IS YOUR....

1.  Yes...my bookshelf is organized by the date I read the book.

 

2.  Yes...my TBR stack is "out of control."  

 

Is there anyone who has a TBR stack that is IN CONTROL?  LOL!! 

 

Thanks for playing if you do, and thanks for stopping.

Books I Read In July

1.  Tiffany Blues by M. J. Rose
2.  Our House by Louise Candlish
3.  The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis
4.  The Day of the Dead by Nicci French
5.  The Daisy Children by Sofia Grant
6.  Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris
7.  The Other Woman by Sandie Jones
 
All were wonderful, and all will be reviewed in the upcoming weeks.

Have you read any or do you plan to read any of them?

Mailbox Monday - 7/30/2018

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. 

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists!

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @ A Girl and Her Books, has a permanent home now at Mailbox Monday.

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Here’s a shout out to the administrators:

Leslie of Under My Apple Tree 
Serena @ Savvy Verse And Wit
Martha of Reviews By Martha's Bookshelf
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THANKS to everyone for keeping Mailbox Monday alive.

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I hope you had a good mailbox. 

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On Tuesday, July 24, I received:

1.  ALL WE EVER WANTED by Emily Giffin, courtesy of Colleen Nuccio of Penguin Random House.

A surprise....thank you.  

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On Wednesday, July 25, I received:

1.  CARNEGIE'S MAID by Marie Benedict, courtesy of Valerie Pierce of Sourcebooks.

I read and reviewed the e-book version.  Lovely of Valerie to send me a the hard cover print copy.  :) 

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On Thursday, July 26, I received:

1.  TAHOE SKYDROP by Todd Borg, courtesy of the author.

  
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Book Beginnings - 7/27/2018

 

*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 SOLD ON A MONDAY by Kristina McMorris:

 

"Outside the guarded entrance, reporters circled like a pack of wolves.  They wanted names and locations, and links to the Mob, every newsworthy detail for tomorrow's front page."

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Books Finished:
THE OTHER WOMAN by Sandi Jones.

Review will be on August 21.

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THE DAISY CHILDREN by Sofia Grant.

A lovely read.

Review will be on August 14.

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THE MASTERPIECE by Fiona Davis.

Review will be on  August 8.

LOVED IT!!

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OUR HOUSE by Louise Candlish.

Wow...what a terrific suspense book.

Review will be on  August 7.

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TIFFANY BLUES by M. J. Rose.

Review will be on August 6. 

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A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS by Linwood Barclay.

Review is in the book's title.

Excellent story line...love the typebars on the cover.

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GIRLS' NIGHT OUT by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke.

Review is in the book's title.

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Book Blogger Hop - 7/27/2018

Question of the Week:

Do you agree or disagree with this statement: A blogger's first name should be in a prominent place on his/her blog. (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

 

My Answer:

Since it is my question, you will know that I do agree with that statement and that I like to see the blogger's first name visible.   :)

I always like to address visitors to my blog by their first names when they comment, but there are some blogs that do not list a first name anywhere.

I dislike having to address the blogger by the name of their blog, but that is what I have to do if I can't find their name.  :)

Friendly Fill-ins -7/27/2018

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FRIENDLY FILL-INS:

1. I deserve a gold star for ___ today.

2. Right now, I am loving __. 

3. The best advice I've ever been given is ___.

4. If I had to choose a new first name, it would be ___.

MY ANSWERS:

1. I deserve a gold start for being kind after hearing something unkind today.

2.  Right now, I am loving being outside on my back porch.

3.  The best advice I've ever been given is to walk away and bite your tongue.  

4.  If I had to choose a new first name, it would still be Elizabeth. :)

A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay

 

Typewriter sounds are almost non-existent today, but they kept recurring in Paul’s home and seemed to be coming from the typewriter that his wife had bought him.



After Paul followed his friend because he was driving erratically, he found something horrific and unbelievable.



Paul saw dead bodies in his colleague’s trunk and when Kenneth struck him to silence him, he thought it was all over.  Thankfully Paul didn’t die, and Kenneth was imprisoned.  



Another thing happened as Paul was following Kenneth. He saw Kenneth dispose of a typewriter in a dumpster.  Could that be the same typewriter that Kenneth forced his victims to use to type an apology before he killed them and the typewriter that Paul's wife bought for him at a yard sale?

When we do "meet" this, typewriter, bizarre things begin to happen.

THE NOISE DOWNSTAIRS has us following Paul as he is recovering from his physical injury caused by the strike with the shovel as well as the emotional trauma.



Mr. Barclay keeps the tension high, and the story line is intriguing. The ending twists were well hidden from the reader.



The introduction of the typewriter was very clever, and the typewriter seemed to be included as another character. 



This was my first book by Mr. Barclay, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.



If you have enjoyed Mr. Barclay's books, you won't want to miss his newest.   5/5

This book was given to me as ARC by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Tahoe Skydrop by Todd Borg

Another Todd Borg Mystery!!

Received TAHOE SKYDROP today.  :)

This is his 15th marvelous mystery.  😊 

Day of the Dead by Nicci French

 

Frieda Kline is missing because she wants to be missing, and now Lola who is writing her dissertation has gone out of touch.

Lola is writing a dissertation for her criminology class and wanted to write about Frieda and her involvement in police cases and her connection to Dean Reeve. 

Lola’s mentor suggested walking in Frieda’s shoes to get an idea about her.  Lola did just that, but it didn’t turn out too well.  Lola mistakenly and unknowingly came across Dean Reeve, a serial killer who kills anyone who has contact with Frieda, and who still has it out for Frieda. Dean kills others to get to her.

No one has been able to track Dean down.  Dean has been a character along with Frieda in previous books.

Was Dean Reeve back?  Frieda definitely thought so, and Dean made sure she knew.  And...Frieda knew he wouldn’t stop until he killed her.

The book begins as we find that a killer is on the loose.  The murders started with a dead man in a stolen car barreling down a steep hill, and another one was a dead man being burned in a bonfire.  But that wasn’t the end of the bodies. The count kept getting higher, and the bodies followed a pattern.

This is only the second book I have read in this series, and I actually didn’t know it was a series when I read the first one.  I was not lost while reading so it seems as if you can start in the middle...things went smoothly.

I can see why the series is so well liked.  Frieda Kline is a very popular character, but this will be the last book in this series.  Frieda is a bit rough outwardly, but she is actually a good Samaritan that the police always call in for assistance on their cases.  Frieda is also a psycho analyst.

DAY OF THE DEAD is suspenseful, and you will want to tell Frieda to stop being so stubborn about not allowing the police to take total control of this new Dean Reeve’s madness instead of trying to solve it on her own.

Readers who enjoy suspense, twists and turns, stubborn characters, and a killer who knows how to allude everyone will enjoy this book.

My only complaint is that it was a bit long.  4/5

This book was given to me as an ARC by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  .  All opinions are my own.

The Boy At The Door by Alex Dahl

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Cecelia had a perfect life with a perfect husband, two daughters, a beautiful home, and an enjoyable part-time job.

One night could change it all.

Cecelia picked her daughters up from swim practice, and as she waited for them to change, she was asked to take a young boy home because his parents didn’t show up.

Cecelia didn’t want to do it, but she couldn’t leave him at the school alone.  Taking him home was the worst thing that could have happened to her because he may be the reason her secret becomes revealed.  For some reason the boy, Tobias, knows Cecelia knew Annie, the woman who took care of him and abandoned him.
 
We get background information on Annie that is not very pleasant and then move back and forth to the present with the little boy that connects it all.

I wasn't a fan of the main character Cecilia. Her past lifestyle was off-putting for me, and her current life was made of lies. She currently had everything and still wasn't happy.

Tobias was a sweet boy who kept everything inside, and he definitely had secrets and answers to the questions the police were asking, but he wouldn't tell them anything. 

Some of the other characters were very unpleasant.
 
The ongoing questions in the story line are who is Tobias' mother, how did Cecelia really know Annie, and just what is Cecelia’s secret that will destroy her current life.

The author’s writing keeps you engaged and especially when she leaves an incriminating, clue-revealing tidbit as the last sentence of the chapter and moves on.  We gets hints about what is bothering Cecelia, but never enough information to figure it out.  Tobias knows, though, and Cecelia is worried.

THE BOY AT THE DOOR is brilliantly written with a creative, odd story line that is a bit unbelievable, but oh so good and attention grabbing.  

The tension kept me on the edge of my seat as the police questioned Cecelia about Annie and Tobias. 

THE BOY AT THE DOOR is an excellent suspense debut. 4/5

I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley.  All opinions are my own.

GIRLS' NIGHT OUT by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke

Three friends with issues to resolve take a trip to Mexico to try to reconnect.

The issues seemed to compound rather than lessen.  When one of the friends is missing the morning after a wild night of drinking, the tension between the two remaining friends continues and worsens as their fears mount.

GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT goes back and forth from past to present bringing with it a bit of confusion as to what is going on for the reader, but revealing that the friends have a lot of secrets they never told each other.

The book actually dragged on for me even though the secrets were interesting, but they were a bit too vague to bring anything to the story for me until around half way through the book when the reasons for the fights and the estrangements started to emerge.   

The tension mounted even more when the police arrived, but up until that point, I didn’t think there was that much suspense.

GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT gives wonderful reasons for friendships to repair themselves and for women to support each other.

GIRLS’ NIGHT OUT was suspenseful because of the missing friend, but the majority of the book was about repairing friendships and revealing secrets.

Most of the secrets dealt with domestic abuse which is an excellent topic to get out in the open. 

Another issue about being safe and making smart decisions when you are in a foreign country and with strangers was addressed. That is great advice and very frightening.  

The tension in the last 20% of the book definitely picked up my interest and my opinion despite the slow read until then.  So instead of a 3/5, I am changing my rating to a 4/5.

I received an Advanced Reader copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. . All opinions are my own.

It's Monday!! What are YOU Reading? - 7/23/2018

 

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I hope you had a great reading week.  

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This is a weekly meme hosted by Kathryn at BOOK DATE!

Post the books completed, the books you are currently reading, and the books you hope to finish at some point.

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Books Completed:

THE DAISY CHILDREN by Sofia Grant - review will be on August 14.

A lovely read.

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THE DAY OF THE DEAD by Nicci French - review will be on August 9, 2018 - finished on July 17.

 

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THE MASTERPIECE by Fiona Davis - review will be on August 8, 2018 - finished on July 13.
 
LOVE her books....it is a "masterpiece."

ENJOY if you read it.

 

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OUR HOUSE by Louise Candlish - review will be on August 7, 2018 - finished reading on July 9.

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TIFFANY BLUES by M. J. Rose - review will be on August 6, 2018 - finished on July 5.

 

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A NOISE DOWNSTAIRS by Linwood Barclay - review will be on July 26, 2018 - finished on June 25.

Look at that fabulous cover. 

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THE BOY AT THE DOOR by Alex Dahl - review will be on July 25 - finished on June 18.

 

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GIRLS' NIGHT OUT by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke - review is tomorrow.

 

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Book Currently Reading:

THE OTHER WOMAN by Sandie Jones - review will be on August 21.

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Books Up Next:

SOLD ON A MONDAY by Kristina McMorris - review will be on August 28.

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THE SUMMER SAIL by Wendy Francis - review will be on September 5, 2018.

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HOW TO MURDER YOUR WEALTHY LOVERS AND GET AWAY WITH IT by Jane Simon Ammeson - review will be on September 18.

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THE DREAM DAUGHTER by Diane Chamberlain - review will be on October 2, 2018

 

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THE CLOCKMAKER'S DAUGHTER by Kate Morton - review will be on October 9, 2018.

 

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THE FALLEN ARCHITECT by Charles Belfoure - review will be on October 10.

   
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THE LIES WE TOLD by Camilla Way - review will be on October 11.

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BEDSIDE MANNERS by Heather Frimmer - review will be on October 16.

 

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THE LAST CAROUSEL OF PROVENCE by Juliet Blackwell - review will be on October 18, 2018.

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THE RAIN WATCHER by Tatiana Da Rosnay - review will be on October 23.

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ANNELIES by David R. Gillham - review will be on January 19, 2019.

The premise involves Anne Frank.  :) Sounds VERY good.

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WOMAN 99 by Greer MacAllister - review will be in March 2019.

No data base photo yet, but the publisher is Sourcebooks.

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