Baby Teeth

I have to tell you the funniest story. I was recently sent a advanced reader copy for a new thriller called Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage, which hits bookstores July 17th. By the way, huge thanks to St. Martin's Press, the publisher, for making my week. Anyway, I start reading this unusual book. It is about a young girl, 7 years old, who is very smart. She loves her dad so much but her mom, she'd kind like her out of the picture so she can have her dad all to herself. The little girl is Hanna and the mom is Suzette. So let's just cut to the short of it, this book is devious, dark, intense and quite thrilling. I really liked it.

So, I'm reading along one afternoon, about halfway through the book when my husband comes in with the mail. He stops in our hall and doesn't move. Odd, I ask if anything bad came in the mail. No answer. I ask if he's okay, no answer. Finally, he says "I don't know." We had received a post card, on the front are kids drawings and printed over it is "Maybe if Mommy was uglier, maybe Daddy wouldn't love her as much." Hubby was confused. He didn't know if this was a weird campaign for some unusual group or product, or if some little girl was really a problem child and had sent something very odd to the wrong address. He flipped to postcard over and it says in red ink written like a child, "I hate mommy so much. I promise you'll feel the same way, cross my heart, hope mommy dies." The postcard was from the publisher, reminding me of the book they'd sent. Believe me I needed no reminding.

Now if that does not convince you to buy and read this book, then I wash my hands of you, so would Hanna!

A Gathering of Secrets

Well everyone, I bought a new vacuum but now the dishwasher broke. All I want is to live in a home of complete harmony, is that really so much to ask? Needless to say, to escape the Maximum Overdrive 2.0 going on in my house I have resorted to books! As usual!

I have been so fortunate to receive an advance reader copy of A Gathering of Secrets by Linda Castillo. I haven't read anything by Linda before so went into this completely blind. This story is half thriller half mystery. It opens like a rocket, and I mean opens. I was saying "wow" out loud during the prologue....you read that right...THE PROLOGUE. The first chapter was even more shocking. Immediately I'm intrigued.

Without giving the story away, this is set in Ohio within several groups of amish. There is a murder and we follow the chief of police, Kate Burkholder. Now Kate, who is ex-amish herself has her own set of problems and they intertwine with the murder. Interesting huh? The chief is a very likable character that you find yourself totally rooting for. The thing is, after the super-exciting beginning the book settles into Kate going from person to person, interviewing them trying to find out who knew what and why certain things happened. I started to think "uh oh, here we go, this is about to get really dry and boring." The thing is, it didn't! It got more and more compelling of a read the further it went along and hung on until the very end...I mean the very end.

If you are interested in a mystery/thriller in a different setting or are interested in the amish, this is the book for you. If the amish setting is a turn off for you please know that it only assists the story, it doesn't detract or bog it down in any way. This book is released July 10th.

I cannot thank St. Martin's Press enough for so generously sending me a proof of this amazing story. Please don't mind it though if I blame you for my sudden urge to learn how to quilt.

Fooled Me

          I am a thriller girl. Of course I'll read anything that is really good but I gravitate toward thrillers. Needless to say I read a lot of them and am always trying to guess the twist, the ending. After reading these mysteries with action added for a long time, I thought I was getting pretty good at it. Enter The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen.

I'm reading along one night, my husband walks by and wonders why I look that way. Now I say that is my everyday face, but he thought I looked shocked. Then I start flipping the book backwards, saying "What? No? What? Huh?". I just didn't understand, but I did. It was devious, it was unplanned, it was sneaky, I didn't see it coming AND it was only half way through. To say I loved it, is an understatement. It's fast paced, fast reading and I never saw it coming. What else could you possibly want in a thriller? Next book these two authors put out, sign me up, I'm first in line. You though waiting to get Harry Potter books at midnight was a big deal, wait until their next book comes out. I'm totally there.

The most remarkable thing about this, after seeing me questioning this book, being so shocked, my husband read it. He rarely reads fiction, but was compelled to give this a go. He finished in a day and didn't see the first twist either. Wonderfully diabolical.

*This review is one I posted at BookishFirst.com. If you haven't been to their site give it a try. You can earn points for books, write reviews but the best thing is you get to read several chapters of books really getting to know them before you purchase them. Frankly, I think you should buy everything I tell you to but somehow I don't think you'll take my advice alone. Oh well, a girl can try.
       

The Painted Art Journal

          Let me start by saying I am a paper crafter and have been for 20 years. I make everything from cards, to books, to scrapbooks, basically anything to do with paper. In that long quest for crafting happiness, I have accumulated and become proficient using many supplies, from Copics to watercolors and way...WAY beyond. That being said, the one thing that has literally stared me down is my empty, completely unused book I bought for Art Journaling. A blank page or piece of paper is not a problem for me, I thrive off it, except for my lonely Art Journal.

Because of my lack of progress in this kind of artist endeavor, I was thrilled to receive this book. The Painted Art Journal by Jeanne Oliver is a large paperback, glossy book. The photography in it is absolutely beautiful and is on nearly every page. In addition, the writing is wonderful too, making it perfect for beginners as well as experts. She not only coaches you about how to create your pages but why. There is not only advice about getting started, your "ritual", suggested supplies, but there are step by step descriptions with photos. Although I have almost every product she says you might someday want to explore, I learned a lot about them...things I didn't know despite using them for years. Then there are the interesting topics like the difference between shape and form. I had no idea!

In short, I love this book. I cannot give it any higher praise other than to say, I'm going to purchase another copy for a gift. Maybe you should too.
       

The Anomaly

For Valentine's Day, my husband gave me a gift subscription to The Book of the Month. I've loved it. Every month, so far, I have picked a wonderful thriller to read. For June I received The Anomaly by Michael Rutger. It is issued early for BOTM and is due for release June 19th.

I don't generally go over the plot, assuming you just want to know if it's good or annoying since you've obviously searched out a review and have certainly read the jacket.  Since this is not released I will say this is kind of like Indiana Jones meets Robert Langdon. It's the story of a group of people that shoot a series that is broadcast on YouTube. They are searching for a cave in the Grand Canyon that was supposedly visited decades ago but now only legend. The unusual cast of characters finds a cavern and to say it is a unhospitable place is an understatement. No more, nope, not saying anything more, tick-a-lock!

I am always amazed when writers can describe action and it's easy to picture without the words getting in the way. Some thriller writers do that really well, James Rollins comes to mind, Michael Rutger is one of those writers. The Anomaly is well paced, well edited, is creepy and interesting at the same time. It has some really good dialog, especially if you like sarcasm, who doesn't? Overall, I completely enjoyed this book. If you like books that are a little rough and tumble, you'll like this, There are absolutely no make-up tips here. If you like books that make you wonder enough to turn the pages faster and that almost each chapter ends on a bit of a cliff hanger, you'll like this. If you are claustrophobic, you'll be completely freaked out by this book. Needless to say, I'm rethinking that trip to the Grand Canyon, photographs of it are so good these days!

Fairest of All: A Tale of the Wicked Queen

Hello everyone. Hope you are well. I've been reading up a storm, well perhaps an intermittent shower for some of you but a storm for me. It is June 9th, and I've just completed my fourth book. My husband might tell you this is cheating as I finished my first book of the month at precisely 12:20 am on the first. But you have to cut the previous month off somewhere and everyone knows (read with exaggerated eye roll) that midnight is the cut off. So I have branded him wrong, me correct (as any happily married man will know his wife is always correct, because we ARE). That brings my total this year to 31 books read. That is as many as I read in all of last year, so I'm pretty darn happy.

If you read my blog intro, which shame on you I know you didn't, then you'd know already that I don't "do" audiobooks. For the record, I would read/listen to anything that had a great story so perhaps I should say I haven't "done" an audiobook yet. Another thing I don't usually do is Young Adult books. Sure, I've seen youtube, now branded "booktube", full of 20 somethings proclaiming they've read 8 gazillion books in a month. (By the way, one gave a very negative review on The Woman in the Window, not liking so much of what she read including how it was set in London.....really? It is set in New York...so I don't know about "reading" so many books in a month. Course, I could just be extremely jealous as I am, as you know, a confessed pokey ass reader.) (as a sidenote, what is with all the quotes in this post? geez),

Anyway, I don't get all these adults, men and women....not boys and girls, but men and women that are reading books for kids. There are so many adult books that are fantastic, why would you read outside books meant for you? Judgemental isn't it? Yeah I know. I've got a sink full of dishes and my left leg is falling asleep, I think I'm cranky. ...Breathe...."Anyway," she said sweetly and calmly, all that rant being out there I did see a few kids books I was a tiny bit curious about. Have you seen these books about Disney stories where they retell what happened, often before or after the official story? I wonder if these are a result of the whole Wicked series. Anyway, I might have purchased a few, okay three.

So last week, I could not resist and I opened, just to glance at the first page or two of Fairest of All. It is a story about the wicked queen in Snow White. No spoilers but it talks about when she was a child, her parents, Snow White's life before her, the wicked queen's marriage and relationship with the king. To be completely honest, I was blown away. The story by Serena Valentino intertwines with the Snow White story I know and love, brilliantly. It explains but doesn't rewrite or distort any part of the original.  Obviously, I read the whole thing and am trying to look away from the others I purchased as I have a long list of books to read this month. If you don't want to dish out the money for this book, check out your library, since it was published in 2012 it's probably off reserve! As for me, I have a sudden craving for a bright red apple.

The Death of Mrs. Westaway

Imagine it's a lazy Saturday morning. You decide to stay in your pajamas all day; you're home alone, why not? Despite having slept late it is still dark outside. You have to turn on lights as you make your way to the coffee maker. Even in your sleep-induced fog, as the coffee is brewing, you realize why it is so dark. Not only is it pouring outside but there is an almost constant roll of thunder. You pick your spot on the good side of the sofa with your oil tanker size cup of coffee, grab a throw and settle in. On goes the tv, your plan is masterful - it's a perfect day for a Hammer film marathon (Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy).

Suddenly, NO! There is a simultaneous clap of thunder and burst of lightning. Your power is gone, surely not to return until nearly the population of your entire town is on first. Now what? Grab your emergency flash light and The Death of Mrs. Westaway! It is dark, dreary, moody and delicious! The main character Hal, finds herself in considerable financial trouble. To save herself, Hal must head to a once stately turned creepy, huge, old run down mansion.  Now she is about to meet a cast of characters equally as unusual as the setting.

In my quest to not rewrite the plot you've undoubtedly already read, let me make these few comments. This is a fast and easy read. It compels you to move forward, wondering what will happen next. If you like mild thrillers, mysteries, haunted house books (let me be clear there is absolutely nothing paranormal here at all), books that include big houses as the setting, this will interest you. If you like the movies, Rose Red, The Haunting, or even plain ole' Casper, you may well find the mansion to be as valuable of a character as those that actually breathe.

I've been fortunate to read all of Ruth Ware's books. Each new book seems to become my new favorite, although I admit In a Dark, Dark Wood holds a special place for me since it was my first. My point is, I think she keeps getting better. Each new book seems to somehow be more confident, have better pacing and be even more enthralling than the last. The book is The Death of Mrs. Westaway and it may make you wish for a power outage!