Book Beginnings - 1/18/2019

*Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.  *Taken directly from Rose City Reader's Blog Page. 

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My Book Beginnings is taken from WE HOPE FOR BETTER THINGS by Erin Bartels:

***First of all...I am LOVING this book.***

"The Lafayette Coney Island was not a comfortable place to be early.  It wasn't a comfortable place, period.  It was cramped and dingy and packed, and seat saving, such as I was attempting at the lunch rush, was not appreciated."

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Book Blogger Hop - 1/18 - 1/25

Question of the Week:

Is there anything that drives you bonkers when you're reading a book and makes you want tell the author a thing or two? (submitted by C. Lee @ cleemckenziebooks)

My Answer:

Not really.

I would rather tell the characters to wake up and see what is going on.  :)

Friendly Fill-Ins - 1/18/2019

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FRIENDLY FILL-INS:

1. _______ and _______ go hand in hand.
2. ______ makes my heart happy.
3. Don't be afraid to ______.
4. If ___ were a sport, I would win hands down.

MY ANSWERS: 

1.  Reading and tea go hand in hand.

2.  Book Mail makes my heart happy.

3.  Don't be afraid to pick up a book and start reading - that is my comment to non-readers in my family.

4.  If reading and baking were a sport, I would win hands down.

Giveaway and Re-post of the Review of Sophie Last Seen by Marlene Adelstein

Photo Source
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Hosted by Suzie Approved Book Tours 
  Celebrating a GIVEAWAY of:

SOPHIE LAST SEEN
by 
Marlene Adelstein

along with a repost of 

MY REVIEW

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MY REVIEW:

Having a child disappear is a parent’s worst nightmare, and Jesse has been living the nightmare for six years.

Jesse lost Sophie at the local mall and goes back nearly every day to look for clues that might tell where she is.  She went a bit too far one day and was banned from the mall.

Jesse and her husband Cooper had divorced shortly after Sophie’s disappearance.  Cooper moved on, remarried, and isn’t as obsessed as Jesse.  Jesse lives in the house where Sophie grew up, and she doesn’t want to leave in case Sophie comes back.

Jesse’s obsession with finding her daughter turned into hoarding everything she found that she thought was a clue to her daughter’s disappearance.  She thought notes, shirts, grocery lists, pages from dictionaries, and bird trivia were signs from her daughter.



The reader follows Jesse through her days along with Sophie’s friend Star as they both can’t forget her and hope she will return.  Star sees Sophie as Sophie taunts her, and Jesse sees Sophie as she reads to her and talks to her.



SOPHIE LAST SEEN flows smoothly with some odd, but likable characters.  The book addresses many issues and is a book that will tug at your heartstrings.  The town of Canaan is a town that helps each other out in any crisis.



I enjoyed the book and also felt the pain Jesse was going through with her obsession of finding her daughter, with remembering her daughter and the secret about her, with her hoarding, and with the fact that she did need to move on and change her current life.  I kept hoping it would happen for her.

The tension and suspense ramped up as the book continued.



If you enjoy a bit of oddity, a fast-paced story line, a few ghosts, and characters that will stay with you, then SOPHIE LAST SEEN will be a book you will want to read.  5/5



This book was given to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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GIVEAWAY:

I am partnering with Suzanne Weinstein Leopold for this giveaway:

USA ONLY

January 17 -24

ENTER HERE

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Books With The Word GIRL/GIRLS In The Title

Which books can you add to the list that have GIRL or GIRLS in the title?

I have reviewed each one on my blog. 

Looking forward to seeing what your titles are.

Annelies by David R. Gillham

Anne Frank has always been of interest, and Mr. Gillham creates a heartbreaking re-telling of what she and her family endured and what her life could have been had she survived.

We follow Anne before, during, and after the war that describes her family's confinement and the horrors they endured at the concentration camps. 

Mr. Gillham brings Anne back to life and fictitiously lets us see how she is trying to put her life back together as she reunites with her father who in actuality is the only surviving family member.

The detailed writing and re-telling will hold your interest from the minute you begin reading. 

This book is a tribute to all of those who suffered, survived, perished, and helped in any way possible during history's darkest hours.

Mr. Gillham did an outstanding job of researching as well as using a creative method of portraying Anne Frank's life as it may have been even though she did not survive the Holocaust.

Through Mr. Gillham’s marvelous writing style we are transported back in time as we experience what Anne experienced during her captivity and as she tries to re-enter her previous life that is always filled with the presence and reminders of her captors and how she had to comply.
 
ANNELIES is a beautiful, heartfelt book you will want to absorb with attention to every detail.  

Anne seems as though she was and would have been a feisty young lady that the world has missed and could have learned from.  5/5

This book was given to me as ARC by the author in exchange for an honest review.

No Exit by Taylor Adams

 

A phone call that her mother had cancer, a snow storm, a rest stop with strangers, and worst of all a child locked in a cage in a van.

Could it get any worse for Darby? 

Who was the child, which one of the strangers in the rest stop was the kidnapper, and what can Darby do about it since there is no cell signal and no way the police could get there anyway in all that snow?

NO EXIT has us sharing a rest stop with the other stranded people trying to make time pass, but as time passes the tension and danger builds because Darby finds out who the kidnapper is and is secretly threatened to keep quiet.

As you read, you feel Darby's terror about the safety of herself and the other strangers and wish the snow would stop, cell service would be available, and some help would arrive.

If you have always thought rest stops were creepy places, you will be even more wary after reading NO EXIT. 

NO EXIT has characters that unfortunately could very well be exactly as they are portrayed whether they are at a rest stop or at a resort.  The kidnappers were pretty evil and had no regard for human life. 

Mr. Adams keeps you turning the pages, worrying, and wondering how it all will turn out as he slowly and expertly reveals who is who and what is happening.

Talking about an intense read, we need to capitalize INTENSE. 

NO EXIT has so much tension your heart will be pounding, and you won't want to stop reading. 

When you think you have figured out what is going on, another surprise pops up. 

If you thrive on thrillers, NO EXIT will not want to be missed. 5/5

This book was given to me by the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.