Great Murder Mystery!

The book I finished reading yesterday is called The Poisoned Pearls by Leah Cutter.  It had a little murder, a little mystery, and some psychic abilities all mixed together.  This book kept me on the edge of my seat almost throughout the entire story.  I not only found it hard to put this one down, but my to do list sat on the sidelines for a few days while I read this one.
Cassie is a normal girl living in a world among people that can see the future or past, or both.  When someone kills her best friend, one of the psychics working on the case thinks she is involved, and she must find out who really did it, why, and stop forces that she did not know existed until her investigation began.  She must avoid the police, as well as gods that want her dead, and learn to live with her newfound abilities all at the same time.

Great Mystery Right To The End!

This one is one that I read a while back and I loved it!  It is called Vulture au Vin by Lisa King.  I was privileged enough to get an early copy to review for the author, so this is a little late since it has already been out for a month or two.  I don't read mysteries very often, but when I do I am usually not disappointed.
This book is about a wine tasting that goes horribly awry.  Jean is a writer that is invited to a once in a lifetime wine tasting and eagerly accepts and also gets her friend Roman a seat at the tasting as a photographer.  Jean's boyfriend Zeppo does not want Jean to go, but understands what a great opportunity for her.  Soon after arriving, Jean soon realizes that Zeppo may have been right when people start dying under mysterious circumstances.  As the story progresses, Jean loses more and more friends and is more determined than ever to get to the bottom of it.  This was a really good book that surprised me at the end, just the way I like it.

A Touching Love Story:)

This book is one that will pull at your heartstrings, sometimes a refreshing change from the action and exciting books that are usually in my arsenal.  It is about a traditional family that usually arranges the marriages for their children.  The main character, Mona, is in love with Ahmed, but he is engaged to Hannah, and Mona's sister, Amira wants him to be with her sister so that they can live happily ever after.  I thought it was a cute story, and wasn't so long that I needed to invest a lot of time into it either.  There was not enough time for the story to get boring, since it was a short story, so I have to say, I loved reading it!
This story was good, and it had a happy ending.  This is the story of a traditional family and one girl's love for a man that is engaged to another woman.  Mona is the girl in love and her love interest is Ahmed, and her sister Amira finds out that Ahmed's fiance Hannah has put a spell on Ahmed to keep him from breaking the engagement.  Once she is able to prove that and break the spell, he will be free, but first she must recover from an accident that almost killed her.

Great Murder Mystery!

This book took me a little longer than normal, I spent a week reading this one.  This was definitely not because it was not a great book, I just was not able to devote so much time to myself this week.  My daughter turned 17 on Monday and it has been a crazy week and weekend before that.  The book is called Drop Dead Killers by Janet Martinez, and the action and murder started right away.
This was a really good book, I loved that the action started right at the beginning with no delay.  If you love mystery and murder, this the book for you.  David Graham is seemingly oblivious to the amount of danger that he is in throughout the book, even as he investigates the crimes of the killer.  This story unfolds at a steady pace throughout the book and does not disappoint.  Since there are more books coming in this series, I cannot wait to read them.
This book was not only full of both murder and mystery, but it also did not get boring at any time throughout the story, which can sometimes happen in this genre of book.  I really liked this book and was glad that I invested the time to finish it.

Great Story About Saving The World From Evil!

This book was one that I chose to read over a long weekend, and I was feeling like getting into a long story since it has been a few weeks since I had done so.  This book is called Mistress of Masks : Catalysts of Chaos Book 1 by C. Greenwood.  It has a lot of different elements to it, from young characters who must find a way to save the world, to supernatural powers, and every type of obstacle preventing the characters from reaching their goal--saving the world!  This one reminded me a lot of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbitt when I was reading it, and I love those stories, so this one was one that I enjoyed and made my weekend fly by while I was reading it.  It was not as long as those other similar stories, but it is the first one in the series, so I look forward to reading more in the future.
This book tells a great tale of Edyis, who is supposed to go on a long journey in order to save the world from impending doom, along with a few others who are seemingly under qualified, just as she is.  Together, they need to figure out a way to stop the evil that is coming for the Earth, which sometimes seems like a large feat all in itself.  I cannot wait to read the next book in this series, the story reminds me of Lord of the Rings.

Exciting zombie story!!!

This book is one that I enjoyed, and it wasn't too long for me to read, so I didn't have any nightmares about it either--which is a guarantee if I am reading a scary story before bed.  This one was short and sweet, but had all of the action that I expected it to have in it.  The book is called Coop: An Elements of the Undead Short by William Esmont.  I really liked this book, and it progressed so quickly that I was finished before I had even knew I was almost finished.
While it was scary, it was essentially about an older and their struggle to survive when zombies attack their home late one night.  There was no back story to explain the appearance of the zombies really, but it was a good story nonetheless.  Zombie stories are good stories as far as I'm concerned, and this one was no exception and it definitely did not disappoint!
This story about a retired husband and his wife and their fearful night fighting off the zombies that have visited them late one night, and it is a great story that is wrapped into one short story.  While this story progresses quickly, there is nothing missed in the action and gore that you would want in a zombie story.  It was quick enough to read that I did not have to read it for days before bed and have zombie nightmares for the rest of the week, just a quick afternoon story while waiting at a doctor appointment was all I needed to read this one. A great story too!

Such A Lovely Story!

Cracking Grace by Stephen Strump is truly a lovely story.  It was not only something that I enjoyed reading this afternoon while just relaxing around the house, but it was also full of emotion for the main character of the book, Audrey.
This is a story of Audrey, a young girl who's parents live on the grounds of a cemetery where there are many statues that her father handcrafted in his shed, who are more than they seem to be to Audrey and her parents.  When her mother dies, Audrey not only has to watch her father slip into his own madness, but she also discovers that the statues that her father makes can also be great friends.  This was a great story that I enjoyed very much!
While I like to expand my horizons, this one I may just read again one day, which almost never happens:)

A Good Book On A Rainy Day!

Over the weekend, I found myself in bed and sick, so I decided to take advantage of the extra free time I had and start a new book.  I finished this one in a day or so, and it was a moody story, great for a day when I am already in a funk anyway.  This book is called The Coffee Painter by Veronica Schreiber.
The story is about Vivian, a girl with a bit of a drinking problem and a trail of relationships that have not worked out or are not currently working out.  After the parties and drinking, she wakes up with a hangover and some inspiration to paint works of art that she can turn into some cash.
If you are laid up sick or are just feeling funky, this a good book to read.  It is a little funky itself, and misery loves company, right?

A Good Page Turner!

While I have not been able to shake this summer cold I seem to have caught, I decided to settle in for a more lengthy book than I have read recently.  I knew that if it was a good book, I would be able to keep my mind occupied so that my body could get some rest.  I was right, I was stuck in bed reading The Moon Coin by Richard Due.  This one reminded me a little of Harry Potter when I first looked at the book, but I soon realized that there was far more to it than I thought.  More than just a little story of a faraway land with aliens on it and other sci-fi elements.  It was a touching story of the stories that a man used to tell his young grandchildren before bed, ones that their parents did not want them to know about.
This book was a great book that I think all ages would enjoy.  It is a story about two children who thought that the bedtime stories that they were told as children were just fairy tales.  As they progress through the story, we learn that there is much more that their grandfather told them then they realize, and it wasn't all just in his imagination.  While this may be a bit long for some readers, it is packed with adventures, and every time you turn around, the story has progressed to another realm with a new cast of characters,  I found myself addicted to see where they would end up next!
When I was finished with the book--three days after I started it--I felt better and I was touched by the relationship between the grandchildren and their grandfather and how the stories were related to that relationship.  If you liked the Harry Potter books, but wished they were more mature, you will love this book.

Great book at a great time!

This book was given to me by a friend a few months ago and I have had it lying around the house ever since.  While I was trying to get some This book was full of short stories, that are fun and easy to ready without an investment of hours and hours of reading a book to get to the ending.  These stories always had a surprise ending, and it was fun to get that type of story in such a small amount of time.  They all had their own element of mystery and surprise at the end, but to tell any of the story would ruin it for you.   done before we had guests over for a get together on Labor Day, I found it and started reading it after I had cleaned up from everyone leaving that night.  The book is called Long Stories Short by Karen Black.  The cover does not reveal any of the contents inside and if I discuss them now, it will ruin them for you.  There are many stories contained in a book that is not all that large, and they were all fast enough to read in less than an hour each.  This made them a great find over the weekend, because even when I am busy, I can take a time out and get in a good story before I have to take care of something else that needs to be done before our guests arrive.

Great book and a quick read!

I stumbled on this book and was completely surprised by the story, because it sounds like it will be a story about girls bonding, but this is a story about high school sweethearts that are reunited while planning the ten year high school reunion for the small town high school.  The book is called Best Friends by Edna Curry.  While Cal stayed local after high school, Tami moved to the big city to pursue her career and forget about her high school life.  When she gets a letter in the mail to plan the reunion, she knows that she made an obligation to return to her hime town, but the one person that she hopes she doesn't see is the one person that can make her move back to her home town.
This is a good love story of a long ago love turning into a rekindled romance later in life.  I enjoyed it and love reading stories like these where two people find each other again and pick up right where they left off.  If you like stories of this type, I suggest this book.  It is a love story nonetheless, so it will hit the spot with people who like to read about the love between two people.

Science Fiction Fans Will Love These Stories!!!!

This past week, I found myself with not much to do around the house, with the kids going back to school, so I decided to try to read a science fiction book.  I am not typically a fan of science fiction, but I was feeling like trying something different, and found this book that had four short stories in it.  It was not too long altogether, so I figured if I was not impressed after the first story, I would stop.
As I read further and further into this book, I was pleasantly surprised to find interesting exciting stories were contained in it's pages.  The book was called,Timescan: Science Fiction Short Stories by Alexai Vavioski.  The title fascinated me for some reason, I can't explain it, but I'm glad I read this book:)
These short stories were reminiscent of The Twilight Zone shows. They were not too long, your can easily read one in a weekend or weeknight of reading, and each had a twist at the end that was unexpected--at least to me. Each story was told in its own unique way, and there were a few places where I just could not put this book down until I was finished reading the story I was on. If you are a fan of The Twilight Zone, I highly recommend these stories to you.

Whether you like science fiction or not, I recommend these stories.

A Great Book For Elementary School Children!

Last week, I read this amazing story about a little girl named Princess who had trouble making friends at her new school.  It wasn't exactly something that I would normally pick up, but it was a quick read and it was really cute as well.  It would be a great book for elementary school age children to read, especially if they have trouble fitting in or are new to a school. It can help them relate to others and it can also help them realize that they are not alone when it comes to making new friends or being the new kid in school.

The book is called The Headband Bunch:  Three Peas in a Bunch by G. C. Denwiddle.  The main character, Princess, loves to make headbands, and she gets compliments from the other kids at her new school on them.  When she shares her enjoyment of making the headbands with other girls from school, she bonds with them and also makes some money.

I read another great book this weekend:)

This past weekend, I found myself miraculously caught up on all of my assignments for school and the household chores by early Saturday afternoon, and found myself reading a book that reminded my a lot of Twilight.  It is called Falling Angels by Ami Blackwelder.  The characters in this book were angels instead of vampires, but they had to live in secret from humans and there were dark angels that were a constant antagonist of the story.  I enjoyed this one, just like I enjoyed Twilight:)

This book was about angels on Earth essentially, and I really enjoyed the way that the story played out. I did not read the first book in the series, but there was enough background to read it without being completely lost on the story. This book mainly focuses on Ali, a new angel, and Kian, an older and wiser angel that Ali looks to for protection and comfort. While Kian battles his demons--literally--Ali has to find a way to live in this new world while those closest to her find out the truth about her and her friends.

I think I will be reading the other stories in this series and getting to know the other characters of the series.  Stay tuned for my views on those ones as well.  This book is a part of the Angelfire Chronicles series by Ami Blackwelder, and this one was #2.

Suspense with Some Romance, Great With A Bowl Of Ice Cream!

Last week, I read a book called A Dangerous Harbor by RP Dalke.  This book is in the same series as Hurricane Hole by the same author that I read not too long ago.  This one I read over a few nights before bed last week.  When reading a suspenseful book, or something scary, I prefer to read these before bed opposed to after work.  If I cannot put the book down, I will not get my To Do list done, and that is a big no-no for me.  I love a good page turner, just not before 9pm, when I have everything else done.
This book was a great read and had just the right amount of romance mixed with suspense.  From the very beginning of the book, the story was intriguing, and it just kept going from there.  The setting is a Mexican boat marina, where a San Diego cop finds a dead body in the water and the investigation focuses on a number of people.  When Katy runs into Gabe, a long ago ex husband, and meets Raul, a new man in her life, things get competitive and steamy as she gets torn between the two before finally falling in love with Raul.  When the investigation points to a rich man that is docked at the marina that Katy has her boat in, people start turning up dead.

Suspense with a Splash of Technology, Just My Style!

This week, I found myself getting a little bored waiting for classes to start with school; I am currently working on a Master's degree in network security.  This book seemed like the perfect storyline to keep me occupied, and it was.  The book I'm talking about is Buzzworm by Theo Cage.

This book was great! It centers around a computer virus that has hacked into the CIA and can affect those around it enough to cost lives. This computer virus and the investigation into it's origin and who is behind the network breech take this book into the lives of many within the CIA and the reasons that they think this virus was launched.

I have never tried to read any Tom Clancy, but it seemed like something that would be similar to what happened in the movie, Sum of All Fears, that is based on a book of the same name that was written by Tom Clancy.  If you are into suspense and can understand beginner level technical jargon, I recommend this book.  It is a real page turner!

Great weekend read to relax!

While enjoying my three day weekend this past week, I had the pleasure of reading a very heartwarming story about two children who are left to fend for themselves after their father dies and mother runs off with her newest boyfriend.  This was a great way for me to relax and read something that did not have my heart pumping every second, but allowed me to enjoy myself.  I highly recommend this one to anyone who loves a great story with a happy ending.

Vardin Village by Maggie Spence is a heartwarming story about the Vardin family, which the town is named after, and their roots and secrets that they have kept for a number of years. When the youngest heir to the Vardin fortune is denied his rights as the heir of the family fortune, some of the former employees of his grandfather uncover secrets that were hidden and not found until several years after his death. George and Elenor's father was dead and their mother was more concerned with her drug habit than taking care of her kids and soon ran off, leaving the children to fend for themselves. This story focuses on the children's struggle to survive until the staff of his family's old mansion take them in and help them to uncover the last will and testament of their grandfather.

If you have a few days to just kick back and relax, this one is a great read that is not boring and tugs at the heartstrings.

Another Great Book that wasn't too long:)

Since I had a long holiday week this past week and the kids were being well behaved, I decided to start a new book with the goal of finishing it before the weekend was over.  Well...mission accomplished!!!  I read this book and still got a lot done around the house.  I didn't get the hundreds of items listed on ebay that I needed to, but there will be time for that this weekend. 

 This book is the second in an installment of three in this series. Hurricane Hole centers around Leila, a woman who knows how to get into trouble, especially with men. This story tells the tale of not only a man coming back from her past, but a new man in her life that she wants to get to know better, all while helping a man get his kidnapped son back from the local thugs. They all have to learn to work together in order to save a life. This story was both entertaining and action packed at the same time, an easy read for me.

I think I am going to start the first book in the series to see what I missed, although there were not any references to anything indicated that there was a lot of the backstory missing, but this one did not make me want to put it down, so I look forward to reading the first one, and maybe even the third book if I am feeling particularly ambitious!

Destiny by KC Maguire

I read this one while waiting at a doctor's appointment last week.  This book was not long, but it was good and told a good story in the short amount of words that told it.  This author has a great ability to tell a good and well rounded story without dragging it out.

This book focuses on Joe, a citizen who is avoiding the change to robot as long as he can. While he loves Destiny, he does not wish to conform to the others that are making the change to robot in order to live longer. He also wishes that Destiny was as human as he is. This story was quick to read and not long at all, it gives the impression that the government in this story has a strong hold on the general public and would be a great read for conspiracy theorists! This was a good book, and I look forward to more from this author, hopefully in a full length novel!

This book is not only a love story, but it also has a conspiracy theory theme to it as well as a science fiction aspect as well.  I loved this book in the short amount of time that it took me to read it.  While I waited at the doctor's office, I did not realize that the doctor was running an hour late until I finished the book, in about an hour.

Divergent bu Veronica Roth

I just finished one of the more popular books that is out right now, Divergent.  I usually try to read books that are off the radar, however, I do like to read books before I see the movies that they are based on.  My daughter is sixteen and is begging me to take her to see this one, so I sat down and read the book.
The book is set in the future, after society has broken down, and people were forced to decide how they would like to proceed with society to prevent wars and disagreements.  In futuristic Chicago, there are some reminders of the past, such as streets and buildings that have been abandoned, etc.  While people are grouped in what is called "factions" based on their personality traits, there are people who do not fit into just one group, these people are called divergent and must try to blend in with society, because they are believed be a problem and are capable of starting wars and being a threat to the modern society.
This book follows Tris, a sixteen year old girl who chose to switch factions when she attending the choosing ceremony, in which teenagers must choose which faction they want to join and spend their adult life with.  She switched from a faction that was all about helping others to a faction that is tough and daring all of the time.  While being initiated into the Dauntless faction, she falls in love with one of her instructors and discovers that she is divergent and what it means to her.  She also uncovers secrets that a war is brewing and she must try to do what she can to stop it.
This book was a great read, and the story moved along nicely without getting boring.  While it was around five hundred pages, I was able to finish in less than a week, reading it in my spare time.  If you are a fan of The Hunger Games, I recommend this book, it reminds me of a futuristic Hunger Games.