it rises up a relationship. But is Trudy too scarred from what she heard in the ladies' room to see a lovely future with Billy Lee?
57deep220
Book 21
To the grave by Steve Robinson
5 of 5 stars
Loved this book! This is my second novel by Steve Robinson and I am addicted. Always have loved novels involving family secrets so can you imagine that I love genealogical mysteries.
Form Amazon:
A curiously dated child’s suitcase arrives, unannounced and unexplained, in a modern-day Washington suburb. A week later, American genealogist Jefferson Tayte is sitting in an English hotel room, staring at the wrong end of a loaded gun.
In his latest journey into the past, Tayte lands in wartime Leicestershire, England. The genealogist had hoped simply to reunite his client with the birth mother she had never met, having no idea she had been adopted. Instead, he uncovers the tale of a young girl and an American serviceman from the US 82nd Airborne, and a stolen wartime love affair that went tragically wrong.
With To the Grave, Steve Robinson confirms his status as a master of the taut and delicately constructed historical thriller.
This is the second book in the Jefferson Tayte mystery series, which begins with In the Blood but can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story.
To the grave by Steve Robinson
5 of 5 stars
Loved this book! This is my second novel by Steve Robinson and I am addicted. Always have loved novels involving family secrets so can you imagine that I love genealogical mysteries.
Form Amazon:
A curiously dated child’s suitcase arrives, unannounced and unexplained, in a modern-day Washington suburb. A week later, American genealogist Jefferson Tayte is sitting in an English hotel room, staring at the wrong end of a loaded gun.
In his latest journey into the past, Tayte lands in wartime Leicestershire, England. The genealogist had hoped simply to reunite his client with the birth mother she had never met, having no idea she had been adopted. Instead, he uncovers the tale of a young girl and an American serviceman from the US 82nd Airborne, and a stolen wartime love affair that went tragically wrong.
With To the Grave, Steve Robinson confirms his status as a master of the taut and delicately constructed historical thriller.
This is the second book in the Jefferson Tayte mystery series, which begins with In the Blood but can be enjoyed as a stand-alone story.
58thornton37814
>57 deep220: I read the first installment of that series. I had problems with the lead sleuth/genealogist who seemed to be in violation of the code of ethics of genealogists. Glad you liked it, but I am not sure I want to read it if he does some of the things he did in the first installment.
59deep220
Book 22
Drood by Dan Simmons
1 of 5 stars
Gave up at the half way mark. Book had potential but mostly the first 400 pages are about the rivarly between Collins and Dickens. The mysterious Drood character and his involvement in Dickens life was very slow moving and not particular dark or mysterious.
Drood by Dan Simmons
1 of 5 stars
Gave up at the half way mark. Book had potential but mostly the first 400 pages are about the rivarly between Collins and Dickens. The mysterious Drood character and his involvement in Dickens life was very slow moving and not particular dark or mysterious.
60lkernagh
Well, I can let you know that you didn't miss much by bailing on Drood a the halfway mark. For me, I really enjoyed the first part of the story, it was when the second half dipped into weirdness that started to bug me.
61deep220
Book 24
The Carriage House by Carla Neggers
3.5 of 5 stars
Very pleasant read. Romantic Mystery. Would definitely read more by this author but not really going to run out and get anything.
Amazon Description:
Fun and a little hard work. That's all Tess Haviland has in mind when Ike Grantham pays her for her graphic design work on the run-down nineteenth-century carriage house on Boston's North Shore.
Then Ike disappears and Tess finds herself with much more than a simple weekend project to get her out of the city. It's not just the rumors that the carriage house is haunted—it's the neighbors: six-year-old Dolly Thorne, her reclusive babysitter, Harley Beckett…and especially Dolly's father, Andrew Thorne, who has his own ideas about why Tess has turned up next door.
62deep220
Book 25
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
4 of 5 stars
Very enjoyable read. I have not followed British History so I was looking forward to the ending. Not knowing how many wives King Henry had. Even so I believe it would have been very enjoyable. The characters were well written.
Description from Amazon:
After the death of his third wife, Jane Seymour, King Henry VIII of England decides to take a new wife, but this time, not for love. The Boleyn Inheritance follows three women whose lives are forever changed because of the king’s decision, as they must balance precariously in an already shaky Tudor Court.
Anne of Cleves is to be married to Henry to form a political alliance, though the rocky relationship she has to the king does not bode well for her or for England.
Katherine Howard is the young, beautiful woman who captures Henry’s eye, even though he is set to marry Anne. Her spirit runs free and her passions run hot—though her affections may not be returned upon the King.
Jane Rochford was married to George Boleyn, and it was her testimony that sent her husband and infamous sister-in-law Anne to their deaths. Throughout the country, her name is known for malice, jealousy, and twisted lust.
The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel drawn tight as a lute string about three women whose positions brought them wealth, admirations, and power, as well as deceit, betrayal, and terror
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
4 of 5 stars
Very enjoyable read. I have not followed British History so I was looking forward to the ending. Not knowing how many wives King Henry had. Even so I believe it would have been very enjoyable. The characters were well written.
Description from Amazon:
After the death of his third wife, Jane Seymour, King Henry VIII of England decides to take a new wife, but this time, not for love. The Boleyn Inheritance follows three women whose lives are forever changed because of the king’s decision, as they must balance precariously in an already shaky Tudor Court.
Anne of Cleves is to be married to Henry to form a political alliance, though the rocky relationship she has to the king does not bode well for her or for England.
Katherine Howard is the young, beautiful woman who captures Henry’s eye, even though he is set to marry Anne. Her spirit runs free and her passions run hot—though her affections may not be returned upon the King.
Jane Rochford was married to George Boleyn, and it was her testimony that sent her husband and infamous sister-in-law Anne to their deaths. Throughout the country, her name is known for malice, jealousy, and twisted lust.
The Boleyn Inheritance is a novel drawn tight as a lute string about three women whose positions brought them wealth, admirations, and power, as well as deceit, betrayal, and terror
63deep220
book 26
Brida by Paulo Coelho
4 of 5 stars
Don't know when I purchase this one- pulled it off my self but didn't have it librarything.
Love Paulo Coelho.
amazon description:
Brida, a young Irish girl, has long been interested in various aspects of magic but is searching for something more. Her search leads her to people of great wisdom. She meets a wise man who dwells in a forest, who teaches her to trust in the goodness of the world, and a woman who teaches her how to dance to the music of the world. As Brida seeks her destiny, she struggles to find a balance between her relationships and her desire to become a witch.
This enthralling novel incorporates themes that fans of Paulo Coelho will recognize and treasure. It is a tale of love, passion, mystery, and spirituality from the master storyteller.
Edit | More
Brida by Paulo Coelho
4 of 5 stars
Don't know when I purchase this one- pulled it off my self but didn't have it librarything.
Love Paulo Coelho.
amazon description:
Brida, a young Irish girl, has long been interested in various aspects of magic but is searching for something more. Her search leads her to people of great wisdom. She meets a wise man who dwells in a forest, who teaches her to trust in the goodness of the world, and a woman who teaches her how to dance to the music of the world. As Brida seeks her destiny, she struggles to find a balance between her relationships and her desire to become a witch.
This enthralling novel incorporates themes that fans of Paulo Coelho will recognize and treasure. It is a tale of love, passion, mystery, and spirituality from the master storyteller.
Edit | More
64deep220
Book 27
Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans
4 of 5 stars
Great book for the lent season. A retelling of the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis.
Amazon Description:
From wonderful storyteller and author of the bestselling phenomenon The Christmas Box comes a holiday novel based on the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors, now available from Encore for a great value!
Joseph Jacobson is the twelfth of thirteen siblings, all of whom are employed by their father’s successful Colorado advertising company. But underneath the success runs a poisonous undercurrent of jealousy; Joseph is his father’s favorite and the focus of his brothers’ envy and hatred. When the father seems ready to anoint Joseph as his heir, the brothers make their move, forcing Joseph from the company and his Denver home, severing his ties to his parents, and ending his relationship with his soon-to-be fianceé. Alone and lonely, Joseph must start a new life.
Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans
4 of 5 stars
Great book for the lent season. A retelling of the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis.
Amazon Description:
From wonderful storyteller and author of the bestselling phenomenon The Christmas Box comes a holiday novel based on the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors, now available from Encore for a great value!
Joseph Jacobson is the twelfth of thirteen siblings, all of whom are employed by their father’s successful Colorado advertising company. But underneath the success runs a poisonous undercurrent of jealousy; Joseph is his father’s favorite and the focus of his brothers’ envy and hatred. When the father seems ready to anoint Joseph as his heir, the brothers make their move, forcing Joseph from the company and his Denver home, severing his ties to his parents, and ending his relationship with his soon-to-be fianceé. Alone and lonely, Joseph must start a new life.
65deep220
Book 27
Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans
4 of 5 stars
Great book for the lent season. A retelling of the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis.
Amazon Description:
From wonderful storyteller and author of the bestselling phenomenon The Christmas Box comes a holiday novel based on the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors, now available from Encore for a great value!
Joseph Jacobson is the twelfth of thirteen siblings, all of whom are employed by their father’s successful Colorado advertising company. But underneath the success runs a poisonous undercurrent of jealousy; Joseph is his father’s favorite and the focus of his brothers’ envy and hatred. When the father seems ready to anoint Joseph as his heir, the brothers make their move, forcing Joseph from the company and his Denver home, severing his ties to his parents, and ending his relationship with his soon-to-be fianceé. Alone and lonely, Joseph must start a new life.
Winter Dream by Richard Paul Evans
4 of 5 stars
Great book for the lent season. A retelling of the story of Joseph from the book of Genesis.
Amazon Description:
From wonderful storyteller and author of the bestselling phenomenon The Christmas Box comes a holiday novel based on the story of Joseph and the coat of many colors, now available from Encore for a great value!
Joseph Jacobson is the twelfth of thirteen siblings, all of whom are employed by their father’s successful Colorado advertising company. But underneath the success runs a poisonous undercurrent of jealousy; Joseph is his father’s favorite and the focus of his brothers’ envy and hatred. When the father seems ready to anoint Joseph as his heir, the brothers make their move, forcing Joseph from the company and his Denver home, severing his ties to his parents, and ending his relationship with his soon-to-be fianceé. Alone and lonely, Joseph must start a new life.
66deep220
Book 28
The 5th Horseman by James Patterson
4 of 5 stars
Really enjoyed this one. It's been a while since I have read a James Patterson, so I forgot home much I liked his mysteries.
Amazon description:
It is a wild race against time as Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer and the newest member of the Women's Murder Club, attorney Yuki Castellano, lead an investigation into a string of mysterious patient deaths--and reveal a hospital administration determined to shield its reputation at all costs. And while the hospital wages an explosive court battle that grips the entire nation, the Women's Murder Club hunts for a merciless killer among its esteemed medical staff. The newest addition to the top selling new mystery series takes the Women's Murder Club to the most terrifying heights of suspense they have yet to encounter.
The 5th Horseman by James Patterson
4 of 5 stars
Really enjoyed this one. It's been a while since I have read a James Patterson, so I forgot home much I liked his mysteries.
Amazon description:
It is a wild race against time as Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer and the newest member of the Women's Murder Club, attorney Yuki Castellano, lead an investigation into a string of mysterious patient deaths--and reveal a hospital administration determined to shield its reputation at all costs. And while the hospital wages an explosive court battle that grips the entire nation, the Women's Murder Club hunts for a merciless killer among its esteemed medical staff. The newest addition to the top selling new mystery series takes the Women's Murder Club to the most terrifying heights of suspense they have yet to encounter.
67deep220
Book 29
The Physick book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
5 of 5 stars
I curled up with this one and didn't want to come back. Didn't want it to end.
Amazon Descriptoin:
A crime lost to time. A secret buried deep. One book unlocks an unimaginable truth.
Salem, Massachusetts, 1681. Fear and suspicion lead a small town to unspeakable acts. Marblehead, Massachusetts, 1991. A young woman is about to discover that she is tied to Salem in ways she never imagined
The Physick book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe
5 of 5 stars
I curled up with this one and didn't want to come back. Didn't want it to end.
Amazon Descriptoin:
A crime lost to time. A secret buried deep. One book unlocks an unimaginable truth.
Salem, Massachusetts, 1681. Fear and suspicion lead a small town to unspeakable acts. Marblehead, Massachusetts, 1991. A young woman is about to discover that she is tied to Salem in ways she never imagined
68Chrischi_HH
>67 deep220: Sounds great, BB taken. :)
69deep220
Book 30
Spooky Michigan by S. E. Schlosser
2 of 5 stars
Even for a young adult these were pretty lame tales.
Amazon Description
Pull up a chair or gather round the campfire and get ready for twenty-five creepy tales of ghostly hauntings, eerie happenings, and other strange occurrences in Michigan. Set in Michigan’s historic towns and sparsely populated backwoods, the stories in this entertaining and compelling collection will have you looking over your shoulder again and again. Michigan folklore is kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser, and in artist Paul Hoffman’s evocative illustrations. You’ll hear otherworldly voices and things that go bump in the night, and feel an icy wind on the back of your neck on a warm summer evening. Whether read around the campfire on a dark and stormy night or from the backseat of the family van on the way to grandma’s, this is a collection to treasure.
Spooky Michigan by S. E. Schlosser
2 of 5 stars
Even for a young adult these were pretty lame tales.
Amazon Description
Pull up a chair or gather round the campfire and get ready for twenty-five creepy tales of ghostly hauntings, eerie happenings, and other strange occurrences in Michigan. Set in Michigan’s historic towns and sparsely populated backwoods, the stories in this entertaining and compelling collection will have you looking over your shoulder again and again. Michigan folklore is kept alive in these expert retellings by master storyteller S. E. Schlosser, and in artist Paul Hoffman’s evocative illustrations. You’ll hear otherworldly voices and things that go bump in the night, and feel an icy wind on the back of your neck on a warm summer evening. Whether read around the campfire on a dark and stormy night or from the backseat of the family van on the way to grandma’s, this is a collection to treasure.
70deep220
Book 31
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
4 of 5 stars
Great book. At first I really didn't like Libby Day's character. However I am glad I stuck with it. She does grow on you after awhile. Then I had to know. Who killed her family. I have not read Gone Girl but given the reviews I will be getting into that one soon.
Amazon Description:
Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
4 of 5 stars
Great book. At first I really didn't like Libby Day's character. However I am glad I stuck with it. She does grow on you after awhile. Then I had to know. Who killed her family. I have not read Gone Girl but given the reviews I will be getting into that one soon.
Amazon Description:
Libby Day was seven when her mother and two sisters were murdered in “The Satan Sacrifice of Kinnakee, Kansas.” She survived—and famously testified that her fifteen-year-old brother, Ben, was the killer. Twenty-five years later, the Kill Club—a secret society obsessed with notorious crimes—locates Libby and pumps her for details. They hope to discover proof that may free Ben. Libby hopes to turn a profit off her tragic history: She’ll reconnect with the players from that night and report her findings to the club—for a fee. As Libby’s search takes her from shabby Missouri strip clubs to abandoned Oklahoma tourist towns, the unimaginable truth emerges, and Libby finds herself right back where she started—on the run from a killer
71deep220
Book 32
Dead Sleep by Greg Iles
4 of 5 stars
This is not my first novel by Greg Iles. Really quick enjoyable read. The plot grabs you right from the beginning and keeps you guessing until the end.
Amazon Description:
An intricate and emotionally resonant story from one of the most versatile thriller writers at work today. Jordan Glass, a photojournalist on a well-earned vacation, wanders into a Hong Kong art museum and is puzzled to find fellow patrons eying her with curiosity. Minutes later, she stumbles upon a gallery containing a one-artist exhibition called "The Sleeping Women," a mysterious series of paintings that has caused a sensation in the world of modern art. Collectors have come to believe that the canvases depict female nudes not in sleep but in death, and they command millions at auction. When Jordan approaches the last work in the series, she freezes. The face in the painting seems to be her own. This unsettling event hurls her back into a nightmare she has fought desperately to put behind her - for, in fact, the face in the painting belongs not to Jordan but to her twin sister, murdered one year ago. At the urging of the FBI, Jordan becomes both hunter and hunted in a duel with the anonymous artist, a gifted murderer who knows the secret history of Jordan's family, and truths that even she has never had the courage to face.
Dead Sleep by Greg Iles
4 of 5 stars
This is not my first novel by Greg Iles. Really quick enjoyable read. The plot grabs you right from the beginning and keeps you guessing until the end.
Amazon Description:
An intricate and emotionally resonant story from one of the most versatile thriller writers at work today. Jordan Glass, a photojournalist on a well-earned vacation, wanders into a Hong Kong art museum and is puzzled to find fellow patrons eying her with curiosity. Minutes later, she stumbles upon a gallery containing a one-artist exhibition called "The Sleeping Women," a mysterious series of paintings that has caused a sensation in the world of modern art. Collectors have come to believe that the canvases depict female nudes not in sleep but in death, and they command millions at auction. When Jordan approaches the last work in the series, she freezes. The face in the painting seems to be her own. This unsettling event hurls her back into a nightmare she has fought desperately to put behind her - for, in fact, the face in the painting belongs not to Jordan but to her twin sister, murdered one year ago. At the urging of the FBI, Jordan becomes both hunter and hunted in a duel with the anonymous artist, a gifted murderer who knows the secret history of Jordan's family, and truths that even she has never had the courage to face.
72deep220
Book 33
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
5 of 5 stars
Should be require reading for young adults. Great book
Amazon description:
Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and crush - who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself-a truth he never wanted to face
Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
5 of 5 stars
Should be require reading for young adults. Great book
Amazon description:
Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker - his classmate and crush - who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah's voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out why. Clay spends the night crisscrossing his town with Hannah as his guide. He becomes a firsthand witness to Hannah's pain, and learns the truth about himself-a truth he never wanted to face
73deep220
Book 34
An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell
2.5 of 5 stars
Amazon Description:
After nearly thirty years in the same job, Inspector Kurt Wallander is tired, restless, and itching to make a change. He is taken with a certain old farmhouse, perfectly situated in a quiet countryside with a charming, overgrown garden. There he finds the skeletal hand of a corpse in a shallow grave. Wallander’s investigation takes him deep into the history of the house and the land, until finally the shocking truth about a long-buried secret is brought to light.
An Event in Autumn by Henning Mankell
2.5 of 5 stars
Amazon Description:
After nearly thirty years in the same job, Inspector Kurt Wallander is tired, restless, and itching to make a change. He is taken with a certain old farmhouse, perfectly situated in a quiet countryside with a charming, overgrown garden. There he finds the skeletal hand of a corpse in a shallow grave. Wallander’s investigation takes him deep into the history of the house and the land, until finally the shocking truth about a long-buried secret is brought to light.
74deep220
Book 35
Sea Hunter by Paul Garrison
Amazon Description:
There is something swimming beneath the placid surface of Caribbean waters -- something sleek and frightening, an inexplicable perversion of the natural order.
Virgin Islands charter captain David Hope has seen it, and his passenger, beautiful renegade filmmaker Sally Moffitt, has captured its image. Now they have something that one man will do anything to possess. William Tree, the commander of a towering high-tech research vessel and scion of one of America's wealthiest, most powerful families, lives his life in single-minded pursuit of a dark and brilliant vision that the world will soon recognize . . . and fear. But Hope and Moffitt cannot trust this amiable, eccentric, and dangerous man. And they intend to keep their secret hidden, even as a nightmare, uncontained, rises up from the depths, setting them off on a breakneck hunt for answers to the greatest and most devastating mystery the seas have ever nurtured.
A mystery that is now, ruthlessly and relentlessly, hunting them . . .
Sea Hunter by Paul Garrison
Amazon Description:
There is something swimming beneath the placid surface of Caribbean waters -- something sleek and frightening, an inexplicable perversion of the natural order.
Virgin Islands charter captain David Hope has seen it, and his passenger, beautiful renegade filmmaker Sally Moffitt, has captured its image. Now they have something that one man will do anything to possess. William Tree, the commander of a towering high-tech research vessel and scion of one of America's wealthiest, most powerful families, lives his life in single-minded pursuit of a dark and brilliant vision that the world will soon recognize . . . and fear. But Hope and Moffitt cannot trust this amiable, eccentric, and dangerous man. And they intend to keep their secret hidden, even as a nightmare, uncontained, rises up from the depths, setting them off on a breakneck hunt for answers to the greatest and most devastating mystery the seas have ever nurtured.
A mystery that is now, ruthlessly and relentlessly, hunting them . . .
75deep220
Book 36
Maude by Donna Foley Mabry
4 of 5 stars
Loved this book! Donna you did your grandmother proud.
Amazon Description
In 1906, I was barely over fourteen years old, and it was my wedding day. My older sister, Helen, came to my room, took me by the hand, and sat me down on the bed. She opened her mouth to say something, but then her face flushed, and she turned her head to look out the window. After a second, she squeezed my hand and looked back in my eyes. She said, “You’ve always been a good girl, Maude, and done what I told you. Now, you’re going to be a married woman, and he will be the head of the house. When you go home tonight after your party, no matter what he wants to do to you, you have to let him do it. Do you understand?”
I didn’t understand, but I nodded my head anyway. It sounded strange to me, the way so many things did. I would do what she told me. I didn’t have a choice, any more than I had a choice in being born
Maude by Donna Foley Mabry
4 of 5 stars
Loved this book! Donna you did your grandmother proud.
Amazon Description
In 1906, I was barely over fourteen years old, and it was my wedding day. My older sister, Helen, came to my room, took me by the hand, and sat me down on the bed. She opened her mouth to say something, but then her face flushed, and she turned her head to look out the window. After a second, she squeezed my hand and looked back in my eyes. She said, “You’ve always been a good girl, Maude, and done what I told you. Now, you’re going to be a married woman, and he will be the head of the house. When you go home tonight after your party, no matter what he wants to do to you, you have to let him do it. Do you understand?”
I didn’t understand, but I nodded my head anyway. It sounded strange to me, the way so many things did. I would do what she told me. I didn’t have a choice, any more than I had a choice in being born
76Chrischi_HH
>75 deep220: Yet another BB. Sounds like my cup of tea.
77deep220
Book 37
White Death by Clive Cussler
4 of 5 stars
What will I do when I run out of Clive Cussler books? Curl up into a despondent ball? Probably
From Barns and Noble:
Hailed as a hero for the new millennium, Austin is the leader of NUMA's Special Assignments Team-and the threat before him now is definitely special. A confrontation between a radical environmentalist group and a Danish cruiser has forced Austin and colleague Joe Zavala to come to the rescue of a shipful of trapped men, but when the two of them investigate further, they discover that something far more sinister is at work.
A shadowy multinational corporation is attempting to wrest control of the very seas themselves-no matter what havoc results, and is killing anyone who attempts to stop them. When Austin's boat blows up and he only barely survives, it seems certain he was supposed to be the next in line to die, but he cannot stop now. For the environmental disaster has already begun, and only he and NUMA stand in the way. . .
White Death by Clive Cussler
4 of 5 stars
What will I do when I run out of Clive Cussler books? Curl up into a despondent ball? Probably
From Barns and Noble:
Hailed as a hero for the new millennium, Austin is the leader of NUMA's Special Assignments Team-and the threat before him now is definitely special. A confrontation between a radical environmentalist group and a Danish cruiser has forced Austin and colleague Joe Zavala to come to the rescue of a shipful of trapped men, but when the two of them investigate further, they discover that something far more sinister is at work.
A shadowy multinational corporation is attempting to wrest control of the very seas themselves-no matter what havoc results, and is killing anyone who attempts to stop them. When Austin's boat blows up and he only barely survives, it seems certain he was supposed to be the next in line to die, but he cannot stop now. For the environmental disaster has already begun, and only he and NUMA stand in the way. . .
78mamzel
I don't think it would be possible to run out of Cussler books since they seem to be published faster than anyone could read them! ;-)
79deep220
Book 38
The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
3.5 of 5 stars
Very interesting. It's always hard to look at another culture that is so strikingly different from your own and really understand it.
Amazon Description:
After living for three months with the Kabul bookseller Sultan Khan in the spring of 2002, Norwegian journalist Seierstad penned this astounding portrait of a nation recovering from war, undergoing political flux and mired in misogyny and poverty. As a Westerner, she has the privilege of traveling between the worlds of men and women, and though the book is ostensibly a portrait of Khan, its real strength is the intimacy and brutal honesty with which it portrays the lives of Afghani living under fundamentalist Islam. Seierstad also expertly outlines Sultan's fight to preserve whatever he can of the literary life of the capital during its numerous decades of warfare (he stashed some 10,000 books in attics around town). Seierstad, though only 31, is a veteran war reporter and a skilled observer; as she hides behind her burqa, the men in the Sultan's family become so comfortable with her presence that she accompanies one of Sultan's sons on a religious pilgrimage and witnesses another buy sex from a beggar girl-then offer her to his brother. This is only one of many equally shocking stories Seierstad uncovers. In another, an adulteress is suffocated by her three brothers as ordered by their mother. Seierstad's visceral account is equally seductive and repulsive and resembles the work of Martha Gellhorn. An international bestseller, it will likely stand as one of the best books of reportage of Afghan life after the fall of the Taliban.
The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
3.5 of 5 stars
Very interesting. It's always hard to look at another culture that is so strikingly different from your own and really understand it.
Amazon Description:
After living for three months with the Kabul bookseller Sultan Khan in the spring of 2002, Norwegian journalist Seierstad penned this astounding portrait of a nation recovering from war, undergoing political flux and mired in misogyny and poverty. As a Westerner, she has the privilege of traveling between the worlds of men and women, and though the book is ostensibly a portrait of Khan, its real strength is the intimacy and brutal honesty with which it portrays the lives of Afghani living under fundamentalist Islam. Seierstad also expertly outlines Sultan's fight to preserve whatever he can of the literary life of the capital during its numerous decades of warfare (he stashed some 10,000 books in attics around town). Seierstad, though only 31, is a veteran war reporter and a skilled observer; as she hides behind her burqa, the men in the Sultan's family become so comfortable with her presence that she accompanies one of Sultan's sons on a religious pilgrimage and witnesses another buy sex from a beggar girl-then offer her to his brother. This is only one of many equally shocking stories Seierstad uncovers. In another, an adulteress is suffocated by her three brothers as ordered by their mother. Seierstad's visceral account is equally seductive and repulsive and resembles the work of Martha Gellhorn. An international bestseller, it will likely stand as one of the best books of reportage of Afghan life after the fall of the Taliban.
80deep220
Book 39
5 acres & a dream by Leigh Tate
5 of 5 stars
Great book! I love reading stories from other people that were able to make a move back to living closer with the land.
Amazon Description:
Based on her popular homesteading blog, 5 Acres & A Dream, Leigh Tate shares how she and her husband Dan are facing the challenges of trying to establish a self-sufficient homestead; from defining their dream, finding property, and setting priorities, to obstacles and difficult times, to learning how to work smarter, not harder. She shares what they've learned about energy self-sufficiency, water self-sufficiency, and food self-sufficiency for themselves and their goats and chickens too. Included are copies of their homestead master plan plus revisions, homegrown vitamins and minerals for goats, and several of Leigh's favorite homestead recipes
5 acres & a dream by Leigh Tate
5 of 5 stars
Great book! I love reading stories from other people that were able to make a move back to living closer with the land.
Amazon Description:
Based on her popular homesteading blog, 5 Acres & A Dream, Leigh Tate shares how she and her husband Dan are facing the challenges of trying to establish a self-sufficient homestead; from defining their dream, finding property, and setting priorities, to obstacles and difficult times, to learning how to work smarter, not harder. She shares what they've learned about energy self-sufficiency, water self-sufficiency, and food self-sufficiency for themselves and their goats and chickens too. Included are copies of their homestead master plan plus revisions, homegrown vitamins and minerals for goats, and several of Leigh's favorite homestead recipes
81lkernagh
Nice batch of reading. Making a note of 5 acres & a dream. I am rather fascinated with the self-sufficiency idea (although I am no where near even thinking about attempting something like this myself!).
82deep220
Book 40
Graveminder by Melissa Marr
3.5 of 5 stars
Good quick read. Not sure that I would hold onto this one.
Amazon Description
Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville. While growing up, Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual at every funeral: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words, “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.”
Now Maylene is gone and Bek must return to the hometown—and the man—she abandoned a decade ago, only to discover that Maylene’s death was not natural . . . and there was good reason for her odd traditions. In Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected—and beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D. From this dark place the deceased will return if their graves are not properly minded. And only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk. . . .
Graveminder by Melissa Marr
3.5 of 5 stars
Good quick read. Not sure that I would hold onto this one.
Amazon Description
Rebekkah Barrow never forgot the tender attention her grandmother, Maylene, bestowed upon the dead of Claysville. While growing up, Rebekkah watched as Maylene performed the same unusual ritual at every funeral: three sips from a small silver flask followed by the words, “Sleep well, and stay where I put you.”
Now Maylene is gone and Bek must return to the hometown—and the man—she abandoned a decade ago, only to discover that Maylene’s death was not natural . . . and there was good reason for her odd traditions. In Claysville, the worlds of the living and the dead are dangerously connected—and beneath the town lies a shadowy, lawless land ruled by the enigmatic Charles, aka Mr. D. From this dark place the deceased will return if their graves are not properly minded. And only the Graveminder, a Barrow woman, and the current Undertaker, Byron, can set things to right once the dead begin to walk. . . .
83deep220
Book 41
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
5 of 5 stars
A re-read. Love this book and series. Just watched part one of season one. Which prompted the re-reading. Oh Claire and Jamie.
Amazon Description:
The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord . . . 1743.
Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
5 of 5 stars
A re-read. Love this book and series. Just watched part one of season one. Which prompted the re-reading. Oh Claire and Jamie.
Amazon Description:
The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord . . . 1743.
Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
85deep220
Book 43
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
2 of 5 stars
Couldn't finish. The story itself was a very good read however all the English slang soon made it a chore to read. So done for now (possible ever) and on to the next. I will hold onto the book for a couple years just in case I want to give it another shot.
Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
2 of 5 stars
Couldn't finish. The story itself was a very good read however all the English slang soon made it a chore to read. So done for now (possible ever) and on to the next. I will hold onto the book for a couple years just in case I want to give it another shot.
86lkernagh
Ha... I have been avoiding watching the Outlander series for that very reason! As much as I enjoyed my summer marathon read through of the first four books in the series some years ago, I am not up for a re-read. Not right now, anyways. :-)
87deep220
Book 44
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
4 of 5 stars
Very good book. I think this is my first Dean Koontz book. I would really say it was spooky but I loved the plot. Definitely looking forward to others in the series.
Amazon Description
“The dead don’t talk. I don’t know why.” But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Meet Odd Thomas, the unassuming young hero of Dean Koontz’s dazzling New York Times bestseller, a gallant sentinel at the crossroads of life and death who offers up his heart in these pages and will forever capture yours.
Sometimes the silent souls who seek out Odd want justice. Occasionally their otherworldly tips help him prevent a crime. But this time it’s different. A stranger comes to Pico Mundo, accompanied by a horde of hyena-like shades who herald an imminent catastrophe. Aided by his soul mate, Stormy Llewellyn, and an unlikely community of allies that includes the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, Odd will race against time to thwart the gathering evil. His account of these shattering hours, in which past and present, fate and destiny, converge, is a testament by which to live—an unforgettable fable for our time destined to rank among Dean Koontz’s most enduring works.
Odd Thomas by Dean Koontz
4 of 5 stars
Very good book. I think this is my first Dean Koontz book. I would really say it was spooky but I loved the plot. Definitely looking forward to others in the series.
Amazon Description
“The dead don’t talk. I don’t know why.” But they do try to communicate, with a short-order cook in a small desert town serving as their reluctant confidant. Meet Odd Thomas, the unassuming young hero of Dean Koontz’s dazzling New York Times bestseller, a gallant sentinel at the crossroads of life and death who offers up his heart in these pages and will forever capture yours.
Sometimes the silent souls who seek out Odd want justice. Occasionally their otherworldly tips help him prevent a crime. But this time it’s different. A stranger comes to Pico Mundo, accompanied by a horde of hyena-like shades who herald an imminent catastrophe. Aided by his soul mate, Stormy Llewellyn, and an unlikely community of allies that includes the King of Rock ’n’ Roll, Odd will race against time to thwart the gathering evil. His account of these shattering hours, in which past and present, fate and destiny, converge, is a testament by which to live—an unforgettable fable for our time destined to rank among Dean Koontz’s most enduring works.
88deep220
book 45
Swamp Bones by Kathy Reichs
4 of 5 stars
Okay so I love Kathy Reichs. These little novellas are great at keeping my withdrawals between novels at bay. Always looking forward to the next in the series.
Amazon Description:
Although a trip to Florida is supposed to be about rest and relaxation, there’s no such thing as a day off for Dr. Temperance Brennan. She has come to visit her friend, a dedicated ornithologist who’s researching the threat that intrusive Burmese pythons pose to indigenous bird species in the Everglades. While sorting through the stomach of an eighteen-foot specimen, they make a disturbing discovery: bones that are unmistakably human. And when Tempe spots the telltale signs of murder by a very different kind of predator, she’s drawn into a case with its roots in the darkest depths of the swamp.
Swamp Bones by Kathy Reichs
4 of 5 stars
Okay so I love Kathy Reichs. These little novellas are great at keeping my withdrawals between novels at bay. Always looking forward to the next in the series.
Amazon Description:
Although a trip to Florida is supposed to be about rest and relaxation, there’s no such thing as a day off for Dr. Temperance Brennan. She has come to visit her friend, a dedicated ornithologist who’s researching the threat that intrusive Burmese pythons pose to indigenous bird species in the Everglades. While sorting through the stomach of an eighteen-foot specimen, they make a disturbing discovery: bones that are unmistakably human. And when Tempe spots the telltale signs of murder by a very different kind of predator, she’s drawn into a case with its roots in the darkest depths of the swamp.
89staci426
>87 deep220: I just started Odd Thomas today. Glad to see a positive review. This is my first Koontz as well and so far I'm enjoying it.
90mathgirl40
>73 deep220: I'm debating whether I ought to read An Event in Autumn. It's the only Wallander mystery I've not read yet, but I've seen mixed reviews, consistent with your rating of it. I just finished The Troubled Man which concludes the series very nicely, so I wonder if I should leave it at that.
91deep220
>90 mathgirl40: Well mathgirl40, I have to say I had to go back and look the book up because even through I read it 2 months ago I already forgot what it was about. It was pretty lackluster.
92deep220
book 46
The write man for her by Christie Walker Bos
4 of 5 books
Great little read.
Amazon Description:
Work, work, work. That's how Jessica Anne Singer has dealt with the loneliness since her divorce. Except for her squawky cockatiel, Merlin, Jessica hasn't had a date in years, but all that's about to end. Jessica's best friend, Cath, has decided that Jessica needs to meet her dreamy online professor, Brant Wilson. Creative writing professor Brant Wilson is intrigued by one of his online students, Jessica Singer. She seems more worldly than most of his students and has a penchant for arguing with him over just about everything, which he finds oddly enjoyable. But when she asks to meet with him in person to discuss her grades he immediately refuses. He never meets with his students face-to-face. Never. Undeterred, Cath hatches a harebrained plan to find the reclusive professor. When the plan actually works, Jessica uncovers the real reason the professor doesn't meet with his students. Stunned by her discovery, Jessica must decide if she'll listen to her head or her heart when it comes to determining if Professor Brant Wilson is the right man for her
The write man for her by Christie Walker Bos
4 of 5 books
Great little read.
Amazon Description:
Work, work, work. That's how Jessica Anne Singer has dealt with the loneliness since her divorce. Except for her squawky cockatiel, Merlin, Jessica hasn't had a date in years, but all that's about to end. Jessica's best friend, Cath, has decided that Jessica needs to meet her dreamy online professor, Brant Wilson. Creative writing professor Brant Wilson is intrigued by one of his online students, Jessica Singer. She seems more worldly than most of his students and has a penchant for arguing with him over just about everything, which he finds oddly enjoyable. But when she asks to meet with him in person to discuss her grades he immediately refuses. He never meets with his students face-to-face. Never. Undeterred, Cath hatches a harebrained plan to find the reclusive professor. When the plan actually works, Jessica uncovers the real reason the professor doesn't meet with his students. Stunned by her discovery, Jessica must decide if she'll listen to her head or her heart when it comes to determining if Professor Brant Wilson is the right man for her
93deep220
book 47
Harvard Hottie by Annabelle Costa
4 of 5 stars
A great little read. I wish it was a little longer. I loved the characters but the ended seemed very abrupt.
Amazon description:
When nerdy, unhip Ellie Jenson meets rich, handsome Luke Thayer the Third as freshmen at Harvard University, it's Hate At First Sight. Ellie loathes Luke's smirk and superior attitude, and decides if she never sees him again, it will be too soon.
Fifteen years later, Ellie gets the surprise of her life: Luke is her new boss and owner of her company! But when Ellie discovers that Luke was paralyzed in an accident and is now in a wheelchair, she wonders if it's possible to be friends with this new, down-to-earth version of her former foe. Or maybe even more than friends, if Luke gets his way...
Harvard Hottie by Annabelle Costa
4 of 5 stars
A great little read. I wish it was a little longer. I loved the characters but the ended seemed very abrupt.
Amazon description:
When nerdy, unhip Ellie Jenson meets rich, handsome Luke Thayer the Third as freshmen at Harvard University, it's Hate At First Sight. Ellie loathes Luke's smirk and superior attitude, and decides if she never sees him again, it will be too soon.
Fifteen years later, Ellie gets the surprise of her life: Luke is her new boss and owner of her company! But when Ellie discovers that Luke was paralyzed in an accident and is now in a wheelchair, she wonders if it's possible to be friends with this new, down-to-earth version of her former foe. Or maybe even more than friends, if Luke gets his way...
94deep220
Book 48
The Ghost House by Helen Phifer
4 of 5 stars
Really enjoyable read especially for a free kindle download.
Amazon Description:
There's not much that scares Annie Graham. Not even the horrors she has witnessed during her years on the police force.
When she agrees to look after her brother's farmhouse, she finds herself drawn to the crumbling old mansion in the woods nearby. But an innocent exploration of the empty ruin and the discovery of the diary of former resident Alice leaves her more than a little spooked. She knows it holds the secrets to a dark past, and she has to find out more.
What was the terrible truth that Alice uncovered? And how could what happened to her over 100 years ago help solve the murders of young women in the town?
Annie needs to stop the serial killer before she becomes his next victim – but the past comes back to haunt her in ways she could never have expected
The Ghost House by Helen Phifer
4 of 5 stars
Really enjoyable read especially for a free kindle download.
Amazon Description:
There's not much that scares Annie Graham. Not even the horrors she has witnessed during her years on the police force.
When she agrees to look after her brother's farmhouse, she finds herself drawn to the crumbling old mansion in the woods nearby. But an innocent exploration of the empty ruin and the discovery of the diary of former resident Alice leaves her more than a little spooked. She knows it holds the secrets to a dark past, and she has to find out more.
What was the terrible truth that Alice uncovered? And how could what happened to her over 100 years ago help solve the murders of young women in the town?
Annie needs to stop the serial killer before she becomes his next victim – but the past comes back to haunt her in ways she could never have expected
95deep220
Book 49
The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse by Alan Bradley
4 of 5 stars
Haven't read a Flavia De Luce story this year. This definately reminds me why I enjoy them so much. Such a great character. Not to bad for a short story. I am going to have to pick up the next one in the series.
Amazon Description:
Murder! the letter says, Come at once. Anson House, Greyminster, Staircase No. 3. How can Flavia de Luce resist such an urgent plea? After all, examining a dead body sounds like a perfectly splendid way to spend a Sunday. So Flavia hops upon her trusted bicycle, Gladys, whose rubber tires hiss happily along the rainy road, and arrives at her father’s mist-shrouded old school. There, a terrified boy leads her to the loo where, sitting in a bathtub, is what appears to be a statue. But, no: To Flavia’s surprise, the thing is in fact a naked dead man. Save his face, he seems to have been carved out of copper. Never one to shy away from the macabre, Flavia gets to work—only to find that when an investigation begins with a metallic cadaver, ever more curious twists are to be expected.
The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse by Alan Bradley
4 of 5 stars
Haven't read a Flavia De Luce story this year. This definately reminds me why I enjoy them so much. Such a great character. Not to bad for a short story. I am going to have to pick up the next one in the series.
Amazon Description:
Murder! the letter says, Come at once. Anson House, Greyminster, Staircase No. 3. How can Flavia de Luce resist such an urgent plea? After all, examining a dead body sounds like a perfectly splendid way to spend a Sunday. So Flavia hops upon her trusted bicycle, Gladys, whose rubber tires hiss happily along the rainy road, and arrives at her father’s mist-shrouded old school. There, a terrified boy leads her to the loo where, sitting in a bathtub, is what appears to be a statue. But, no: To Flavia’s surprise, the thing is in fact a naked dead man. Save his face, he seems to have been carved out of copper. Never one to shy away from the macabre, Flavia gets to work—only to find that when an investigation begins with a metallic cadaver, ever more curious twists are to be expected.
96deep220
Book 50
Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler
5 of 5 stars
So everyone probably knows by now I love Clive Cussler novels. No surprise I also loved this one.
Amazon Description:
A potential breakthrough discovery to reverse global warming…a series of unexplained deaths in British Columbia…a rash of international incidents between the United States and a longtime ally that threatens to erupt into a shooting war. NUMA director Dirk Pitt and his children, Dirk. Jr. and Summer, know there's a connection—but they also know they have very little time to find it.
Their only real clue might just be a mysterious silvery mineral traced to a long-ago expedition in search of the fabled Northwest Passage. But no one survived from that doomed mission. And if Pitt and his buddy Al Giordino aren't careful, the very same fate may await them…and the world.
Arctic Drift by Clive Cussler
5 of 5 stars
So everyone probably knows by now I love Clive Cussler novels. No surprise I also loved this one.
Amazon Description:
A potential breakthrough discovery to reverse global warming…a series of unexplained deaths in British Columbia…a rash of international incidents between the United States and a longtime ally that threatens to erupt into a shooting war. NUMA director Dirk Pitt and his children, Dirk. Jr. and Summer, know there's a connection—but they also know they have very little time to find it.
Their only real clue might just be a mysterious silvery mineral traced to a long-ago expedition in search of the fabled Northwest Passage. But no one survived from that doomed mission. And if Pitt and his buddy Al Giordino aren't careful, the very same fate may await them…and the world.
97deep220
Book 51
Food and Wine Annual 2011 by Editors of Food and Wine
4 of 5 stars
For too many years I have been collecting cookbook without doing anything with them. I like to cook so they make convenient gifts from friends and family. So time to clean out the pile. Each month I want to sample a different cookbook for the rest of the year. Anything that doesn't make the cut will be donated. Ideally I am trying to have one shelve for cookbooks.
So far this is a keeper, we will see if it can hold onto that spot.
Food and Wine Annual 2011 by Editors of Food and Wine
4 of 5 stars
For too many years I have been collecting cookbook without doing anything with them. I like to cook so they make convenient gifts from friends and family. So time to clean out the pile. Each month I want to sample a different cookbook for the rest of the year. Anything that doesn't make the cut will be donated. Ideally I am trying to have one shelve for cookbooks.
So far this is a keeper, we will see if it can hold onto that spot.
98deep220
Book 52
House of Silence by Linda Gillard
3 of 5 stars
Amazon Description:
"My friends describe me as frighteningly sensible, not at all the sort of woman who would fall for an actor. And his home. And his family."
Orphaned by drink, drugs and rock n’ roll, Gwen Rowland is invited to spend Christmas at her boyfriend Alfie's family home, Creake Hall - a ramshackle Tudor manor in Norfolk. Soon after she arrives, Gwen senses something isn't quite right. Alfie acts strangely towards his family and is reluctant to talk about the past. His mother, a celebrated children's author, keeps to her room, living in a twilight world, unable to distinguish between past and present, fact and fiction.
When Gwen discovers fragments of forgotten family letters sewn into an old patchwork quilt, she starts to piece together the jigsaw of the past and realises there's more to the family history than she's been told. It seems there are things people don’t want her to know.
And one of those people is Alfi
House of Silence by Linda Gillard
3 of 5 stars
Amazon Description:
"My friends describe me as frighteningly sensible, not at all the sort of woman who would fall for an actor. And his home. And his family."
Orphaned by drink, drugs and rock n’ roll, Gwen Rowland is invited to spend Christmas at her boyfriend Alfie's family home, Creake Hall - a ramshackle Tudor manor in Norfolk. Soon after she arrives, Gwen senses something isn't quite right. Alfie acts strangely towards his family and is reluctant to talk about the past. His mother, a celebrated children's author, keeps to her room, living in a twilight world, unable to distinguish between past and present, fact and fiction.
When Gwen discovers fragments of forgotten family letters sewn into an old patchwork quilt, she starts to piece together the jigsaw of the past and realises there's more to the family history than she's been told. It seems there are things people don’t want her to know.
And one of those people is Alfi
99deep220
Book 53
Prince of Wolves by Quinn Loftis
4 of 5 stars
Maybe is it was the insomnia but I really liked this one. The banter between the girls was rather juvenile and unrealistic but that didn't take away too much from the dialogue. I have downloaded the next book in the series.
Amazon Description:
Jacque Pierce was just an ordinary 17 year old girl getting ready to start her senior year in high school in Coldspring, Texas. When a mysterious foreign exchange student from Romania moves in across the street, Jacque and her two best friends, Sally and Jen, don't realize the last two weeks of their summer was going to get a lot more interesting. From the moment Jacque sets eyes on Fane she feels an instant connection, a pull like a moth to a flame. Little does she know that the flame she is drawn to is actually a Canis Lupus, werewolf, and she just happens to be his mate; the other half of his soul. The problem is Fane is not the only wolf in Coldspring, Texas. Just as Fane and Jacque are getting to know each other, another wolf steps out to try and claim Jacque as his mate. Fane will now have to fight for the right to complete the mating bond, something that is his right by birth but is being denied him by a crazed Alpha. Will the love Fane has for Jacque be enough to give him the strength to defeat his enemy, will Jacque accept that she is Fane's mate and complete the bond between them?
Prince of Wolves by Quinn Loftis
4 of 5 stars
Maybe is it was the insomnia but I really liked this one. The banter between the girls was rather juvenile and unrealistic but that didn't take away too much from the dialogue. I have downloaded the next book in the series.
Amazon Description:
Jacque Pierce was just an ordinary 17 year old girl getting ready to start her senior year in high school in Coldspring, Texas. When a mysterious foreign exchange student from Romania moves in across the street, Jacque and her two best friends, Sally and Jen, don't realize the last two weeks of their summer was going to get a lot more interesting. From the moment Jacque sets eyes on Fane she feels an instant connection, a pull like a moth to a flame. Little does she know that the flame she is drawn to is actually a Canis Lupus, werewolf, and she just happens to be his mate; the other half of his soul. The problem is Fane is not the only wolf in Coldspring, Texas. Just as Fane and Jacque are getting to know each other, another wolf steps out to try and claim Jacque as his mate. Fane will now have to fight for the right to complete the mating bond, something that is his right by birth but is being denied him by a crazed Alpha. Will the love Fane has for Jacque be enough to give him the strength to defeat his enemy, will Jacque accept that she is Fane's mate and complete the bond between them?
100deep220
Book 54
Blood Rites by Quinn Loftis
4 of 5 stars
Okay I am hooked. I downloaded book three and am fairly confident it will be finished before monday. What a great little series..
Amazon Description:
With the challenge complete and the corrupt Alpha of Coldspring defeated Fane is now free to complete the mate bond with Jacque and perform the Blood Rites. Although the challenge is done, the affects are far reaching. Once it is known that Vasile, one of the strongest Alphas in the world is in America, specifically Coldspring, TX, there is one Alpha who cannot over look the significance of this. An Alpha who happens to share Jacque's DNA, but is this the one she needs to fear?
With her mom driving and her two best friends, Jen and Sally in tow, Jacque sets off for her happily ever after. She will soon realize a plan has been put in motion that will change her course and possibly tear her from Fane's grasp forever. It will take a wolf pack, her mother's love, her two best friend's unrelenting determination, her own will to survive and the undying love of her mate to bring her home. The question remains, if she fights, if she endures, who will she be, what will be left once she is back in her mates arms?
Blood Rites by Quinn Loftis
4 of 5 stars
Okay I am hooked. I downloaded book three and am fairly confident it will be finished before monday. What a great little series..
Amazon Description:
With the challenge complete and the corrupt Alpha of Coldspring defeated Fane is now free to complete the mate bond with Jacque and perform the Blood Rites. Although the challenge is done, the affects are far reaching. Once it is known that Vasile, one of the strongest Alphas in the world is in America, specifically Coldspring, TX, there is one Alpha who cannot over look the significance of this. An Alpha who happens to share Jacque's DNA, but is this the one she needs to fear?
With her mom driving and her two best friends, Jen and Sally in tow, Jacque sets off for her happily ever after. She will soon realize a plan has been put in motion that will change her course and possibly tear her from Fane's grasp forever. It will take a wolf pack, her mother's love, her two best friend's unrelenting determination, her own will to survive and the undying love of her mate to bring her home. The question remains, if she fights, if she endures, who will she be, what will be left once she is back in her mates arms?
101deep220
book 55
Just One Drop by Quinn Loftis
4 of 5 stars
Each book ends on a bit of a cliff hanger and I just have to know what happens next. :)
Amazon Description:
Jennifer Adams, best friend to Jacque Pierce and Sally Morgan, spicy, out spoken, a little crazy and human...or so she thought. Jen has just found out that human DNA is not the only thing that resides in her veins, she happens to share that little pesky werewolf gene, although it isn't more than just a drop. Now that she and her friends are living in Romania with Fane's pack, she is also oh so conveniently stuck with the object of her affection, the fur ball Decebel. Drawn to each other by something they don't understand Jen finds herself frustrated by the lack of mating signs between her and said fur ball. Not only is she dealing with that not so un-frustrating problem, she now has been informed that because of that little drop of werewolf blood in her she is now required to attended a multi-pack gathering for un-mated wolves. This type of gathering hasn't taken place in over a century but with a shortage of females among the werewolf population the males are getting worried they won't ever find their true mates. Meanwhile Decebel struggles with the emotions he is feeling towards Jen. He tries to keep his distance but there is just something about the mouthy blonde that keeps him coming back for more of her verbal abuse that he just can't seem to get enough of...go figure
Just One Drop by Quinn Loftis
4 of 5 stars
Each book ends on a bit of a cliff hanger and I just have to know what happens next. :)
Amazon Description:
Jennifer Adams, best friend to Jacque Pierce and Sally Morgan, spicy, out spoken, a little crazy and human...or so she thought. Jen has just found out that human DNA is not the only thing that resides in her veins, she happens to share that little pesky werewolf gene, although it isn't more than just a drop. Now that she and her friends are living in Romania with Fane's pack, she is also oh so conveniently stuck with the object of her affection, the fur ball Decebel. Drawn to each other by something they don't understand Jen finds herself frustrated by the lack of mating signs between her and said fur ball. Not only is she dealing with that not so un-frustrating problem, she now has been informed that because of that little drop of werewolf blood in her she is now required to attended a multi-pack gathering for un-mated wolves. This type of gathering hasn't taken place in over a century but with a shortage of females among the werewolf population the males are getting worried they won't ever find their true mates. Meanwhile Decebel struggles with the emotions he is feeling towards Jen. He tries to keep his distance but there is just something about the mouthy blonde that keeps him coming back for more of her verbal abuse that he just can't seem to get enough of...go figure
102deep220
book 56
Out of the dark by Quinn Loftis
4 of 5 stars
Book 4 in the grey wolves series
Amazon Description
Darkness has descended on the Transylvanian Alps.
Four packs of the powerful Grey wolves – in a rare show of cooperation – had joined together here in an effort to help their pack members find true mates. Then they were betrayed by one of their own – an Alpha hell-bent on becoming the most powerful of the Canis lupis. And though the wolf's assassination attempt on the currently-reigning Romanian Alpha failed, his plans to get Decebel, the Romanian Beta, out of the picture were coming together even as his treachery was discovered. The wolf fled, leaving destruction, death, and a missing mate behind him.
Unbeknownst to the other packs, the wolf has employed a witch to finish the deadly job and help him gain another tool to increase his power. A curse of devastating proportions will cripple Decebel in a way that may dissolve his fragile bond with Jennifer. Meanwhile, injured and alone, Jen has been fighting for her life. She had come to terms with her fate, accepting that she would not share a life with Decebel, until help came in the most unexpected form...
Vasile will have to use all his resources – including Sally, the new gypsy healer of the Romanian pack – to discover a way in which to destroy the witch, lift the curse from Decebel and reunite him with the one woman who makes him whole, and solve a mystery that's been surrounding the Romanian pack for 300 years.
Out of the dark by Quinn Loftis
4 of 5 stars
Book 4 in the grey wolves series
Amazon Description
Darkness has descended on the Transylvanian Alps.
Four packs of the powerful Grey wolves – in a rare show of cooperation – had joined together here in an effort to help their pack members find true mates. Then they were betrayed by one of their own – an Alpha hell-bent on becoming the most powerful of the Canis lupis. And though the wolf's assassination attempt on the currently-reigning Romanian Alpha failed, his plans to get Decebel, the Romanian Beta, out of the picture were coming together even as his treachery was discovered. The wolf fled, leaving destruction, death, and a missing mate behind him.
Unbeknownst to the other packs, the wolf has employed a witch to finish the deadly job and help him gain another tool to increase his power. A curse of devastating proportions will cripple Decebel in a way that may dissolve his fragile bond with Jennifer. Meanwhile, injured and alone, Jen has been fighting for her life. She had come to terms with her fate, accepting that she would not share a life with Decebel, until help came in the most unexpected form...
Vasile will have to use all his resources – including Sally, the new gypsy healer of the Romanian pack – to discover a way in which to destroy the witch, lift the curse from Decebel and reunite him with the one woman who makes him whole, and solve a mystery that's been surrounding the Romanian pack for 300 years.
103deep220
Book 57
Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff
5 of 5 stars
Great Read! Growing up about an hour away from Detroit it will still shocking at condition of the city. Highly recommend.
Amazon Descrption:
Back in his broken hometown, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charlie LeDuff searches the ruins of Detroit for clues to his family’s troubled past. Having led us on the way up, Detroit now seems to be leading us on the way down. Once the richest city in America, Detroit is now the nation’s poorest. Once the vanguard of America’s machine age—mass-production, blue-collar jobs, and automobiles—Detroit is now America’s capital for unemployment, illiteracy, dropouts, and foreclosures. With the steel-eyed reportage that has become his trademark, and the righteous indignation only a native son possesses, LeDuff sets out to uncover what destroyed his city. He beats on the doors of union bosses and homeless squatters, powerful businessmen and struggling homeowners and the ordinary people holding the city together by sheer determination. Detroit: An American Autopsy is an unbelievable story of a hard town in a rough time filled with some of the strangest and strongest people our country has to offer.
Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff
5 of 5 stars
Great Read! Growing up about an hour away from Detroit it will still shocking at condition of the city. Highly recommend.
Amazon Descrption:
Back in his broken hometown, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charlie LeDuff searches the ruins of Detroit for clues to his family’s troubled past. Having led us on the way up, Detroit now seems to be leading us on the way down. Once the richest city in America, Detroit is now the nation’s poorest. Once the vanguard of America’s machine age—mass-production, blue-collar jobs, and automobiles—Detroit is now America’s capital for unemployment, illiteracy, dropouts, and foreclosures. With the steel-eyed reportage that has become his trademark, and the righteous indignation only a native son possesses, LeDuff sets out to uncover what destroyed his city. He beats on the doors of union bosses and homeless squatters, powerful businessmen and struggling homeowners and the ordinary people holding the city together by sheer determination. Detroit: An American Autopsy is an unbelievable story of a hard town in a rough time filled with some of the strangest and strongest people our country has to offer.
104deep220
Book 58
Beyond the Veil by Quinn Loftis
4 of 5 stars
Book 5 in the grey wolves series.
Amazon Description:
Though the Serbian pack has been brought to heel thanks to the downfall of their Alpha, the war is far from over.
Desdemona, a witch of unfathomable power, has escaped the wolves’ wrath, but she will not go quietly into the night. She takes refuge in a place where even the smallest sliver of light does not dare to enter. Though she had to flee, she has not given up on the treasure she wishes to acquire. Her depravity knows no bounds; she's even willing to search for the one who can assist her in opening a Veil that has not been opened in millennia – with good reason: the danger is incalculable.
Meanwhile, there are major changes rippling through the Romanian Grey wolves. Decebel has become Alpha to the Serbian pack in an effort to begin to unite the Canis lupis species. Their numbers are dwindling in the wake of the shortage of true mates and lack of offspring. The wolves are beginning to lose faith and darkness seems to be crashing in on them from all sides. But the winds of change are blowing, changes that will alter the future of not only the Canis lupis, but of another ancient race as well.
Amidst all of this, Sally is continuing to come to terms with her relationship with the playful, charming, flirty, unbelievably handsome bartender – who happens to be a member of the Romanian pack.
If all that weren’t enough, the Fates have decided to pay a little visit to Jen. It’s time to collect. She cheated the Fates of a life, her life. Now they want what they are due. The problem? It’s more than Jen is willing to pay.
Yes, the war is indeed far from over. Bargains will be struck, declarations will be made, sacrifices will be given, love will be tested, and trust will be questioned as evil makes its stand against them all.
Beyond the Veil by Quinn Loftis
4 of 5 stars
Book 5 in the grey wolves series.
Amazon Description:
Though the Serbian pack has been brought to heel thanks to the downfall of their Alpha, the war is far from over.
Desdemona, a witch of unfathomable power, has escaped the wolves’ wrath, but she will not go quietly into the night. She takes refuge in a place where even the smallest sliver of light does not dare to enter. Though she had to flee, she has not given up on the treasure she wishes to acquire. Her depravity knows no bounds; she's even willing to search for the one who can assist her in opening a Veil that has not been opened in millennia – with good reason: the danger is incalculable.
Meanwhile, there are major changes rippling through the Romanian Grey wolves. Decebel has become Alpha to the Serbian pack in an effort to begin to unite the Canis lupis species. Their numbers are dwindling in the wake of the shortage of true mates and lack of offspring. The wolves are beginning to lose faith and darkness seems to be crashing in on them from all sides. But the winds of change are blowing, changes that will alter the future of not only the Canis lupis, but of another ancient race as well.
Amidst all of this, Sally is continuing to come to terms with her relationship with the playful, charming, flirty, unbelievably handsome bartender – who happens to be a member of the Romanian pack.
If all that weren’t enough, the Fates have decided to pay a little visit to Jen. It’s time to collect. She cheated the Fates of a life, her life. Now they want what they are due. The problem? It’s more than Jen is willing to pay.
Yes, the war is indeed far from over. Bargains will be struck, declarations will be made, sacrifices will be given, love will be tested, and trust will be questioned as evil makes its stand against them all.
105deep220
Book 59
Long Time Coming by Edie Claire
4 of 5 stars
Amazon Description
Years and distance kept the memories at bay. But back at home, the past is ready and waiting to haunt her...
Eighteen years have passed since Joy's childhood best friend, Jenny, met her death in a tragic car accident just a few days after their senior prom. A broken Joy left their small Kentucky hometown shortly after -- determined never to come back. But when her father's illness forces her to return, she realizes that neither time nor distance have truly healed her troubled soul.
Plagued with nightmares of the accident and crippled by a vague fear whose source she can't identify, Joy realizes that in order to move on she must face the truth behind several disturbing gaps in her memory of that fateful spring. But the only person who can help her is a man she despises: Jenny's erstwhile boyfriend Jeff, now a respected doctor, whose carelessness as a teenager was the cause of Jenny's horrendous death -- and Joy's own emotional destruction. Can she ever forgive? She may have no choice but to try. Because both the danger she sensed -- and the childhood friendship she treasured -- now suddenly seem very much alive...
Long Time Coming by Edie Claire
4 of 5 stars
Amazon Description
Years and distance kept the memories at bay. But back at home, the past is ready and waiting to haunt her...
Eighteen years have passed since Joy's childhood best friend, Jenny, met her death in a tragic car accident just a few days after their senior prom. A broken Joy left their small Kentucky hometown shortly after -- determined never to come back. But when her father's illness forces her to return, she realizes that neither time nor distance have truly healed her troubled soul.
Plagued with nightmares of the accident and crippled by a vague fear whose source she can't identify, Joy realizes that in order to move on she must face the truth behind several disturbing gaps in her memory of that fateful spring. But the only person who can help her is a man she despises: Jenny's erstwhile boyfriend Jeff, now a respected doctor, whose carelessness as a teenager was the cause of Jenny's horrendous death -- and Joy's own emotional destruction. Can she ever forgive? She may have no choice but to try. Because both the danger she sensed -- and the childhood friendship she treasured -- now suddenly seem very much alive...
106deep220
Book 60
Fate and Fury by Quinn Loftis
3 of 5 stars
Not as good as the others in the series. I may have run out of steam on this series.
Amazon Description
Though her world is crashing down around her, Sally holds out hope. The Great Luna is not sitting idly by. She has commanded the Fey council to call upon the packs—all of them. And though Cypher looks for a way to open the Veil for Desdemona, he struggles to protect Lilly and the wolves at the same time. Peri, the ever-courageous High Fae, and a contingent of the remaining females of the Romanian and Serbian packs, push on through the rough Carpathian Mountains. Though they are bound to the human realm, they continue to search for a way to cross over to the land of the Fey. Meanwhile, in reluctant obedience to the Great Luna, the Fey council sends representatives to the far corners of the globe, meeting with the pack Alphas. The Fey must convince the Alphas of every pack to lay aside their petty territorial squabbles and battles of dominance. If they refuse, both the humans and the supernatural races will fall at Mona’s feet.
Sally holds to a shred of hope. Though Vasile, Decebel, and their pack mates endure the torture of the In-Between, living their worst nightmares over and over, Sally holds. Though she knows that it is only a matter of time before their wolves take over, she holds. Sally knows that if the males die, then so too will their mates who have performed the Blood Rites, including her best friends Jen and Jacque. Yet she holds. If the males lose themselves to their wolves and turn feral, so too do their mates. Still she holds. Though Vasile, the strongest Alpha in their history to unite the wolves, is lost beyond the Veil, Sally holds. Though Decebel, the only other wolf besides Vaile strong enough to unite the packs, suffers beyond the Veil, Sally will hold. No one is left to unite their race, and defeat Desdemona. Yet Sally still holds. She holds out hope that the Great Luna will not abandon them, cannot abandon them. Throughout the centuries, the Great Luna has always provided a gypsy healer to the packs, especially in times of great need. Now Sally is that healer. Sally fears what role she has to play in the defeat of Desdemona, but she will play it. Though heaven and hell unite against her, she WILL play it.
For too long the supernatural races have lived in separation, warring amoungst themselves, allowing trivial power plays and selfish disputes to keep them from uniting. That separation has made them weak. Now, being summoned as a collective force to the same land, will they come? Will they come in numbers greater than have been seen in centuries? Will they destroy each other and save Mona the trouble, or will they finally unite and fight as on
Fate and Fury by Quinn Loftis
3 of 5 stars
Not as good as the others in the series. I may have run out of steam on this series.
Amazon Description
Though her world is crashing down around her, Sally holds out hope. The Great Luna is not sitting idly by. She has commanded the Fey council to call upon the packs—all of them. And though Cypher looks for a way to open the Veil for Desdemona, he struggles to protect Lilly and the wolves at the same time. Peri, the ever-courageous High Fae, and a contingent of the remaining females of the Romanian and Serbian packs, push on through the rough Carpathian Mountains. Though they are bound to the human realm, they continue to search for a way to cross over to the land of the Fey. Meanwhile, in reluctant obedience to the Great Luna, the Fey council sends representatives to the far corners of the globe, meeting with the pack Alphas. The Fey must convince the Alphas of every pack to lay aside their petty territorial squabbles and battles of dominance. If they refuse, both the humans and the supernatural races will fall at Mona’s feet.
Sally holds to a shred of hope. Though Vasile, Decebel, and their pack mates endure the torture of the In-Between, living their worst nightmares over and over, Sally holds. Though she knows that it is only a matter of time before their wolves take over, she holds. Sally knows that if the males die, then so too will their mates who have performed the Blood Rites, including her best friends Jen and Jacque. Yet she holds. If the males lose themselves to their wolves and turn feral, so too do their mates. Still she holds. Though Vasile, the strongest Alpha in their history to unite the wolves, is lost beyond the Veil, Sally holds. Though Decebel, the only other wolf besides Vaile strong enough to unite the packs, suffers beyond the Veil, Sally will hold. No one is left to unite their race, and defeat Desdemona. Yet Sally still holds. She holds out hope that the Great Luna will not abandon them, cannot abandon them. Throughout the centuries, the Great Luna has always provided a gypsy healer to the packs, especially in times of great need. Now Sally is that healer. Sally fears what role she has to play in the defeat of Desdemona, but she will play it. Though heaven and hell unite against her, she WILL play it.
For too long the supernatural races have lived in separation, warring amoungst themselves, allowing trivial power plays and selfish disputes to keep them from uniting. That separation has made them weak. Now, being summoned as a collective force to the same land, will they come? Will they come in numbers greater than have been seen in centuries? Will they destroy each other and save Mona the trouble, or will they finally unite and fight as on
107deep220
Book 61
Death Factory by Greg Iles
4 of 5 stars
Great short read. Looking forward to getting the next book in the Penn Cage series.
Amazon Description:
When a heart attack sends Penn's father, Tom Cage, to the ER, Tom begs that his son be brought to his side to hear a dying declaration. But when Penn arrives, Tom denies ever making the request—keeping his secrets for another day.
The emergency hurls Penn back to a chilling case in Houston, where he worked in a DA's office known as the "death factory," which sent more killers to death row than any other in America. While Penn cares for his ailing wife, a tormented forensic technician brings him evidence of a crime lab in chaos, throwing past convictions into doubt and begging Penn to prevent an imminent travesty of justice. With the desperation of a man fighting death in his own home, Penn must find a way to bring the machinery of the death factory to a halt.
Included here is an extended sneak preview of Natchez Burning, the first installment in an epic trilogy featuring Penn Cage.
Death Factory by Greg Iles
4 of 5 stars
Great short read. Looking forward to getting the next book in the Penn Cage series.
Amazon Description:
When a heart attack sends Penn's father, Tom Cage, to the ER, Tom begs that his son be brought to his side to hear a dying declaration. But when Penn arrives, Tom denies ever making the request—keeping his secrets for another day.
The emergency hurls Penn back to a chilling case in Houston, where he worked in a DA's office known as the "death factory," which sent more killers to death row than any other in America. While Penn cares for his ailing wife, a tormented forensic technician brings him evidence of a crime lab in chaos, throwing past convictions into doubt and begging Penn to prevent an imminent travesty of justice. With the desperation of a man fighting death in his own home, Penn must find a way to bring the machinery of the death factory to a halt.
Included here is an extended sneak preview of Natchez Burning, the first installment in an epic trilogy featuring Penn Cage.
108deep220
Book 62
Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs
4 of 5 stars
I really love this series. I see she has another book out in the Alpha and Omega series. I am sure I will be adding that to my collection shortly.
Amazon Description:
After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and her stepdaughter, Jesse, can’t reach Alpha werewolf Adam—or anyone else in the pack, for that matter. They’ve all been abducted.
Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. But she fears Adam’s disappearance may be related to the political battle the werewolves have been fighting to gain acceptance from the public—and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outmatched and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely
Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs
4 of 5 stars
I really love this series. I see she has another book out in the Alpha and Omega series. I am sure I will be adding that to my collection shortly.
Amazon Description:
After an accident in bumper-to-bumper traffic, Mercy and her stepdaughter, Jesse, can’t reach Alpha werewolf Adam—or anyone else in the pack, for that matter. They’ve all been abducted.
Through their mating bond, all Mercy knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. But she fears Adam’s disappearance may be related to the political battle the werewolves have been fighting to gain acceptance from the public—and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outmatched and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from any ally she can get, no matter how unlikely
109deep220
Book 63
Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
4 of 5 stars
Amazon Description
An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from a stalker. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.
Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.
Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s stalker is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.
Night Broken by Patricia Briggs
4 of 5 stars
Amazon Description
An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from a stalker. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.
Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.
Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s stalker is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.
110deep220
Book 64
Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
3.5 of 5 stars
Didn't enjoy as much as the previous Odd book. However I am still going to dig into book three. I still have to know what happens next.
Amazon Description
I see dead people. But then, by God, I do something about it. Odd Thomas never asked for his special ability. He’s just an ordinary guy trying to live a quiet life in the small desert town of Pico Mundo. Yet he feels an obligation to do right by his otherworldly confidants, and that’s why he’s won hearts on both sides of the divide between life and death. But when a childhood friend disappears, Odd discovers something worse than a dead body and embarks on a heart-stopping battle of will and wits with an enemy of exceptional cunning. In the hours to come there can be no innocent bystanders, and every sacrifice can tip the balance between despair and hope.
You’re invited on an unforgettable journey through a world of terror and transcendence to wonders beyond imagining. And you can have no better guide than Odd Thomas.
Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
3.5 of 5 stars
Didn't enjoy as much as the previous Odd book. However I am still going to dig into book three. I still have to know what happens next.
Amazon Description
I see dead people. But then, by God, I do something about it. Odd Thomas never asked for his special ability. He’s just an ordinary guy trying to live a quiet life in the small desert town of Pico Mundo. Yet he feels an obligation to do right by his otherworldly confidants, and that’s why he’s won hearts on both sides of the divide between life and death. But when a childhood friend disappears, Odd discovers something worse than a dead body and embarks on a heart-stopping battle of will and wits with an enemy of exceptional cunning. In the hours to come there can be no innocent bystanders, and every sacrifice can tip the balance between despair and hope.
You’re invited on an unforgettable journey through a world of terror and transcendence to wonders beyond imagining. And you can have no better guide than Odd Thomas.
111deep220
Book 65
Nightmare by S.K. Epperson
3 of 5 stars
Not bad. Not great. Not very spooky. But it did keep me turning the pages at a moderate pace until the end. Not really sure you could call this one a horror novel. Blood rituals yes, psychotic characters villains yes but nothing really lurks around the corner and the terrorizing of the main characters is pretty minimal.
Amazon Description:
On a remote ranch deep in the Flint Hills at a clinic for women diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, patients are dying in extremely violent ways. The staff has invited Dr. Bryan Raleigh and his team, along with his journalist brother, David, to write about the clinic, and from the moment of their arrival they begin unwillingly to unravel secrets about the family who owns the ranch, including a strange blood ritual practiced by the hemophiliac son and even more bizarre rites performed by the grotesque, voyeuristic wife of the clinic's director. Soon David and the others begin to suspect the rude, imperious woman who never leaves the third floor may be somehow responsible for the deaths of traumatized patients dying one by one, and the closer they get to the truth, the bigger the threat becomes to their own safety.
Nightmare by S.K. Epperson
3 of 5 stars
Not bad. Not great. Not very spooky. But it did keep me turning the pages at a moderate pace until the end. Not really sure you could call this one a horror novel. Blood rituals yes, psychotic characters villains yes but nothing really lurks around the corner and the terrorizing of the main characters is pretty minimal.
Amazon Description:
On a remote ranch deep in the Flint Hills at a clinic for women diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, patients are dying in extremely violent ways. The staff has invited Dr. Bryan Raleigh and his team, along with his journalist brother, David, to write about the clinic, and from the moment of their arrival they begin unwillingly to unravel secrets about the family who owns the ranch, including a strange blood ritual practiced by the hemophiliac son and even more bizarre rites performed by the grotesque, voyeuristic wife of the clinic's director. Soon David and the others begin to suspect the rude, imperious woman who never leaves the third floor may be somehow responsible for the deaths of traumatized patients dying one by one, and the closer they get to the truth, the bigger the threat becomes to their own safety.
112deep220
Book 66
Always Faithful, Always Yours by Lorriane Britt
2 of 5 stars
Really weak characters and plot.
Amazon Description:
ndry Phillips and Madeline Ponder were lifelong best friends. They had seen each other through every day of their young lives, until Landry joined the Marines and was deployed to Afghanistan. Madeline waited, and worried, until the one late night phone call she had prayed she would never receive. In that one instant their lives changed forever. Could Madeline help Landry find his way through the darkness that threatened to swallow him whole? Or would he be lost to her before he realized she had truly been his from the very beginning?
Always Faithful, Always Yours by Lorriane Britt
2 of 5 stars
Really weak characters and plot.
Amazon Description:
ndry Phillips and Madeline Ponder were lifelong best friends. They had seen each other through every day of their young lives, until Landry joined the Marines and was deployed to Afghanistan. Madeline waited, and worried, until the one late night phone call she had prayed she would never receive. In that one instant their lives changed forever. Could Madeline help Landry find his way through the darkness that threatened to swallow him whole? Or would he be lost to her before he realized she had truly been his from the very beginning?
113deep220
Book 67
Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
2.5 of 5 stars
I will be giving the Odd Thomas series a rest. Really lost interest in this one. Found myself reading but not really paying much attention.
Brother Odd by Dean Koontz
2.5 of 5 stars
I will be giving the Odd Thomas series a rest. Really lost interest in this one. Found myself reading but not really paying much attention.
114deep220
Book 68
Reconstructing Jackson by Holly Bush
4 of 5 stars
Amazon Description:
1867 . . . Southern lawyer and Civil War veteran, Reed Jackson, returns to his family’s plantation in a wheelchair. His father deems him unfit, and deeds the Jackson holdings, including his intended bride, to a younger brother. Angry and bitter, Reed moves west to Fenton, Missouri, home to a cousin with a successful business, intending to start over.
Belle Richards, a dirt poor farm girl aching to learn how to read, cleans, cooks and holds together her family’s meager property. A violent brother and a drunken father plot to marry her off, and gain a new horse in the bargain. But Belle’s got other plans, and risks her life to reach them.
Reed is captivated by Belle from their first meeting, but wheelchair bound, is unable to protect her from violence. Bleak times will challenge Reed and Belle's courage and dreams as they forge a new beginning from the ashes of war and ignorance
Reconstructing Jackson by Holly Bush
4 of 5 stars
Amazon Description:
1867 . . . Southern lawyer and Civil War veteran, Reed Jackson, returns to his family’s plantation in a wheelchair. His father deems him unfit, and deeds the Jackson holdings, including his intended bride, to a younger brother. Angry and bitter, Reed moves west to Fenton, Missouri, home to a cousin with a successful business, intending to start over.
Belle Richards, a dirt poor farm girl aching to learn how to read, cleans, cooks and holds together her family’s meager property. A violent brother and a drunken father plot to marry her off, and gain a new horse in the bargain. But Belle’s got other plans, and risks her life to reach them.
Reed is captivated by Belle from their first meeting, but wheelchair bound, is unable to protect her from violence. Bleak times will challenge Reed and Belle's courage and dreams as they forge a new beginning from the ashes of war and ignorance
115deep220
Book 69
Secrets in Stone by Rebecca Engel
4 of 5 stars
Very quick read.
A dead-end job. An unrequited crush. A break-in and near assault.
Life wasn't going too well for Joyce Manning. Given her circumstances, it wasn't surprising that she was willing to accept the strange condition in the will of a heretofore-unknown relative. Joyce would inherit a house, and an income, if she lives in the property for two years. Joyce doesn't hesitate to leave Chicago for upstate New York. It's not until she's almost there that she begins to worry that the house might be a rickety shack with no lights or running water, and filled with feral cats.
It's not. In some ways, it's worse. The house is like something out of a nightmare, crawling with gargoyles and grotesques. The nearest neighbor to the isolated house, depending on who you talk to, is a spa -- or a mental asylum.
But it's not all bad. The interior of the house, thankfully, doesn't match the outside. Not one but two local men actively pursue Joyce -- more attention than she garnered in Chicago. And not having to work for a living is a dream come true.
Things would be great, if it weren't for the odd occurrences in the house, and the changes on its outside that make Joyce wonder whether her imagination is too vivid or if she's losing her mind. Will Joyce realize that when something seems too good to be true, it usually is? Because the house has a horrifying secret, and there was a special -- and sinister -- reason Joyce was lured there.
Secrets in Stone by Rebecca Engel
4 of 5 stars
Very quick read.
A dead-end job. An unrequited crush. A break-in and near assault.
Life wasn't going too well for Joyce Manning. Given her circumstances, it wasn't surprising that she was willing to accept the strange condition in the will of a heretofore-unknown relative. Joyce would inherit a house, and an income, if she lives in the property for two years. Joyce doesn't hesitate to leave Chicago for upstate New York. It's not until she's almost there that she begins to worry that the house might be a rickety shack with no lights or running water, and filled with feral cats.
It's not. In some ways, it's worse. The house is like something out of a nightmare, crawling with gargoyles and grotesques. The nearest neighbor to the isolated house, depending on who you talk to, is a spa -- or a mental asylum.
But it's not all bad. The interior of the house, thankfully, doesn't match the outside. Not one but two local men actively pursue Joyce -- more attention than she garnered in Chicago. And not having to work for a living is a dream come true.
Things would be great, if it weren't for the odd occurrences in the house, and the changes on its outside that make Joyce wonder whether her imagination is too vivid or if she's losing her mind. Will Joyce realize that when something seems too good to be true, it usually is? Because the house has a horrifying secret, and there was a special -- and sinister -- reason Joyce was lured there.
116deep220
Book 70
Highland Stone by Sloan McBride
3 of 5 stars
No time traveling highland romance will ever be as good as the Outlander series but this was not bad.
Amazon Description:
DREAMS AWAKEN THE PAST. ~~A family secret turns back time.~~ Have you ever dreamed of the perfect man, knowing you’ll never meet him? Kara did too until a magical storm transports her to the 1300’s Scottish Highlands, and dream guy almost tramples her with his horse.
Highland Stone by Sloan McBride
3 of 5 stars
No time traveling highland romance will ever be as good as the Outlander series but this was not bad.
Amazon Description:
DREAMS AWAKEN THE PAST. ~~A family secret turns back time.~~ Have you ever dreamed of the perfect man, knowing you’ll never meet him? Kara did too until a magical storm transports her to the 1300’s Scottish Highlands, and dream guy almost tramples her with his horse.
117deep220
Book 71
At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen by Amy Chaplin
4 of 5 stars
What a beautiful cookbook! I might have to add this one to my collection. Tasty dishes too...
At Home in the Whole Food Kitchen by Amy Chaplin
4 of 5 stars
What a beautiful cookbook! I might have to add this one to my collection. Tasty dishes too...
118deep220
Book 72
Cauldstane by Linda Gillard
4 of 5 stars
When ghostwriter Jenny Ryan is summoned to the Scottish Highlands by Sholto MacNab – retired adventurer and Laird of Cauldstane Castle – she’s prepared for travellers’ tales, but not the MacNabs’ violent and tragic history.
Lust, betrayal and murder have blighted family fortunes for generations, together with an ancient curse. As members of the family confide their sins and their secrets, Jenny learns why Cauldstane’s uncertain future divides father and sons.
But someone resents Jenny’s presence. Someone thinks she’s getting too close to Alec MacNab – swordsmith, widower and heir to Cauldstane. Someone will stop at nothing until Jenny has been driven away. Or driven mad.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Especially a dead woman
Cauldstane by Linda Gillard
4 of 5 stars
When ghostwriter Jenny Ryan is summoned to the Scottish Highlands by Sholto MacNab – retired adventurer and Laird of Cauldstane Castle – she’s prepared for travellers’ tales, but not the MacNabs’ violent and tragic history.
Lust, betrayal and murder have blighted family fortunes for generations, together with an ancient curse. As members of the family confide their sins and their secrets, Jenny learns why Cauldstane’s uncertain future divides father and sons.
But someone resents Jenny’s presence. Someone thinks she’s getting too close to Alec MacNab – swordsmith, widower and heir to Cauldstane. Someone will stop at nothing until Jenny has been driven away. Or driven mad.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Especially a dead woman
120deep220
Book 73
Ghost Ship by Clive Cussler
4 of 5 stars
Pretty standard fair for Clive Cussler.
Amazon Description:
An explosive NUMA® adventure featuring hero Kurt Austin from New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler...
When Kurt Austin is injured attempting to rescue the passengers and crew from a sinking yacht, he wakes with fragmented and conflicted memories. Did he see an old friend and her children drown? Or was the yacht abandoned when he came aboard?
Determined to know the truth, he soon finds himself descending into a shadowy world of state-sponsored cybercrime, and uncovering a pattern of vanishing scientists, suspicious accidents, and a web of human trafficking.
With the help of Joe Zavala, he takes on the sinister organization at the heart of this web, facing off with them in locations ranging from Monaco to North Korea to the rugged coasts of Madagascar. But where he will ultimately end up even he could not begin to guess—except maybe in death
Ghost Ship by Clive Cussler
4 of 5 stars
Pretty standard fair for Clive Cussler.
Amazon Description:
An explosive NUMA® adventure featuring hero Kurt Austin from New York Times bestselling author Clive Cussler...
When Kurt Austin is injured attempting to rescue the passengers and crew from a sinking yacht, he wakes with fragmented and conflicted memories. Did he see an old friend and her children drown? Or was the yacht abandoned when he came aboard?
Determined to know the truth, he soon finds himself descending into a shadowy world of state-sponsored cybercrime, and uncovering a pattern of vanishing scientists, suspicious accidents, and a web of human trafficking.
With the help of Joe Zavala, he takes on the sinister organization at the heart of this web, facing off with them in locations ranging from Monaco to North Korea to the rugged coasts of Madagascar. But where he will ultimately end up even he could not begin to guess—except maybe in death
121deep220
Book 74
Time and Again by Deborah Heal
1.5 stars of 5
Had a really hard time getting into this book then at the end I wish I would have given up on it. I know it has additional books in the series but not much happens in the first book to make you want to know more of their story.
Pass on this one.
Amazon Description:
Time and Again (book 1)
An old house + A new computer program =The travel opportunity of a lifetime
...to another century.
The People
Abby Thomas is spending the summer in a run-down old house
with a bratty pre-teen named Merrideth she is supposed to tutor. Not a dream
job. But it does come with perks.
There's John Roberts, a devastatingly attractive neighbor
who is almost too wonderful to be real.
And there's the new computer program Beautiful Houses--also too amazing to be real. No one knows how it
works, but with it she can rewind and fast-forward the lives of all the people
who ever lived in the house, including Charlotte Miles.
In 1858, the house is a train stop on the Alton &
Chicago Line. And Charlotte is stuck there serving meals to the passengers,
wondering if she'll ever get to have any fun. And then she meets two travelers
who change her life forever.
There's James McGuire with whom she falls in love. And
there's his boss, a young Springfield lawyer named Abraham Lincoln. His debate
with political opponent Stephen Douglas catapults him onto the national stage.
And it inspires Charlotte to take up the cause of abolition
Time and Again by Deborah Heal
1.5 stars of 5
Had a really hard time getting into this book then at the end I wish I would have given up on it. I know it has additional books in the series but not much happens in the first book to make you want to know more of their story.
Pass on this one.
Amazon Description:
Time and Again (book 1)
An old house + A new computer program =The travel opportunity of a lifetime
...to another century.
The People
Abby Thomas is spending the summer in a run-down old house
with a bratty pre-teen named Merrideth she is supposed to tutor. Not a dream
job. But it does come with perks.
There's John Roberts, a devastatingly attractive neighbor
who is almost too wonderful to be real.
And there's the new computer program Beautiful Houses--also too amazing to be real. No one knows how it
works, but with it she can rewind and fast-forward the lives of all the people
who ever lived in the house, including Charlotte Miles.
In 1858, the house is a train stop on the Alton &
Chicago Line. And Charlotte is stuck there serving meals to the passengers,
wondering if she'll ever get to have any fun. And then she meets two travelers
who change her life forever.
There's James McGuire with whom she falls in love. And
there's his boss, a young Springfield lawyer named Abraham Lincoln. His debate
with political opponent Stephen Douglas catapults him onto the national stage.
And it inspires Charlotte to take up the cause of abolition
122deep220
Book 75
Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman
4 of 5 stars
My first Tony Hillerman novel. And it was a very enjoyable mystery. I think I have another book or two of his on my shelves that I will have to dig out.
Amazon Description:
In 1956, an airplane crash left the remains of 172 passengers scattered among the majestic cliffs of the Grand Canyon—including an arm attached to a briefcase containing a fortune in gems. Half a century later, one of the missing diamonds has reappeared . . . and the wolves are on the scent.
Former Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is coming out of retirement to help exonerate a slow, simple kid accused of robbing a trading post. Billy Tuve claims he received the diamond he tried to pawn from a mysterious old man in the canyon, and his story has attracted the dangerous attention of strangers to the Navajo lands—one more interested in a severed limb than in the fortune it was handcuffed to; another willing to murder to keep lost secrets hidden. But nature herself may prove the deadliest adversary, as Leaphorn and Sergeant Jim Chee follow a puzzle—and a killer—down into the dark realm of Skeleton Man
Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman
4 of 5 stars
My first Tony Hillerman novel. And it was a very enjoyable mystery. I think I have another book or two of his on my shelves that I will have to dig out.
Amazon Description:
In 1956, an airplane crash left the remains of 172 passengers scattered among the majestic cliffs of the Grand Canyon—including an arm attached to a briefcase containing a fortune in gems. Half a century later, one of the missing diamonds has reappeared . . . and the wolves are on the scent.
Former Navajo Tribal Police Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn is coming out of retirement to help exonerate a slow, simple kid accused of robbing a trading post. Billy Tuve claims he received the diamond he tried to pawn from a mysterious old man in the canyon, and his story has attracted the dangerous attention of strangers to the Navajo lands—one more interested in a severed limb than in the fortune it was handcuffed to; another willing to murder to keep lost secrets hidden. But nature herself may prove the deadliest adversary, as Leaphorn and Sergeant Jim Chee follow a puzzle—and a killer—down into the dark realm of Skeleton Man
123deep220
Book 76
The Five-Year Guide to Self-Sufficiency: Simple Living Made Simpler by Amelia Barrows
3.5 of 5 stars
Most the information in this book is a very basic introduction to farming topics. More time could have been spent on the planning of the homestead. Some thoughtful ideas where given in terms of starting slow with a good foundation steps and building a little each year.
Book 77
To Each Her Own by Molly Mirren
Book 78
Death's Excellent Vacation by Charlaine Harris
3.5 of 5 stars
Some stories very much better than others but it was great for all the appointments I had. Read a little waiting here, read a little waiting there. Waiting at Dr.'s appointments is nothing is you have some entertainment.
Book 79
Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs
5 of 5 stars
The Alpha and Omega series are a favorite of mine. I am always waiting for the next release by Patricia Briggs but the wait if worth it.
The Five-Year Guide to Self-Sufficiency: Simple Living Made Simpler by Amelia Barrows
3.5 of 5 stars
Most the information in this book is a very basic introduction to farming topics. More time could have been spent on the planning of the homestead. Some thoughtful ideas where given in terms of starting slow with a good foundation steps and building a little each year.
Book 77
To Each Her Own by Molly Mirren
Book 78
Death's Excellent Vacation by Charlaine Harris
3.5 of 5 stars
Some stories very much better than others but it was great for all the appointments I had. Read a little waiting here, read a little waiting there. Waiting at Dr.'s appointments is nothing is you have some entertainment.
Book 79
Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs
5 of 5 stars
The Alpha and Omega series are a favorite of mine. I am always waiting for the next release by Patricia Briggs but the wait if worth it.
124deep220
Book 80
Confessions of an Ugly Girl by Alice Wasser
4 of 5 stars
Okay way more entertaining than I originally thought. It was free trial on my Kindle and thought why not. Not sure if I will read anymore in the series but possibly.
Millie Glockenfeld will never fall in love.
She will never get engaged. She will never get married. She will never live in a house with a white picket fence and 2.4 children. And all for one very simple reason:
She is ugly.
Fortunately, one thing Millie has learned over the years is that she doesn't need a man. She's got a good job, a loyal best friend, and a crazy but lovable cat lady who lives downstairs from her. What more does a girl need in life?
But then one day Millie meets Sam Webber. He is adorably handsome and absolutely perfect (well, almost). And Sam thinks that Millie is beautiful.
Now there's a chance that Millie might get the happy ending she's always secretly wanted... if only she can learn to look in the mirror and see what Sam sees
Confessions of an Ugly Girl by Alice Wasser
4 of 5 stars
Okay way more entertaining than I originally thought. It was free trial on my Kindle and thought why not. Not sure if I will read anymore in the series but possibly.
Millie Glockenfeld will never fall in love.
She will never get engaged. She will never get married. She will never live in a house with a white picket fence and 2.4 children. And all for one very simple reason:
She is ugly.
Fortunately, one thing Millie has learned over the years is that she doesn't need a man. She's got a good job, a loyal best friend, and a crazy but lovable cat lady who lives downstairs from her. What more does a girl need in life?
But then one day Millie meets Sam Webber. He is adorably handsome and absolutely perfect (well, almost). And Sam thinks that Millie is beautiful.
Now there's a chance that Millie might get the happy ending she's always secretly wanted... if only she can learn to look in the mirror and see what Sam sees
125deep220
Book 81
Montana Star by Deann Smallwood
4 of 5 stars
Very cute little read. Had me laughing a couple times. At first I was worried it was going to be rather disappointing because the beginning of the book was such a done plot line that I thought it was a book I had already read. Mail order bride, who doesn't disclose her baby bother when answering the advertisement. Of course there is an Aunt that will take them in but she is horrible... sound familiar it certainly did to me. I had to go to my bookshelves and confirm that it really was different from a book I had earlier this year.
Amazon Description:
WANTED: WIFE, WOMAN TO WORK BESIDE ME ON RANCH IN MONTANA. Aries read the ad Ben McCabe had placed in the paper and prayed the position hadn't been filled. She knew nothing about cooking, ranching, or being a wife for that matter. Aries had been trained by one of Philadelphia's best physicians, her father. Trained, but not board certified; trained but not allowed to practice. She longed to be a practicing physician, but no one wanted a woman doctor. Her father's death, which left her with nothing but gambling debts and a young brother to provide and care for, forced her to put aside her love of medicine. Answering this ad was the only way Aries could think of to provide for herself and her brother. She felt badly about deceiving Ben, but what she didn't know was that Ben had deceived her from the moment she'd read the ad and been sent the money to travel to Montana. There was no turning back. Aries knew that as she heard the clickety-clack of the train taking her closer to a man she knew nothing about and who wanted no part of a woman in his life -- and certainly not a wife.
Montana Star by Deann Smallwood
4 of 5 stars
Very cute little read. Had me laughing a couple times. At first I was worried it was going to be rather disappointing because the beginning of the book was such a done plot line that I thought it was a book I had already read. Mail order bride, who doesn't disclose her baby bother when answering the advertisement. Of course there is an Aunt that will take them in but she is horrible... sound familiar it certainly did to me. I had to go to my bookshelves and confirm that it really was different from a book I had earlier this year.
Amazon Description:
WANTED: WIFE, WOMAN TO WORK BESIDE ME ON RANCH IN MONTANA. Aries read the ad Ben McCabe had placed in the paper and prayed the position hadn't been filled. She knew nothing about cooking, ranching, or being a wife for that matter. Aries had been trained by one of Philadelphia's best physicians, her father. Trained, but not board certified; trained but not allowed to practice. She longed to be a practicing physician, but no one wanted a woman doctor. Her father's death, which left her with nothing but gambling debts and a young brother to provide and care for, forced her to put aside her love of medicine. Answering this ad was the only way Aries could think of to provide for herself and her brother. She felt badly about deceiving Ben, but what she didn't know was that Ben had deceived her from the moment she'd read the ad and been sent the money to travel to Montana. There was no turning back. Aries knew that as she heard the clickety-clack of the train taking her closer to a man she knew nothing about and who wanted no part of a woman in his life -- and certainly not a wife.
126deep220
Book 82
Daughters of the Dragon by William Andrews
5 of 5 stars
Excellent read. A fictional story of two sisters that paints a very clear picture of the suffering the Korean woman experienced under the Japanese and how their government compounded the shame by refusing to acknowledge it.
Amazon Description:
2014 IPPY AWARD WINNER. DURING WORLD WAR II, the Japanese forced 200,000 young Korean women to be sex slaves or “comfort women” for their soldiers. This is one woman’s riveting story of strength, courage and promises kept. In 1943, the Japanese tear young Jae-hee and her sister from their peaceful family farm to be comfort women for the Imperial Army. Before they leave home, their mother gives them a magnificent antique comb with an ivory inlay of a two-headed dragon, saying it will protect them. The sisters suffer terribly at the hands of the Japanese, and by the end of the war, Jae-hee must flee while her sister lies dying. Jae-hee keeps her time as a comfort woman a secret while she struggles to rebuild her life. She meets a man in North Korea who shows her what true love is. But the communists take him away in the middle of the night, and she escapes to the South. There, she finally finds success as the country rebuilds after the Korean War. However when her terrible secret is revealed, she’s thrown into poverty. In the depths of despair, she’s tempted to sell the comb with the two-headed dragon that she believes has no magic for her. Then one day she discovers its true meaning and her surprising heredity. And now she must find the only person who can carry on the legacy of the two-headed dragon… someone she abandoned years ago. Set within the tumultuous backdrop of 20th century Korea, Daughters of the Dragon by award-winning author William Andrews will make you cry and cheer for Jae-hee. And in the end, you’ll have a better understanding of the Land of the Morning Calm. Daughters of the Dragon is inspired by THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden, the books of Amy Tan and Lisa See
Daughters of the Dragon by William Andrews
5 of 5 stars
Excellent read. A fictional story of two sisters that paints a very clear picture of the suffering the Korean woman experienced under the Japanese and how their government compounded the shame by refusing to acknowledge it.
Amazon Description:
2014 IPPY AWARD WINNER. DURING WORLD WAR II, the Japanese forced 200,000 young Korean women to be sex slaves or “comfort women” for their soldiers. This is one woman’s riveting story of strength, courage and promises kept. In 1943, the Japanese tear young Jae-hee and her sister from their peaceful family farm to be comfort women for the Imperial Army. Before they leave home, their mother gives them a magnificent antique comb with an ivory inlay of a two-headed dragon, saying it will protect them. The sisters suffer terribly at the hands of the Japanese, and by the end of the war, Jae-hee must flee while her sister lies dying. Jae-hee keeps her time as a comfort woman a secret while she struggles to rebuild her life. She meets a man in North Korea who shows her what true love is. But the communists take him away in the middle of the night, and she escapes to the South. There, she finally finds success as the country rebuilds after the Korean War. However when her terrible secret is revealed, she’s thrown into poverty. In the depths of despair, she’s tempted to sell the comb with the two-headed dragon that she believes has no magic for her. Then one day she discovers its true meaning and her surprising heredity. And now she must find the only person who can carry on the legacy of the two-headed dragon… someone she abandoned years ago. Set within the tumultuous backdrop of 20th century Korea, Daughters of the Dragon by award-winning author William Andrews will make you cry and cheer for Jae-hee. And in the end, you’ll have a better understanding of the Land of the Morning Calm. Daughters of the Dragon is inspired by THE KITE RUNNER, by Khaled Hosseini, MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA by Arthur Golden, the books of Amy Tan and Lisa See
127DeltaQueen50
>126 deep220: Book Bullet! I am currently reading Honolulu by Alan Brennert about a Korean woman who is sent to Hawaii as a picture bride and her experiences there. An epic story that I am enjoying. It touches on the Japanese control of Korea and it sounds as if Daughters of the Dragon has more information on this subject.
128deep220
Book 83
Talking Pictures by Ransom Riggs
4 of 5 stars
I love that he is rescuing old family photos. Particularly loved his use of them in the Miss Peregrine's home for Peculiar Children.
Talking Pictures by Ransom Riggs
4 of 5 stars
I love that he is rescuing old family photos. Particularly loved his use of them in the Miss Peregrine's home for Peculiar Children.
129deep220
Book 84
But I could never go Vegan by Kristy Turner
5 of 5 stars
I actually checked this cookbook out from the library because I was looking for more vegetarian recipes to tempt my meat eating boyfriend. Since he suffers from gout I have been pushing him to try and eat a more vegetarian diet. Surprisingly he loved everything I made! I may have to add this cookbook permanently to my library and kick some of the less gout friendly cookbooks to the curb.
But I could never go Vegan by Kristy Turner
5 of 5 stars
I actually checked this cookbook out from the library because I was looking for more vegetarian recipes to tempt my meat eating boyfriend. Since he suffers from gout I have been pushing him to try and eat a more vegetarian diet. Surprisingly he loved everything I made! I may have to add this cookbook permanently to my library and kick some of the less gout friendly cookbooks to the curb.
130lkernagh
>129 deep220: - Hurray on discovering a cookbook filled with recipes your boyfriend loves! I can usually find one or two good recipes per cookbook, but that is about it.
131deep220
>130 lkernagh: I know- I am so excited I call him my meatatarian. He actually thought that coconut chicken, meat on a pick, Mexican style beans and cake was an acceptable dinner menu. Apparently the beans had some tomato in them so he hadn't left out the vegetable as I originally accused him. LOL
132-Eva-
>128 deep220:
That one looks really interesting! I liked the illustrations in Miss Peregrine's, but wasn't fond enough of the story to continue the series.
That one looks really interesting! I liked the illustrations in Miss Peregrine's, but wasn't fond enough of the story to continue the series.
133deep220
Book 85
The Looking Glass by Richard Paul Evans
3 of 5 stars
Not my favorite of Richard Paul Evans books but it was a cute quick read. Just put in the donation pile to take to a family relative.
Amazon Description:
The winter storms of the wide-open frontier reflect the anguish raging in Hunter Bell, a minister who heads to Utah's gold-mining towns after his wife dies in childbirth. A man with nothing left ot loose, he plays the card tables for money to care for his youngs daughter back home. But in the heart of a driving blizzard, Hunter makes a shocking discovery --and begins to see that a life tested by unthinkable cruelty can still be rich with faith, love, and hope for a better tomorrow...
The Looking Glass by Richard Paul Evans
3 of 5 stars
Not my favorite of Richard Paul Evans books but it was a cute quick read. Just put in the donation pile to take to a family relative.
Amazon Description:
The winter storms of the wide-open frontier reflect the anguish raging in Hunter Bell, a minister who heads to Utah's gold-mining towns after his wife dies in childbirth. A man with nothing left ot loose, he plays the card tables for money to care for his youngs daughter back home. But in the heart of a driving blizzard, Hunter makes a shocking discovery --and begins to see that a life tested by unthinkable cruelty can still be rich with faith, love, and hope for a better tomorrow...
134deep220
Book 86
The Legend of the Bloodstone by E.B. Brown
5 of 5 stars
I loved this one. Ended up staying up way to late just trying to finish one more page.
Amazon Description:
In 2012, a woman cuts her hand and picks up a strange colored stone -
Suddenly she is staring into the eyes of an angry Powhatan warrior.
And the only town nearby is Jamestown, circa 1622.
Maggie McMillan wakes up one day as a college student, yet ends the day in the 1622. Captured by Winn, a warrior who is torn between his duty to kill her and his desire to keep her, she is thrust into a life she had only read about in history books.
Hunted and feared by both the Powhatan and the English, she struggles to find a way home while Winn plots to keep her there. Maggie fights to survive as she finds herself entangled in the Indian Massacre of 1622, and Winn sees everything he ever believed in shattered by the knowledge she holds.
As they battle against each other and the message she brings from the future, she must decide whether to return to her own time, or to make a life in the past with the man who holds her heart captive.
The Legend of the Bloodstone by E.B. Brown
5 of 5 stars
I loved this one. Ended up staying up way to late just trying to finish one more page.
Amazon Description:
In 2012, a woman cuts her hand and picks up a strange colored stone -
Suddenly she is staring into the eyes of an angry Powhatan warrior.
And the only town nearby is Jamestown, circa 1622.
Maggie McMillan wakes up one day as a college student, yet ends the day in the 1622. Captured by Winn, a warrior who is torn between his duty to kill her and his desire to keep her, she is thrust into a life she had only read about in history books.
Hunted and feared by both the Powhatan and the English, she struggles to find a way home while Winn plots to keep her there. Maggie fights to survive as she finds herself entangled in the Indian Massacre of 1622, and Winn sees everything he ever believed in shattered by the knowledge she holds.
As they battle against each other and the message she brings from the future, she must decide whether to return to her own time, or to make a life in the past with the man who holds her heart captive.
136deep220
Book 88
What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
4 of 5 stars
Didn't see the ending coming.
Amazon Desciption:
Thirty years ago, the Bethany girls, ages eleven and fifteen, disappeared from a Baltimore shopping mall. They never returned, their bodies were never recovered, and only painful questions remain. Now, in the aftermath of a rush-hour hit-and-run accident, a clearly disoriented woman is claiming to be Heather, the younger Bethany sister. Not a shred of evidence supports her story, and every lead she reluctantly offers takes the police to another dead end—a dying, incoherent man; a razed house; a missing grave. But she definitely knows something about that terrible day—and about the shocking fissures that the tragedy exposed in the foundation of a seemingly solid family.
What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman
4 of 5 stars
Didn't see the ending coming.
Amazon Desciption:
Thirty years ago, the Bethany girls, ages eleven and fifteen, disappeared from a Baltimore shopping mall. They never returned, their bodies were never recovered, and only painful questions remain. Now, in the aftermath of a rush-hour hit-and-run accident, a clearly disoriented woman is claiming to be Heather, the younger Bethany sister. Not a shred of evidence supports her story, and every lead she reluctantly offers takes the police to another dead end—a dying, incoherent man; a razed house; a missing grave. But she definitely knows something about that terrible day—and about the shocking fissures that the tragedy exposed in the foundation of a seemingly solid family.
138deep220
Book 90
Girl in Hyacinth blue by Susan Vreeland
4 of 5 stars
Great quick little read. Loved the little pick into the characters lives as the painting moved through there lives.
Amazon
This luminous story begins in the present day, when a professor invites a colleague to his home to see a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor swears it is a Vermeer—but why has he hidden this important work for so long? The reasons unfold in a series of events that trace the ownership of the painting back to World War II and Amsterdam, and still further back to the moment of the work's inspiration. As the painting moves through each owner's hands, what was long hidden quietly surfaces, illuminating poignant moments in multiple lives. Susan Vreeland's characters remind us, through their love of this mysterious painting, how beauty transforms and why we reach for it, what lasts and what in our lives is singular and unforgettable
Girl in Hyacinth blue by Susan Vreeland
4 of 5 stars
Great quick little read. Loved the little pick into the characters lives as the painting moved through there lives.
Amazon
This luminous story begins in the present day, when a professor invites a colleague to his home to see a painting that he has kept secret for decades. The professor swears it is a Vermeer—but why has he hidden this important work for so long? The reasons unfold in a series of events that trace the ownership of the painting back to World War II and Amsterdam, and still further back to the moment of the work's inspiration. As the painting moves through each owner's hands, what was long hidden quietly surfaces, illuminating poignant moments in multiple lives. Susan Vreeland's characters remind us, through their love of this mysterious painting, how beauty transforms and why we reach for it, what lasts and what in our lives is singular and unforgettable
139deep220
Book 91
The Best of Cooking Light Everyday Favorites
5 of 5 stars
I have now cooked my way through most of this book. LOVED the recipes. Was even able to get the man on board with the vegetarian selection. Downfall the binding didn't hold up well at all- seems all my favorite recipes fell in the same location.
The Best of Cooking Light Everyday Favorites
5 of 5 stars
I have now cooked my way through most of this book. LOVED the recipes. Was even able to get the man on board with the vegetarian selection. Downfall the binding didn't hold up well at all- seems all my favorite recipes fell in the same location.
140deep220
I haven't been posting my cookbooks. So let me catch up for the year.
Book 92
Meatless by Martha Stewart Living
5 of 5 stars
Hands down has been my go to cookbook this year. The man has been having more and more issues with Gout this year so it was quite the task to get him to think about a more vegetable based diet. Thank You Thank You for this cookbook.
Book 93
Real Simple Easy, Delicious Home Cooking by Editors of Real Simple Magazine
4 of 5 stars
I love Real Simple Magazine, so no surprise that I loved the cookbook they put out.
Book 94
The Complete Mexican, South American and Caribbean Cookbook
4 of 5 stars
This cookbook has much more to offer.. but the handful of recipes I did try were fantastic. Looking for to more from this cookbook.
I did eliminate 6 cookbooks from my collection this year- but forgot to log them. But the cookbook cook off was successful. Given that I still have many more cookbooks in my collection then I have really used I will continue next year.
Book 92
Meatless by Martha Stewart Living
5 of 5 stars
Hands down has been my go to cookbook this year. The man has been having more and more issues with Gout this year so it was quite the task to get him to think about a more vegetable based diet. Thank You Thank You for this cookbook.
Book 93
Real Simple Easy, Delicious Home Cooking by Editors of Real Simple Magazine
4 of 5 stars
I love Real Simple Magazine, so no surprise that I loved the cookbook they put out.
Book 94
The Complete Mexican, South American and Caribbean Cookbook
4 of 5 stars
This cookbook has much more to offer.. but the handful of recipes I did try were fantastic. Looking for to more from this cookbook.
I did eliminate 6 cookbooks from my collection this year- but forgot to log them. But the cookbook cook off was successful. Given that I still have many more cookbooks in my collection then I have really used I will continue next year.
141deep220
Book 96
Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid
4 of 5 stars
I love books that base a mystery around history. And what could be more alluring that the mutiny on the bounty and a highly prized literary scholar.
Amazon:
In The Grave Tattoo, suspense master Val McDermid spins a psychological thriller in which a present-day murder has its roots in the eighteenth century and the mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty.
After summer rains uncover a corpse bearing tattoos like those of eighteenth-century seafarers, many residents of the English Lake District can't help but wonder whether it's the body of one of the town's most legendary fugitives.
Scholar and native Lakelander Jane Gresham feels compelled to finally discover the truth about the myths and buried secrets rooted in her hometown. What she never expected was to find herself at the heart of a 200-year-old mystery that still has the power to put lives on the line. And with each new lead she pursues, death follows hard on her heels….
Still working on a couple more.. we will see if they get wrapped up before the end of the year.
Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid
4 of 5 stars
I love books that base a mystery around history. And what could be more alluring that the mutiny on the bounty and a highly prized literary scholar.
Amazon:
In The Grave Tattoo, suspense master Val McDermid spins a psychological thriller in which a present-day murder has its roots in the eighteenth century and the mutiny on the H.M.S. Bounty.
After summer rains uncover a corpse bearing tattoos like those of eighteenth-century seafarers, many residents of the English Lake District can't help but wonder whether it's the body of one of the town's most legendary fugitives.
Scholar and native Lakelander Jane Gresham feels compelled to finally discover the truth about the myths and buried secrets rooted in her hometown. What she never expected was to find herself at the heart of a 200-year-old mystery that still has the power to put lives on the line. And with each new lead she pursues, death follows hard on her heels….
Still working on a couple more.. we will see if they get wrapped up before the end of the year.
142deep220
Book 97
Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart
2 of 5 stars
Not nearly as entertaining or informative that I thought it would be. Pass on this one.
amazon:
In a rich blend of memoir and meditation, Abbott focuses her graceful and witty attention on mothers and daughters of the South. Theirs is a world of red dirt and backbreaking chores and roof-raising revival meetings - a far cry from the magnolias and mint juleps of Gone with the Wind. "The South of the backwoods, hillbilly plain folk has at last found its true and inspired interpreter," says C. Vann Woodward.
Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart
2 of 5 stars
Not nearly as entertaining or informative that I thought it would be. Pass on this one.
amazon:
In a rich blend of memoir and meditation, Abbott focuses her graceful and witty attention on mothers and daughters of the South. Theirs is a world of red dirt and backbreaking chores and roof-raising revival meetings - a far cry from the magnolias and mint juleps of Gone with the Wind. "The South of the backwoods, hillbilly plain folk has at last found its true and inspired interpreter," says C. Vann Woodward.
143Chrischi_HH
>141 deep220: A mystery based on history and set in the Lake District? BB taken! I hope you had a lovely Christmas!
144-Eva-
>139 deep220:
So, get the hardback version, I take it. :) I will be needing a bit of a kick after all the holiday eating!
So, get the hardback version, I take it. :) I will be needing a bit of a kick after all the holiday eating!
