Hooked on Books

If you like seafaring stories this is a great one to read. It's action packed and pretty much the entire story is set out on the water, in either the tugboat or car carrier.

I really wish they would make this into a series. I'd love to go on more salvages with the Gale Force crew.

*I received this ARC from the Penguin Random House First-to-Read program in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

The audio narrator is doing a nice job of reflecting the haunting eerie atmosphere that Simone has a knack for creating.

Also I'm dying to know Mary Hand's backstory! 

Finally started reading! I'm loving it so far but don't have much love for Ronald Knox and his 10 Commandments. Why can't "Chinamen" be in the story?? Sounds a little racist if you ask me- and he's a priest!! I'm going to have to read something he's written for curiosity's sake.

This is very much a character-driven story about a group of passengers traveling from Britain to Australia on the SS Orontes to start a new life. They each have their own secrets and reasons for leaving their old life behind. As the 5 week voyage progresses, and class lines are blurred and relationships are formed- those secrets slowly rise to the surface under the strain of living in close proximity, with unbearable heat and mounting tension. It all comes to a head the night before departure, in one last explosive scene at their farewell ball.

I enjoyed this story and the characters immensely! They were all so well developed. The author also did a fantastic job keeping the reader in suspense throughout the entire book. You could really feel the underlying currents of tension and secrecy running among the main characters. I already miss the voyage myself, so much so, that I'm searching for another good shipboard story to read immediately.

...Not-so-patiently waiting on my

print ARC of

Island of the Mad by Laurie R. King!

I'm soooo ecstatic!! : )

I absolutely LOVE this series!

Thanks Laurie and LibraryThing!  

I love books set on ships! So far this one has been pretty good. Right now we're getting to know the characters and relationships are developing. There's also a nice undercurrent of tension starting to run through the ship.

Fred Van Lente’s brilliant debut is both a savagely funny homage to the Golden Age of Mystery and a thoroughly contemporary show-business satire.

As the story opens, nine comedians of various acclaim are summoned to the island retreat of legendary Hollywood funnyman Dustin Walker. The group includes a former late-night TV host, a washed-up improv instructor, a ridiculously wealthy “blue collar” comic, and a past-her-prime Vegas icon. All nine arrive via boat to find that every building on the island is completely deserted. Marooned without cell phone service or wifi signals, they soon find themselves being murdered one by one. But who is doing the killing, and why? 

A darkly clever take on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None and other classics of the genre, Ten Dead Comedians is a marvel of literary ventriloquism, with hilarious comic monologues in the voice of every suspect. It’s also an ingeniously plotted puzzler with a twist you’ll never see coming!

AMAZON 

When I saw this book, I just had to get it! I'm hoping to read sometime this week. Anyone else read yet or planning to read?

Since I'm practically the last person on the face of this earth to read this book I'm not even going to waste time doing an overview. I've been digesting this book for over two weeks now. I listened to the audio performance and I thought that might've had some effect on my feelings about this book so I went back and actually read parts of the book that I was conflicted about and I still feel the same way.

We were given the story soooooo slowly and piecemealed together based on whatever Offred decided she might or might not throw out there and I felt like I was pulling teeth trying to get the full picture. I seriously felt like I needed to jump to the end of the book to see if I could get a clearer picture of the entire story and then come back and read the beginning.

Then on top of that, there weren't any clear separations in the audio so it was extremely hard for me to tell if Offred was having flashbacks or if those scenes were happening at that moment. Needless to say, I got off to a very rocky start.

It wasn't until over half-way to three-quarters in, that I finally started actually enjoying the book and then - it just ENDED! Omg, I was so freaking mad. I could not believe it. I absolutely hated that ending! Yeah I got the gist

but I do not like having to infer an ending. It drives me nuts! I like to know 100% that yes, this happened or no, it didn't happen. Not to mention, they never did tell us what happened with her family- or did they and I missed it?? 

This was a nice collection and variety of short stories for any fan of the horror genre! I normally don't read too many short stories because I hardly ever get that feeling of satisfaction that I get when reading a full length story but I read these in between work projects and I found they were just what I needed and the perfect length for the amount of time I had to spare. I really came away with a deeper appreciation of short stories and how useful they can be in certain situations. I know I won't shy away from them now like I use too. 

My favorite stories in this collection were- Not in Kansas Anymore, Avenging Kitten, Welcome to Paradise, The Fixer, The Rooster, and Too Much of a Dead Thing. 

*I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

I personally don't give a shit about the controversy surrounding the author and his remarks on the YA genre. I'm rating the book not the author and both books were damn good! If there's another book forthcoming I'm reading it too.

I actually listened to the audiobook and Thérèse Pullmer's narration was outstanding, as always! I've never once heard a performance from her (or January LaVoy) that I didn't like.

The audio performance of this was really good! I'm completely hooked on Murderbot now and dying to find out what happens to him next -after that cliffhanger ending.

Do you guys remember the show Knight Rider and the AI, Kitt, that was installed his car? Well the main character in this series, Jace Hughes, has an AI in his spaceship named Sigmund aka Siggy and he's so cool! He's like the star of the series.

I have some good memories of watching Knight Rider and Indiana Jones and this series is like a cross between the two but set in space, so I'm enjoying it tremendously. But if you're not a fan of over the top, outrageous action scenes then you might want to find something else because this is pure entertainment. You really have to be willing to believe the unbelievable as they say.

I listened to the Publishers Pack audio version and the audio performance made the story come to life even more. There's no audio for books 3, 4 and 5 though which completely sucks especially after hearing and loving the narration in this book.

I don't watch a lot of movies or TV shows but this is one movie I am definitely going to see! Can't wait to see who they cast- hmm??

Many thanks and much love to WhiskeyintheJar for my awesome book! : )

I know what I'm reading this weekend! 

Thanks again!!

The Carrow Haunt is Darcy Coates newest release. It's about a girl named Remy that gives tours of the famously haunted Carrow House. On one of her tours, a guest asks if she will proposition the owner to allow a group of people including Remy, to stay at Carrow House for a couple of weeks in order to study the paranormal phenomena up close and personal. Not willing to pass up a chance to experience some of the sightings she talks about in her tours everyday, Remy agrees to participate;  and the owner, a huge paranormal enthusiast, jumps on the chance, with the stipulation that she has to be included in the guest list too. None of the guests are quite prepared though, for the terrifying experience Carrow House has in store for them.  

So this is the second book I've ever read by Darcy Coates and I was just as impressed with it as I was with Craven Manor. I love a good ghost and haunted house story and she's delivered in both books. The Carrow Haunt was deliciously creepy and suspenseful! Once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. I'm definitely looking forward to reading a lot more of her books.