Stacking the Shelves - 8.6.16

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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For Review: audio

Persuasion and Poems
by Jane Austen
narrated by Alison Larkin
-Classic, Romance
courtesy of narrator -Thanks!
Amazon | Goodreads
Borrowing:

#30 Collante Street
by Lisa Suguitan Melnick
-Poetry, Philippines
courtesy of M.G. from BEA meeting
Carayan Press | Goodreads

Audiobook: from library

All Is Not Forgotten
by Wendy Walker
narrated by: Dylan Baker
-Mystery, Thriller
Amazon | Goodreads

UNBOXING: for the BookSparks Summer Reading Challenge August picks (details here)

Includes:
-Clear to Lift by Anne A. Wilson
-A House for Happy Mothers by Amula Malladi
-Perfectly Good Crime by Dete Meserve
-Swear on this Life by Renee Carlino
-The Lucidity Project by Abbey Campbell Cook
-Sunglasses
-Popcorn holder
-Cotton Candy, Lollipop
-Stickers: circus theme
-Elephant plushie


OTHER things book-related:

Olympic Book Tag
see mine (here)
TAG - you are IT!

AND binge watching: on Netflix

Stranger Things (2016)
tv series, season one
Creators: Matt Duffer, Ross Duffer
Starring: Winona Ryder, David Harbour, Finn Wolfhard
-Drama, Horror, Mystery | imdb | my rating: 5
When a young boy disappears, his mother, a police chief, and his friends must confront terrifying forces in order to get him back.

=====> Love the whole 80s vibe and soundtrack.

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (2015)
tv series, season one
Starring: Rachel Bloom, Vincent Rodriguez III
-Comedy, Musical | imdb | my rating: 5
A young woman abandons a choice job at a law firm and her life in New York in an attempt to find love in the unlikely locale of West Covina, California.

=====> Lots of giggles with this one. Love the musical element to this bit of rom-com - hilarious catchy tunes.

Click Your Heart (2016)
tv series, season one
Starring: Kwon Min Ah (Min A), Baek Ju Ho
-Comedy, Romance, Teen, Kdrama | DramaFever | my rating: 4
Starring AOA's Min Ah as an endearing outcast who turns the heads of Da Won, Ro Woon, Cha Ni and Ju Ho, this interactive multiple choice series unites AOA and Neoz trainees in a sweet string of high school romances.

=====> Cute high school romance comedy with the dilemma of having more than one admirer.


Currently flipping through:

Interference
by Nick Rhodes
-Art, Photography
Amazon | Goodreads
=====> Getting hyped up to see Duran Duran (Nick Rhodes) in concert again next month with Nick's art book.

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* comment and TELL me what you have acquired for your shelves recently

Perfectly Good Crime by Dete Meserve

Perfectly Good Crime
by Dete Meserve

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

Just released: February 27, 2016
Publisher: Melrose Hill Publishing
Genre: Mystery, Los Angeles
Paperback: 288 pages
Rating: 3.5

Kate Bradley Mystery series:
Good Sam
Perfectly Good Crime

First sentence(s):
My heels dug into the muddy ground as I clambered up the hill. Cries for help mingled with the drone of helicopters overhead, filling the early evening air. I had no idea what I would see at the top of that hill, but I suspected it would give me nightmares for a long time to come.

When the estates of the 100 wealthiest Americans are targeted in a series of sophisticated, high tech heists, Los Angeles TV news reporter Kate Bradley must venture inside the world of the super rich to investigate the biggest story of the year.

As the heists escalate, Kate’s search is thwarted when the Los Angeles police detective she’s been working with mysteriously disappears, her senator father demands that she stop reporting on the heists, and the billionaire victims refuse to talk to the media. Kate uncovers clues that those behind the robberies have shocking, yet uplifting, motives—it just may be a perfectly good crime that brings about powerful change.

Further complicating her life is a dream job awaiting her in New York, a choice that could shatter from her deepening relationship with Fire Captain Eric Hayes. Kate must trust her instincts—and her heart—in a high stakes search that will test everything she believes and force her to decide where she belongs.

My two-bits:

I did not read book one in this series, but this one was fine as a standalone.

Good intentions is the feeling I get with this one in regards to the crime and with the story itself.

The mystery is revealed through various interviews and speculations by the main character, Kate.

I liked the references to L.A. locations. The settings were captured pretty well. As well as the perspectives of being a reporter and politician in L.A.

A touch of romance and love triangle action is inserted into the story. As this is book two in a series, it looks like Kate could easily end up with either suitor.

Got me thinking of charity funds and fundraising.

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* review copy courtesy of and part of Summer Reading Challenge (here) @booksparks #SRC2016 #BestSummerEver

Olympics Book Tag

Olympic Book Tag
sponsored by It Starts at Midnight (details)

Found this fun tag as a way to indirectly participate in the Summer Olympics.

TAG you are it - feel free to join in or comment with your book picks ;-)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
Fantasy, YA | Amazon | Goodreads=====> Plan to pick up the newly released, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child this weekend!

Amy and Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson
Road Trip, YA | Amazon | Goodreads | my review=====> Loved how the references to the different sites and food references.

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
Fantasy | Amazon | Goodreads=====> You never know who is next on the hit list with this series.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Mystery, Thriller | Amazon | Goodreads | my review=====> Wha? What? HUH?

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Contemporary Fiction | Amazon | Goodreads | my review=====> This chunkster had my attention for a good part of a year as I could only take small doses at a time, but worth it.

Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Chick-lit | Amazon | Goodreads | my review=====> Still have to see the movie version.

A Spear of Summer Grass by Deanna Raybourn
Romance, Travel, Africa | Amazon | Goodreads | my review=====> Loved how this one transported me to 1920s Africa.

The Boys in the Boat:
Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
Non-fiction, Sports | Amazon | Goodreads | my review=====> Loved learning about the world of rowing.

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I am looking forward to watching the Gymnastics. How about you?

FYI: I am going to read this one for the gymnastics theme - it is a dark one...

You Will Know Me
by Megan Abbott
-Mystery, Thriller
Amazon | Goodreads | my review

25 Sense by Lisa Henthorn

25 Sense
by Lisa Henthorn

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

Just released: May 2016
Publisher: SparkPress
Genre: Women's Fiction
Paperback: 192 pages
Rating: 4

First sentence(s):
@clairlymalone No birthday after age twenty-one is exciting. Twenty-two and up is a slow march to being your mother.

Claire Malone didn’t mean for this to happen when she moved to New York. She just wanted to live the city life and gain experience in television writing, her dream career. It’s not like she meant to reciprocate when her married boss, Sean Vared, sent her flirty e-mails. And you can’t blame her for coming into the office on the weekend when Sean told her he was going to be there . . . alone. She didn’t mean to sleep with him―but hey, she wanted to experience the city life, so no big deal, right?

Wrong. By the time Claire wakes up on her 25th birthday, she’s very much in love with Sean. At work, she struggles to hold it together when he passes her desk―the very desk that they used to make love on. Soon Sean has turned his affection to the show’s starring actress, and Claire is devastated. Can she break away from Sean without ruining her barely started career? Will someone find out what happened? Will she ever grow up and stop making stupid mistakes? 25 Sense is about the time in a young woman’s life when the world starts to view her as a responsible adult―but all she feels is lost.

My two-bits:

This coming-of-age story (in respect to romance and love) is sure to please chick-lit fans. There are thoughts on being single in the current dating scene in both New York and Los Angeles.

I liked the peeks into working in the tv industry. Behind-the-scenes stuff always fascinate me.

Got me thinking about affairs and infidelity.

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* review copy courtesy of and part of Summer Reading Challenge (here) @booksparks #SRC2016 #BestSummerEver

Waiting on Wednesday - 8.3.16

Waiting on Wednesday
sponsored by Jill at Breaking the Spine (details)
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I'm waiting for...

One Hundred Shadows
by Hwang Jung-eun
translated by Jung Yeown
-Contemporary Fiction, South Korea
Release date: October 3, 2016
Amazon | Goodreads
An oblique, hard-edged novel tinged with offbeat fantasy, One Hundred Shadows is set in a slum electronics market in central Seoul – an area earmarked for demolition in a city better known for its shiny skyscrapers and slick pop videos. Here, the awkward, tentative relationship between Eun-gyo and Mujae, who both dropped out of formal education to work as repair-shop assistants, is made yet more uncertain by their economic circumstances, while their matter-of-fact discussion of a strange recent development – the shadows of the slum’s inhabitants have started to ‘rise’ – leaves the reader to make up their own mind as to the nature of this shape-shifting tale.

Hwang’s spare prose is illuminated by arresting images, quirky dialogue and moments of great lyricism, crafting a deeply affecting novel of perfectly calibrated emotional restraint. Known for her interest in social minorities, Hwang eschews the dreary realism usually employed for such issues, without her social criticism being any less keen. As well as an important contribution to contemporary working-class literature, One Hundred Shadows depicts the little-known underside of a society which can be viciously superficial, complicating the shiny, ultra-modern face which South Korea presents to the world.

=====> This one calls to me because of my current interest in things Korean.