When I saw the badge I couldn’t believe my eyes! Next up, the 80% badge! I have been working tirelessly on getting through the titles I have on Netgalley…I currently have 26 books out that I need to read…8 are waaaaaaay past their publishing date, but I am determined to catch up!! I CAN DO THIS!
NetGalley is an innovative and easy-to-use online service and connection point for book publishers, reviewers, media, librarians, booksellers, bloggers and educators.
NetGalley delivers digital galleys, often called advance reading copies, or ARCs, to professional readers and helps promote new and upcoming titles. Professional readers–reviewers, media, journalists, bloggers, librarians, booksellers and educators–can join and use NetGalley at no cost.
NetGalley is a division of Firebrand Technologies, a leading provider of publishing technologies, services and solutions.
To learn more about Firebrand’s Title Management Enterprise Software, Eloquence Metadata Services, Content Services, Ecommerce or Consulting solutions, please visit www.firebrandtech.com.
It’s our pleasure and privilege to help publishers in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and US launch new titles to an ever-growing community of professional readers.
I found this quiz thanks to Kristin @ Kristin Kraves Books and thought it was too cool not to share. It’s a real calm and serene experience that you must do from a mobile phone (heads up).
I recommend leaving the sound on so you get the full effect of the short quiz. It was really peaceful and serene. This will only take you a few minutes so go ahead and click the link above and try your hand at this and then let me know what flower you get!!
I discovered this meme thanks to Jill’s Book Blog. This meme is all about what book you are reading today!! So let’s all talk about what book we currently have in our hands! This meme is hosted by Midnight Book Girl.
FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A few of us at work have decided to start a little book club since we haven’t seen each other/been able to pass books around. I mentioned reading this one together and everyone jumped on board. I am so pumped to be reading this…FINALLY…it’s been on my shelf for such a long time, I hope it’s as good as most of you say!
As always First Line Friday comes courtesy of Hoarding Books Blog. I discovered this magic thanks to Crystal at Must Love Reviews. This week I’m reading the latest Sandie Jones book…
Kate sees the familiar plaque on Dr. Williams’ office door and feels a knot in her stomach.
Blurb
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Hello Sunshine Book Club pick The Other Woman, comes a compelling new domestic suspense novel about a family who is forever changed when a stranger arrives at their door.
THE TRUTH
Sisters Kate and Lauren meet for Sunday lunch every week without fail, especially after the loss of their father.
THE LIE
But a knock at the door is about to change everything. A young woman by the name of Jess holds a note with the results of a DNA test, claiming to be their half sister.
THE UNTHINKABLE
As the fallout starts, it’s clear that they are all hiding secrets, and perhaps this family isn’t as perfect as it appears.
Thank you, thank you to Justine Sha with Harlequin Books for the opportunity to be invited to and included in this blog tour! I was presented an advance copy of Sister Dear in exchange for my honest review and opinion. All thoughts expressed are my own. Stay tuned after my review for an excerpt!
I never thought a book could have me feel all different kinds of emotions for the protagonist until I read this one. What do I mean? Here’s a list of everything I felt for Eleanor, our main character: sorry, angry, upset, crazy, happy, and my list could go on with all of these opposing emotions. What a tale Hannah Mary McKinnon takes us on and what a ride she takes us on with Eleanor!
This story is told through Eleanor. She recently loses her father, the only parent she had a relationship with. She is estranged from her mother and sister and could care less about them. When a secret comes out on her father’s death bed, her life changes.
Eleanor lives a single lifestyle, barely hanging on, and has a problem with binge eating. Her father’s death catapults her and she ends up learning even more about her mother. Her mother comes around and tries to be nice, but all she wants is for Eleanor to give any money her father left her, to her sister. Mind you, her sister didn’t even come to her father’s funeral.
Oh, did I not mention the secret that she found out? Right…well, her father wasn’t her biological father. Nope. And she found out she has a half sister. If you thought her mom and sister were drama…oh no, wait until you meet her real father and see how THAT plays out.
5 stars. Why? Because my opinion of Eleanor changed SO MUCH throughout this book, it was unreal. The ending made me angry, but weirdly I was ok with it. I’m still angry and upset over the ending, but any other ending really could have been a little more unrealistic. This book just takes you on a wild ride and I loved every minute of it. Such a great job by the author!! You won’t regret picking this one up!
EXCERPT: Chapter 1
The police didn’t believe me.
A jury wouldn’t have, either, if I’d gone on trial, and most definitely not the judge. My attorney had more than a few reservations about my story. Ms. Allerton hadn’t said as much. She didn’t need to. I saw it in her eyes, could tell by the way she shuffled and reshuffled her papers, as if doing so might shake my lies clean off the pages, leaving only the truth behind in her inky, royal blue swirls.
After our first meeting I’d concluded she must’ve known early on—before she shook my hand with her icy fingers—that I was a liar. Before she’d walked into the room in shiny, four-inch heels, she’d no doubt decided she’d heard my excuses, or a variation thereof, from countless clients already. I was yet another person claiming to be innocent. Another criminal who’d remained adamant they’d done nothing wrong, it wasn’t their fault, honest, despite the overwhelming amount of evidence to the contrary, a wall of impending doom surrounding me.
And still, at the time I’d believed the only reason Ms. Allerton had taken on my case pro-bono was because of the amount of publicity it gave her firm. Reducing my sentence—for there would be one—would amplify her legacy as a hot-shot lawyer. I’d accepted her help. There was no other option. I needed her knowledge, her expertise, saw her as my final hope. I now know her motivations were something else I’d miscalculated. All hope extinguished. Game over.
If I’m being fair, the judgements Ms. Allerton and other people had made about me weren’t completely wrong. I had told lies, some, anyway. While that stripped away part of my claim to innocence, it didn’t mean I was entirely guilty. Not of the things everybody said I’d done. Things I’d had no choice but to confess to, despite that being my biggest lie of all.
But I’ll tell you the truth. The whole truth and nothing but. I’ll start at the beginning, and share everything that happened. Every last detail leading up to one fateful night. The night someone died because of me. The night I lost you, too.
I won’t expect your forgiveness. Our relationship—or lack thereof—will have gone way beyond that point. No. All I can hope for, is that my side of the story will one day help you understand why I did the things I did.
And why I have to do the things I’ve not yet done.
(Side note: Yes, I know today is Wednesday…three day weekends mess with me so I’ve been all sorts of off, here’s hoping I remember to take the garbage out tomorrow!) I decided to pull out the books I hope to read this summer…you’ll find they follow a certain theme…
You guys should know by now that I love Elin Hilderbrand (and I cannot wait for her new book 28 Summers to come out) and I am bound and determined to read all of these this summer!!! Wish me luck!
What is on your radar as some of the books you want to read this summer??
As always First Line Friday comes courtesy of Hoarding Books Blog. I discovered this magic thanks to Crystal at Must Love Reviews. This week I’m reading a book that I will be part of a blog tour next month!
Paris, 1944
They were ripping off the stars.
Blurb
Living through WWII working in a Paris bookstore with her young daughter, Vivi, and fighting for her life, Charlotte is no victim, she is a survivor. But can she survive the next chapter of her life?
Alternating between wartime Paris and 1950s New York publishing, Paris Never Leaves You is an extraordinary story of resilience, love, and impossible choices, exploring how survival never comes without a cost.
This one was popping up everywhere so I threw it into my Amazon cart and the next time my husband made a purchase, in came my new book, YAY! Now I’m off to put the sequel into my cart!
Pip Fitz-Amobi is a small town girl who has just started her senior year of high school. Each of the seniors has to complete a capstone project so her topic…Andie Bell wasn’t murdered by Sal Singh. What?
Five years ago the small town was rattled when Andie Bell went missing. The police blamed the disappearance, and murder, on her boyfriend Sal Singh. He committed suicide a few days after Andie disappeared and evidence found on him implicated he was guilty. Pip felt the police were too quick to close the case and didn’t really investigate…so she decides to investigate herself.
Pip befriends Sal’s brother, Ravi, and the two of them embark on an amateur investigation. Pip starts to receive threatening messages and her project appears to be doomed. It’s too late to change her topic so maybe she’ll just end up failing. Whoever it is wants her to stop…and they aren’t stopping at just idling threats.
This book had me guessing. Every time Pip added someone to her suspect list I thought, “Yup, they did it.” Eventually I thought everything was plausible, so who really did it…or was she just chasing a dead end? Pip has an unbelievable talent at picking up clues and yes, this did seem realistic. Maybe the topic would never really be approved for a senior project, but I could see teenagers putting their noses where they shouldn’t to try and solve a mystery.
4 stars. I seriously did not see the ending coming. I know, I know, I never do, but honestly…this one was great. There was information in every chapter and it kept everything fresh! One of the better young adult novels I have read in a long while!! I cannot wait to read more from Holly Jackson in the future!
Donna's Reading Chair 