Fall Reading Challenge 2015

Fall Reading Challenge 2015
sponsored by BookSparks
(details here)
The Fall annual reading challenge sponsored by BookSparks is starting up next month!

JOIN in and treat yourself to some amazing reads!

Here are the books I plan on reading:
SEE details (here) for complete list

Crooked Little Lies
by Barbara Taylor Sissel
Amazon | Goodreads | my reviewCourse Title: Manipulation Sciences
Department: Suspense
Course Date: September 7
Description: Seeing is not always believing. Unravel the mysteries behind Crooked Little Lies by Barbara Taylor with this deep dive into the deceptions lurking within your own memories.

The Legacy of Us
by Kristin Contino
Amazon | Goodreads | my reviewCourse Title: Ancestry 101
Department: Women’s Fiction
Course Date: September 28
Description: Track one woman’s journey through the generations and learn to identify key heirlooms and clues in tracing your lineage with The Legacy of Us taught by Kristin Contino.

The Admissions
by Meg Mitchell Moore
Amazon | Goodreads | my reviewCourse Title: Sociology 101
Department: Women’s Fiction
Course Date: October 5
Description: Put today’s modern “has-it-all” family under the microscope in this revealing course by Meg Mitchell Moore.

Sleeping With The Enemy
by Tracy Solheim
Amazon | Goodreads | my reviewCourse Title: Scandal Studies 101
Department: Romance
Course Date: October 12
Description: Study heartbreak, jealousy, attraction and grudge-holding during this juicy course by Tracy Solheim.

The Good Neighbor
by A.J. Banner
Amazon | Goodreads | my reviewCourse Title: Bad Behavioral Studies
Department: Suspense
Course Date: October 19
Description: Examine community and neighbor relations under a microscope in this mysterious course from AJ Banner.

Beautiful Affliction
by Lene Fogelberg
Amazon | Goodreads | my reviewCourse Title: Anatomy & Physiology
Department: Memoir
Course Date: November 2
Description: Take an honest look at growing up on the verge of death by following the life of Lene Folgelberg, a double open-heart surgery survivor.

The Word Game
by Steena Holmes
Amazon | Goodreads | my reviewCourse Title: Advanced Trauma & Recovery
Department: Women’s Fiction
Course Date: December 7
Description: Go inside the complicated world of sisterly relations, family secrets and unthinkable acts with this course by Steena Holmes. Past students are still talking about it!

Put A Ring On It
by Beth Kendrick
Amazon | Goodreads

Postcards from the Sky: Adventures of an Aviatrix
by Erin Seidemann
Amazon | Goodreads | my review

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* head over to get more details and to signup for this challenge (here) - books provided for honest reviews

New Uses for Old Boyfriends by Beth Kendrick

New Uses for Old Boyfriends
by Beth Kendrick

Find out more about this book and author:
Amazon
Goodreads
Website
Facebook
Twitter @BKendrickBooks

Just released: February 3, 2015
Publisher: NAL Trade
Genre: Chick-lit
Paperback: 336 pages
Rating: 4.5

Black Dog Bay Novel series:
Cure for the Common Breakup
New Uses for Old Boyfriends

After growing up in privilege and marrying into money, Lila Alders has gotten used to the good life. But when her happily-ever-after implodes, Lila must return to Black Dog Bay, the tiny seaside town where she grew up. She’s desperate for a safe haven, but everything has changed over the past ten years. Her family’s fortune is gone—and her mother is in total denial. It’s up to Lila to take care of everything...but she can barely take care of herself.

The former golden girl of Black Dog Bay struggles to reinvent herself by opening a vintage clothing boutique. But even as Lila finds new purpose for outdated dresses and tries to reunite with her ex, she realizes that sometimes it’s too late for old dreams. She’s lost everything she thought she needed but found something—someone—she desperately wants. A boy she hardly noticed has grown up into a man she can’t forget...and a second chance has never felt so much like first love.

My two-bits:

I enjoyed this second chance romance story in a small town. There is something comforting about familiar places and people in this kind of setting which makes for a cozy read during the winter months.

Plenty of fun sprinklings of the vintage clothing business. It was interesting to learn of some of the care and worth of designer wear.

There were also reminiscing of high school loves between characters which in turn made me think of the woulda coulda shoulda moments in my high school past. But then I realized that all turned out for the best after all which the main character in this story concludes as well.

The light bickering and sweet moments between the couple pairing brought a couple chuckles - always a good thing ;-)

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* review copy courtesy of publisher

* added this to my Bookish Bingo challenge - square: Pretty Dress Cover

Happy release: New Uses for Old Boyfriends by Beth Kendrick

New Uses for Old Boyfriends
by Beth Kendrick
-Women's Fiction
Just released: February 3, 2015
Amazon | Goodreads
After growing up in privilege and marrying into money, Lila Alders has gotten used to the good life. But when her happily-ever-after implodes, Lila must return to Black Dog Bay, the tiny seaside town where she grew up. She’s desperate for a safe haven, but everything has changed over the past ten years. Her family’s fortune is gone—and her mother is in total denial. It’s up to Lila to take care of everything...but she can barely take care of herself.

The former golden girl of Black Dog Bay struggles to reinvent herself by opening a vintage clothing boutique. But even as Lila finds new purpose for outdated dresses and tries to reunite with her ex, she realizes that sometimes it’s too late for old dreams. She’s lost everything she thought she needed but found something—someone—she desperately wants. A boy she hardly noticed has grown up into a man she can’t forget...and a second chance has never felt so much like first love.

--~ Book Giveaway courtesy of publisher ~--

WIN the Get Over Your
Boyfriend Prize Pack!
Enter for your chance to win autographed copies of three of Beth's awesome books: New Uses for Old Boyfriends, Cure for the Common Breakup, and The Week Before the Wedding signup here.

Ends: Feb 9, 2015

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* I am currently reading this - so far, so good :-)

Stacking the Shelves - 1.31.15

Stacking the Shelves
hosted by Tynga's Reviews (details)
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks!

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Bought:

The Mime Order
(The Bone Season #2)
by Samantha Shannon
-Dystopia
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> so excited about getting this! just need to figure out when to squeeze it in the reading schedule

For Review:

Darkness
(Florence Waverley, #3)
by Ciye Cho
-Fantasy, Mermaid
courtesy of author
Thanks !
Amazon | Goodreads

Blue Sun, Yellow Sky
by by Jamie Hoang
-Women's Fiction
courtesy of author
Thanks !
Amazon | Goodreads

New Uses for Old Boyfriends
by Beth Kendrick
-Women's Fiction
courtesy of BookSparks
Thanks !
Amazon | Signup to win this on Goodreads -expires Feb 3
Library:

Kill My Mother
by Jules Feiffer
-Graphic Novel
Amazon | Goodreads
When three daunting dolls intersect with one hapless heroine and a hard-boiled private eye, deception, betrayal, and murder stalk every mean street in… Kill My Mother.

Adding to a legendary career that includes a Pulitzer Prize, an Academy Award, Obie Awards, and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National Cartoonist Society and the Writers Guild of America, Jules Feiffer now presents his first noir graphic novel. Kill My Mother is a loving homage to the pulp-inspired films and comic strips of his youth. Channeling Eisner's The Spirit, along with the likes of Hammett, Chandler, Cain, John Huston, and Billy Wilder, and spiced with the deft humor for which Feiffer is renowned, Kill My Mother centers on five formidable women from two unrelated families, linked fatefully and fatally by a has-been, hard-drinking private detective.

As our story begins, we meet Annie Hannigan, an out-of-control teenager, jitterbugging in the 1930s. Annie dreams of offing her mother, Elsie, whom she blames for abandoning her for a job soon after her husband, a cop, is shot and killed. Now, employed by her husband’s best friend—an over-the-hill and perpetually soused private eye—Elsie finds herself covering up his missteps as she is drawn into a case of a mysterious client, who leads her into a decade-long drama of deception and dual identities sprawling from the Depression era to World War II Hollywood and the jungles of the South Pacific.

Along with three femme fatales, an obsessed daughter, and a loner heroine, Kill My Mother features a fighter turned tap dancer, a small-time thug who dreams of being a hit man, a name-dropping cab driver, a communist liquor store owner, and a hunky movie star with a mind-boggling secret. Culminating in a U.S.O. tour on a war-torn Pacific island, this disparate band of old enemies congregate to settle scores.

In a drawing style derived from Steve Canyon and The Spirit, Feiffer combines his long-honed skills as cartoonist, playwright, and screenwriter to draw us into this seductively menacing world where streets are black with soot and rain, and base motives and betrayal are served on the rocks in bars unsafe to enter. Bluesy, fast-moving, and funny, Kill My Mother is a trip to Hammett-Chandler-Cain Land: a noir-graphic novel like the movies they don’t make anymore.

OTHER things on my shelf: kinda book-related

1000 Awesome Things
=====> I've been visiting 1000 Awesome Things on my work day mornings to start the day with a smile. It is based on the book below which I read last year and found to be...awesome ;-)

The Book of Awesome
by Neil Pasricha
Amazon | Goodreads
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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

* per usual, check out the sidebar for my current giveaways offers

Bookish Bingo Challenge: Winter

Bookish Bingo Challenge
Winter: January to March 2015
hosted by Great Imaginations (details)
Decided to join this bingo challenge again - third one.

It feels so satisfying being able to check off a square after completing a book.

The Rules:

Sign-ups close on January 15 here

Read read read!

-You may include one DNF.
-Remember, one square per book.
-Books do not have to be reviewed

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Books read:

Square - Pink Cover
The Vagabond Vicar by Charlotte Brentwood -my review

Square - Middle Grade
A Sudden Light by Garth Stein -my review

Square - Pink Cover
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty -my review

Square - LGBT QIA
Lies We Tell Ourselves by Robin Talley -my review

Square - Romance
Granted Wishes by Tanya Vought -my review

Square - White Cover
Funny Girl by Nick Hornby -my review

Square - Over 400 pages
The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber -my review

Square - 2015 Debut
The Secret of Pembrooke Park by Julie Klassen -my review

Square - 2014 Release I Missed
The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg -my review

Square - Pretty Dress Cover
New Uses for Old Boyfriends by Beth Kendrick -my review

Square - Blue Cover
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr -my review

Square - Super Powers
Miss Stoker - vampire hunter
The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason -my review

Square - Epistolary
The Golden Mean by Nick Bantock -my review

Square - Graphic Novel
Kill My Mother by Jules Feiffer -dnf

Square - Based on Mythology
Touch by Natalia Jaster -my review

Square - Fairy Tale Re-telling
Never by Shay Lynam -my review

Square - Start a Series
Tortured Souls (The Orion Circle #1) by Kimber Leigh Wheaton -my review

Square - Mental Illness
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven -my review

Square - Magical Realism
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami -my review

Square - Mystery or Thriller
Descent: A Novel by Tim Johnston -my review

Square - Gold Lettering
What I Know For Sure by Oprah Winfrey -my review

Square - PoC MC
The Borzoi Killings by Paul Batista -my review

Square - Male POV
Soul Meaning by A.D. Starling -my review

Cure for the Common Breakup by Beth Kendrick (with giveaway)

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Cure for the Common Breakup
by Beth Kendrick

Visit Beth:
Amazon
Website
Facebook
Goodreads
Twitter @BKendrickBooks

Just released: May 6, 2014
Publisher: NAL Trade
Genre: Chick-lit, clean romance
Paperback: 336 pages
Rating: 4.5

Welcome to Black Dog Bay, a tiny seaside town in Delaware known as "the best place in America to bounce back from your breakup." Home to Better Off Bed-and-Breakfast, the Eat Your Heart Out bakery, and the Whinery bar, Black Dog Bay offers a haven for the suddenly single.

Flight attendant Summer Benson lives by two rules: Don’t stay with the same man for too long and never stay in one place. She’s about to break rule number one by considering accepting her boyfriend’s proposal—then disaster strikes and her world is shattered in an instant.

Summer heads to Black Dog Bay, where the locals welcome her. Even Hattie Huntington, the town’s oldest, richest, and meanest resident, likes her enough to give her a job. Then there’s Dutch Jansen, the rugged, stoic mayor, who’s the opposite of her type. She probably shouldn't be kissing him. She definitely shouldn't be falling in love.

After a lifetime of globe-trotting, Summer has finally found a home. But Hattie has old scores to settle and a hidden agenda for her newest employee. Summer finds herself faced with an impossible choice: Leave Black Dog Bay behind forever, or stay with the ones she loves and cost them everything...

My two-bits:

Cute romance (like the cover) - the sweet kind.

The main character, Summer, experiences a coming of age (love) moment after meeting her match.

This chick-lit houses a likable collection of women in a small town setting. I usually like these kind of stories as they are akin to eating comfort foods.

About the author:

Beth Kendrick is the author of The Week Before the Wedding, The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service, and Nearlyweds, which was turned into a Hallmark Channel original movie.

She lives in Arizona with her two rescue dogs, but she loves to vacation at the Delaware shore, where she goes to Funland, eats boardwalk fries, and wishes that the Whinery really existed.


Praise for the book:

“Beth Kendrick has reminded me once again exactly why I love her books so much. Cure for the Common Breakup is packed with humor, wit and a lot of heart.  A charming and exceptionally entertaining story!  I can’t recommend this book highly enough.”--Jane Porter, national bestselling author of

The Good Wife

“Beth Kendrick has written a sharp, sassy, surprisingly emotional story that will make readers laugh out loud from page one and sigh from the heart at the end.  Light and lovely perfection!"--Roxanne St. Claire, New York Times bestselling author of The Barefoot Bay Series



“Utterly delightful! Summer Benson will charm and disarm her way into the hearts of readers as easily as she does the residents of Black Dog Bay.”--Meg Donohue, USA Today bestselling author of All the Summer Girls

--~ Book Giveaway ~--
WIN my review copy of this book!

Open to US only.

Offer ends: June 30, 2014

TO DO: (2-parts)

1. ADD this book to your Want To Read list on Goodreads.

OR

Tweet about this giveaway.

OR

Recommend this on Google using the mini-button at end of this post (g+1).

OR

Facebook or Instagram or Pinterest or Tumblr the Book Cover image.

OR

Join the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge 2014 here.

2. TELL me what you did in comments.

AND, leave your email.

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Contest has ended - winner is here

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* review copy and giveaway courtesy of Summer Reading Challenge 2014. It's not too late, join the reading challenge here. @booksparks #SRC2014!