Summer reading...

Whatever kind of book you're in the mood for, there's a summer read for that!

Whether you want a mystery, historical fiction, romance, or even a good ghost story. 

Don't believe me? Just check out these ten "summer" books:

Mystery:

Historical Fiction:

Fantasy:

Without A Summer

Summers at Castle Auburn

Humorous:

Ghost/Supernatural:

Romance:

A Classic:

Non-fiction:

Last, but not least:

I'm looking forward to reading several of these summertime books this summer. 

What about you? What summer reads are you looking forward to?

Happy Reading!

Salvage the Bones

Jesmyn Ward's novel takes place in Bois Sauvage, Mississippi, during the 12 days leading up to Hurricane Katrina. But in Esch's family, only her often-drunk father seems concerned about the approaching storm. He's running around gathering plywood for the windows and filling empty moonshine jugs with water. Esch and her brothers, on the other hand, are too consumed with their own problems to worry about a hurricane they don't believe is actually going to hit their town. After all, 15-year-old Esch just found out she's pregnant; her oldest brother, Randall, is  trying to figure out how to pay for basketball camp; Skeetah, the middle brother, can't think about anything other than his pit bull, China, and her brand new puppies; and Junior, the youngest, is too young to understand what a real hurricane can do.

This novel is "a wrenching look at the lonesome, brutal, and restrictive realities of rural poverty." It's gritty and raw, from its f-word filled prose to its tough-to-read dog fighting scenes. While I had the most sympathy for Esch and her struggles, I actually liked Randall and their friend, Big Henry, the best. Skeetah was equal parts likeable and frustrating. All of Ward's characters though felt very genuine and real. Overall, while good, this is not an easy book to read. At times it feels like a punch in the gut. Which made it hard for me to love it, or even like it that much. But I will definitely never forget it.

Happy Reading!

Monsterrific!

Monsters in the Clouds by Russell James

She pulled a tablet from her purse and laid it on the table. With a few taps, an aerial photograph of a rainforest appeared. She pointed to a lush plateau towering over the landscape. "My organization just discovered this place, deep in a closed indigenous area in the Amazon rain forest. It's been isolated for who knows how long--the locals say since the world was created. (And) though the valley floods every year, no one climbs this plateau to escape the rising water. They say monsters rule in the clouds."



5 more reasons to read this book:

• An expedition to the Amazonian rain forest
• A plane crash
• Pterosaurs
• Giant ants
• And paleontologist Grant Coleman and Brazilian activist Janaina Silva fighting for their lives.

They Rise by Hunter Shea

"They're not the prettiest fish in the sea. People call them ghost sharks, though they're not sharks at all, despite a distant relation. What you're seeing here is a chimaera fish, one of the oldest fish in the ocean. They've been around for over 400 million years, longer even than sharks."

5 more reasons to read this one:

• The Bermuda Triangle
• Mysterious fissures opening on the Ocean floor
• A swarm of very ancient and lethal predators
• Dead fisherman (because "deckhands on a fishing boat are always expendable".)
• And one unforgettable and very bloody sea battle

Happy Reading!

A bookish update...

Series I'm still reading (and loving):

The second mystery with Magnus "Steps" Craig
and the FBI's Special Tracking Unit

Alex Verus Series #4 by Benedict Jacka

Bookish confession #1:  When someone tells me that they don't remember the last time they read a book, or that they don't like to read novels, deep in my heart I know that we can never really truly be friends. 

Recently arrived in the mail:

Looks like it's going to be  

a ghostly summer for me.

Bookish confession #2:  Buying a bunch of new books is awesome, but it never seems to still the craving in me to buy even more. No matter how many books I own, I don't think it'll ever be enough. I want them ALL.  😀

Books I recently checked out of the library (because apparently 

I don't have enough books at home waiting to be read):

The Kitchen Witch by Annette Blair

The Queen's Gambit by Elizabeth Fremantle

All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda

The Sorrows by Jonathan Janz

Kill Creek by Scott Thomas

Bookish confession #3:  If I'm not sure I want to finish reading a book, I skip ahead to see how it ends. And if the ending is stupid or disappointing, I quickly move on to another book. Because life is too short. You know?

What's up next:

Happy Reading!

From the H Shelf...

Author:  Jody Hedlund

Title:  With You Always

It's 1857. With both her parents dead, 19-year-old Elise Neumann is now the sole provider for herself and her younger siblings. But work for a woman in New York City is hard to find. She finds a position as a seamstress, but when New York's economy falters she loses that job and can't find another. Desperate, she heads West to the growing town of Quincy, Illinois, with only the promise of a job and the hope of building a new life for her family. And even though life in Quincy is not everything that was promised, Elise is not one to give up. 

Then there's Thornton Quincy. He and his twin brother have been issued a challenge by their dying (and very rich) father:  "First, each son must build a sustainable town along the Illinois Central Railroad. And second, each son must get married to a woman he loves. Whoever succeeds in doing both by the end of six months wins the challenge and becomes owner of Quincy Enterprises." Thornton is determined to win and prove to his father that he's as good as his brother. But then he meets Elise, and all his plans start to change.

This book has both humor and heart. Hedlund's prose is very readable and I loved the historical setting. And the two main characters have depth and personality that make them both easy to root for, and to like. Yes, this story is completely predictable. But it's also an entertaining and fun read with a satisfying happily ever after ending. I ended up liking it a lot.

Happy Reading!

Prepper fun

Only the strong will survive.

But what does it mean to be strong?

When an economic collapse leads to both gas and food shortages, power outtages, lawlessness and chaos, two men, D.J. Frost and Gabe Horne, will each have to figure out how they will face the challenges ahead in order to survive. One is prepared; one is not. But it's the choices they make that will ultimately put them on a collision course.

D.J. Frost has been preparing for this 'Smash' for years. He's stockpiled guns and ammo, has a secret cache of supplies buried outside the city, and a carefully mapped out 'bug-out' route. But things don't go according to his plan. And the way he handles each setback quickly shows his true character. D. J. Frost is NOT a lovable character.  He's not even likeable; he's selfish and manipulative and cruel. (All traits he feels he needs in order to survive.)

"Life had thrown obstacles his way, but he had overcome them. Others would not have been able to make the difficult choices he had made. They would pay for their weakness, maybe even with their lives. It was a new world and it would make hard men, men like him, to survive ... no, to thrive in it..."

 Gabe Horne, on the other hand, is completely unprepared. Still mourning the loss of his wife and son, he's so drunk when the collapse comes he doesn't even realize at first how bad everything is. But when his neighbor and her teen-age son need help, Gabe steps up. And in helping them, he ends up saving himself.

"He wondered how things could be going so well. He wasn't drinking any more, he was in love, his neighbors respected him and looked up to him. It had taken the world falling apart to put his world back together."

In Collision Course, David Crawford has written a compelling novel of survival, and of the good and bad that lies in every human being. It's action-packed and character-driven at the same time. And I really loved the preparedness aspects. There were some other things that happen along the way that I didn't love as much. But overall, this is a good read; I'm just not sure how I feel about the ending. Still...

Happy Reading!

May's Bookish Art...

Edward Robert Hughes -- Idle Tears

"There's a book for everyone ... 
a book that reaches in and grabs your soul."

--Veronica Henry