Friday, October 25, 2024

Review: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

 


A book that has been on my TBR since seeing it all over booktube and then it got a movie adaptation with Tom Hanks and then my hubby threatening to wach the movie without me made me pick this up. I am glad I did because it was a quick read. I laughed and teared up a little. I did not know what to expect with this book. I went in only knowing that he was a grumpy old man. 

I don't think I ever saw a trigger warning for the plot because obviously spoilers. I also didn't know how I would react to any deaths because it has been two weeks since my grandma passed and it is still very raw. I haven't watched the movie yet but seeing the name changes and it being Americanized makes me kind of hesitant to watch it because I don't want this story ruined.

Ove has real character growth and the impact he has on his neighbors just made this a great character driven book. I was kind of shocked at the first attempt and figuring out that he would be attempting this action through the rest of the book and I was just wondering how the hell this got published especially with the homophobic slurs he says towards Mirsad. 

The cat on the cover also hits a sore spot because it looks exactly like my cat Missy that died back in December. I don't want to put much about the book in this review because it will spoil everything and it is best to go in blind like I did despite hearing about this for almost 10 years.

Thursday, October 24, 2024

Review: The Sanatorium by Sarah Pearse

 


I was hoping to have a spooky scary story with this one. I am always drawn to the books that have creppy looking buildings on the cover. Once again, I was burned because the building on the cover and the description of the sanatorium is not matching. 

I was really wanting a ghost story where it had former patients and it was just constant cliffhanger and stupidity from our main character. Our main is named Elin and she is a detective who is currently on leave because she fucked up during her first major investigation. She is traumatized because she almost drowned. She is meeting her brother and his fiance to celebrate their engagment at this hotel that was a former sanatorium. 

This place has had so many issues and there is a major snow storm coming and this place is all windows on the edge of a mountain. Elin is trying to get her brother to admiting killing their younger brother. She is so obsessed with it and it is affecting her relationships and her health. 

When the hotel is getting evacuated because of an avalanche warning, a body is found in the pool. We get the POV from this character at the beginning to add a little spook factor, but honestly it was not scary whatsoever.

The entire rest of the book, Elin is trying to find the killer and find out why everyone is hiding things from her. She is constantly blaming people of being responsible for the murders and then that peson she is blaming shows up missing or brutally murdered. She is the worst detective. She is telling people what she finds and her thoughts and letting them in on details of the case.

She freezes when there is an attempt of murder right in front of her face. I was rolling my eyes everytime because the identity of the killer was very obvious and she figured out who done it by remembering a quote in a blogpost she read. 

I was also really disgusted by the reasoning of the killer and why she was killing and mutilating women, the same way women were mutilated in the sanatorium. 

I don't know how there could be two more books with Elin as a main character. She is a shitty detective. I will not be continuing with this series.

Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Blog Tour: The Mirrors By Which I End the World by Kira Blackwood

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE MIRRORS BY WHICH I END THE WORLD by Kira Blackwood Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: THE MIRRORS BY WHICH I END THE WORLD

Author: Kira Blackwood

Pub. Date: January 16, 2024

Publisher: Epic Publishing

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 232

Find it: Goodreadshttps://books2read.com/u/bajRPQ

From debut author Kira Blackwood comes a captivating and engaging urban fantasy thriller that will leave you breathless.

Instead of celebrating being the youngest in her PhD graduating class, Chelsea is suddenly mourning the death of her parents. And worse? No one knows who did it. Until she meets him, with her world turned upside down, the last thing she needs is a dark-haired stranger with hypnotic eyes to distract her. But when he tells her he knows who killed her parents, she believes him. But can she trust him?

Today, his name is Michael. But tomorrow? He could be anyone because Michael didn’t exist. Burdened by the memories of everyone he touches, he’s always one step ahead of The Order, a dangerous cult wanting to use his powers to bring evil to the world. Michael can’t let that happen. So he runs. But this time, he runs right into her. He knows he shouldn’t help her. She’ll only slow him down. So why can’t he walk away?

They are searching for the truth while running for their lives. Can they succeed, or will The Order find them first? 

About Kira Blackwood:

Kira Blackwood has written many things under many names. The Mirrors by Which I End the World is her first major work under this one. She’s also died at least once, maybe four or five times, depending on who you ask. Her work is as unapologetic and weird as she is. Don’t ask her about raising pet chickens unless your schedule’s clear. When she isn’t writing, she can be found in cold places, the gym, or honking at geese. 

Goodreads | Amazon

 



Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of THE MIRRORS BY WHICH I END THE WORLD, US Only.

Ends October 29th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

10/14/2024

Book Review Virginia Lee Blog

Excerpt/IG Post

10/15/2024

@callistoscalling

IG Post

10/16/2024

Brandi Danielle Davis

IG Post

10/16/2024

Lady Hawkeye

Excerpt/IG Post

10/17/2024

Fire and Ice Reads

Excerpt/IG Post

10/18/2024

Review Thick And Thin

Review/IG Post

Week Two:

10/21/2024

Kim's Book Reviews and Writing Aha's

Review/IG Post

10/21/2024

ilovebooksandstuffblog

Review/IG Post

10/22/2024

jlreadstoperpetuity

IG Review/TikTok Post

10/23/2024

Lifestyle of Me

Review

10/23/2024

anitralovesbooksanddogs

IG Review

10/24/2024

A Blue Box Full of Books

IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post

10/24/2024

@thepagelady

IG Review

10/25/2024

@amysbookshelf82

Review/IG Post

10/25/2024

Country Mamas With Kids

Review/IG Post


Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Were Required Reading

 


Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jana from That Artsy Reader Girl.

I am doing last weeks freebie because this weeks topic requires to much brain energy and life is lifing right now, so a topic that is easy peasy. I will be sharing some of the books that I remember having to read in school. Some I absolutely hated and then there is one that I absolutely love and want to re-read but I don't know if I will feel the same way about it since I am an adult.














My favorite required reading. I read this in 11th grade and it was the only one I read and I got an A on my essay after. We watched the movie and I was introduced to the amazing Marlon Brando and watched most of his movies that year. This is the one I am scared to re-read because I don't want to have a different opinion on it. 


















Monday, October 21, 2024

Blog Tour: The Nightman's Odyssey by Tony- Paul de Vissage

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE NIGHTMAN'S ODYSSEY by Tony-Paul de Vissage Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: THE NIGHTMAN'S ODYSSEY

Author: Tony-Paul de Vissage

Pub. Date: December 19, 2023

Publisher: Epic Publishing

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 397

Find it: Goodreadshttps://books2read.com/u/m26e6G 

“He wanted to continue his existence . . . to be with his Antoinette . . . to live and love with her . . .”

Sacrifice. Love. Loyalty. Damien is willing to sacrifice anything to save his love, Antoinette. He makes a deal with the undead, and while he gains immortality, he is rejected by Antoinette. He swears off humans and dives into the adventure of the New World. Damien is at a crossroads, he wants to write off humanity, but that was all before he met…her. She makes him want to love again, to belong. Damien must decide, will he risk it all again?

“Perhaps it’s true we have to suffer to deserve what we receive.”

“In that moment, I understood why my search was never successful. I had been looking for love in the wrong places.”

 

 

About Tony-Paul de Vissage:

A Southerner of French Huguenot extraction, one of Tony-Paul de Vissage's first movie memory is of being six years old, viewing the old Universal horror flick, Dracula's Daughter on television, and being scared sleepless. That may explain his lifelong interest in vampires and why he's now paying back his too-permissive parents by writing about those who walk the night.

Twitter (X) | Goodreads | Amazon

 





Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of THE NIGHTMAN'S ODYSSEY, US Only.

Ends October 29th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

10/14/2024

Lady Hawkeye

Excerpt/IG Post

10/15/2024

Deal sharing aunt

Excerpt/IG Post

10/16/2024

Book Review Virginia Lee Blog

Excerpt/IG Post

10/16/2024

ilovebooksandstuffblog

Excerpt/IG Post

10/17/2024

Brandi Danielle Davis

IG Post

10/18/2024

@callistoscalling

IG Post

Week Two:

10/21/2024

Lifestyle of Me

Review

10/21/2024

Rajiv's reviews

Review/IG Post

10/22/2024

@heyashleyyreads

IG Review/TikTok Post

10/23/2024

Review Thick And Thin

Review/IG Post

10/23/2024

A Blue Box Full of Books

IG Review/LFL Drop Pic/TikTok Post

10/24/2024

@thepagelady

IG Review

10/24/2024

Country Mamas With Kids

Review/IG Post

10/25/2024

Shauna's Book Journal

Review/IG Post

10/25/2024

100 Pages A Day

Review


Blog Tour: Plea To A Frozen God by C.M. Skiera

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the PLEA TO A FROZEN GOD by C.M. Skiera Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: PLEA TO A FROZEN GOD

Author: C.M. Skiera

Pub. Date: August 22, 2024

Publisher: C.M. Skiera

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 471

Find it: Goodreadshttps://books2read.com/PLEA-TO-A-FROZEN-GOD

Read for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited membership! 

Prince Ligo endured a troubled engagement. Betrothed to a foreigner to save a realm abandoned by their god, the prince suffers a seizure during a sacred hunt, and awakens to see his fiancée’s family usurp the volcano-menaced realm. Indeed, Prince Ligo has seen better days.

When the enigmatic Mystic Riggan rescues Prince Ligo from the deadly coup, she leads him on a pilgrimage to the cryptic God of Death’s secret sanctum. Fugitives in the frigid wilds, the beleaguered duo conscripts a badly wounded soldier to help them survive. Pursuing answers to what truly ails the realm, the misfit trio discovers more ancient mysteries at their journey’s end. They also find the beginnings of a home and family like none they’d ever known.


About C.M. Skiera:

C. M. Skiera currently lives in San Diego, California, a long way from Michigan, where he grew up, graduated from Michigan State University, and started a career as an environmental engineer. He and his wife are devoted dog-lovers who share their home with two rescue Chihuahuas. Crimson & Cream is C. M. Skiera's debut epic fantasy novel.  He started writing the epic fantasy in 1999, and after many twists and turns, 13 drafts, plenty of rejections, the arrival of the 21st Century and  the advent of online self-publishing, the ebook was published in 2012. After Crimson & Cream, Mirrors & Mist (2015) and then Warlock & Wyrm (2017) followed as the second and third books of The Oxbow Kingdom Trilogy.

Subscribe to C.M.’s newsletter! (scroll to the bottom of the page)

Website | Goodreads | Amazon

 

Giveaway Details:

5 winners will receive an eBook of PLEA TO A FROZEN GOD, International.

Ends October 29th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:

Week One:

10/14/2024

Daily Waffle

Excerpt

10/15/2024

Lady Hawkeye

Excerpt/IG Post

10/15/2024

Book Review Virginia Lee Blog

Excerpt/IG Post

10/16/2024

Edith's Little Free Library

IG Post/TikTok Post

10/17/2024

Two Chicks on Books

Excerpt/IG Post

10/17/2024

Fire and Ice Reads

Excerpt/IG Post

10/18/2024

Rajiv's reviews

Review/IG Post

Week Two:

10/21/2024

Lifestyle of Me

Review

10/22/2024

ilovebooksandstuffblog

Review/IG Post

10/22/2024

@thepagelady

IG Review

10/23/2024

Books and Zebras

IG Review

10/24/2024

@callistoscalling

IG Review

10/24/2024

Brandi Danielle Davis

IG Review/TikTok Post

10/25/2024

The Momma Spot

Review

10/25/2024

GryffindorBookishnerd

IG Review


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...