Teaser Tuesday - A Field Guide to Awkward Silences by Alexandra Petri

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can participate, just do the following:

• Grab your current read and open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and the author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

Expected publication: June 2, 2015 by NAL

"I am afraid of many things. Drowning, fire, the disapproval of strangers on the Internet, that I'll be hit by a bus without having had the chance to clear my browser history, that one day everyone else on the subway will suddenly be able to hear what I'm thinking and turn on me. You know, the usuals."

This is from page 3 of A Field Guide to Awkward Silences: Essays by Alexandra Petri. From what I've read of the book so far, she is funny and as the synopsis says, not afraid to make a fool of herself.

Synopsis from Goodreads.com: 

Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri turns her satirical eye on her own life in this hilarious new memoir...

Most twentysomethings spend a lot of time avoiding awkwardness. Not Alexandra Petri.

Afraid of rejection? Alexandra Petri has auditioned for America’s Next Top Model. Afraid of looking like an idiot? Alexandra Petri lost Jeopardy! by answering “Who is that dude?” on national TV. Afraid of bad jokes? Alexandra Petri won an international pun championship.

Petri has been a debutante, reenacted the Civil War, and fended off suitors at a Star Wars convention while wearing a Jabba the Hutt suit. One time, she let some cult members she met on the street baptize her, just to be polite. She’s a connoisseur of the kind of awkwardness that most people spend whole lifetimes trying to avoid. If John Hodgman and Amy Sedaris had a baby…they would never let Petri babysit it.

But Petri is here to tell you: Everything you fear is not so bad. Trust her. She’s tried it. And in the course of her misadventures, she’s learned that there are worse things out there than awkwardness—and that interesting things start to happen when you stop caring what people think.

What's your teaser from this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Thanks for coming by.  Happy Reading!

2015 - 2016 Georgia Peach Awards for Teen Readers Nominees Are:

Are You Experienced  by Jordan Sonnenblick

Caged Warrior  by Alan Sitomer

A Death-Struck Year by Makiia Lucier

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

Fake ID  by Lamar Giles

Faking Normal  by Courtney Stevens

Far from You by Tess Sharpe

Free to Fall  by Lauren Miller

Girls Like Us by Gail Giles

Hostage Three by Nick Lake

I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

Jackaby  by William Ritter

Killer of Enemies by Joseph Bruchac

Nearly Gone by Elle Cosimano

Phoenix Island  by John Dixon

Say What You Will  by Cammie McGovern

The Scar Boys by Len Vlahos

We Were Liars by E.Lockhart

What I Thought Was True  by Huntley Fitzpatrick

When I Was the Greatest  by Jason Reynolds

From this list, one award book and two honor books will be chosen. Any predictions? I can't really say because I've only read one of the books on the list so far, Jackaby. Add your predictions or discussion to the comments. Thanks for stopping by. Happy Reading!

2014-2015 Georgia Peach Book Awards for Teen Readers - The Results Are In!

The winner for the 2014-2015 year is Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell.

The honor books chosen are: 

The nominees for the 2014-2015 year can be found in an annotated pdf  put together by the Georgia Peach Award people.

Waiting on Wednesday #79 - The Faerie Tree by Jane Cable

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. 

Synopsis from publisher:

How can a memory so vivid be wrong?

I tried to remember the first time I’d been here and to see the tree through Izzie’s eyes. The oak stood on a rise just above the path; not too tall or wide but graceful and straight, its trunk covered in what I can only describe as offerings – pieces of ribbon, daisy chains, a shell necklace, a tiny doll or two and even an old cuckoo clock.

"Why do people do this?" Izzie asked.

I winked at her. "To say thank you to the fairies."

In the summer of 1986 Robin and Izzie hold hands under The Faerie Tree and wish for a future together. Within hours, tragedy rips their dreams apart.

In the winter of 2006, each carrying their own burden of grief, they stumble back into each other’s lives and try to create a second chance. But why are their memories of 1986 so different? And which one of them is right?

With strong themes of paganism, love and grief, The Faerie Tree is a novel as gripping and unputdownable as Jane Cable’s first book, The Cheesemaker’s House, which won the Suspense & Crime category of The Alan Titchmarsh Show’s People’s Novelist competition. It is a story that will resonate with fans of romance, suspense, and folklore.

Why am I interested in this mystery? The last line of the blurb gets it for me. I particularly like that it will resonate with fans of suspense and folklore. Generally speaking, it sounds like an interesting plot. And I am wanting to find out what happened in 1986, and what will happen now that they are back in the same place again.

What book are you waiting on this week? Leave it or a link in the comments so we can check it out. Happy reading!

Teaser Tuesday - Quicksand by Gigi Pandian

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can participate, just do the following:

• Grab your current read and open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and the author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

Add caption

"Let me save you from the quicksand, Jones. I risked stealing from the  Louvre so that you'd be safe. Please, let me handle this." 
~ Lane speaking to Jaya at 45% through on my Kindle

Quicksand is the 3rd book in the Jaya Jones series put out by Henery Press. It was released March 10, 2015.

Plot synopsis from Goodreads.com:
A thousand-year-old secret room. A sultan’s stolen treasure. A missing French priest. And an invitation to Paris to rekindle an old flame.... 

Historian Jaya Jones finds herself on the wrong side of the law during an art heist at the Louvre. To redeem herself, she follows clues from an illuminated manuscript that lead from the cobblestone streets of Paris to the quicksand-surrounded fortress of Mont Saint-Michel. With the help of enigmatic Lane Peters and a 90-year-old stage magician, Jaya delves into France's colonial past in India to clear her name and catch a killer. 

What's your teaser this week? Please leave it or a link in the comments so we can check it out. Happy reading!

Review: The Turnip Princess by Franz Xaver Von Schonwerth

The Turnip Princess and Other Newly Discovered Fairy Tales by Franz Xaver von Schonwerth edited by Erika Eichenseer and Maria Tartar is a new collection of some tales from old northern Bavaria.

From Goodreads.com:
In the 1850s, Franz Xaver von Schönwerth traversed the forests, lowlands, and mountains of northern Bavaria to record fairy tales, gaining the admiration of even the Brothers Grimm. Most of Schönwerth's work was lost - until a few years ago, when thirty boxes of manu­scripts were uncovered in a German municipal archive. Now, for the first time, Schönwerth's lost fairy tales are available in English. Violent, dark, and full of action, and upending the relationship between damsels in distress and their dragon-slaying heroes, these more than seventy stories bring us closer than ever to the unadorned oral tradition in which fairy tales are rooted, revolutionizing our understanding of a hallowed genre.

A collection like this is always a treasure. What makes it more so is that he recorded them as they were told to him and not prettied up or changed to make them sound better or more moral. The tales are told in plain language. Maria Tartar, one of the best-known scholars in folklore and fairy tales, writes an informative introduction to the tales.

According to Maria Tartar, Erika Eichenseer was the first person to translate the stories into English. She has kept faithful to the way the stories were told in German. There is quite a variety of the tales as well. "Prince Goldenlocks" is one example and is the first story in the book. The tale holds elements that are similar to several different tales, but in the end, it reminds me most of a combination of Snow White, Donkey Skin, and Cinderella. I would have to add that some of the tales are also not for the faint of heart involving things like biting off a pinkie or substituting animal parts for human parts.

If you are really into fairy tales and folklore, this book is worth a read. The tales are from upper Bavaria which is different from the Grimm's tales. They are told in simple straight forward language. Because some of the content can be considered violent, parents might want to share the book with their children rather than simply pass the book onto them. 

Einstein says, "If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." These tales are an interesting addition to the pantheon of fairy tales. 

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because it has a good introduction and other resources are listed. The tales themselves are in a plain language and are of good, interesting quality. If you are looking for something a little different to add to your fairy tale shelf, consider this book.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Review and Giveaway: A Curious Man by Neal Thompson

Published May 7, 2013
by Crown Archetype

A Curious Man: The Strange and Brilliant Life of Robert "Believe It or Not" Ripley by Neal Thompson is an interesting book. I didn't know the half of it when I started reading the book. I found it fascinating to read his sort of rags to riches story. To say he was a well-traveled man, is an understatement. He was all over the world and brought back many oddities. Some oddities or stories about them were acquired when people sent in the information or objects to him. Early on, he ended up hiring an assistant to deal with mail and to help him pull together his ideas for his column. 

The book is full of vignettes of his trips as well as interesting information on just what went into his comics and eventually his programs. He really was a fascinating man. Admittedly one of my favorite parts of the book was the section containing photographs of and about Ripley. I would be remiss if I did not mention that there is a multi-media aspect to the book. It requires a download of a free app to your phone. Then you can scan some of the photo pages and videos and additional information would appear. 

I can remember seeing reprints of his comics in the Sunday Funnies growing up. I'm glad I had an opportunity to read this biography about such a fascinating man. Also according to the book, "Ripley's Believe It or Not" comic has been one of the longest running. It was being drawn by John Graziano in 2012. If you grew up reading the same comics or perhaps hearing the program on the radio or watching it on TV, I think you would enjoy this book.I gave this book 4 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review: The Writing Dead by Thomas Fahy

The Writing Dead: Talking Terror with TV's Top Horror Writers was published March 3, 2015 by University Press of Mississippi. The book is divided up into 4 main parts with an introduction to the book and acknowledgements.

“I just write about what scares me. When I was a kid, my mother used to say, ‘Think of the worst thing that you can, and if you say it out loud then it won’t come true.’ And that’s probably been the basis of my career.” -Stephen King

Each section of the book has interviews with writers related to that topic. There are quite a variety of writers interviewed including those who write or wrote for Hannibal, Dexter, Bates Motel, True Blood, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Supernatural, Grimm, Angel, The Walking Dead, Hemlock Grove, Being Human, American Horror Story, X-Files, and Millenium. Each part of the book that focuses on a particular writer or series type, starts with a brief synopsis of why they were included and then goes into a transcript of an interview by Thomas Fahy with the author.

What I found interesting about the book is somewhat the usual things that one would take away from such a book, how the writer’s come up with their ideas and write. I enjoyed reading about all of the authors and found it interesting to see some of the other things in their career that they wrote before they came to horror and how it affected what they wrote.

I ended up giving this book 4 stars. I would recommend it to others as a good read or as a gift for someone who enjoys learning more about the behind the scenes writing of their favorite horror programs and movies. It’s interesting to see the connections between a movie that has become a series or a series of books that becomes a tv series. It’s also interesting to see how a particular writer’s previous projects affected what they in turn wrote for the horror programs.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. Any quotes appearing in the text come from an advance reading copy and may appear differently in the final copy.

Waiting on Wednesday #78 - Beach Town by Mary Kay Andrews

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. 

Expected publication: May 19, 2015
by St. Martin's Press

Synopsis from Goodreads.com:
Greer Hennessy is a struggling movie location scout. Her last location shoot ended in disaster when a film crew destroyed property on an avocado grove. And Greer ended up with the blame.

Now Greer has been given one more chance—a shot at finding the perfect undiscovered beach town for a big budget movie. She zeroes in on a sleepy Florida panhandle town. There’s one motel, a marina, a long stretch of pristine beach and an old fishing pier with a community casino—which will be perfect for the film’s climax—when the bad guys blow it up in an all-out assault on the townspeople.

Greer slips into town and is ecstatic to find the last unspoilt patch of the Florida gulf coast. She takes a room at the only motel in town and starts working her charm. However, she finds a formidable obstacle in the town mayor, Eben Thinadeaux. Eben is a born-again environmentalist who’s seen huge damage done to the town by a huge paper company. The bay has only recently been re-born, a fishing industry has sprung up, and Eben has no intention of letting anybody screw with his town again. The only problem is that he finds Greer way too attractive for his own good, and knows that her motivation is in direct conflict with his.  

Will true love find a foothold in this small beach town before it’s too late and disaster strikes?  Told with Mary Kay Andrews inimitable wit and charm, Beach Town is this year’s summer beach read!

 Why am I anticipating this book? 
I enjoy Mary Kay Andrews writing. She is often funny in a way that recognizes the crazy ways that people act. If it was straight up romance, honestly I might not read it. But the humor, plus she is a local author, make it more than worth reading her books.

What  book are you waiting on this week? Please share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out. Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday Updated: Chef Maurice and a Spot of Truffle by J.A. Lang

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can participate, just do the following:

• Grab your current read and open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and the author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

Expected publication: April 7, 2015
by Purple Panda Press

Never mind, he thought as PC Lucy shooed him and Mrs. Eldridge back out the way they had come. There was always Mushroom Liberation Plan B.

He is Chef Maurice. PC Lucy is the local police. Mrs. Eldridge is the neighbor of the man "missing vital signs." This teaser is from 3% on my Kindle.

This book is the first in a new series, the Chef Maurice Culinary Mysteries by J.A. Lang. Goodreads.com has a nice synopsis of this book that further evidences the humor.

“They say one should never trust a thin chef. By this measure, Chef Maurice was very trustworthy indeed.” It’s autumn in the Cotswolds, and Chef Maurice is facing a problem of mushrooming proportion. Not only has his wild herb and mushroom supplier, Ollie Meadows, missed his weekly delivery—he’s missing vital signs too, when he turns up dead in the woods near Beakley village. Soon, Chef Maurice is up to his nose in some seriously rotten business—complete with threatening notes, a pignapping, and an extremely well-catered stake-out. Can he solve Ollie’s murder before his home-made investigation brings the killer out for second helpings?

BONUS: Teaser from the short story "Chef Maurice and the Rather Fishy Tale". The short story is available for a limited time on Amazon.com for free.

"Oui, Chef, there's always the gruyere."

Chef Maurice fancied he heard a hint of sarcasm in his sous-chef's last comment. It was a puzzlement to him how Patrick could possibly find fault with the forty-kilo wheel of cheese currently dominating the tiny walk-in fridge- both in terms of mass and lingering smell.

... 

Then there was that incident when a slamming door had dislodged the wheel from its perch above Patrick's head and nearly caused the restaurant's first cheese-induced fatality. Even so, these were minor quibbles when compared to the truly unsurpassable quality of this fine piece of fromage.

The first teaser is from 7% on my Kindle. The second is from 9%. I couldn't help myself, I had to share both teasers since they were so relevant to each other. And they seem to be a taste of the sense of humor that is ample in this story and series.

What's your teaser this week? Please share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out. Happy Reading!

Terry Pratchett and Soul Music

The Discworld writer's death was announced on his Twitter profile.

Terry took Death’s arm and followed him through the doors and on to the black desert under the endless night.

Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015

The End.

Terry Pratchett (@terryandrob) March 12, 2015

Among other things that happened not long after his death, over 3,000 people signed a petition asking Death to bring him back. 

That made me think of Soul Music, when Death disappears and his granddaughter takes over. Maybe people are asking the wrong person to bring him back? I'm pretty sure he would be amused by the petition. I  kept hoping we would hear, like from Mark Twain, that the reports of his death were greatly exaggerated. 

And oddly enough I had just shared the first book in the series with my daughter about a month ago. I had shared Soul Music with some of my students when I was teaching. I hope that they will all enjoy his books for a long time to come. 

The edition of Soul Music in the picture was published in May of 2003. Synopsis from Goodreads.com: 

When her dear old Granddad -- the Grim Reaper himself -- goes missing, Susan takes over the family business. The progeny of Death's adopted daughter and his apprentice, she shows real talent for the trade. That is until a little string in her heart goes "twang." 

With a head full of dreams and a pocketful of lint, Imp the Bard lands in Ankh-Morpork, yearning to become a rock star. Determined to devote his life to music, the unlucky fellow soon finds that all his dreams are coming true. Well almost. 

In this finger-snapping, toe-tapping tale of youth, Death, and rocks that roll, Terry Pratchett once again demonstrates the wit and genius that have propelled him to the highest echelons of parody next to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen.

I don't need to really review it here. Suffice it to say that I really loved the book. And it was one of many of his Discworld books that I found to be so entertaining.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from Soul Music:

"The hippo of recollection stirred in the muddy waters of the mind."

"She got on with her education. In her opinion, school kept on trying to interfere with it."

"Be careful what you wish for. You never know who will be listening."

"She had a tall bearing and a tall voice and a tall manner and was tall in every respect except height. Amazingly, she'd apparently been able to keep this a secret from people."

Terry Pratchett will be missed.

Blog Tour and Giveaway! The Summer Solstice: Enchanted by K.K. Allen

The Summer Solstice by K.K Allen

Genre(s): Fantasy, Romance, & New Adult

Pages: 188

Published: June 10th, 2014



Blurb:

After Katrina "Kat" Summer’s mother dies a mysterious and tragic death, Kat is hurtled into life at Apollo Beach. Her estranged and cryptic grandmother Rose fills Kat with legends of her Ancient Greek Ancestors from which the Summer family descends. Kat’s world begins to unravel as secrets from her heritage are exposed – secrets that her mother purposefully concealed. 

Leading to her birthday, the day of the Summer Solstice, Kat becomes frightened when enigmatic visions and disturbing dreams haunt her. When her visions become reality, her fear turns to terror as powerful forces threaten the lives of those around her. 

Amidst the turmoil, Kat meets Alec Stone, her gorgeous neighbor, who becomes her sole solace in an evocative world of mythological enchantment and evil prophecies that lurk around every corner… 

Goodreads | Amazon

EXCERPT from The Summer Solstice by K.K Allen

Today marks the sixteenth year of my life, a milestone that Rose believes to be cause for a celebration. It’s finally time for me to make my entrance to my party. I pause at the top of the grand staircase, taking one final look in the full-length mirror at the top of the stairs. Charlotte helped me get dressed, despite my resistance. With simple touches like mascara and blush, my long eyelashes are accentuated and my cheeks rosy. Light eyeliner defines my silver-blue eyes, which are becoming more silver with every day that passes.

It’s my hair that really strikes me, though. The length alone has grown so fast over the few short weeks I’ve been here and it’s now down past my shoulders, in curvy locks.

During my research, I made an effort to understand more about the day my grandmother holds so special. The summer solstice, June twenty-first, is the first day of summer. It’s also the longest day of the year as the sun reaches its highest point in the sky at noon. Since spending hours upon hours in the library, I’ve read all varieties of stories of the summer solstice and its celebrations. In general, it is a time when social code is temporarily shifted, when servants share in the merriment as equals. In some cases, their masters even serve them.

Rose’s wild stories and crazy imaginings are getting the better of me. My dream last night had been just like the first upon arriving at Summer Estates. The girl in the glass shattered the same vase. Everything about the dream was exactly the same—except the evil smile in the mirror belonged to my grandmother. This time it was she who raised her hand to make the vase burst in mid-air.

I’m disappointed that my questions are still unanswered after all the reading I’ve done. What does any of this have to do with Rose’s obsession with Ancient Greek culture and our family history? At some point today, I plan to confront her. She will tell me everything she knows, and she will explain all of the mysteries she’s been keeping from me.

I run my hands down my ribs, onto my waist, and finally to my upper thighs, all covered in a simple green chiffon, baby doll dress that reaches to a couple inches above my knees. With a deep breath, I turn and look down the semi-spiral staircase that flows down to the great room.

Author Bio:

My name is K.K. Allen and I am the Paranormal / Urban Fantasy Author of the Summer Solstice series. The Summer Solstice: Enchanted and The Equinox are now available at Amazon. I was born in Honolulu, Hawaii but raised in Seattle, Washington. I currently live in Central Florida. I've always had a passion for reading and writing and have done so every day since the young age of 12. Writing has even transitioned into my Media Industry career where I wear many hats, copywriting/scriptwriting included. There's just something about telling a story that drives me in everything that I do. Whether I'm creating a content outline for a website, or pulling together assets to write to, or even putting together a video production, it's all about the storytelling. I hope you all check out the Summer Solstice: Enchanted and I look forward to connecting with you! 

Author Links: 

Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | Website

I am reading the book, but I haven't finished it yet. I am enjoying it and looking forward to reading more of the series. Check it out!

This tour was organized by Good Tales Book Tours. 

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Waiting on Wednesday #77 - Ripped from the Pages by Kate Carlisle

"Waiting on Wednesday" is a weekly event hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases we are eagerly anticipating. 

Expected publication: June 2, 2015
 by NAL

This week the title I am waiting on belongs to a series I've just begun reading. It's #9 in the Bibliophile series featuring book restoration expert, Brooklyn Wainwright.

Synopsis from Goodreads.com: 

When book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright temporarily relocates to her parents’ place in Northern California, she finds that wooden barrels aren’t the only things buried in the wine caves of Sonoma….

Excited to explore the secrets of wine country, Brooklyn attends an excavation of the caves hidden deep under her parents’ commune—and the findings are explosive. A room is unearthed, and it contains a treasure trove of artwork, rare books, a chest of jewelry…and a perfectly mummified body.

A closer examination of the murdered man’s possessions reveals a valuable first edition of Jules Verne’s A Journey to the Center of the Earth. Hidden in the book is a secret map that unveils an even greater hoard of treasures brought to California by French winemakers fleeing the Nazi invasion with the commune leader’s grandfather, Anton, among them.

As reporters and art appraisers flock to Sonoma to see the precious bounty, questions begin to rise—did Anton hide these items to protect them, or did he steal them for himself? Who is the mysterious man left for dead inside the cave? But not all crime is buried in the past. When a new presence threatens the town’s peace, Brooklyn decides to do a little excavating of her own and solve the mystery of the treasure before anyone else is written off.

Why am I waiting on it? 

Well, books. It's a book about someone who loves books solving mystery and mayhem that includes among other things a first edition book. I'm hoping because it is book 9 in the series that it means that the rest of the series is worth reading as well. After all, if people weren't liking and buying this series, there would be no ninth book. So, yeah, books. =0) Also curious about the alternative lifestyle her parents have living in a commune. 

So, what book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out. And Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday - Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Miz B of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can participate, just do the following:

• Grab your current read and open to a random page
• Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page.
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (Make sure what you share doesn't give too much away! You don't want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title and the author so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

Trigger Warning: Short Fiction and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman is the source for this week's teasers. Two teasers for the price of one! I just couldn't choose between them. They come from the first and second page of the introduction. 

"The monsters in our cupboards and our minds are always there in the darkness, like mold beneath the floorboards and behind wallpaper, and there is so much darkness, an inexhaustible supply of darkness. The universe is amply supplied with night."

"What we read as adults should be read, I think, with no warnings or alerts beyond, perhaps: enter at your own risk. We need to find out what fiction is, what it  means to us, an experience that is going to be unlike anyone else's experience of the story."

From Goodreads: In this new anthology, Neil Gaiman pierces the veil of reality to reveal the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction--stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013--as well "Black Dog," a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods, exclusive to this collection.

So far I am enjoying the book, including the introduction. What book are you reading this week? What are your teasers? Please share them with us in the comments. Happy Reading!

Review: Swan Dive by Kendel Lynn

Expected Publication is 3/17/15
 byHenery Press

Swan Dive by Kendel Lynn is the third book in the Elliot Lisbon mysteries. Elliot Lisbon has been learning how to be a Private Investigator. She is supposed to use her tools of the trade to find out who murdered the Sugar Plum fairy backstage at the first night of the performance of the Ballantyne's production of the Nutcracker. It's murder by cupcake and the curtain goes down on the dancer.

Elliot is the director of the Ballantyne and as such feels she needs to try to solve this  mystery before something else tragic occurs. As the mystery progresses, it's like nothing and no one is exactly quite what they seem to be or want to be. 

While this book is the third one in a series, it can be read as a standalone. Everything you need from clues to suspects to humor is included in the book. The protagonist, Elliot Lisbon, is a very human sleuth. She is a smart woman, but will sometimes still make mistakes about how much she should share with the police, especially Ransom, her handsome next door neighbor and one of the 2 men she is dating at the time of this book. The murder occurs early in the book which is a plus. You won't find yourself reading 40 pages of backstory here before the action begins. It's off to a strong start and the revelations come at a good pace. 

I give this book 4 stars. I would definitely buy it for someone as a gift. I think it would make a great Christmas gift because of the timing of the mystery, but would be enjoyable at any time of the year.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest  opinion.