Waiting on Wednesday #169: Big Mushy Happy Lump by Sarah Andersen

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

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Swimsuit season is coming up! Better get beach-body ready! Work on those abs! Lift those butts!

...Um, or how about never mind to all that and just be a lump. Big Mushy Happy Lump!

Sarah Andersen's hugely popular, world-famous Sarah's Scribbles comics are for those of us who boast bookstore-ready bodies and Netflix-ready hair, who are always down for all-night reading-in-bed parties and extremely exclusive after-hour one-person music festivals.

In addition to the most recent Sarah's Scribbles fan favorites and dozens of all-new comics, this volume contains illustrated personal essays on Sarah's real-life experiences with anxiety, career, relationships and other adulthood challenges that will remind readers of Allie Brosh's Hyperbole and a Half and Jenny Lawson's Let's Pretend This Never Happened. The same uniquely frank, real, yet humorous and uplifting tone that makes Sarah's Scribbles so relatable blooms beautifully in this new longer form. 

 Why am I waiting on this book? I read the previous collection and I enjoyed it. Also, I am a fan of both Allie Brosh and Jenny Lawson. Even if I hadn't read the previous collection, the comparison with these two authors would make me curious.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Second Teaser from Dead Sleeping Shaman by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Ambrosia of The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

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

"Poor Jackson" - this said with mock pity,  which seemed to please Sorrow; at least his ears stood up - "to think that I, bitch of the universe, wouldn't aid and abet him in his newly chosen career. I wouldn't throw my hopes to the wind in order to place before the world his stupendous talent. Yet another victim of female selfishness."

~ 40% through on my Kindle

Sorrow is her dog. Jackson is her ex-husband. She is a writer and has submitted her first novel to an agent. Jackson was fishing for the agent's phone number.

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Review: The Ballad of Elva and Chester by Adrian Archangelo

Elva and Chester are aliens that look like humans and have been sent to Earth to increase our empathy and compassion before humans have interactions with the universe at large. But, things never seem to go quite right for them no matter how hard they try. Now their bosses have come to Earth early and are very unhappy with what's going on. They are ready to deflect an asteroid and wipe out humanity. Elva and Chester appeal to them to change their minds and at least allow them the rest of the 1000 years allotment that they were supposed to have to fix things. What results is a sort of trial with flashbacks to historical disasters like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Easter Island, the Roswell UFO incident, and more. Basically, if something really went haywire in history, it was their fault.

The premise is great. The execution just didn't quite live up to it. I almost DNF'd the book. The chapters were kind of repetitive. Elva and Chester dropped into a situation they wanted to fix. Things went wrong resulting in disaster.

The book finally got good towards the end. I agree with another reviewer who said that the book would have been better if you didn't know ahead of time that they were going to fail in most instances and instead it's revealed as the book progresses. The ending was unexpected, both for the reader and I think every character involved.

I think the book description from the publisher sets some pretty high goals comparing it in parts to Christopher Moore, Douglas Adams, and Ray Bradbury among others. It just never quite attains those heights.

I gave this book 2 stars. Basically, it's okay. I would classify it as humorous Science Fiction. It's just wasn't as funny to me as I expected. It could have been better. The quality of the writing improved towards the end. I probably wouldn't buy it as a gift for someone without reading it yourself first to form your own opinion.

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

Review: Mistletoe Mysteries collected by Charlotte MacLeod

Mistletoe Mysteries collected by Charlotte MacLeod is an excellent collection of Christmas themed mysteries. There is an interesting variety from paranormal to cozies. I liked the majority of the stories in the collection.

I wasn't familiar with all the authors, but the quality of the writing was there. Peter Lovesey's "The Haunted Crescent" had an interesting twist to the end of it. Sharyn McCrumb's tale had a nice injection of folklore from Scotland. Believe it or not, I haven't really read much Mary Higgins Clark, but her "That's the Ticket" was enjoyable if a little straightforward. Edward D. Hoch's "The Touch of Kolyada" built on folklore from Russia. You can see there is a variety. I've only touched on some of the ones I liked the very most.

This book was originally published in paperback in December of 1990. This is the first Kindle edition from Open Road Integrated Media. I liked the way you could flip back to the table of contents and click on a story to read. If you don't want to read it straight through or read your favorite authors first, this is a bonus.

Overall, I give the collection 4 stars out of 5. I really enjoyed it. If you like holiday-themed mysteries with variety, then this would be a good book for you. Also if you enjoy Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, then you might also enjoy this book.

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

Waiting on Wednesday #168: The Lost Book of the Grail by Charlie Lovett

"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 Goodreads: 

Arthur Prescott is happiest when surrounded by the ancient books and manuscripts of the Barchester Cathedral library. Increasingly, he feels like a fish out of water among the concrete buildings of the University of Barchester, where he works as an English professor. His one respite is his time spent nestled in the library, nurturing his secret obsession with the Holy Grail and researching his perennially unfinished guidebook to the medieval cathedral. 

But when a beautiful young American named Bethany Davis arrives in Barchester charged with the task of digitizing the library's manuscripts, Arthur's tranquility is broken. Appalled by the threat modern technology poses to the library he loves, he sets out to thwart Bethany, only to find in her a kindred spirit with a similar love for knowledge and books and a fellow Grail fanatic. 

Bethany soon joins Arthur in a quest to find the lost Book of Ewolda, the ancient manuscript telling the story of the cathedral 's founder. And when the future of the cathedral itself is threatened, Arthur and Bethany s search takes on grave importance, leading the pair to discover secrets about the cathedral, about the Grail, and about themselves.

The Lost Book of the Grail is due out February 28, 2017 from Viking.

Why am I waiting on this one? I like a good mystery and I enjoy reading Grail stories. This one looks a little different than others I have read in the past. It reminds me a little of the description for a Dan Brown book, but maybe with a little less or slower action. At any rate, looking forward to checking it out.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Dead Sleeping Shaman by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme hosted by Ambrosia of The Purplebooker.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

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

I got the distinct feeling Crystalline, and maybe Marjory, didn't mean because the world was about to end. There was a much deeper evil at work. Even I could feel it.~ 15% through on my Kindle

Dead Sleeping Shaman, book 3 in the Emily Kincaid series by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli, was released from Beyond the Page December 1, 2016 in a Kindle edition. A paperback edition was released in May 2010 by Midnight Ink.

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Review: Fatal Fiction by Kym Roberts

Charli Rae Warren is a kindergarten teacher in Colorado. She left Hazel Rock, Texas years ago as a teen. Now she has been called home to Texas to sign papers to sell The Book Barn which she is part owner in with her Daddy.

Charli hasn't been in town 5 minutes when she becomes a suspect in the murder of her realtor whose body she finds in the Book Barn. What was supposed to be a quick trip becomes extended fast. And Daddy is nowhere in sight. No one seems to know where he's gotten to or why.

With help from Scarlet who has transformed from ugly duckling to swan, her old beau from high school, and an armadillo, Charli tries to solve the mystery of whodunnit before she or her Daddy end up in jail.

This cozy mystery is a quick, fun read. It reminds me a little of a high school reunion since it refers back frequently to her time as a teen in the town. And at first, the town reacts to her as if she was that same teen. I won't say how things change for better or worse. Scarlet becomes her partner in crime so to speak as they seek the killer and try and improve the Book Barn so it will sell or turn a profit of some kind.

I enjoyed the characters of Charli and Scarlet in particular. The plot moves along well. The reader is provided with the same clues as Charli and Scarlet. There are enough twists in the plot that I didn't guess the killer ahead of time,

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. Fatal Fiction is worth a read if you enjoy cozies with a taste of the small town South and a touch of humor. This is the first in a new series called Book Barn mysteries. It was published December 6, 2016 by Lyrical Underground.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Waiting on Wednesday #167: She Stopped for Death by Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli

"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 Goodreads: 

Jenny Weston and her mother, Dora, have been receiving strange midnight visits. Bear Falls's own elusive and highly secretive poet, Emily Sutton, has lived her life cloistered away with her sister in a house at the edge of Pewee Swamp. But now, Emily's started leaving scraps of poetry in Dora's Little Library, and Dora makes it her mission to befriend the sheltered woman.

Meanwhile Zoe Zola, almost famous author, Little Person, and the Weston's quirky next-door neighbor, is hard at work on a new book, this one about the inner life of Emily Dickinson. And once again, Zoe's literary work starts making uncanny connections with the events in her own world as Emily Sutton reemerges into society. But Zoe begins to suspect things aren't anywhere near normal at Emily's swamp house or in the lives of the people she claims have abandoned her...until looking further into the poet's half-truths leads Zoe and Jenny to a horrible murder.

The chaos surrounding the ensuing investigation grows even more hectic with Emily’s increasingly erratic behavior, the arrival of a young woman searching for her missing poet uncle, and yet another betrayal in Jenny's love life. And only poetry can set the truth free in Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli's charming second Little Library mystery, She Stopped for Death.

She Stopped for Death is due out January 10, 2017 from Crooked Lane Books.

Why am I waiting on this book? I find the Emily Dickinson connection interesting. I've always been a little fascinated by her. And it sounds like a good mystery. 

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Think Happy by Karen Salmansohn

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

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

When you're stressed, your brain enters into "fight or flight" - and it gets stuck in its less smart "reptilian brain" setting. This is why people under great stress feel tongue-tied and choked up... When you do something to de-stress, you exit "fight or flight" and tap back into your smarter-thinking neocortex and limbic system.

Almost everything works better if you unplug for a few minutes - including you.  ~ Ann Lamott

- quotations from #3 from the section "5 Things to Say When You Feel Stressed Out"

Not sure I agree with everything in this book of mini pep talks, but I liked this one. The idea of stepping back for a minute or more so that you can reboot your thinking makes sense. 

Think Happy - Instant Peptalks to Boost Positivity by Karen Salmansohn was released August 9, 2016 from Ten Speed Press.

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Waiting on Wednesday #166: My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith

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

This week the book I am waiting on is My Italian Bulldozer by Alexander McCall Smith. It's a standalone novel that looks to be humorous in nature. It's due out April 4, 2017 from Abacus.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

When writer Paul Stewart heads to the idyllic Italian town of Montalcino to finish his already late book, it seems like the perfect escape from stressful city life. Upon landing, however, things quickly take a turn for the worse when he discovers his hired car is nowhere to be found. With no record of any reservation and no other cars available, it looks like Paul is stuck at the airport. That is, until an enterprising stranger offers him an unexpected alternative. While there may be no cars available there is something else on offer: a bulldozer.

With little choice in the matter, Paul accepts and so begins a series of laugh out loud adventures through the Italian countryside, following in the wake of Paul and his Italian Bulldozer. A story of unexpected circumstance and lesson in making the best of what you have, My Italian Bulldozer is a warm holiday read guaranteed to put a smile on your face.

What book are you waiting on this week?  Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Waiting on Wednesday #165: There's a Mystery There: the Primal Vision of Maurice Sendak by Jonathan Cott

"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 Goodreads:

An extraordinary, path-breaking, and penetrating book on the life and work and creative inspirations of the great children's book genius Maurice Sendak, who since his death in 2012 has only grown in his stature and recognition as a major American artist, period. 
Polymath and master interviewer Jonathan Cott first interviewed Maurice Sendak in 1976 for Rolling Stone, just at the time when Outside Over There, the concluding and by far the strangest volume of a trilogy that began with Where The Wild Things Are and In the Night Kitchen, was gestating. Over the course of their wide-ranging and revelatory conversation about his life, work, and the fantasies and obsessions that drove his creative process, they focused on many of the themes and images that would appear in the new book five years later. Drawing on that interview, There's a Mystery There is a profound examination of the inner workings of a complicated genius's torments and inspirations that range over the entirety of his work and his formative life experiences, and uses Outside Over There, brilliantly and originally, as the key to understanding just what made this extravagantly talented man tick. To gain multiple perspectives on that intricate and multifaceted book, Cott also turns to four "companion guides": a Freudian analyst, a Jungian analyst, an art historian, and Sendak's great friend and admirer, the playwright Tony Kushner. The book is richly illustrated with examples from Sendak's work and other related images."


Why am I waiting on this one? I've long been a fan of Maurice Sendak. My all time favorite books by him are Where the Wild Things Are followed by the Nutshell Library boxed collection. I was lucky enough to see him speak when I was in college and even got to get his autograph. I am curious what this book has to say about him and his art and writing.

There's a Mystery There is due out May 16, 2017 from Doubleday Books.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: Fatal Fiction by Kym Roberts

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

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

"He nodded and jotted something down on his notepad. I hoped it said find another suspect. But I knew bad karma was stuck to me like the stank of an angry skunk."
~ 10% through on my Kindle

Fatal Fiction is the first book in the new Book Barn Mystery.series. It's due out December 6, 2016 from Lyrical Underground. The main character is kindergarten teacher Charli Rae Warren in Hazel Rock, Texas. The above teaser is from her point of view. She hadn't been in town five minutes before she became a suspect in a murder.

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Review: Nightmares edited by Ellen Datlow

Things that go bump in the night? Sure, but so much more than that. The stories are varied and run the gamut from horrifying to creepy to don't turn your lights off scary. There was even a retelling of sorts of Hansel and Gretel. And don't forget the zombies.

Ellen Datlow is an excellent editor. I believe she is a sort of expert in short story quality and in horror from her many years of editing the Best Horror of the Year series among other things. Authors included in the anthology are (in order of appearance): Mark Samuels, Gene Wolfe, Brian Hodge, Kaaron Warren, Lisa Tuttle, Gemma Files, Simon Bestwick, Nicholas Royle, Margo Lanagan, Steve Duffy, Laird Barron, Stephen Graham Jones, Reggie Oliver, Ray Cluely, M. Rickert, John Langan, Anna Taborska, Livia Llewellyn, Dan Chaon, Robert Shearman, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Garth Nix, Nathan Ballingrud, and Richard Kadrey.

As with most anthologies, I didn't like all the stories equally. Some were better than others for me. A few I was puzzled as to why they were included. There was one story that used incest as an important part of the story. That one I could have done without entirely. It just wasn't for me.

My favorites were: How We Escaped Our Certain Fate by Don Chaon, and the last 3 stories in the anthology. It was almost as though the best were saved for last, but the stories were arranged chronologically in order of year of publication. Datlow says of the stories included: "Consider them a guide to some of the best short story writers currently working in the field of horror fiction. And in this volume specifically, a good representation of the excellent horror that was published between 2005 and 2015."

Overall, enough of the stories were satisfying for me to give the anthology a 4 out of 5 stars rating.

Nightmares: a New Decade of Modern Horror was released November 1, 2016 by Tachyon Publications.

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

Waiting on Wednesday #164: The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher

"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 Goodreads: 

The Princess Diarist is Carrie Fisher’s intimate, hilarious and revealing recollection of what happened behind the scenes on one of the most famous film sets of all time, the first Star Wars movie. 

When Carrie Fisher recently discovered the journals she kept during the filming of the first Star Wars movie, she was astonished to see what they had preserved—plaintive love poems, unbridled musings with youthful naiveté, and a vulnerability that she barely recognized. Today, her fame as an author, actress, and pop-culture icon is indisputable, but in 1977, Carrie Fisher was just a (sort-of) regular teenager. 

With these excerpts from her handwritten notebooks, The Princess Diarist is Fisher’s intimate and revealing recollection of what happened on one of the most famous film sets of all time—and what developed behind the scenes. And today, as she reprises her most iconic role for the latest Star Wars trilogy, Fisher also ponders the joys and insanity of celebrity, and the absurdity of a life spawned by Hollywood royalty, only to be surpassed by her own outer-space royalty. Laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable, The Princess Diarist brims with the candor and introspection of a diary while offering shrewd insight into the type of stardom that few will ever experience.

Why am I waiting on this book? I grew up in the time period when the first Star Wars movie was released. I think I was in sixth grade. It made a big impact on me, my brother, and our friends at school. And I enjoy a well-written memoir. To couple the two things, it seems like it would be a fun book to read. Especially since it says that it is "laugh-out-loud hilarious and endlessly quotable." The Princess Diarist is due out November 22, 2016 according to NetGalley.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: The Ballad of Elva & Chester by Adrian Archangelo

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

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

The mere presence of the human race upon the whole spectrum of living consciousness was going to take up a lot of bandwidth out there among the stars. Plenty of others were using it themselves. For them, the arrival of an entire species coursing through the galaxy had the overall effect of elbowing one's way into a crowded bar and stepping on people's shoes along the way.

~2% on my Kindle 

Synopsis: Elva and Chester are space aliens who look like humans but have been on Earth since the year 1100 with the goal of helping humanity develop more empathy and compassion. (The rest of the beings in the galaxy don’t want us flying around out there until we do.) The duo have no human habits to contend with, but they are extraordinarily responsive to chocolate and hold it in special regard. However, Elva and Chester find human behavior baffling, and continually see their plans twisted by human responses. Consequently, nearly everything wrong on this planet over the past thousand years–from the Leaning Tower of Pisa and Easter Island to The Black Plague–was caused by one of their historic debacles.

The Ballad of Elva & Chester is due out November 25, 2016 from WildBlue Press.

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Waiting on Wednesday #163: The Turn by Kim Harrison

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

This week my pick is The Turn by Kim Harrison. It's a prequel to the Hollows books. She lists it as # 0.1 in the series.

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Kim Harrison returns to her beloved Hollows series with The Turn, the official prequel to the series that will introduce fans and readers to a whole new side of Rachel Morgan's world as they've never seen it before!

Can science save us when all else fails?

Trisk and her hated rival, Kalamack, have the same goal: save their species from extinction.

Death comes in the guise of hope when a genetically modified tomato created to feed the world combines with the government's new tactical virus, giving it an unexpected host and a mode of transport. Plague takes the world, giving the paranormal species an uncomfortable choice to stay hidden and allow humanity to die, or to show themselves in a bid to save them.

Under accusations of scientific misconduct, Trisk and Kal flee across a plague torn United States to convince leaders of the major paranormal species to save their supposedly weaker kin, but not everyone thinks humanity should be saved.

Kal surreptitiously works against her as Trisk fights the prejudices of two societies to prove that not only does humanity have something to offer, but that long-accepted beliefs against women, dark magic, and humanity itself can turn to understanding; that when people are at their worst that the best show their true strength, and that love can hold the world together as a new balance is found. 

Why am I waiting on this one? It's another chance to read about Kim Harrison's world, The Hollows. And an opportunity to find out exactly what happened when the dreaded tomato hit the fan. The Turn is due out February 7, 2017 from Gallery Books.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by and Happy Reading!

Teaser Tuesday: The Deep End by Julie Mulhern

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.
Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

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

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"A week ago Tuesday. My husband and I had drinks with her and her husband, Roger." Polite drinks. Ignore the elephant drinks. We're-boinking-like-bunnies-and-you-don't-have-the-courage-to-do-anything-about-it-drinks.

~ p. 4 on my Kindle

The Deep End by Julie Mulhern is the first book in The Country Club Murders series. Ellison is being questioned by Detective Anarchy Jones in the teaser. After reading book 4 in the series last week, I wanted to go back and read the first book. It's pretty good. I enjoyed it. It is a humorous cozy set in the 1970s put out by Henery Press in February of 2015. I give it 4 out of 5 stars. 

What's your teaser this week? Share it or a link in the comments. Are you enjoying your book? Let us know! Happy Reading!

Review: The Thread that Binds the Bones by Nina Kiriki Hoffman

Tom has always known he was a little different than most people. He's moved around a fair bit to keep that a secret. Now he has moved to the small Oregon town of Arcadia and is settling in as a cab driver. When Laura Bolte comes into the bar where he's at, looking for a cab to take her out to Chapel Hollow, he feels a sense of connection with her that has been missing from his life. Things happen rather rapidly after that as he is exposed to the strangeness that is Chapel Hollow and the Bolte clan.

Magic is afoot. There are people like him, something he never thought he would find. In Chapel Hollow, Tom feels as if he has entered the Twilight Zone. This is a place where people can fly and change shapes among other things. What is Tom's place in all of this? Just what is he capable of doing?

This is a re-release of a Bram Stoker award winning first novel. The  book is well written generally. It does seem sometimes as if there is a little more tell than show in places, but considering how much of it takes place in people's minds, I think that is perhaps natural and necessary.

The plot is interesting. It's set in a secretive community and its sister town which serves as a link to the outside world. The characters are interesting. In particular, I find Tom, Laura, and Carroll are well developed.  There is good conflict ultimately of the age old sort, good vs. evil. The plot is well done and moves along quickly. The last about 20% of the book goes particularly fast. I needed to know what was going to happen to these people. It is definitely character driven. The Goodreads synopsis says that while this is the first book in the Chapel Hollow series, it can be read as a standalone. And I think that's true, but the ending does make you wonder what would happen next.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. I liked it well enough, but wasn't crazy about some of the parts where there is more telling than showing. I have the impression that Nina Kiriki Hoffman's writing just got better and better after this novel. You might enjoy this book if you like fantasy and urban fantasy. No werewolves or vampires, just magical people with varying moral compasses. This edition of the book was released November 1, 2016 from Open Road Media.

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

Review: Send in the Clowns by Julie Mulhern

Going to a haunted house venue isn't exactly Ellison Russell's idea of fun, Still, she is drawn there when her daughter doesn't come home on time. And being in the 1970s, neither had a cell phone.

It's even less her idea of fun when a clown stumbles forward and dies on her, literally. Who killed Brooks Harney? And why? Will she find  out before she becomes the next victim of the killer clown?

This is book 4 in The Country Club Murders series. It's the first one that I've read, though. Early on in the book, Ellison is found musing, "I'm not sure what it says about me that I have a homicide detective's home number memorized..." My guess would be that she has found bodies before and that this will probably not be the last one she finds as well.

Ellison has a good sense of humor that is evident in her thoughts and conversations with other characters in the mystery. She feels that Mr. Coffee and her father are the only two men who haven't let her down. And still, she finds herself in a little bit of a love triangle. At one point her date is hauled off for questioning in the case by the Detective Anarchy Jones. Both men would like to see her stay out of the mess, but she keeps getting drawn back in.

Romance is more of a subplot to the murder. Ellison's best friend is also dating someone new. And there is a further subplot of someone stealing and selling antiques.

It might sound like there is a lot going on. Honestly, though, it's really the right amount. The author pulls it all together seamlessly. I really enjoyed the book and all of its parts. I especially enjoyed Ellison's sense of humor and independence.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. The mystery is well written and well paced. You can guess along with the rest of them who did it before the revealing. There is just the right amount of romance and subplot. And Ellison has a good relationship with her daughter that reminds me a little of the relationship Claire Malloy has with her daughter in the Joan Hess books. This novel can be read and enjoyed as a standalone, even though it is the fourth book in the series. I did go out and buy the first book when I finished this one. Send in the Clowns became available October 25, 2016 from Henery Press.

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

Waiting on Wednesday #162: Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs

"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 Goodreads:

In the #1 New York Times bestselling Mercy Thompson novels, the coyote shapeshifter has found her voice in the werewolf pack. But when Mercy's bond with the pack and her mate is broken, she'll learn what it truly means to be alone...

Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe...

Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise...

Why am I waiting on this book? I love the Mercy Thompson series. I really enjoy the stories about this woman who can shapeshift into a coyote, but who is in love with a werewolf. She has tangled before with vampires and managed to come out alive. This sounds like the ultimate vampire story for her. The expected publication date is March 7, 2017 from Ace Books. You can find an excerpt from chapter one here.

What book are you waiting on this week? Share it or a link in the comments so we can check it out and maybe add it to our TBR lists. Thanks for coming by!