Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Atmospheric Books

 

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

This week's topic is to share atmospheric books. These books immediately came to mind because they transported me to the setting, spooked me and making me jump. Giving me sense of smell and memories of childhood. Details in books are amazing and it truly does matter when it comes to enjoyment of a book.

1. The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

2. When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord

3. Slewfoot by Brom

4. Wake the Bones by Elizabeth Kilcoyne

5. Small Favors by Erin A Craig

6. The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd Jones

7. The Tea Planters Wife by Dinah Jeffries

8. Wink Poppy Midnight April Genevieve Tucholke

9. The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould

10. Ground Zero by Alan Gratz

How is it almost November???// Sunday Post #56

 

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly from The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

October has flown by and I am not a fan. I feel that I haven't gotten much done but I know that I have. My reading has slowed down again because of the babysitting. I have only read 6 books and one of those was a read aloud to my kids. I am in the middle of two books and again, one is a read aloud. The two books are....

My kids are obsessed with Bravely and connecting to our Scottish heritage and I am hooked on Fourth Wing. I am only 5 chapters in so far but I am so captivated by this world and the characters. I just pre ordered the special edition from Books a Million and the sequel Iron Flame.

My reading plans for the rest of the week are to finish Fourth Wing and read Spy Family volume 4 and read Hidden Figures. My daughters and I watched the movie a couple weeks ago and loved it and I immediately requested the book from our library.

In other news, my husband starts his second job tomorrow at Lowes. With inflation hitting us hard and the holidays coming up, it was neccessary. I have my work from home job during the day with homeschooling and then I babysit Monday thru Friday from 2-6 in the afternoons. He works his main job from 6am to 4:30pm and then Lowes will be 6pm to 11pm. 

It is going to be a major change with everything but with the world being in complete chaos right now and all the shit that everyone is going through, a second job for him was needed. I hate it but I know that it wont be forever. Also, I will be enjoying his employee discount. Here's to finishing projects and getting my garden ready for winter and the coming spring.

That being said, I am going to be staying on top of my blogging because it will be an outlet for me like it used to be right when I started and it was not about books. 

With a busy and unpredictable week coming up, we are so looking forward to Halloween. 

Hope everyone has a good week. 

Review: The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie

 

Still continuing my Agatha Christie challenge and this was the first book that confused me from the very beginning and I stayed confused throughout its entirety. I am still loving the Hercule Poirot series and really eager to get to the more well known ones and the other series that Agatha Christie wrote. I think that when I finally get to the adaptation of this installment, that I will better understand it. This may be the last Agatha Christie book I read this year or I may read one more and then resume again in January. 

This story starts off with two Russians seeing a man with white hair walk down the street and come across some people and they make an exchange of an item. The Russian woman is never mentioned in the story again. I am thinking that the Russian man was actually the Marquis character who shows up later, but once again I say that I am so confused with every single character. A character that didn't show up but was mentioned only one time at the very end was Captain Hastings. 

The next chapter we are introduced to a woman named Ruth who meets with her father and he is advising her to divorce her husband and then her father gifts her some rare jewels. One jewel being the Heart of Fire and it is supposedly cursed. Her husband Derek is really unfaithful and is seeing a French dancer named Mirelle. Mirelle learns about the pending divorce and she tells Derek that he needs to get his wife to call off the divorce because then the money will be gone and that it would be better if the wife was dead because then he would get her entire inheritance.

We then meet some other characters who become interested and knowledgable about facts in the case and then the killers are revealed and I was not impressed. Poirot usually goes over every single detail of what happened down to the reveal and that just did not happen this time. It was reveal boom story over.

I did listen to the audiobook again and it was narrated by Hugh Fraser, the actor who portrays Captain Hastings in the Poirot BBC adaptation. I give this installment a three star.

BLOG TOUR: Root by Aurelie Benattar

I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the ROOT by Aurélie Benattar Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

 

About The Book:

Title: ROOT (Spirit Era Book 1)

Author: Aurélie Benattar

Pub. Date: January 26, 2023

Publisher: Aurélie Benattar

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Pages: 437

Find it: Goodreads, https://books2read.com/ROOT

Read for FREE with a Kindle Unlimited membership!

Seven teenagers. Seven chakras. Seven keys to save humanity.

In 2035, fifteen-year-old Rae, an orphan, has chosen silence. Or perhaps silence has chosen her. After the sudden death of her father, she has lost her ability to speak.

But that is the least of her problems. An elusive genius known as the Keeper has created an advanced AI program—Spirit Era—that predicts the world will end in two years without massive human intervention. The solution? Seven teenage volunteers who must work together to prevent this doomsday. Despite her reluctance to apply, Rae is selected, along with six other teens from the four corners of the world, to save humanity.

Spirit Era has designed seven Mantras, virtual reality worlds revealing the seven most likely apocalyptic disasters. Within these Mantras are concealed seven keys that will unlock humanity’s potential to stand in the way of planetary destruction and fight for the future of the world. The seven chosen ones—quiet Rae, hotheaded Chayton, sensual Helen, quick-witted Ali, gentle Keiji, intense Alpha, and reserved Stepan—must journey into these worlds to find the keys.

Root, the first book in this gripping saga, follows the seven into a hyperrealistic simulation of the not-too-distant future, where the rich have seized control of the world’s resources following a global famine triggered by a devastating loss of biodiversity. In order to escape this possible future, the seven must join together and use all their powers to find the key—and survive the simulation.

Two years left until the end of the world. The countdown begins . . .

 

About Aurélie Benattar:

Aurélie Benattar was born in Casablanca, Morocco, in 1971. In her childhood and teenage years, she spent most of her time reading, listening to music, dancing, and acting. After a few years in Paris she moved to Cannes, where she earned an undergraduate degree in psychology and a degree in pediatric nursing. Early on, she questioned the connection between body, spirit, and soul. This drove her to take several courses on spirituality and alternative medicine. Her first novel Un corbeau au 36 won the crime Femme Actuelle award and was the ‘hearthrob’ of the chairwoman, Eliette Abecassis (Inaugural Authors 2013, Pocket 2014). Today she writes full time and lives in Israel. Fascinated by fictional worlds, she loves to bridge the gap between the real and the imaginary to let readers explore unbeaten paths and reconsider our way of life.

Website | Facebook | Instagram | TikTok | Goodreads | Amazon

 

Giveaway Details:

1 winner will receive a finished copy of ROOT, US Only.

Ends February May 6th, midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Tour Schedule:  WRONG DATES

Week One:

4/1/2023

Books and Kats

Excerpt

 Week Two:

4/2/2023	YA Books Central	Excerpt/IG Post (when available)
4/3/2023	Author Z. Knight’s Guild	Excerpt/IG Post
4/4/2023	#BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog	Excerpt/IG Post
4/5/2023	Writer of Wrongs	Excerpt
4/6/2023	Rajiv's Reviews	Review/IG Post
4/7/2023	@jl_books	Excerpt/IG Post/TikTok Post
4/8/2023	Country Mamas With Kids	Review/IG Post

 Week Three:

4/9/2023	Review Thick And Thin	Review/IG Post
4/10/2023	Brandi Danielle Davis	IG Review/TikTok Post
4/11/2023	Mallory Books	Review/IG Post/TikTok Post
4/12/2023	The Momma Spot	Review
4/13/2023	The Litt Librarian	Review/IG Post
4/14/2023	emmiepooh2	IG Review/FB Post
4/15/2023	Kelsisprobablyreading	IG Review

 Week Four:

4/16/2023	Read_Dog_Reviews	IG Post
4/17/2023	Cara North	Excerpt/IG Post
4/18/2023	A Blue Box Full of Books	IG Review/LFL Drop Pic
4/19/2023	Lifestyle of Me	Review
4/20/2023	Kim's Book Reviews and Writing Aha's	Review/IG Post
4/21/2023	@dreaminginpages	IG Review
4/22/2023	@doublethebooksmagazine	Review/IG Post

 Week Five:

4/23/2023	Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers	Review/IG Post
4/24/2023	enchantedexcurse	Review/IG Post
4/25/2023	@jael_and_jenessa_reads	Excerpt/IG Post
4/26/2023	Two Chicks on Books	Excerpt/IG Post
4/27/2023	@froggyreadteach	IG Review
4/28/2023	OneMoreExclamation	Review/IG Post
4/29/2023	@momfluenster	IG Post/FB Post

 Week Six:

4/30/2023

Breysreviews

IG Review/TikTok Post

Review: A Whole New World by Liz Braswell

 

The beginning of the Disney Twisted Tales where characters and plots are twisted..... obviously. This one is all about Aladdin and what if he never found the lamp. That is the tagline for this edition... however, when this was published back in 2016, it had a completely different tagline this is not misleading AT ALL!!! The original tagline was What if Jafar was the first one to summon the genie?

I read this outloud to my kids and a quarter of the way in we were so bored and not interested because it is the same exact story as the movies. ALADDIN STILLS GETS THE LAMP but the old man who is really Jafar takes it and Aladdin never makes it out of the cave of wonders with Genie. Jafar used his first two wishes to become sultan and change Agrabah by making it rain gold coins and bread.

There is one twist that is a decent one and that is the parrot Iago is not around. He is mentioned and then we find out the reason for his disappearance. Jasmine becomes a revolutionary and bands together the wealthy citizens with the street rats of Agrabah to take down Jafar and his zombie ghoul army.

There was one section that made me laugh my head off and it was Genie apologizing to Jasmine and the Sultan because he thought they made a cute couple. Jasmine then informs him that the sultan is her father and Genie apologizes and says that he has seen old kings and young girls together... the whole May- December thing. Let me tell you that I screamed and my kids were like cringing. My husband was born in May 1990 and I was born in December 1990. Really going for the jugular. 

The ending I feel was a missed opportunity. I am just going to go ahead an say that this is still and happily ever after. This is supposed to be a twisted tale. Make the end not happy. Make it evil and TWISTED!!!!! 

I will be continuing with the series and other twisted tales but my expectations are low going forward and that the ends will be happy. 

Review: Spy Family Volume 3 by Tatsuya Endo *SPOILERS*

 

All about Yor!! I have been waiting for more than a month for this to come in from my library. I could have bought my own copy, but I didn't want to. I will evetually. Anyways, I am loving this seires still. My family and I did watch the episode where Yor's brother Yuri came to dinner and it was a spoiler for my daughters and I. That is where this volume starts and I honestly loved the interactions between Yor and Yuri so much more.

But I am starting to wonder why hasn't Yor and Yuri figured each other out yet due to their secretive careers. The kiss scene made me laugh and then Anya not wanting Loid and Yor to be "fighting". I do think that Loid bugging Yor will come back to bite him in the butt.

I am so obsessed with Anya. I love how she is acting towards studying and just being sassy towards Loid and Yor. Anya dissing Yor's cooking and stating that she is not going to get mama's help anymore was hilarious. The dodgeball game was funny and somewhat cringey. I remember dodgeball in hih school and I threw the ball the same as Anya a couple of times.

Anya got a star.... she finally used her abilities for something other than hearing her classmates hateful thoughts and Loid and Yor's work thoughts. The reason for the cover for volume 4 is finally revealed and I am intrigued. 

Also once again, the bonus mission has to be my favorite mission because Yor gets injured in a certain area and Loid announces a date night. The constant pictures of Yor's face and pain words are so hilarious, especially the day after date night....lol.

Review: The Fang of Bonfire Crossing by Brad McLelland and Louis Sylvester

 

Book 2 of The Legends of Lost Causes series read and enjoyed. I have had my mind on this book ever since I finished book 1 and just never made it a priority to pick it up. I decided to pick it up this month because it has spooky elements... aka zombies known as thralls. It also deals with magic and shape shifters.

We pick back up with the Lost Causes continuing their mission to find a town called Wisdom. They start to notice some bending trees that were mentioned by Keech's foster father who was an enforcer in his younger days. The lost causes are grieving the loss of their family and parents and finishing what was started by a bad man named Reverend Rose. The kids come across this man on horse back who turns out to be looking for a runaway slave boy named Oscar. They tell the man they don't know of any runaway slaves and then start trouble when they start back talking.

They eventually hide in a church called Mercy Mission which is in the middle of nowhere and they find an unexpected guest inside. Things start to go to shit when a storm trashes the mission and a werewolf coyote monster comes afte one of the boys. They make it through and continue with their quest where things get even more complicated.

There is more death, betrayals, heartbreak and backstabbing and revelations that will make your jaw drop. I ended up giving this a 4 star as well because I am very invested in these characters and I really want to get to the third and final book about the key and if they stop the Reverand.