Thursday, November 29, 2018

BLOG TOUR: Eleanor Roosevelt's In My Garage by Candace Fleming


Rockstar Books Tours is hosting a two week tour for middle grade sequel by Candace Fleming.



Title: ELEANOR ROOSEVELT'S IN MY GARAGE (History Pals #2)
Author: Candace Fleming, Mark Fearing (Illustrations)
Pub. Date: September 25, 2018
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade Books
Formats: Hardcover, eBook, audiobook
Pages: 336
Find it: GoodreadsAmazonAudibleB&NiBooksTBD

Summary: In this hilarious follow-up to BEN FRANKLIN'S IN MY BATHROOM!, history and hijinks collide once more when Eleanor Roosevelt accidentally time travels to a ten-year-old's home in 21st-century America!

When Eleanor Roosevelt time travels to Nolan and Olive's house in modern-day Illinois, the kids don't know who she is at first. After all, she's old and wearing a hairnet. But the First Lady of the United States--some 80 years ago, that is-- isn't a mystery for long when she starts spouting things like "You must do the things you think you cannot do." Fresh off a visit from Ben Franklin, Nolan and Olive know what they're in for with this latest guest: an adventure. From drawing on ideals of civil protest to save the town park, to (almost) doing a loop-de-loop in a single-engine plane, to avoiding that know-it-all snoop Tommy Tuttle, there's one laugh after the next in this second book in the History Pals series. Fun back matter expands the story and unpacks the amazing life of Eleanor Roosevelt.








About the Author

Candace Fleming awarded herself the Newbery Medal in fifth grade after scraping the gold sticker off the class copy of The Witch of Blackbird Pond and pasting it onto her first novel—a ten-page, ten-chapter mystery called Who Done It? She’s been collecting awards (her own, not Elizabeth George Speare’s) ever since.

Today, Candace is the versatile and acclaimed author of more than forty books for children and young adults, including the Los Angeles Times Book Prize honored The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion, and the Fall of the Russian Empire; Boston Globe/Horn Book Award-winning biography, The Lincolns; the bestselling picture book, Muncha! Muncha! Muncha!; the Sibert-Award-winning Giant Squid; and the beloved Boxes for Katje. She contributed the chapter on Katharine of Aragon to Fatal Throne. Photo credit: Michael Lionstar.



Giveaway Details:

3 winners will win a signed finished copy of ELEANOR ROOSEVELT'S IN MY GARAGE, US Only.


Tour Schedule:

Week One:
11/26/2018- Oh Hey! Books.Interview
11/27/2018- Two Chicks on BooksExcerpt
11/28/2018- BookHounds YAReview
11/29/2018- Lifestyle of MeReview
11/30/2018- My Books-My WorldExcerpt

Week Two:
12/3/2018- Good Choice ReadingExcerpt
12/4/2018- The BookWorm DrinkethReview
12/5/2018- All the Ups and DownsExcerpt
12/6/2018- ParajunkeeExcerpt
12/7/2018- Jaime's WorldExcerpt

Saturday, November 24, 2018

Review: First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung


This is another book recommendation that I got from Readtheworld.org. It's a website that has lists of books that are sets in different countries or written by authors from different countries and they are categorized by country and continent. This is the third book I have read from that site and I have enjoyed each one so far. the books are Nonfiction and Fiction.

While in the middle of reading this book, I realized that this was turned into a movie or a documentary of sorts and it was made by Angelina Jolie. I have to watch it because she has a lot of ties to Cambodia and I think one of her sons was adopted from there.

This book is a memoir and it was written by a woman who suffered at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. A couple of days before I started reading this, two men who were some important men in the Khmer Rouge regime were given life sentences for the Genocide of the Cambodian population.

We read through the eyes of Loung who grew up in Phnom Phen. Her father was a former military personnel for the previous government and they had to conceal their identities and keep their past lives quiet because if he was found out, the whole family would be branded as traitors and killed on the spot.

The family was constantly relocated from camp to camp to work and grow crops and rice for the Khmer Rouge army and to also send to China to pay for the weapons that China was giving the Khmer Rogue to battle the Vietnamese.

They were starved, worked like dogs, raped, tortured, and killed on the spot. They made child soldiers and were brainwashing these children who were very young that the Angkar government loved them and that is the children helped protect the government, the government would in turn "not really" would love them and keep them "safe" in the future.

I will be reading books 2 and 3 very soon, because I want to know how she was able to move on.

Friday, November 23, 2018

Speechless| Dan + Shay





This song has become an instant favorite of mine. I really got into it while doing NaNoWriMo and it has been on loop. Whenever it comes on, Cayce blasts it and he starts a slow dance. He so sweet!!!

Thursday, November 22, 2018

HAPPY THANKSGIVING


I hope that everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving. May you be grateful for all the things you have, family and love. Also, eat until your stuffed and don't let anyone give you crap about enjoying and being thankful for the food. Enjoy you Turkeys, Churkeys (chicken) or Hams and all the fixins'.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

BLOG TOUR: How She Died, How I Lived by Mary Crockett


Blog tour is being hosted by Rockstar Book Tours

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

*TRIGGER WARNINGS* RAPE, MURDER, SEXUAL ASSAULT, PHYSICAL ASSAULT, MISCARRIAGE



Title: HOW SHE DIED, HOW I LIVED
Author: Mary Crockett
Pub. Date: November 13, 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers 
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook, audiobook
Pages: 416
Find it: GoodreadsAmazonAudibleB&NiBooksTBD


SummaryI was one of five. The five girls Kyle texted that day. The girls it could have been. Only Jamie--beautiful, saintly Jamie--was kind enough to respond. And it got her killed.


On the eve of Kyle's sentencing a year after Jamie's death, all the other "chosen ones" are coping in various ways. But our tenacious narrator is full of anger, stuck somewhere between the horrifying past and the unknown future as she tries to piece together why she gets to live, while Jamie is dead.


Now she finds herself drawn to Charlie, Jamie's boyfriend--knowing all the while that their relationship will always be haunted by what-ifs and why-nots. Is hope possible in the face of such violence? Is forgiveness? How do you go on living when you know it could have been you instead? 

Review: We go on a journey with our name-less narrator as she tries to cope and deal and learn how to live knowing that she could have been the one killed. The guy Kyle, who killed Jamie was known as an ousider, a weirdo a loner, but yet he went around bragging that he was going to do something attention grabbing and everyone would know his name.

Our main character is trying to find a way to let go of the hate that she has towards Kyle and move on with her life. She has been living in fear and looking over her shoulder. She starts dating Jamie's boyfriend Charlie who now has violent tendencies after the rape and murder of his dead girlfriend. 

This was a very quick read and I rate it a 4 star. I feel that in some places it was written for high schoolers and then the subject matter would turn darker. 


Mary Crockett

A native of the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Mary grew up as the youngest of six children in a family of misfits. She has worked as everything from a history museum director to a toilet seat hand model.

In her other life, she's an award-winning poet and teaches creative writing at Roanoke College in Virginia.

If you tweet at her, chances are she will tweet back.



Giveaway Details:

3 Winners will receive a finished copy of HOW SHE DIED,

HOW I LIVED, US Only.


Tour Schedule:
Week One:
11/12/2018- Here's to Happy EndingsReview
11/13/2018- A Dream Within A DreamReview
11/14/2018- Novel NoviceExcerpt
11/15/2018- Bri's Book NookReview
11/16/2018- Pretty Deadly ReviewsReview

Week Two:
11/19/2018- The Desert BibliophileReview
11/20/2018- Lifestyle of MeReview
11/21/2018- Moonlight RendezvousReview
11/22/2018- Savings in SecondsReview
11/23/2018- Cindy's Love of BooksReview

Monday, November 19, 2018

BLOG TOUR: Made By Maxine by: Ruth Spiro & Holly Hatam


Rockstar Book Tours is hosting the next two weeks a tour for this cute children's picture book written by Ruth Spiro and illustrated by Holly Hatam.



Title: MADE BY MAXINE
Author: Ruth Spiro (Author), Holly Hatam (Illustrator)
Pub. Date: October 9, 2018
Publisher: Dial Books
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 37
Find it: GoodreadsAmazonB&NiBooksTBD



SummaryMeet Maxine, an inspiring young maker who knows that with enough effort and imagination (and mistakes), it's possible to invent anything.

Maxine loves making new things from old things. She loves tinkering until she has solved a problem. She also loves her pet goldfish, Milton. So when it's time for her school's pet parade, she's determined to create something that will allow Milton to march with the other animals. Finally, after trying, trying, and trying again, she discovers just the right combination of recycled odds and ends to create a fun, functional--and absolutely fabulous--solution to her predicament.

Review: Maxine is the cutest little character who has a big imagination and a lot of determination. She upcycles and repurposes old junk for her inventions. Her class is having a pet parade and she has to find a good way to be able to carry her goldfish, but she also wants to do it with style. 

I thought this little children's book taught a good moral lesson that you shouldn't give up if something doesn't work the way you want it too. Just keep trying and you can also use anything lying around, you don't need go out and buy new materials, if you have something similar already laying around the house.

My oldest daughter really enjoyed this book. She is into recycling and keeping outside clean for the animals and the earth and her favorite part was where Maxine would take old items and make them "new" again.


About Holly:
Holly Hatam’s a girl that sometimes wears something pink and sparkly and sometimes dons capes and fights dragons. Some days she’s moody, but other days she shakes her booty. Some days her heart may seek wild adventures, but other days she just wants to be a couch potato.

She is a picture book maker, greeting card designer, and a textile engineer. She is also the #1 New York Times Bestselling illustrator of Dear Girl. Her other books include, What Matters, Tree Song, Maxine the Maker, Jack (Not Jackie) and The Acadia Files.

Holly lives in Whitby, Ontario with her weird husband and even weirder son. But that’s ok, because weird is a side effect of awesome.

Client List
Harper Collins, Orca Publishers, Dial Books for Young Readers, Annick Press, Tilbury House, Lady Bird, Usborne Books, Hallmark, American Greetings, Mudpuppy, Baby Bug, Highlights, Chickadee, Little Bee Books, MacGraw Hill, Learning A-Z


Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of MADE BY MAXINE, US Only.


Tour Schedule:
Week One:
11/19/2018- Lifestyle of MeReview
11/20/2018- Here's to Happy EndingsReview
11/21/2018- Beagles & BooksReview
11/22/2018- Do You Dog-ear?Review
11/23/2018- Chrikaru ReadsReview

Week Two:
11/26/2018- BookHounds YAReview
11/27/2018- YA Books CentralReview
11/28/2018- Twirling Book PrincessExcerpt
11/29/2018- Oh Hey! Books.Interview
11/30/2018- A Dream Within A DreamExcerpt





Friday, November 16, 2018

Review: Six Miles To Charleston by Bruce Orr


A short nonfiction book that was totally different from what I was expecting. I was expecting facts about the legend of John and Lavinia Fisher and how they murdered people, chopped them up and Lavinia being the first woman serial killer in America. To find out none of it is actually true and a great made up ghost story is mind blowing.

Turns out that John and Lavinia Fisher were not murderers, they did run the Six Mile House is Charleston, but they never killed anyone and chop the bodies into tiny little pieces. To fins out that they were themselves victims by the South Carolina government in property disputes. They had their rights violated and were wrongfully charged and executed for a crime they did not commit. They were sentenced for a crime that they were not charged with at all.

The first time I heard of Lavinia Fisher was on Ghost Adventures when they were in Charleston investigating the Old City Jail where she was held for a year with her husband. I had to know more because of South Carolina history and ghost stories.

To know that to this day, they are still guilty of a baseless crime, they have no grave marker ( the MUSC building is on top of John and Lavinia Fisher's grave), they were not able to have children of their own and they are known to the state, country and possibly the world as murderers. If i was a spirit and died knowing all this, I would also be one pissed off spirit.

The sad thing is, 200 years later and they have no pardon.

Thursday, November 15, 2018

BLOG TOUR: Wildwood & Windswept by Jadie Jones


Rockstar Book Tours is hosting this tour for the amazing series. They were given brand new covers earlier this year and they are stunning. 



Title: WILDWOOD (The Hightower Trilogy Book #1)
Author: Jadie Jones
Pub. Date: September 26, 2017
Publisher: The Parliament House 
Formats: Hardcover, Paperback, eBook
Pages: 294
Find it: GoodreadsAmazonB&NiBooksTBD

SummaryTanzy Hightower is not crazy. At least, that’s what she tells herself. Crazy looks more like her mother, who studies each sunrise with the same fascination other women give tabloid magazines in the grocery store checkout line. Crazy sounds like the woman on the radio claiming there’s a whole separate world existing parallel to our own. Still, Tanzy can’t deny the tingle of recognition she feels each time she sees her mother standing at the kitchen window, or hears the panic in the woman’s voice coming through the speakers of her father’s truck.


Tanzy intends to follow her father’s footsteps into the professional horse world. But the moment she watches him die on the back of a horse in an accident she feels responsible for, everything changes.

On the first anniversary of his death, a fight with her mother drives her back to her father’s farm in the middle of a stormy night. Neither Tanzy nor life as she knows it escapes unchanged when she is struck by lightning and introduced to a world... unseen, and receives proof her father’s death was no accident.

Two strangers seem too willing to help her navigate her new reality: Vanessa Andrews, a psychiatrist who believes lightning chooses who it strikes, and Lucas, a quiet, scarred stable hand with timing that borders on either perfect or suspect. But Tanzy has secrets of her own. Desperate for answers and revenge, Tanzy must put her faith in their hands as her past comes calling, and her father’s killer closes in. 


Review: First off, the summary gives a lot away. There are a lot of spoilers in the synopsis. I give this book a solid 5 out of 5 stars!! 

Tanzy has always known that her mother was a little off and her father never asked any questions. Her mother is not a reliable character and she becomes despondent after the death of her husband. She is obsessed with routine and tradition and doesn't want it broken for fear of everything coming out in the open that she is hiding to protect Tanzy.

This is a great paranormal novel that had me flying through the pages. It was disturbing, shocking, fluffy, betraying and heartbreaking. There were a few times I caught myself crying when ever Tanzy would remember her dad and his little ticks or what he liked or what he would say. It reminded me of an episode that I watched of Flash with the girl and guy kept being reincarnated and had to kill whoever was killing them because everytime this guy killed the couple, he would get stronger. There were similarities but I found this reincarnation story SO much better.




Title: WINDSWEPT (The Hightower Trilogy Book #2)
Author: Jadie Jones
Pub. Date: November 13, 2018
Publisher: The Parliament House 
Formats: Paperback, eBook
Pages: 276

Find it: GoodreadsAmazonB&NiBooksTBD

SummaryTanzy's journey continues in Windswept, the second installment of the Hightower Trilogy... An Unseen World believes Tanzy Hightower is the key in an ancient prophecy meant to deliver the only new birth in all of time. They have waited a thousand years for her soul to return to life in human form. Some of them will stop at nothing to fulfill the prophecy, and others have sworn an oath to end Tanzy's existence, permanently. Tanzy's body is compromised. Her veins are now home to the blood of a savage, wild horse, and its instincts are becoming impossible to control. Her world is also divided. She is determined to rescue Lucas, an Unseen creature who has loved her since her first life, and to find her treasured Harbor and the other stolen horses, which are bound for a catastrophic end in a world she can't access on her own. Yet the only allies she has left insist she seeks refuge in a remote safe house on the Outer Banks. While her fellow candidates beg her to stay in hiding, new enemies work to draw her out, making it clear Lucas and the horses are hers for the taking. But Tanzy knows all to well that when your loved ones are used as bait, finding them is only the beginning.

Review: Will contain spoilers. This second installment of the Hightower trilogy was more action packed, and full of plot twists. We pick up from where left off with Tanzy escaping and running into the new girl, who admits right away that she is there to help protect Tanzy and that she has been in touch with Hope, Tanzy's mom. This book takes place on the beach and surrounds the wild horses on the OuterBanks in North Carolina. 

Tanzy is hell bent on saving Lucas and she eventually tracks him down. The new characters in this book were integrated so well because their past lives were introduce in the first book and their re-incarnated souls were perfectly matched, just a bit more modernized.

I hope that something beautiful will happen for Tanzy and Lucas. I hope Vanessa, Reese and Asher go straight to hell.




Jadie Jones

Young-adult author. Equine professional. Southern gal. Pacific Northwest Transplant. Especially fond of family, sunlight, and cookie dough.​​
I wrote my first book in seventh grade, filling one hundred and four pages of a black and white Mead notebook. Back then I lived for two things: horses and R.L. Stine books. Fast forward nearly twenty years, and I still work with horses, and hoard books like most women my age collect shoes. It's amazing how much changes... and how much stays the same.

​The dream of publishing a novel has hitch-hiked with me down every other path I've taken (and there have been many.) Waitress, farm manager, road manager, bank teller, speech writer, retail, and more. But that need to bring pen to paper refused to quiet. Finally, in 2009, I sat down, pulled out a brand new notebook, and once again let the pictures in my head become words on paper.

​As a child, my grandfather would sit me in his lap and weave tales about the Cherokee nation, and a girl who belonged with horses. His words painted a whole new world, and my mind would take flight. My hope - my dream - is that Tanzy's journey does the same for you.



Giveaway Details:
One lucky winner will win a $10 Amazon Gift Card, International.


Tour Schedule:

Week One:
11/12/2018- Here is what I read blogExcerpt
11/13/2018- Mythical BooksExcerpt
11/14/2018- lori's little house of reviewsReview
11/15/2018- Lifestyle Of MeReview
11/16/2018- RhythmicbooktrovertReview

Week Two:
11/19/2018- Adventures Thru WonderlandReview
11/20/2018- Whatever You Can Still BetrayExcerpt
11/21/2018- BookHounds YAInterview
11/22/2018- Graced with BooksExcerpt
11/23/2018- Texan Holly ReadsExcerpt

Week Three:
11/26/2018- PopTheButterfly ReadsReview
11/27/2018- Daily WaffleSpotlight
11/28/2018- Novel NoviceExcerpt
11/29/2018- The Book BratzInterview
11/30/2018- Character Madness and MusingExcerpt

Week Four:
12/3/2018- Dorky Girl and SkeletorSpotlight
12/4/2018- Viviana MacKadeExcerpt
12/5/2018- Smada's Book SmackReview
12/6/2018- ParajunkeeExcerpt
12/7/2018- Sincerely Karen Jo BlogExcerpt

Week Five:
12/10/2018- Good Choice ReadingExcerpt
12/11/2018- Oh Hey! Books.Interview
12/12/2018- Two Chicks on BooksExcerpt
12/13/2018- Two points of interestExcerpt
12/14/2018- D Books and ReviewsReview

Review: Is This A Cry For Help by Emily Austin

  DNF at 40%. I could not continue this whiplash. I was expecting some big drama surrounding the ex but finding out that she broke up with h...