Best and Worst of 2017

Hello Everyone,

I used the Goodreads.com reading challenge to track the books I read each year. I started tracking in July of 2017 and read 104 books! I thought it would be fun as a closing of 2017 and opening of 2018 to go over my best and worst reads of 2017. These are in no particular order (rated from 1-10). The order is completely random. It was really hard to choose the top books. I read so many great ones. If you want to see all of my reviews feel free to add me as a friend or follow me on Goodreads.com.

Best Books of 2017

• The Prague Sonata by Bradford Morrow
• Pheobe's Journey by Kathryn B. Collett
• The Encore: A Memoir in Three Acts by Charity Tillman-Dick
• The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
•  Robin Hood's Dawn by Olivia Longueville and J.C Plummer

Worst books of 2017

• Primodeus by John Lachance
• One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey (I know I am horrible but I couldn't get into it)
• Revenant Winds by Mitchell Hogan
• Journey to Water's Heart by Lea Ben Schlomo
• Oliver Loving by Stefan Merrill Block

Netgalley.com Badges

Netgalley.com awards you badges for different accomplishments. These are the ones that I was awarded.
               
In the comments below, let me know what you think of the blog so far. Also I am open to comments and suggestions for things you would like to see here. 

Thank you all of reading my blog. I hope you all have a great 2018.

Updrift by Errin Stevens

Synopsis: 

For Kate Sweeting, love isn’t in the air. It’s in the water.

Since her father died, Kate Sweeting’s home life has been in the pits, her well-being on life support. Her future looks desolate until she and her mother, Cara, make another plan: abandon their shriveled existence for more promising prospects on the coast, where Cara can play small-town librarian-bachelorette and Kate can figure out what’s up with that secretive Blake family from the beach.

Everyone is eerily captivated with Kate and her mother, and Cara is the first to figure out why when the man of her dreams arrives all dripping and devoted and closed-mouthed about what he intends. Kate is willing to go along with their subterfuge for a while but eventually makes a charge for the water to learn what her mother is hiding. Gabe Blake is there waiting for her…and so is someone considerably less friendly. By the time Kate navigates her way home, everything will have changed for her—what she feels, what she wants, and what she’ll risk to be with the man she loves.

Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received this book in a good reads giveaway. 

I don't want to add any spoilers and there is not a lot that I can add to the synopsis. I will tell you that I have never read a mermaid book like this before. Instead of the author trying to create an entirely new world as well as a hierarchy and rules that apply to the species, the author used our world. The rules and hierarchy that she created was not contrived and was really unique. I enjoyed reading this book. I haven't liked any mermaid books that I have read, so I felt a little wary with this one. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down.

Missing Isaac - Valerie Fraser Luesse

Synopsis - 
There was another South in the 1960s, one far removed from the marches and bombings and turmoil in the streets that were broadcast on the evening news. It was a place of inner turmoil, where ordinary people struggled to right themselves on a social landscape that was dramatically shifting beneath their feet. This is the world of Valerie Fraser Luesse's stunning debut, Missing Isaac.

It is 1965 when black field hand Isaac Reynolds goes missing from the tiny, unassuming town of Glory, Alabama. The townspeople's reactions range from concern to indifference, but one boy will stop at nothing to find out what happened to his unlikely friend. White, wealthy, and fatherless, young Pete McLean has nothing to gain and everything to lose in his relentless search for Isaac. In the process, he will discover much more than he bargained for. Before it's all over, Pete--and the people he loves most--will have to blur the hard lines of race, class, and religion. And what they discover about themselves may change some of them forever.

Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

After losing his father at a young age, Pete reached out to his father's friend Isaac. Shortly after, Isaac disappears. No one knows what happens to him. Pete decides he is going to set out and find Isaac one day and meets Dovey. He has no idea how much his life would change after meeting her. Though time passes, no one in the small town of Grace, Alabama forgets Isaac. Pete's grandfather hires a private detective to find out what happens to Isaac after years of no results. Favorite Quote -

Life throw you a hairpin turn sometimes - ain't nothin' you can do but keep drivin' and try to keep it in the road - Isaac

The Unkillable Kitty O'Kane by Colin Falconer

Synopsis - 

When fiery and idealistic Kitty O’Kane escapes the crushing poverty of Dublin’s tenements, she’s determined that no one should ever suffer like she did. As she sets out to save the world, she finds herself at the forefront of events that shaped the early twentieth century. While working as a maid, she survives the sinking of the Titanic. As a suffragette in New York’s Greenwich Village, she’s jailed for breaking storefront windows. And traveling war-torn Europe as a journalist, she’s at the Winter Palace when it’s stormed by the Bolsheviks. Ultimately she returns to her homeland to serve as a nurse in the Irish Civil War.

During Kitty’s remarkable journey, she reunites with her childhood sweetheart, Tom Doyle, but Tom doesn’t know everything about her past—a past that continues to haunt her. Will Kitty accept that before she can save everyone else, she needs to find a way to save herself? Or will the sins of her past stop her from pursuing her own happiness?

Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received this book free from a Goodreads.com giveaway.

Unkillable Kitty O'kane is a woman that has a lot of thing happen to her. She tries her hardest to make things happen, but it usually turns out badly. This was a really good book. It was one of those that you wanted to yell at Kitty and scream "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!" or "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING" but eventually, in her own time, she figures it all out.

Ash Princess By Laura Sebastian

Synopsis
Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Queen of Flame and Fury, was murdered before her eyes. Ten years later, Theo has learned to survive under the relentless abuse of the Kaiser and his court as the ridiculed “Ash Princess.” Pretending to be empty-headed and naive when she's not enduring brutal whippings, she pushes down all other thoughts but one: Keep the Kaiser happy and he will keep you safe.

When the Kaiser forces her to execute her last hope of rescue, Theo can't keep her feelings and memories pushed down any longer. She vows revenge, throwing herself into a plot to seduce and murder the Kaiser's warrior son with the help of a group of magically gifted and volatile rebels. But Theo doesn't expect to develop feelings for the Prinz. Or for her rebel allies to challenge her friendship with the one person who's been kind to her throughout the last hopeless decade: her heart's sister, Cress.

Cornered into impossible choices and unable to trust even those who are on her side, Theo will have to decide how far she's willing to go to save her people and how much of herself she's willing to sacrifice to become queen. 

Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I received this book free from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Lady Thora is trapped in her own castle by the Kaiser fearing everyone. Anytime her people rebel or something happens that displeases the Kaizer she is whipped. The Kaiser captures the leader of the rebels and makes Thora kill him. A familiar face from her past comes and reminds her that she is Queen Theodosia and that her people need her. Together, she and her three "shadows" come up with a plan to get revenge and give her back her freedom. This is a story about defying the odds and fighting back. The courage to do the things that need to be done for the greater good.

Song of a Captive Bird by Jasmin Darznik

Synopsis - 

ll through her childhood in Tehran, Forugh is told that Iranian daughters should be quiet and modest. She is taught only to obey, but she always finds ways to rebel—gossiping with her sister among the fragrant roses of her mother’s walled garden, venturing to the forbidden rooftop to roughhouse with her three brothers, writing poems to impress her strict, disapproving father, and sneaking out to flirt with a teenage paramour over café glacé. It’s during the summer of 1950 that Forugh’s passion for poetry really takes flight—and that tradition seeks to clip her wings.

Forced into a suffocating marriage, Forugh runs away and falls into an affair that fuels her desire to write and to achieve freedom and independence. Forugh’s poems are considered both scandalous and brilliant; she is heralded by some as a national treasure, vilified by others as a demon influenced by the West. She perseveres, finding love with a notorious filmmaker and living by her own rules—at enormous cost. But the power of her writing grows only stronger amid the upheaval of the Iranian revolution.

Inspired by Forugh Farrokhzad’s verse, letters, films, and interviews—and including original translations of her poems—Jasmin Darznik has written a haunting novel, using the lens of fiction to capture the tenacity, spirit, and conflicting desires of a brave woman who represents the birth of feminism in Iran—and who continues to inspire generations of women around the world. 

Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received this book from netgalley.com for free in exchange for a review.
In the days of oppression of women and inequality, One woman had the courage to make a difference. Forugh defied her father, her husband, and anyone that dared disagree with her. She did things because she wanted to, not because she was expected to. She created a life for herself that no one approved of, and she didn't care. it was what she wanted. This is an amazing story of courage, perseverance, and reminds readers to be who you want. Don't let people's opinions and expectation define who you are or who you become

Journey to Water's Heart by Lea Ben Shlomo

Synopsis - 

What can be done to save Izmeran?
When the earth of Izmeran becomes diseased and no longer yields fruit and vegetables, its residents change their economy to one of crystal mines and jewelry. But then it becomes a paradise for thieves. Tanti is tasked with bringing back the special crystal mushroom, hidden in the "Heart of the Water," that will heal his country's earth.

A secret, death-defying quest is the only solution
Yet just as the mushroom can heal, it can also arouse the dark urges in a person's soul. Tanti must therefore keep the purpose of his quest a secret, even at the risk of his life, so that the mushroom will not fall into the wrong hands. Tanti is accused of spying, is thrown into a prison tower, but then escapes. While a terrible war rages on, he continues his search for the mushroom.

Can Tanti solve a mysterious riddle and save the day?
Tanti must solve the riddle of the “Heart of the Water” in order to find the healing, yet lethal crystal mushroom. His journey is a daring and adventurous quest of discovery and growth as he uncovers courage, initiative, and love in unexpected places.

Review - ⭐⭐
I received this book for free in exchange for a review from Hidden Gems.

The whole concept of the book was not to my taste. The land was divided into Humans, Whites, Blues, Greens, Woodsmen, and people called Lizards. The whole point of hte book is the main character has to travel to a far away secret land to find magic mushrooms to help restore the vitality to his land. As the different regions are titled. Everything in the White land is white. Hair, clothes, plants, everything. The same was true for the other lands.

I didn't finish this book.

What Happens At Christmas by Evonne Wareham

Synopsis - 
Best-selling author Andrew Vitruvius knows that any publicity is good publicity. His agent tells him that often, so it must be true. In the run-up to Christmas, she excels herself - talking him into the craziest scheme yet: getting himself kidnapped, live on TV.
But when the plan goes ahead and Drew is unceremoniously thrown in the back of a van before being dragged to a hut in middle of the Brecon Beacons, it all starts to feel a little bit too real. 
Meanwhile, not far away, Lori France and her four-year-old niece Misty are settling in to spend the holidays away after unexpected events leave them without a place to stay. Little do they know they’re about to make a shocking discovery and experience a Christmas they’re not likely to forget …

Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I received this book free from netgalley.com in exchange for a review

I found this book a little too slow moving for my taste, but an excellent read. I loved the characters, plot, and ending. At times it was a little predictable but good for a cozy blanket, hot chocolate, and candle type read.

Robin Hood's Dawn Book 1 by Olivia Longueville and J.C. Plummer

Synopsis:
England, 1154-1194
A kingdom under assault.
A conspiracy born of anarchy.
A hero standing against tyranny.

Falsely convicted of a shocking crime, Robin Fitzooth, the Earl of Huntingdon, finds refuge in Sherwood Forest and becomes Robin Hood.

Leading a band of men against the injustices of a malevolent sheriff and his henchmen, Robin begins to unravel a web of treachery threatening the English royal family.

As shadowy forces gather to destroy the future of a nation, Robin faces deceit, betrayal, and the ravages of war as he defends his king, his country, his people, and the woman he loves from a conspiracy so diabolical, so unexpected, that the course of history hangs in the balance.

From the mists of an ancient woodland, to lavish royal courts teeming with intrigue, to the exotic shores of the Holy Land - Robin Hood leads the fight in a battle between good and evil, justice and tyranny, the future and the past.

Part one of an exciting three-part retelling of the Robin Hood legend!

Although the books in the trilogy are not stand-alone, they do not end in cliffhangers.

Review - ✩✩✩✩✩
I received this book from NetGalley.com in exchange for a review. Have you ever wondered how Robin Hood became who he was? Or why Robin of Loxley was called Robin Hood? How about how Will Scarlet got his name? This book answers those questions and many more. This story starts when Robin Hood's father was a soldier under King Henry and continues through his time fighting for the crusade. It tells the tale of him defying the sheriff, his love for Marion, and slowly adds all of my favorite Robin Hood characters (although Tuck doesn't come in until the end). This also shows a side of Robin Hood that no other retelling has shown. In this one, Robin Hood is mischievous and likes to banter playfully with Marion and irritate the sheriff and his men. He is described as impish and boy-like with his pranks. I absolutely love this story and can't wait until the second part of the trilogy. Another plus to this book is there is a table in the beginning describing lineages of the different characters, pictures of the coat of arms, and at the end is a dictionary for period specific terminology.

Murder in Christmas River by Meg Muldoon

Synopsis - 
Cinnamon Peters is one tough cookie.

Every year at Christmas River’s annual Gingerbread Junction Competition, pie baker extraordinaire Cinnamon aims to win, taking down any competitor who gets in her way. But when she finds a dead body in the woods behind her pie shop just days before the big competition, Cinnamon realizes that there’s much more to worry about than cookies, frosting, and gumdrops.

Someone’s out to bring Cinnamon down. And they’re playing dirty.
Only Cinnamon and a mysterious stranger who walks into her life one snowy evening can figure out the mystery.
But can they solve it before Cinnamon’s chances of gingerbread competition glory crumble?

Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I book is free on Kindle Unlimited

Not much mystery to this first one but the story was amazing. It seemed to focus more on characters that are in the rest of the series vs. focusing on a mystery.  I love books that leave you feeling warm and cozy on the inside when you finish reading them. I am glad that everything worked out exactly the way it was supposed to.

The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah

Synopsis:

Alaska, 1974.
Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.
For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska—a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.

Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I got a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for a review.

I lived in Fairbanks for 10 years. Kristin Hannah captures the way of life, the personality of the people, the beauty and the danger of Alaska perfectly. She even took care to use terms that people from Alaska would use (ex. Snowmachine instead of a snowmobile. 10 below instead of negative 10). The community she created is almost an exact replica of a real Alaskan village. You have a few doomsday preppers, a little bit of crazy, the rich, and the people that have learned to make a smokehouse out of black plastic and boards. When the Allbrights moved up there, the people of Kaneq island had seen cheechakos like them before. The community comes together to help them repair and build everything they would need for their first winter. That is how it is done up there.

I was somewhat skeptical about reading a book about Alaska. A lot of time authors only have an "outiside" perspective on how it actually is. I was pleasantly surprised. This is a beautiful, well-written book that I will read over and over. 

Favorite Quotes from the book:

"Alaska can be Sleeping Beauty one minute and a bitch with a sawed-off shotgun the next."

"You know what they say about finding a man in Alaska. The odds are good but the goods are odd."

"In Alaska, you can make one mistake. One. The second one will kill you."

Lady Justice and the Geriatric Gumshoes by Robert Thornhill

Synopsis - 
Inspired by their hero, Walt Williams, three retirees decide to give Lady Justice a helping hand. 
Although their intentions are good, these septuagenarian sleuths get crossways with the Kansas City mafia, dangerous drug dealers, and the Russian mob. 
Walt must come to their rescue, putting himself in harm’s way to pull their eager, but aging, fannies out of the fire. 
Follow the action as Walt and the geriatric gumshoes prove once again that good guys can triumph over evil, no matter how old they are. 

Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This book is free if you have Kindle Unlimited

This book is about five old men trying to right the wrongs of modern society. They get into a lot of sticky situations, but in the end, it works out ok. I'm this book, they encounter the Italian mob, a drug dealer that targets high school kids, a meth house, shoplifter, sex trafficker, Russian mob, and drive-by shooters. I don't think I have laughed so hard while reading. This one is going into my read again list.

The Lost Season of Love and Snow by Jennifer Laam

Synopsis - 
At the age of sixteen, Natalya Goncharova is stunningly beautiful and intellectually curious. But while she finds joy in French translations and a history of Russian poetry, her family is more concerned with her marriage prospects. It is only fitting that during the Christmas of 1828 at her first public ball in her hometown of Moscow she attracts the romantic attention of Russia’s most lauded rebel poet: Alexander Pushkin. 

Enchanted at first sight, Natalya is already a devoted reader of Alexander’s serialized novel in verse, Evgeny Onegin. The most recently published chapter ends in a duel, and she is dying to learn what happens next. Finding herself deeply attracted to Alexander’s intensity and joie de vivre, Natalya hopes to see him again as soon as possible.

What follows is a courtship and later marriage full of equal parts passion and domestic bliss but also destructive jealousies. When vicious court gossip leads to Alexander dying from injuries earned defending his honor as well as Natalya’s in a duel, Natalya finds herself reviled for her alleged role in his death. 

With beautiful writing and understanding, Jennifer Laam, and her compelling new novel, The Lost Season of Love and Snow, help Natalya tell her side of the story—the story of her greatest love and her inner struggle to create a fulfilling life despite the dangerous intrigues of a glamorous imperial Court.

Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for a review.

This book is nothing short of amazing and I think could be considered as a "Modern classic". This is the story of Natalia and Alexander Pushkin. The author wrote the story so well, that you could feel everything the characters felt; the love, the pain when they fought, the joys of their children being born. It was a very emotional read. This book is another that left me with a content feeling. I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves historical fiction.

Dead Man's Chest

Synopsis - 
Traveling at high speed in her beloved Hispano-Suiza with her maid and trusted companion Dot, her two adoptive daughters Jane and Ruth, and their dog Molly, Phryne Fisher is off to Queenscliff. She'd promised everyone a nice holiday by the sea with absolutely no murders, but when they arrive at their rented accommodation that doesn't seem likely at all.

An empty house, a gang of teenage louts, a fisherboy saved, and a missing butler and his wife seem to lead inexorably toward a hunt for buried treasure by the sea. Phryne knows to what depths people will sink for greed, but with a glass of champagne in one hand and a pearl-handled Beretta in the other, no one is getting past her.

Review - ⭐⭐⭐
I received this book free from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

This one was not one of my favorite Miss Fisher mysteries. For some reason this one seemed to take me forever to get through, and it seemed to drag. I love the new character Tinker and look forward to reading more about him. I missed Jack Robinson in this one. I can't wait to read the next book!

Christmas on the Coast by Rebecca Boxall

Synopsis - 
Christmas is approaching on the island of Jersey, but Libby is feeling far from festive. Her police work and duties as vicar’s wife weigh heavily on her, she’s anxious about her troubled children, and now her best friend, Stella, has suddenly turned against her, citing a mysterious family grudge.

Libby is devastated by Stella’s unexpected coldness. But then her father shows her a diary written by her great-aunt Queenie, which sheds light on a long-hidden secret—one rooted in love, loyalty and betrayal. Writing during the Nazi occupation of Jersey in the winter of 1941, Queenie reveals a community torn apart by illicit romance, heartbreak and revenge—and by dark acts of fear and desperation.

The more Libby immerses herself in Queenie’s journal, the more she understands why its secrets still haunt her family and Stella’s. Christmas is a time of forgiveness, but is the treachery of their shared past too shameful to be forgotten?

Review ✰✰✰✰✰
I received this book free from netgalley.com in exchange for a review.

Libby and Stella have been friends their entire life. When Stella's mother passes, she tells her about a family grudge that started the end of WWII. Stella turns on Libby. Libby is a people pleased that would rather let people take advantage of her than stick up for herself. After Stella turns on her she starts searching for answers. In the process she learns to set boundaries and reconnects her dysfunctional her family.

The Last Suppers by Mandy Mikulencak

Synopsis - 

Set in 1950s Louisiana, Mandy Mikulencak’s beautifully written and emotionally moving novel evokes both The Help and Dead Man Walking with the story of an unforgettable woman whose quest to provide meals for death row prisoners leads her into the secrets of her own past.

Many children have grown up in the shadow of Louisiana’s Greenmount State Penitentiary. Most of them—sons and daughters of corrections officers and staff—left the place as soon as they could. Yet Ginny Polk chose to come back to work as a prison cook. She knows the harsh reality of life within those walls—the cries of men being beaten, the lines of shuffling inmates chained together. Yet she has never seen them as monsters, not even the ones sentenced to execution. That’s why, among her duties, Ginny has taken on a special responsibility: preparing their last meals.

Pot roast or red beans and rice, coconut cake with seven-minute frosting or pork neck stew . . . whatever the men ask for Ginny prepares, even meeting with their heartbroken relatives to get each recipe just right. It’s her way of honoring their humanity, showing some compassion in their final hours. The prison board frowns upon the ritual, as does Roscoe Simms, Greenmount’s Warden. Her daddy’s best friend before he was murdered, Roscoe has always watched out for Ginny, and their friendship has evolved into something deep and unexpected. But when Ginny stumbles upon information about the man executed for killing her father, it leads to a series of dark and painful revelations.

Truth, justice, mercy—none of these are as simple as Ginny once believed. And the most shocking crimes may not be the ones committed out of anger or greed, but the sacrifices we make for love.

Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received this book free from netgalley.com in exhange for a review.

I love reading books that leave me with a feeling of contentment when finished. This one definitely has that. There are three different things going on in this book. The main part is Ginny's present day life. Her father was murdered when she was 8. Now an adult, she is in love with his best friend and working in the prison kitchen. The second part, is slowly uncovering the truth behind her father's murder. The third are a few journal type entries from various characters from the story. The historical aspect of this book is about the KKK and the injustices done to black people and how prisoners were treated during the 50's. Ginny breaks the rules to serve the death row prisoners their last meal. Along the way the two main sections of the story are told. At the very end are recipes from some of the suppers that she made and a book group discussion guide which I thought were really neat bonuses.

On Christmas Day by Rosie James

Synopsis -
Christmas wishes on the eve of war…

1914. Young Lexi doesn’t want much – just her family’s happiness. She’s been working all the hours she can at the local sweet shop to help her mother lift her little brother and sister out of poverty. Maybe one day, if she tries hard enough, they can save enough to leave their tiny, cramped flat – and terrifying landlord, Mr. McCann – behind. Although Lexi can’t help but wish her friendship with the landlord’s son, Johnny, could turn into something more.

They say it will all be over by Christmas. But with the country still at war when the snow begins to fall, Lexi turns all her attention to making the sweet shop’s windows cheery and keeping her family’s spirits high. And, with courage, she might one day manage to give her family a magical Christmas, the like of which they never dared to dream of…

Review - ⭐⭐⭐

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.com in exchange for a review.

Overall this was a great story about a girl named Lexi and her quest to buy her mother the home of her dreams. She starts out working several little jobs to help her mother out then becomes the sole beneficiary of someone's estate. This completely changes her life.

I really enjoyed this book but had a couple of issues with it. The book would have been much better without chapter 35. There was nothing gained from it. Also, the author set the book starting in 1914 and continues through Christmas day 1917 (WWI). However, there are several WWII timeline events. An example would be the weapon Johnny's older brother was trained to use was a gun used in WWII. Lexi sings in a Teahouse and two of the songs that she sang were "Somewhere over the Rainbow" and "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" which were not published until 1939. There were also quite a few typos.

Murder on a Midsummer Night (Miss Fisher #17) - Kerry Greenwood

Synopsis - 
The Hon. Phryne Fisher, languid and slightly bored at the start of 1929, has been engaged to find out if the antique-shop-owning son of a Pre-Raphaelite model has died by homicide or suicide. He had some strange friends - a Balkan adventuress, a dilettante with a penchant for antiquities, a Classics professor, a medium, and a mysterious supplier who arrives after dark on a motorbike. Simultaneously, she is asked to discover the fate of the lost illegitimate child of a rich old lady, to the evident dislike of the remaining relatives.

With the help of her sister Beth, the cab drivers Bert and Cec, and even her two adoptive daughters, Phryne follows eerie leads that bring her face-to-face with the conquest of Jerusalem by General Allenby and the Australian Light Horse, kif smokers, spirit guides, pirate treasure maps, and ghosts.

Review - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I received this book free from NetGalley.com in exchange for a review.

There is not much that I don't love about Miss Fisher. She does her own thing and doesn't care what people think about her. The supporting cast (Jack, Dot, Jane, Ruth, and the Butlers) make the stories funny and believable. In this book, Miss Fisher is hired for two cases. One is the case of a missing illegitimate child, and the other is a murder investigation. These cases are proved extra taxing because of the people involved, and the weather is unbearably hot. Lin comes back in this one to help take Miss Fisher's mind off of things.

Welcome to My Blog

Welcome to my blog!

Through this blog, I am going to post book reviews including memorable quotes or facts about the book.

I love to read more than anything. I am also a published author. I read all types of books so there will be a wide variety for you to read through.

I have three kids, so my book budget is very limited. Places that I love to get my books from are:


Netgalley
Netgalley is an advanced reading program. You fill out a little biography about yourself and select your preferred genres. Then you can start signing up to read. If approved,  they will send you free copies of books in either Kindle or ePUB edition. They ask that you give feedback when you have finished the book.

Goodreads.com
Goodreads is like a facebook for book lovers. There is a section of giveaways that you can enter. I found out the trick to winning is join a reading group and post frequently. Also, leave reviews of the books you read. This is a great resource to find new releases. There are lists of books that you can search when you just don't know what to read next.

Powells.com
Powells has a program called "Daily Dose". You can submit a review and have it entered into the daily dose. If you review is chosen, you win $20 store credit. If the person from the day before doesn't claim their prize, then you can get $40 and so on.

Thriftbooks.com
This is a used bookstore. If you join their reading rewards program, they will give you 15% off of your first order.  Then after you spend $50 you will get a $5 coupon good on orders over $15. The $50 is accumulative so you don't have to spend it all at once. They will keep track of your order totals and will even show you your progress. They also give you free shipping when you spend $10. They also offer "thrift deals" on select titles where you can pick books up for $3. Some titles I found are pretty popular titles.

Amazon.com
Amazon offers some free Kindle editions as well as the Kindle Unlimited program. The Kindle Unlimited program lets you borrow up to 10 books that are enrolled in the program. I think I pay around $5 a month for this. I recently found out that they also do some giveaways for books and other things.