Tuesday, May 30, 2017

WWW Wednesdays 5/31/2017

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It's time for the weekly meme, WWW Wednesday hosted by Sam
@Taking on a World of Words.

All you need to do is answer the following questions:
  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?
So let's get onto it!

What are you currently reading?  I am reading an ARC of The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore.  I was going to read In The Country We Love by Diane Guerrero, but I decided to wait for the Kindle version; I'm on reserve for it, but there's about 6 others ahead of me and only one copy.  I'm also listening to Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery and only have a couple hours left.

What did you recently finish reading?  I finished listening to One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline, last week and over the weekend, I finished reading American Pickers: Guide to Picking by Libby Callaway with Mike Wolfe, Frank Fritz, and Danielle Colby

What do you think you’ll read next? I'll listen to Uprooted: The Japanese-American Experience during World War II by Albert Marrin and I think I might read the ARC  A Stardance Summer by Emily March, since I am taking part in the blog tour on June 25th for this book's release..

What about you?  Have you read any of these or do you plan to? What are you reading?

Friday, May 26, 2017

The Book Blogger Hop/Book Beginnings/ The Friday 56 5/26/2017






The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Ramblings of A Coffee-Addicted Writer, Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader. The idea is to share a sentence or so from the first page and the 56th page of the book you are currently reading!  Also, I will now also include a brief synopsis.


This week's Book Blogger Hop's question.

What is the most fun part/aspect of being a book blogger? Seeing what others are reading and getting to interact them.  



In the Country We Love: My Family Divided


A Brief Synopsis:  Diane Guerrero, the television actress from the megahit Orange is the New Black and Jane the Virgin, was just fourteen years old on the day her parents and brother were arrested and deported while she was at school. Born in the U.S., Guerrero was able to remain in the country and continue her education, depending on the kindness of family friends who took her in and helped her build a life and a successful acting career for herself, without the support system of her family.

In the Country We Love is a moving, heartbreaking story of one woman's extraordinary resilience in the face of the nightmarish struggles of undocumented residents in this country. There are over 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US, many of whom have citizen children, whose lives here are just as precarious, and whose stories haven't been told. Written with Michelle Burford, this memoir is a tale of personal triumph that also casts a much-needed light on the fears that haunt the daily existence of families likes the author's and on a system that fails them over and over.


Beginning of the Book

One moment - that's all it takes for your entire world to slit apart.  For me that moment was when I was fourteen.  I returned home from school to discover that my hard-working immigrant parents had been taken away.  In one irreversible instant - in the space of a single breath - life as I knew it was forever altered.

Page 56

One of the children Mami was walking with was Lily's son.; when the ICE officer pulled up alongside her and got out of the car, Mami started to cry; she knew what was coming.  

I'll be starting this over the weekend.  I've been wanting to read this for quite awhile.

What are you reading this weekend?  



Wednesday, May 24, 2017

WWW Wednesdays 5/24/2017

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It's time for the weekly meme, WWW Wednesday hosted by Sam
@Taking on a World of Words.

All you need to do is answer the following questions:
  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?
So let's get onto it!

What are you currently reading?  I have picked up American Pickers: Guide to Picking by Libby Callaway with Mike Wolfe, Frank Fritz, and Danielle Colby.  I really have enjoyed the TV series on The History Channel and hope I like the book, too.  It's pretty short, only about 200 pages.  I'm still listening to One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline.  Have less thanhours to listen to and really wondering what the next twist will be.

What did you recently finish reading?  I finished this week This Land Is Our Land by Linda Barrett Osborne and the audiobook, Teenage Diaries: Then and Now by Radio Diaries.  I also ended up marking DNF to The School of Good and Evil by Soman Chainani.  It just wasn't for me and I checked out some Goodread reviews and a YouTube review of the series and decided this book wasn't going to get any better for me.

What do you think you’ll read next? I'm not totally sure.  Maybe The Radium Girl by Kate Moore or In The Country We Love by Dianne Guerrero.  My next audiobook will be Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery.

What about you?  Have you read any of these or do you plan to? What are you reading?

Friday, May 19, 2017

The Book Blogger Hop/Book Beginnings/ The Friday 56 5/19/2017





The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Ramblings of A Coffee-Addicted Writer, Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader. The idea is to share a sentence or so from the first page and the 56th page of the book you are currently reading!  Also, I will now also include a brief synopsis.


This week's Book Blogger Hop's question.
What do you do with books you no longer want? Do you donate them? Do you take them to a half-price bookstore? Does a friend or family member benefit?

I brought a whole bunch of books to be donated some months back.  Most of my books now are on my Kindle and unfortunately can't be shared or passed onto others.  The physical books that I still have I want to keep at this time, but will donate if I decide to get rid of some of them.


This Land Is Our Land: A History of American Immigration

A Brief Synopsis:  American attitudes toward immigrants are paradoxical. On the one hand, we see our country as a haven for the poor and oppressed; anyone, no matter his or her background, can find freedom here and achieve the “American Dream.” On the other hand, depending on prevailing economic conditions, fluctuating feelings about race and ethnicity, and fear of foreign political and labor agitation, we set boundaries and restrictions on who may come to this country and whether they may stay as citizens. This book explores the way government policy and popular responses to immigrant groups evolved throughout U.S. history, particularly between 1800 and 1965. The book concludes with a summary of events up to contemporary times, as immigration again becomes a hot-button issue. Includes an author’s note, bibliography, and index. 

Beginning of the Book

All eight of my grandparents were born in Italy.  They came to the United States in the 1880s and 1890s.  At least two of them arrived before 1892 when Ellis Island opened to process the millions of people emigrating from Europe.  My grandparents were immigrants to this country.  So were the English settlers of Jamestown in 1607 and the Pilgrims in 1620.

Page 56

That's how it was for me, too, four years ago.  But I went to school and now maybe I will get a better job because of it.  And then my family will come over and our dreams will be true.

I was hoping to be done reading this and on to the next book, but you know how life always gets into the way of reading.  I should be done with this by the end of today or early on Saturday, but I'm not positive on which book will be next.

Tuesday, May 16, 2017

WWW Wednesdays 5/17/2017

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It's time for the weekly meme, WWW Wednesday hosted by Sam
@Taking on a World of Words.

All you need to do is answer the following questions:
  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?
So let's get onto it!

What are you currently reading?  I am reading an ARC, Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate and kind of struggling to get into it.  I decided to check the reviews on Goodreads to see if I could get some perspective.  I think I will mark this a DNF due to some heavy topics I do not feel like reading about.  I am also listening on audio to One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline  I'm not too far into it.  Just over 12%, but its got me hooked already.

What did you recently finish reading?  I finished The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine on audio and I finished reading Falling Hard by Stacy Finz.  It is #9 in the Nugget series and I just loved it.  If you enjoy Robyn Carr and her Virgin River series, you should like Stacy Finz's Nugget series.   

What do you think you’ll read next? I'm not entirely sure which book I will choose to read next.  I have several choices.  I will hold off on Radium Girls by Kate Morton, which I was considering last week.  The topic is too heavy.  I want to read it just not now.  I'm thinking in the fall September or October.  I have several library books checked out, both from Overdrive and from the town library, so my choices are This Land Is Our Land by Linda Barnett Osborne, The School for Good and Evil by Sonia Chainani, American Pickers: Guide to Picking by Linda Calloway, et al, and In The Country We Love by Dianne Guerero.  I also have Anne of Green Gables on audio up next and another audiobook became available on Overdrive, Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience During World War ll.  What a choice!

What about you?  Have you read any of these or do you plan to? What are you reading?

Friday, May 12, 2017

The Book Blogger Hop/Book Beginnings/ The Friday 56 5/12/2017

I missed last week's Friday posting.  The book, I was reading last Thursday/Friday really did not lend to Book Beginnings/ the Friday 56.  And I read the majority of books on my Kindle, so the question on Book Blogger Hop about reorganizing my bookshelves didn't really apply.





The Book Blogger Hop is hosted by Ramblings of A Coffee-Addicted Writer, Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice and Book Beginnings is hosted by Rose City Reader. The idea is to share a sentence or so from the first page and the 56th page of the book you are currently reading!  Also, I will now also include a brief synopsis.

This week's Book Blogger Hop's question.
If you read a book you ended up hating, would you stay away from future books by that author, or would you give them a second chance?


MY ANSWERIt depends.  If I had read the author before and liked him/her, I'd just chalk it up to a bad book or one I didn't enjoy; even the best author has one of those occasionally.  If I never read the author before, it still depends.  It depends on why I didn't like the book.  Was it I didn't like the writing style, bad grammar/spelling undeveloped characters or plot, or just not liking that particular story.  There is an exception, I won't read anything by Gillian Flynn or Paula Hawkins or anything that is compared to their books, I just could not stand Gone Girl or Girl on the Train and I know I am in the minority, but we're all different in what we like to read.  



Falling Hard (A Nugget Romance)


A Brief Synopsis:  This is the summer of Annie Sparks—at least according to her. No more supporting lazy jerks or coddling irresponsible family or taking care of anyone who doesn’t deserve her help. Instead she’s headed to an estate in a remote mountain town, to spend her summer with her boots covered in mud and her hands working the earth. Love is the last thing on her mind.

Nugget is a long way from Logan Jenkins’ old life as a Navy SEAL. But before he starts fresh in the private sector, he receives a bequest from a man he never knew: his biological father. To learn more about his background, Logan makes his way to his late father’s estate, where he is immediately knocked on his heels by an incredible woman with a heart of gold.

Annie’s not looking for a fling, and Logan knows Nugget can’t be forever, so falling in love should be impossible. But when they’re together, time stops, and suddenly the impossible seems like the only thinkable option . . .


Beginning of the Book

The big gate stopped Logan Jenkins in his tracks. He didn't know what he was thinking coming here like this  But his curiosity had gotten the better of him.  A man ought to know where he came from and who his people were, he supposed.  ago, he hadn't given a good goddamn.  Then boom, his life changed with one phone call.

Page 56

The little town served her better than Davis, which over the years had grown to big for her comfort level.  Nugget had a market, gas station, a feed store and two restaurants.  What more did a person need?

My thoughts:  This book 9 in the Nugget series.  It feels so good to revisit this town.  Although this book is the 9th in a series, it can also be a stand alone.  Stacy Finz is starting a new series in July in a town near Nugget.  There will also be a Christmas book out for the Nugget series that I'm excited for.  I love the author's writing style, it feels like a cozy pair of pajamas that you can't wait to get into.



Tuesday, May 9, 2017

WWW Wednesdays 5/10/2017

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It's time for the weekly meme, WWW Wednesday hosted by Sam
@Taking on a World of Words.

All you need to do is answer the following questions:
  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?
So let's get onto it!

What are you currently reading?  I 've had to DNF a couple books, unfortunately.  Luckily, they were library books, so nothing except the time I spent was lost.  But I started an ARC by one of my now favorite authors, whom I discovered thanks to NetGalley.  I'm reading Falling Hard by Stacy Finz, which is the 9th book in the Nugget series.  I am also listening to the audiobook, The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine.

What did you recently finish reading? I listened to the books, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption  by Laura Hillebrand, Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, A Life in Balance by Simone Biles, and The Appeal by John Grisham.  I also read This Is What a Librarian Looks Like: A Celebration of Libraries, Communities, and Access to Information by Kyle Cassidy.

What do you think you’ll read next? I'll be either picking up the ARC, Radium Girls by Kate Moore or Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate.  My next audiobook will probably be The Perfect Neighbors by Sarah Pekanen or One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline.

What about you?  Have you read any of these or do you plan to? What are you reading?

Monday, May 8, 2017

April Wrap-Up

April was a very productive reading  month with 11 books read, 6 of which were audiobooks.  I was all over the place  this month, a few books, I very much enjoyed. but there were a few that got lower ratings and others that were just good or slightly above o.k..

My Beloved World


I am really debating on whether to give this 2 stars (OK) or 3 stars (good). I wish we could give it half stars and just rate it 2.5 stars. I was expecting to like this better than I did. Sonia Sotomayor was the 1st Hispanic U.S. Supreme Court Justice. It was interesting at times, but other times, my mind wandered too much as I listened to this and I had to reply parts of it. Some parts were discussed for longer than necessary, but the ending seemed rushed.

A Dog Named Boo: How One Dog and One Woman Rescued Each Other--and the Lives They Transformed Along the Way


This was a nice story, but it was not my favorite memoir about a dog or more specifically dogs from the author's life, but it wasn't the worst either. I am glad I read it or actually listened to it on audio. It was enjoyable, but not out of this world or anything. It's great what dogs can help people accomplish. I do think the book was a little on the long side and could have been edited better.

2 stars

The Girl from the Garden

I listened to 5 hours out of the 7 hours of this book; then I had to stop for the day. I dead not care for it at all and I just could not get myself to listen to the remaining 2 hours. There was nothing short of divine intervention that would have me give this book more than 1 star. It was definitely not for me and those were 5 hours that I will never get back. To make matters worse later the next day after listening to another book, my earbuds decided to go kaplooey, so now I have to get a new pair this weekend.

1 star

The Secret Sister (Fairham Island, #1)


During the first half of listening to this, the book was good to ok, but after a few plot twists it changed to being so much better. Originally, I had doubts about whether I'd continue with this series, but before the book ended, I knew I wanted to read or listen to the following book in the series.

3.5 stars.

The Enchantress Returns (The Land of Stories, #2)

This is the 2nd book in The Land of Stories series and it is just as good as the first. It was good to catch up with the twins, their (Fairy Godmother) grandmother, and all the fairy tale characters. The 6th and final book in this series is suppose to be out later this summer, so since I've only finished book 2, there ill be lots more adventures to share with them. This is such a fun series; it is written for middle grades, but was the Harry Potter series and many of the series by Rick Riordan, This one can also be enjoyed by all ages, especially since almost all of us grew up hearing fairy tales as children, hearing Mother Goose nursery rhymes, and watching Disney movies. I definitely recommend this book and series.

5 stars

Forbidden Kisses (Blushing Bay, #1)

I really liked this author's first series, Hero's Welcome and have been looking forward to her new series, Blushing Bay.  Fans of Annie Rains will not be disappointed.  Although this may not have been my favorite of her books, it is a good story and I look eagerly to hearing the stories of the other Sawyer siblings in the future. Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book.

I participated in the blog tour for this book; you can check out my post!

3 stars

Deconstructing Dirty Dancing

I received this ARC from NetGalley as a Read Now selection. I'm not quite sure what I was exactly expecting. It is a short book of less than 100 pages. It was a decent book and relatively fast read. It is a commentary of the entire Dirty Dancing movie. Parts of it were interesting and other parts not so much. I don't think I've seen the movie in at least 20-25 years. I loved the music and really liked Patrick Swayze as most girls in the 80s did. I would like to eventually see the movie again and see if I notice this time around much of the social commentary that could have been taken from the movie.

3 stars


I received this 3 chapter sneak peak from NetGalley and the publisher. When I first requested this , I did not realize it was only a few chapters and I was thinking of not even reading this, but I am glad that I did and find this very much grabs my attention and I look forward to reading more. There was a school shooting at the senior prom and this book begins twelve years later when several of the survivors are back in their hometown to do a documentary. This has started out very promising. When I look up the author's previous work, some of it shows up categorized as erotica, I hope this book does not turn out to be erotica, because I will then not be continuing on with it at a later date.


4 stars


Hummingbird Lake (Eternity Springs, #2)


I listened to this book over a 2 week period. I don't know if it was that it took too long for me to get back to finishing it or if these books just don't lend themselves well to audio but I wasn't crazy about it. I had started the series at #7, Miracle Road and really enjoyed each of the books I read. I really need to only read and not listen to these books; I really think this may be the problem. They aren't good for listening; actually when I think of it, I'm not a fan of the narrator. A new book comes out in this series in June and I look forward to reading it. 

2 stars

Running for My Life: One Lost Boy's Journey from the Killing Fields of Sudan to the Olympic Games

Very inspiring. I felt a vast array of emotions through out the book as I'm sure the author wanted to elicit. The writing itself may not be deep, but he didn't learn English until he was 16 and he's only in his mid-to-late 20s now, I think. This is the true story of one of Sudan's Lost Boys, who was kidnapped by rebel soldiers and would himself become a child soldier had he not been only six. Along with some older boys, he was able to escape the prison camp and for 3 days, more or less ran to freedom, which ended up being a refugee camp in Kenya, where he stayed for 10 years, until he got the opportunity to go to America and later on to represent the USA in the Olympics. I listened to this book on audio, so some of the complaints that readers of this book had I did not pick up on. In my eyes, this book although a true story and sad in parts, is also very inspiring in that he found ways to keep hope alive and always kept his faith in God.

4.5 stars

The Forever Summer

I got this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher. It sounded like a great summer/beach read and basically, it is! Although, the plot is engaging along with some surprises thrown in, I did not really connect with the characters and therefore could not get into the story 100%. Although, I enjoyed parts of the story, I just can't help feeling disappointed. I'm torn between giving it 2 or 3 stars and really wish I could give it

2.5 stars

My favorite book this month was Book 2 of The Land of Stories: The Enchantress Returns followed closely by Running For My Life.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

WWW Wedesdays 5/3/2017

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It's time for the weekly meme, WWW Wednesday hosted by Sam
@Taking on a World of Words.

All you need to do is answer the following questions:
  • What are you currently reading?
  • What did you recently finish reading?
  • What do you think you’ll read next?
So let's get onto it!

What are you currently reading?  I am just started reading an ARC of This Is What A Librarian Looks Like by Kyle Cassidy. 

What did you recently finish reading?  I just finished on audio, Courage to Soar by Simone Biles.  Also, since last Wednesday's post, I finished the audiobooks, The Appeal by John Grisham, Hummingbird Lake by Emily March and Running for My Life by Lopez Lomong.  I also finally finished the ARC. The Forever Summer by Jamie Brenner.  I have tried listening to Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown, but I DNF'ed it after 2 attempts; it just read too uch like a textbook with one date after another.

What do you think you’ll read next? I'll be starting the audiobook, Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand tomorrow and once I finish the book I am reading presently.  I have the library book, American Street by Ibi Zoboi and the ARC, The Radium Girls by Kate Moore.  I had the library book Six Years by Harlan Coben, but decided I wasn't in the mood for it right now/

What about you?  Have you read any of these or do you plan to? What are you reading?