Why sleep when we can read?

Friday, June 19, 2015

New Release--- Uprooting Ernie by Pamela Burford

Death Diva Jane is simply going about her business, which in this case requires her to empty a three-liter spigot box of cheap rosé on a grave, when she and her furry sidekick Sexy Beast make a grisly discovery in the town cemetery.

The victim was murdered three decades ago, but memories are fresh and old grievances fresher as facts come to light and fingers start pointing. Naturally Jane must investigate. Well, what would you do if one of your best pals turned out to be Suspect Numero Uno?

Meanwhile, between her amorous ex and a sexy bad boy who keeps popping up in the most distracting way—not to mention the (creepy? bizarre? pathetic?) guys she’s meeting through a dog lovers' dating site—her love life has never been so (creepy? bizarre? pathetic?) … interesting.

Author- Pamela Burford

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Review to come soon!

Sunday, June 7, 2015

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

Alaska, 1920: a brutal place to homestead and especially tough for recent arrivals Jack and Mabel. Childless, they are drifting apart--he breaking under the weight of the work of the farm, she crumbling from loneliness and despair. In a moment of levity during the season's first snowfall, they build a child out of snow. The next morning, the snow child is gone--but they glimpse a young, blonde-haired girl running through the trees. This little girl, who calls herself Faina, seems to be a child of the woods. She hunts with a red fox at her side, skims lightly across the snow, and somehow survives alone in the Alaskan wilderness. As Jack and Mabel struggle to understand this child who could have stepped from the pages of a fairy tale, they come to love her as their own daughter. But in this beautiful, violent place things are rarely as they appear, and what they eventually learn about Faina will transform all of them.

-Goodreads

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This was the third book I read for the read a thon. I'm kind of disappointed I didn't read more but I keep forgetting I have to feed my family and keep the house decent. As much as I love to read, adulting takes precedence. I started this book after supper and finished it before I finally went to bed. There was no way I was putting this book down until I finished it. It was that good. This book begins with the telling of a fairy tale. A Russian fairy tale about a childless couple who want nothing more in life to be parents. So great is their desire, they build a little girl out of snow and she becomes real. I have always loved fairy tales and had them read to me for as long as I can remember. This book beautifully took the premise of the tale and made it its own. Set in 1920s Alaska, the author perfectly described the people and the hardships they faced. I grew to love the characters so much. I cried for and with them. Their joys and pain were felt by me almost as if I was a character in the book. This book will be added to my favorites shelf and I will be buying it in hardback to keep. I give this book 5/5 stars. ~Laurie

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Endless Possibilities Read-a-thon ~June 4-6

The Heir by Kiera Cass is the first book I've finished for the read a thon. Having read what I thought was The Selection radiology, I was ecstatic when I heard a book was coming out centering on their daughter. O.M.G. I dove into it and stayed up all night reading it. I was totally invested in Eadlyn's story and the boys that were in her Selection. I absolutely loved it but was so disappointed with the ending!! How could it end like that!?! I can't wait a tear to find out who she picks!! You know I'll be pre-ordering the sequel. I give this book 4.5/5 stars but only because I hate cliffhangers.~Laurie

There is a reason fairy tales end when they do ... because happily ever after is just the beginning of real life.

Once upon a time in the quaint, forgotten coastal town of Joyce, Washington Emmy Burns existed in the middle of an inconsequential life that resembled a small-town fairy tale; days filled with caring for her daughter Avery, running her small but thriving pottery store, married to the only man she had ever loved. But all of that changed when the fog rolled out one beautiful morning, leaving emptiness where Emmy had stood only the day before. She had seemingly and without a sound vanished into the thick misty air of the Pacific Northwest, taking with her a lifetime of secrets.

In the aftermath Stephen Burns is content telling the police his wife must have simply chosen to walk away from him and their daughter. But Sidney Ruth, Emmy's closest friend, knows the truth. Sidney is the one person who had watched as the vines grew around the dark forest that was the Burn's marriage trapping Emmy inside and keeping everyone who loved her out.

Years of abuse has led to this moment. As the days unfurl so do the secrets Emmy kept walled away, leaving the people of Joyce wondering: What really happened to Emmy Burns in her happily ever after?

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This book was not what I expected. I admit, I picked it based on the cover.lol But it turned out to be pretty good. Avery learns that her best friend, Emmy, has disappeared. Even though they had a falling out 2 years ago, she drops everything to go help find her. This book had me trying to figure out what happened to Emmy and it was a great mystery. I totally didn't see the ending coming. I give this book 4/5 stars.
~Laurie

Monday, May 25, 2015

BOOK TOUR --- Molly Lee by Andrew Joyce

Title: Molly Lee
Author: Andrew Joyce
Publication Date: March, 29, 2015
Purchase Links: Amazon ~Goodreads ~ B&N ~ iTunes ~Kobo
Genre: Literature

It’s 1861 and the Civil War has just started. Molly is an eighteen-year-old girl living on her family’s farm in Virginia when two deserters from the Southern Cause enter her life. One of them—a twenty-four-year-old Huck Finn—ends up saving her virtue, if not her life.

Molly is so enamored with Huck, she wants to run away with him. But Huck has other plans and is gone the next morning before she awakens. Thus starts a sequence of events that leads Molly into adventure after adventure; most of them not so nice. We follow the travails of Molly Lee, starting when she is eighteen and ending when she is fifty-six.

Even then Life has one more surprise in store for her. Molly Lee is the story of a woman who knows what she wants and starts out to get it. Molly is about to set off on the quest of a lifetime . . . of two lifetimes.

Author Bio:

Andrew Joyce's MOLLY LEE is the sequel to his best-selling novel REDEMPTION: The Further Adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer.

Andrew Joyce lives on a boat in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with his dog Danny.

Author Links:

Goodreads ~ Amazon ~ Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook

This tour was hosted by Good Tales Book Tours.

I received this book in return for my honest review.

Confederate soldiers Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (yes, that Tom and Huck) desert their army unit and find shelter at the farm of some homesteaders in Virginia, while there, they save their hosts from some Yankee foragers and, more specifically, the farmer's daughter Molly Lee from rape. Molly immediately falls in love with Huck and persuades him to take her with them when they leave. But Huck and Tom depart before dawn, leaving Molly heartbroken. Molly, not being one to just give up, decides she’s going after Huck. No matter what, she’s going to get her man.

The main character, Molly Lee, is awesome! She is a strong willed woman who stands up for herself. Something not very common back in the 1860s when women were supposed to just look pretty and do as they are told. Molly gets into just about every form of trouble you can think of but manages to get through it all. There is so much action and adventure in this book. I listened to it in the car on my way to and from work, I read it in the tub at night and stayed up way too late reading it. I had the hardest time putting it down. I just had to know what was going to happen next. Andrew Joyce is writing a sequel called "Huck and Molly" and I can't wait for it to come out!

This book will be enjoyed by anyone who enjoys western movies or the old “dime novel” style of book. I wholeheartedly recommend it! I give this book 4.5/5 stars.

~Laurie

Thoughts on editing: Guest Post by Andrew Joyce

My name is Andrew Joyce, and I write books. I have no day job; my books sell well enough to keep body and soul together (barely). The same for my dog. I mean the royalties from my sales help keep his body and soul together also, not that he writes books. He only writes short stories, but hasn’t sold any as of yet.

When I’m in the editing process, I have two friends who read my stuff and they put a lot of effort into making suggestions and pointing out to me that I don’t know where to place commas and other punctuation errors that I continuously make. They also give me suggestions on how to better state a sentence or to eliminate one altogether. My point is that the more eyes that read my manuscript, the better. Because each set of eyes will see it from a different perspective and each will see things that the other has missed, myself included. Make no mistake about it. Writers cannot edit their own work.

Steinbeck, Baldacci, the greatest writers in the world all depend on editors. And you see it time and time again when the first person they thank in their books is their editor. It’s tempting to throw my stories out there right away. I want people to read my genius. However, now that I’m in my dotage, I’ve calmed down. I will not publish a book until I’ve read it through at least fifteen times, and my editors, at least half that number.

On my last book, I worked on the editing an average of eight hours a day, seven days a week for four months straight. After I sent it off, one of my editors came back with another correction. I fired her on the spot! Just kidding, I don’t pay her anyway. And I always read the last draft myself before sending it off to my agent. Notice, I’m referring only to my books. My blog is still a mess because I HATE TO EDIT!

Thursday, May 21, 2015

FREE TO BE ME Blog Hop

We were told to choose a book that represents ourselves.

It may sound a little weird but the book I chose was,

"A Dog's Purpose" by W. Bruce Cameron.

This is one of the BEST books I have ever read. I very rarely give books 5/5 stars but I would give this book more stars if I could. This book is the story of a dog who goes through many different reincarnations while trying to find out what is his purpose in life. Each chapter is a different reincarnation. Some of the chapters are funny and others will break your heart. It really made me think about how we treat our pets and whether they are sentient beings with a soul. I've always felt that pets know and understand a lot more than we give them credit for.

Anybody that knows me will tell you I love animals (except opossums but that's another story for another time). I especially have an affinity for dogs. I know a lot of people say their dog is their child. When I would hear someone say that, I'm ashamed to say that I would laugh to myself and say, "That's because they don't have real children." That all changed when a fuzzy brown puppy came into my life and honestly, saved it.

I was going through a deep depression but as soon as I picked him up and he put his paws around my neck, I knew I was going to be okay. I've had some good dogs in my life but nothing like Newton. He has never growled at a person, he lets little kids love all over him and wants to play with every dog he meets. Heck, he's never met anybody he didn't like. He was put on the Earth to love and to be loved. He can't stand for any of us to cry. If he sees one of his family sad, he'll come up and give you kisses until you smile. If you're sick, he'll lay in bed with you and won't leave unless you get up. He's starting to get gray muzzled and would rather sleep than anything else but, he still stops and wants to love every person we meet as we take our walks down to potty. I will never have another dog like him and I know for a fact that my dog's purpose in life was to show me how to love unconditionally. He is truly a member of our family and is totally one of my children. If I could love others even half as much as he does, I will know I've had a life well lived. ~ Laurie