The Winner of the Brand New Copy of
The Edge of Lost by Kristina McMorris
is:
Erika G. (akirerendrag)
Congratulations! Your Book will be on the way to you soon!
Thank you to everyone who entered!
Archive for June, 2019
Free Book Friday Winner!
Sunday, June 30th, 2019Free Book Friday!
Friday, June 28th, 2019
Perious Prophecy by Leanna Renee Hieber
Cairo in the 1860s is a bustling metropolis where people from all walks of life mix and mingle, mostly in complex harmony. When evil ghosts and unquiet spirits stalk the city?s streets, the Guard are summoned?six young men and women of different cultures, backgrounds, and faiths, gifted by their Goddess with great powers. While others of the Guard embrace their duties, their leader, British-born Beatrice, is gripped by doubt. What right has she, a bookish, sheltered, eighteen-year-old, to lead others into battle? Why isn?t dark-eyed, compelling Ibrahim, who is stronger of will than Beatrice, the one in charge? Ghosts maraud through Cairo?s streets, heralding a terrible darkness. Beatrice and her Guard have little time to master their powers; a great battle looms as an ancient prophecy roars toward its final, deadly conclusion.
ISBN 9780765377449, Paperback
1 lucky member will win a brand-new copy.
To enter, simply leave a comment on this Blog post. You must be a PaperBackSwap member in good standing to win.
We will choose 1 winner at random from comments we receive here on the Blog from PBS members.
You have until Sunday, June 30, 2019 at 12 noon ET, to leave a comment.
Good Luck to everyone!
Note: All the books given away on Free Book Friday are available in the PBS Market. We have thousands of new and new overstock titles available right now, with more added hourly. Some of the prices are amazing – and you can use a PBS credit to make the deal even better!
Free Book Friday Winner!
Sunday, June 23rd, 2019
The Winner of the Brand New Copy of
The Edge of Lost
by Kristina McMorris is:
Celestial A. (lilyofthefield)
Congratulations! Your Book will be on the way to you soon!
Thank you to everyone who entered!
Free Book Friday!
Friday, June 21st, 2019
The Edge of Lost by Kristina McMorris
On a cold night in October 1937, searchlights cut through the darkness around Alcatraz. A prison guard’s only daughter—one of the youngest civilians who lives on the island—has gone missing. Tending the warden’s greenhouse, convicted bank robber Tommy Capello waits anxiously. Only he knows the truth about the little girl’s whereabouts, and that both of their lives depend on the search’s outcome.
Almost two decades earlier and thousands of miles away, a young boy named Shanley Keagan ekes out a living as an aspiring vaudevillian in Dublin pubs. Talented and shrewd, Shan dreams of shedding his dingy existence and finding his real father in America. The chance finally comes to cross the Atlantic, but when tragedy strikes, Shan must summon all his ingenuity to forge a new life in a volatile and foreign world.
Skillfully weaving these two stories, Kristina McMorris delivers a compelling novel that moves from Ireland to New York to San Francisco Bay. As her finely crafted characters discover the true nature of loyalty, sacrifice, and betrayal, they are forced to confront the lies we tell—and believe—in order to survive.
ISBN 9780758281180, Paperback
There are currently 49 Members Wishing for this book.
1 lucky member will win a brand-new copy.
To enter, simply leave a comment on this Blog post. You must be a PaperBackSwap member in good standing to win.
We will choose 1 winner at random from comments we receive here on the Blog from PBS members.
You have until Sunday, June 23, 2019 at 12 noon ET, to leave a comment.
Good Luck to everyone!
Note: All the books given away on Free Book Friday are available in the PBS Market. We have thousands of new and new overstock titles available right now, with more added hourly. Some of the prices are amazing – and you can use a PBS credit to make the deal even better!
Fiction Review – The Double Bind
Tuesday, June 11th, 2019
The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
Review by Mirah W. (mwelday)
The Double Bind begins with a very straight-forward account of a horrific attack on the main character Laurel Estabrook when she is out for a bike ride. Years later, having put the pieces of her life back together as best she can, Laurel now works at a homeless shelter and she has given up biking. She has removed herself from a lot of social activities and has insulated herself with limited relationships with family and close friend Talia. Laurel often dates older men, but she resists entering into a committed relationship with any of them.
Through Laurel’s position at the homeless shelter, she is tasked with sorting through photographs presumed to have been taken by a formerly homeless man, Bobbie Crocker, who Laurel had helped through the shelter. Katherine, Laurel’s supervisor at the shelter, hopes creating an exhibition with Bobbie’s photographs will help bring attention to the shelter and serve as a fundraiser for their efforts.
Laurel’s interest in Bobbie’s photographs soon take her down a path of mystery but is her interest turning into an obsession? Is Bobbie somehow connected to the horrific event that changed Laurel’s life forever? Did Bobbie’s alcoholism and mental illness cause him to confuse his own reality with fiction? Is Laurel losing her own grasp on reality in an effort to learn more about Bobbie?
Bohjalian weaves mysteries and secrets together in a way that the reader is never really clear on what is real and what is the result of mental illness. I thought the storyline was very interesting, but I did find myself getting distracted by the integration of the characters from The Great Gatsby. I know from the author’s acknowledgements that he is a fan of The Great Gatsby and has read the novel many times. I, however, did not like the Fitzgerald novel and could barely get through it once. The inclusion of those characters was frustrating and I had some difficulty putting that aside to stay focused on Bohjalian’s characters and story.
The Double Bind was well thought out and deftly delivered to not give away too much of the mystery too soon. The structure of the novel and development of the main character are my main reasons for giving this novel 4 out of 5 stars. I definitely recommend it for those who want a thought-provoking novel with emotional grit. I would also recommend Bohjalian’s novel Midwives.
Fiction Review – The Honk and Holler Opening Soon
Wednesday, June 5th, 2019
The Honk and Holler Opening Soon by Billie Letts
Review by Mirah W. (mwelday)
From page two I was hooked on this The Honk and Holler Opening Soon. Molly O is decorating The Honk for Christmas and ‘frizzy- haired Barbies’ are now positioned doing splits, taped down on every napkin holder. I laughed out loud at this decorating description and realized I was in for quite a unique story with this novel by Billie Letts
Set in the 1980s in Sequoyah, Oklahoma, Letts has created a world for her unique, yet totally relatable, characters. Caney, wheelchair-bound diner owner, and Molly O, his mother figure and friend, own and operate The Honk and Holler Opening Soon diner (don’t worry, the name is explained in the book). The diner is a big part of the community and is part of the daily lives of many of the locals.
One day Vena Takes Horse walks into the diner inquiring about a job and she’s carrying a three-legged dog with her. Soon after Bui Khanh, a Vietnamese immigrant, arrives and wants to work at the diner, too. What had become a hum drum existence at The Honk is now a place where new faces are making a big difference in the business and the lives of those in the town.
Billie Letts has a way of creating characters (I love all of the character names she comes up with in her books) that have unique personalities but life experiences that are totally relatable. She writes stories that have pain and hope swirling together an emotional mix that helps the reader understand the character and their challenges. I got swept in the lives of Caney, Molly O, Vena and Bui and even though I was satisfied in the end, I was also left wanting more and that’s what makes The Honk and Holler Opening Soon a 5-star read for me.
I would also recommend Where the Heart Is and Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts. You can read my review of Made in the U.S.A. here.
Mystery Monday Review – The Case of the Reluctant Model
Monday, June 3rd, 2019
The Case of the Reluctant Model by Erle Stanley Gardner
Review by Matt B. (BuffaloSavage)
Millionaire collector of pictures Otto Olney wants to sue art maven Colin Durant for slander, claiming that Durant is saying that a painting purchased by Olney is a fake.
Lawyer-series hero Perry Mason discourages the slander suit but provides his usual sage legal advice. He later realizes that Durant might be plotting an intricate scam with the coerced help of model Maxine Lindsay. Maxine ends up in trouble deep after Mason and Della Street find a body in her apartment and Maxine seeming to take flight. DA Burger and Homicide Detective Lt. Tragg are not amused.
I liked this one because it did not follow the lockstep stages of a typical Mason novel. Also, I clearly shouldn’t read these because Gardner’s antique Americanisms – “no doubt of it on earth” or “take a powder” or “as dead as a mackerel” – seep into my vocabulary and make middle-aged women at work say to me, “You sound like my dad.”
