"One Shot at Forever" by Chris Ballard

 WOW! One Shot at Forever--A Small Town, An Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season by Chris Ballard is a really, really good people book!  It is also a good baseball book.  It is the true story of a small High School and a bunch of farm boys with a very cool coach.  Against all odds, they have a chance to win the state championship.  I loved the team--what a great bunch of boys!  The games are very exciting to say the least.  The best part of the book is years later when the coach talks to all the guys and they look back on the year they had.  I got into this book right away.  It's all good--you will be glad you read this one!
(Gerard's review)

Karen's review:
One Shot at Forever by Chris Ballad is an enjoyable true story about a small rural town high school baseball team that no one wanted to coach until Sweet, the new hippie English teacher reluctantly volunteered.  With his laid back attitude, unconventional methods and philosophy of keeping it fun he proved that his coaching style could produce a winning team.  This is a baseball book that takes you inside the inner workings of a ball team and lets you know how the coach thinks and also the players.  This was a coach that was there for his players and it wasn't about his ego.  

My favorite player was John Heneberry, the pitcher who couldn't throw a fast ball.  I thought the coach was a funny guy and really admired how he motivated his players and brought out the best in them.  The accounts of the tournament games were well done and tugged at my heart.  I couldn't help but feel the Macon Hawks was my team.  It's a heartwarming story about the cohesiveness of a ball team and how the town rallied around them.  I loved after Sweet retired, he made his land into a wildlife preserve!  I recommend this book to anyone who likes baseball. 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during June and July to THE WARRIOR PROJECT which helps wounded warriors and their families returning from current conflicts. We encourage you to check it out and perhaps make a donation of your own!

Tuesday Teasers: 3 For You

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Karen's:

"And I sleep with it in case I wake and find a strange man in my bedroom." I stuffed the dagger back under the pillow.

From page 49 of Surrender, by Lee Nichols (the last book of the Haunting Emma series. 

"Alright, I've got some rules to go over," he said. "The first one is that I'm not going to have many rules."
Next, he announced that practice was optional.

From page 39 of One Shot at Forever--A small Town, An unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season by Chris Ballard.

Gerard's:

A day lasts much, much longer when you're hungry and worried about the person you are supposed to take care of. Eventually, though, the sky darkened, and I went through the dog door and curled up in a tight ball under the stairs, my stomach aching and empty.

From page 137-138 of A Dog's Journey by W. Bruce Cameron. (Posting review of this tomorrow.)

Happy Reading! We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Outlaw Platoon" by Sean Parnell and John Bruning

Outlaw Platoon:  Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan by Sean Parnell and John Bruning is an amazing book about Sean’s platoon fighting in Afghanistan.  It is gives so much insight into combat and what it’s like for our soldiers.  After reading about the horrible things that happen, I have a better understanding of what soldiers go through and why they are never the same when they come back from war.  I really liked the leadership analysis and the platoon dynamics.

It is interesting to see how such a diverse group of men can become like family and how they back up each other and sacrifice themselves to bring back the wounded and dying.  The writing was so good I felt as though I was right in battle with them.  This is an emotional and inspirational book that gave me a greater appreciation for our service men and women.  I think every American should read this one! 
(Karen's review)

WOW!  AWESOME!  After you read Outlaw Platoon by Sean Parnell and John R. Bruning you will gain a ton of respect for our men and women fighting over in Afghanistan. Sean holds nothing back which makes this book so good.  I could almost feel the bullets flying all around me!  Then ending brought tears to my eyes and pride in the U.S.A.   Thank you for your service, Mr. Parnell, and to the entire Outlaw Platoon.  God's blessings to all of you!
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Surrender" by Lee NIchols

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Surrender by Lee Nichols is the last book in the Haunting Emma series that I enjoyed.  This series is part fantasy with ghosts, wraiths, ghasts and also about friendship, loyalty, forbidden love and adventure.   I liked the humor throughout this series and recommend it if you want a light, entertaining read.  The first two books in this series are:  Deception and Betrayal which you should definitely read first.  Surrender is mostly about romance with lots of action near the end.  The ending was good, but not the ending I was hoping for.  I would have had Emma give all her powers to Bennett and then go with Harry and live a normal life.  My favorite character was Coby, the popular high school football player who dated Emma and died but continued in the story to the end as a ghost.
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Dream New Dreams" by Jai Pausch

If you read the "Last Lecture" or saw it on YouTube, then it's a no-brainer you have to read this book by Randy's wife.  It tells the story of how Randy and Jai dealt with his cancer and also how they explained it to their children.  The second part of the book deals with Jai being without Randy.  The book is sad, but also interesting in how one person coped with a devastating loss.
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"The Woman Who Wasn't There" by Robin Gaby Fisher

The Woman Who Wasn't There--The True Story of an Incredible Deception by Robin Gaby Fisher and Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr. tells the story of a woman who lost her husband on 9/11.  He was in one tower, she the other.  She was able to help people out of harms way and befriended them.  She joined and then took charge of the survivors Network, giving of her time and money and was always there for her fellow survivors.  She was admired and gave back to New York by doing many acts of kindness.  Then ending of this book will shock you like no other!  You will ask yourself "why?" and we will never get an answer.  I suggest you read it and be amazed what one person did.  It kept me turning pages quickly!
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

Tuesday Teasers: 3 For You

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Karen's:  Click the links to see Gerard's reviews.

"If I know the end is coming--like if I see an RPG fired at me or I know a sniper is about to shoot me--I want my last word to be 'Rats.'"

From Loc. 194-95 on Kindle of Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan by Sean Parnell and John Bruning

By myself and very scared. Scared of ghost, scared also if I don't do this thing--lie in the manure--the Khmer Rouge will come and shoot me.

From page 47 of Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick.

Gerard's:

We continue to be tortured by that day, yet it seems that nobody, even the people that are supposed to help us, understand what we are going through. We have all been through something horrible.

From page 40 of The Woman Who Wasn't There--The true story of an Incredible Deception by Robin Gaby Fisher and Angelo J. Guglielmo, Jr.


Happy Reading! We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Never Fall Down" by Patricia McCormick (UPDATED 5/23/12)

Never Fall Down by Pat McCormick is a powerful novel about Arn Chorn-Pond’s survival against all odds based on his true story about what happened in Cambodia.  By following his aunt’s advice:  Do whatever they say.  Be like the grass, bend low, bend low, then bend lower.  The wind blow one way, you bow that way.  It blow the other way, you do too.  That’s the way to survive.  Arn was just a boy of 11 when he faced hard work in rice fields around the clock, near starvation, cruel killing day after day and even being forced to kill others and bury people alive!  By learning to play a musical instrument, he was received some better treatment and became a bit famous.  He gives music credit for saving his life.

This is such a sad and depressing novel but with a pretty good ending.  Still, it is an eye-opener to the plight of people in other countries.  The best part was when Arn first came to America and discovering he had a choice to live, not to just die or survive.  I felt so bad for him when he realized he become the monster and how much hate he had in his heart because of the four years of terror he went through. 
(Karen's review 5/23/12)

Gerard's review:
Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick (a former journalist) is based on a true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, a young boy living in Cambodia when the Khmer Rouge took over his country and the killing started.  One day Arn was told he had to learn to play an instrument or die.  Does he learn?  What becomes of his family that he gets separated from and finally, how does it all turn out?

This story is told in gut-wrenching style.  I found it very hard to believe people actually live this way.  If you want a real page turner, this book is almost impossible to put down.  Arn Chorn-Pond has dedicated his life to humanitarian causes around the world.  He founded Children of War, an organization that aids children held hostage by war and violence.  If you want a book that you will remember like you never read before, this is it.  It's a fantastic story--a must read!


Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Sunshine Every Morning" by Dorothy Glenn (Garlock)

Sunshine Every Morning by Dorothy Garlock, writing as Dorothy Glenn is a fun romance between two older people who rushed into first marriages, both ending in divorce.  They meet in a hospital shortly after Gaye loses her baby.  She becomes attached to the baby she reluctantly agreed to breast feed that was abandoned by its mother and grandma, MacDougle.  Jim Trumbull, MacDougle’s grandfather, has custody of him and falls in love with Gaye as he sees her forming a bond with his grandson.  Gaye has strong reservations about becoming too attached to the baby and feels herself falling in love with the grandfather against her better judgment. 

I enjoyed the humor in this book and the blustery Jim Trumbull who was a very interesting character, big, rugged, passionate, boisterous, yet gentle although impatient.  He and Gayle had some funny dialogue which I enjoyed, but could have done without the explicit sex scenes.  I think someone who has been in a bad marriage or is into babies would like this book and enjoy it more than I did.

(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Words" by Ginny L. Yttrup is a Must Read

Words by Ginny L. Yttrup is an inspirational quick read that is about choices, redemption, hope, healing.  Kaylee, a little girl is abandoned by her mother and left with her boyfriend to be neglected, abused and raped.  They live in a little cabin in the woods and the girl stops talking.  She finds words comforting and reads the dictionary over and over to help her focus on something else while hoping that maybe her "mother will come back today."  When Sierra, a woman whose child died just a few days after birth due to Sierra's drug addiction, visits the cemetery on the 12th anniversary of her child's death, spots Kaylee in the hollowed giant redwood tree and thinks she saw a ghost.  Sierra is lonely so takes in a stray dog she names Van Gogh.  The dog helps comfort Kaylee when they meet and is a wonderful addition to the story.

Sierra finally is able to accept God's forgiveness and move on with her life as she starts thinking about Kaylee and becomes her friend.  Kaylee looks forward to seeing the nice lady in the woods again at her special spot inside the tree.  Kaylee doesn't talk, but can communicate by writing and has an unusually big vocabulary for a girl her age.  Through Sierra, Kaylee discovers Jesus is the most important word and learns the truth that He really does love her and is able to set her free from the screams in her head and help her to speak again.

I liked this Christian fiction book very much in spite of the "fairy tale" ending.  I couldn't help but pull for Kaylee and Sierra to get together and thought the Children's Services worker did a good job.  Sierra was searching for God's purpose for her life and it was very realistic how because of her past with drugs, she was able to sympathize with Kaylee's mom and was torn between helping her get better or not because she was afraid of losing Kaylee.  The abuse Kaylee endured is done in good taste, leaving details to the reader's imagination.  There is so much humor and love in this book that prevents it from becoming depressing.  The dog, Van, was a great addition to this book, showing how pets can by wonderful companions and give unconditional love.  The information about the giant redwood trees was interesting too and provided symbolism throughout the book.  This book even inspired me to read my little dictionary, a page a day!  This is a great read that I highly recommend and am so glad I read!
(Karen's review)

Gerard's review:
This book is told by two people:  Kaylee, a 10-yr.-old girl who is abused physically, sexually, emotionally and neglected at her cabin in the woods, then abandoned by her mother who is a meth addict and Sierra, a young woman who mourns the death of her baby and finds Kaylee who she wants to help. 

I liked this book very much.  It's a good story and I got into it right from the start.  I highly recommend you read it too!  It's a feel good book and you will feel happy at the end.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"The White Cascade" by Gary Krist is Captivating!

Fantastic Read--Captivating!

The White Cascade--The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche by Gary Krist is the second captivating book I've read by this author and both are fantastic reads!  This non-fiction book is about two trains that were stuck in a huge snowstorm and were eventually hit by an avalanche!  The writing is what makes this book so good.  You hear from the people on the trains, the people trying to help, and the one person in charge of the railroad at the time.  I got the sense I was right there!  I hope Gary Krist writes another book; I'll be sure to read it too!

See my review of the other book I read by Gary Krist:  City of Scoundrels about Chicago.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Need You Now" by Beth Wiseman

Need You Now by Beth Wiseman was written to help struggling families. Brad and Darlene moved to the country to get their teenage son, Chad, away from the bad influence of his city friends. When Darlene befriends her neighbor, Layla, a divorced woman who is bitter at God for letting her daughter die, through her friendship Layla returns to faith in God while Darlene’s falters. Brad’s and Darlene’s happy Christian family runs into a crisis when they discover their oldest daughter, Grace, cutting herself. Fortunately, the daughter has a Christian friend who convinces her to get counseling. Brad and Darlene both love their daughter but have different ideas as to how to deal with her cutting which drives a wedge between them. Problems start to snowball in the marriage when communication breaks down and Darlene is faced with temptation of infidelity and believes her husband is having an affair. Of course, this being Christian fiction, it has a happy ending.


This is a good book about friendship and how God is our best friend of all. It was realistic in that it showed Christian families have problems too. If you like stories about families and parenting, I highly recommend this one.
(Karen's review--rating 4 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"The Rescue of Belle and Sundance" by Birgit Stutz and Lawrence Scanlan

The Rescue of Belle and Sundance—One Town's incredible race to Save two Abandoned Horses by Birgit Stutz and Lawrence Scanlan is a great true story! Two horses are trapped on a mountain in six feet of snow, not to mention, blizzard-like conditions at 40 below zero! Around Christmas, people come out and shovel and shovel and some bring blankets. This is a remarkable story of two horses that have the will to survive and determination of the people who come to rescue them. I really enjoyed this book. If you love animals and are looking to read a feel good story, look no further—this is it!
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

Tuesday Teasers: "Words" and "The White Cascade"

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Karen's:

This is the longest part of the day--when it's too dark to read.
When I read . . .
I forget.
That's how it works.

Taken from page 5 of Words by Ginny L. Yttrup.

Gerard's:

"I saw the first rush of snow reach the track [and] swallow the trains," he said. "And then there was neither tracks nor trains. . ."

Taken from page 161 of The White Cascade--The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche by Gary Krist.

Happy Reading! We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Never Trust a Squirrel!" by Patrick Cooper

Our dog likes chasing squirrels so liked this book.

Never Trust a Squirrel! by Patrick Cooper, illustrated by Catherine Walters is a preschool picture book about a squirrel, a guinea pig, and a fox. I liked the big pictures and the fact that this book actually has a plot to it. It's a cute little story.
(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Calico Joe" by John Grisham (UPDATED)

Calico Joe by John Grisham is really, really good!  It's about a relationship between a son and his dad off the field as well as on it.  The gist of the story is the dad, a major league pitcher, hits his son's favorite player with a ball on purpose, knocking him out of the game.  I liked the dialog between the son and the dad.  The ending was sort of predictable, but I liked it anyway.  I think you would have to be a major league baseball fan to appreciate this book, but it's a quick read and entertaining!  Enjoy and play ball!
(Gerard's review)

Karen's review:

Calico Joe by John Grisham is not one of his better books.  It’s about a pitcher to beaned an outstanding rookie, Joe, permanently ending his career.  This book shows baseball at its worst.    The most disturbing part of this book was when the pitcher was actually teaching his 11-yr-old son the fine art of throwing at a hitter’s head.  The highlight of the book was Joe’s willingness to forgive the pitcher.  It does address the issue of dying and it was said how many regrets the pitcher had. 

 

I thought this book was okay but liked other books he wrote much better.  This is not a baseball book I would recommend.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

 We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Insurgent" by Veronica Roth

Must Read but read Divergent first!

Insurgent by Veronica Roth is the second book in the Divergent series. It took me a few pages to get back up to speed with the story line and characters, but once I did, WOW! This book is awesome, as good as the first, if not better. There is action galore, we find out more about Tris and Tobias. It's another page turner that I didn't want to put down—finished it in two days. Book three comes out in October and a movie is in the works--can't wait! 
(Gerard's review)

Karen's review:
"Insurgent" by Veronica Roth is the second book in the Divergent series.  Tris a/k/a Beatrice and Four a/k/a Tobias deepen their relationship and we get to see inside the headquarters of Amity, Candor, and Erudite, visit the home of Four’s parents in Abnegation and Four’s mother in the factionless area.  I really liked when the Dauntless were staying at Candor headquarters and Tris and Four were given the truth serum.  Life in Amity was pretty funny but when the Dauntless decided to return to their own headquarters, I felt things get more interesting.  From that point on I was into it and had a hard time putting it down.  This book has lots of action and intense moments which kept my interest as well as some funny parts.  I was glad to see Tris and Four’s relationship develop too and how they both struggle to trust each other.

I liked the first book better but this one was good too.  However, was confused by some things such as (1) why there were so many dauntless traitors everywhere.  It didn’t seem as though they were still controlled by a simulation and if they were, why then were there any dauntless left normal that were not divergent?  (2)  for Tris to forget to bring the gadget that paralyzes people with her when entering Erudite headquarters through the window was hard to swallow.  (3) Why would dauntless want to completely destroy everything in Erudite—including the hospital?  (4) Why would the dauntless just give their guns over to the factionless during the attack at Erudite headquarters?  The ending with the video, I really didn’t understand at all.  I look forward to reading the next book in this series and finding out more how everything will change.     

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"City of Scoundrels" by Gary Krist

City of Scoundrels--12 Days of Disaster That Gave Birth To Modern Chicago by Gary Krist is non-fiction that reads like a novel. WOW--Awesome book, way better than I expected! You want action, how about this: an election that splits the city, a blimp crashes into a bank, killing 13, a kidnapping of a child and then a public hanging of the person who did it, race riots, a transit strike, a judge commits suicide by jumping from the 13th floor. Wow, that's plenty for me! I loved this book and highly recommend it!
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"The Returning" by Ann Tatlock

The Returning by Ann Tatlock is contemporary fiction about a family of five:  Andrea and John who have three children:  Phoebe-5, “Rebellious” Rebekah-16 and Billy-17 with Down Syndrome.  The story starts with John returning from prison after being gone five years for manslaughter.  At first, he feels like a stranger in his own home and is frustrated with himself for not being able to find a decent job to support his family and accepts a busboy job from his brother-in-law.  His son, Billy, is really the only one who gives him a good welcome and encourages the others to accept him too.  Phoebe is afraid of her dad and Rebekah hates him.  Andrea hopes they can put their family back together again and longs for his love but John holds back and falls into adultery once again.  I liked how John didn’t give up on his family and worked at rebuilding his relationship with each of them. 

I liked this book a lot because I found myself caring for all the characters and was glad it has a happy ending.  Second chances and forgiveness is the theme of this novel.  I’d say this is Christian fiction at its best!  I highly recommend this one if you like stories about realistic family struggles with happy endings.

(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"The Vanishing Game" by Kate Kae Myers

The Vanishing Game by Kate Kae Myers is her first book telling the story of twins, Jocelyn and Jack who were both bullied in a foster home.  When Jack dies, Jocelyn is distraught until she starts to receive messages from Jack in code.  But how can this be; Jack is dead, or is he?  She turns to the one friend they had, Noah, to find the answer.

For a first book, this is really good!  There is lots of action and I never knew what was going to happen.  I loved the surprise ending too--GREAT!  I’ll be looking for more books by this author.

(Gerard's Review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Betrayal-Haunting Emma Book 2" by Lee Nichols

image source:  Amazon--read on Kindle

Betrayal by Lee Nichols continues from where Deception left off and is just as good, if not even better!  There is a lot of action fighting ghosts in this book and also her love life with Bennett heats up.  Her friendships at school fall apart but then when she finally tells the truth about Coby, they are restored.  There is a lot of ghost fighting action in this book and Simon and Lukas are assigned by the Knell to help Emma.  The fun and humor continue with Coby in ghost form continuing to hang out with his old friends and Emma.  When Emma takes on Neoss at the Knell, she is shocked to find out who it is that betrayed her. 

Betrayal is a quick read because it keeps building suspense and was hard to put down.  It’s part contemporary fiction and part fantasy.  I think Bennett should stop taking the drug and just let Emma take all his power which would make her dispelling power stronger and allow them to be together.  I love the dialog and look forward to reading the third book in this Haunting Emma series, “Surrender.”  I recommend this series if you like humorous fantasy—it’s not really spooky even though there are a lot of ghosts and some time travel.

(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

Tuesday Teasers: 4 This Week

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Gerard's:

Duval grabs my hand and pulls me forward. "Ismae Rienne is sent from the abbess at the convent of St. Mortain."
The duchess's eyebrows shoot up. "Mortain? The patron saint of death?"

From page 207 of Grave Mercy by Robin Lafevers. (I read finished Grave Mercy last Thursday but it was so good, I had to share a teaser from it.)

No factions? A world in which no one knows who they are or where they fit? I can't even fathom it. I imagine only chaos and isolation.

From page 110 of Insurgent by Veronica Roth.  Sequel to Divergent.

Karen's:

But his children--they had all gone on without him, had grown into people he would not know. They would be little more than strangers to him, and he to them.

Taken from page 28 of The Returning by Ann Tatlock.

Everything's changed, he said, his voice rough.
I know. How you can ever forgive--
Forgive you? I'm dead because of you. And you still couldn't leave me alone.

Taken from at 2% on Kindle of Betrayal by Lee Nichols (the second book in the Haunting Emma series).

Happy Reading! We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"A Land More Kind Than Home" by Wiley Cash

A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash is told by three people: Jess, a young boy; Adelaide Lyle, a midwife; and Llem Barefield, a sheriff. Two boys, Jess and his brother, Christopher, see something in a church that they really should not have seen. Here's a little teaser from this book for you from page 260:

"Maybe that's why they were trying to heal him," Joe Bill said. "Maybe they wanted him to talk so he could confess his sins and go to Heaven when he died."

I found this book to be pretty good although it was mostly dialog without much action. It's a quick read.
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"The Lifeboat" by Charlotte Rogan

The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan is a novel about a young woman named Grace and her new husband, Henry, who go on a boat that has an accident and have to abandon ship. Henry makes sure that Grace is on a lifeboat which is where the story begins. I really loved this book! I kept picturing how I would react being out of food, water, and pretty soon hope while seeing other people die. This is a page turner for sure but I was a bit disappointed with the ending. That being said, this is pretty much a "must read" in my opinion. Enjoy.
(Gerard's review)

Karen's review:
I started this but gave up on it because it just seemed to be poking along too slow.  I only read up to around page 84 and then chucked it because I had other books I would rather read.  It takes place in the early 1900s.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"The Lonely Book" Kate Bernheimer

The Lonely Book by Kate Bernheimer is a cute story for young children. It is about a little girl who goes to the library and becomes attached to one of the books. The book feels lonely when it gets older and fewer and fewer people bother to read it. We both thought it was cute, but Karen wasn't as impressed with it as Gerard. It may encourage kids to read though.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"The Good Father" by Noah Hawley

In The Good Father by Noah Hawley, the 21-yr.-old son is accused of killing a political candidate and his father uses all his resources to try to clear his son's name.  I was a but disappointed in this because I kept comparing it to Defending Jacob by William Landay which is so much better! It's not a bad read, I read it all and felt is was worth my time.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Deception" by Lee Nichols

Deception by Lee Nichols is about Emma,a 17-yr.-old, girl who finds herself mixed up in a world of ghosts when her brother and parents disappear and Bennett, her brother’s friend takes her to live with him in Boston as her guardian!  He presented papers that were notarized that he was her guardian to get her away from social services.  Emma thinks she is going crazy when she sees dead people but soon discovers she is a “ghostkeeper” who not only sees ghosts but can control them!  Both Emma and I were surprised at how many people in Emma’s life also were ghostkeepers, but she had more power than they did. 

I liked the sarcasm and humor that was included in this book and also the main character, Emma, is very likable. This book has romance, mystery, suspense and a lot of paranormal things going on.  I normally do not read paranormal books so can’t really compare this with others in that category.  It certainly was a fun, quick read with lots of humor and an interesting story line which is continued in the sequel—Betrayal (reading on Kindle).

(Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Grave Mercy" by Robin Lafevers

Wow, oh wow!!!  Grave Mercy by Robin Lafevers is just awesome!  I loved it and had a hard time putting it down; finished it in two days.  There are lots of plots and Ismae is a great character.  This is just the first book of three so can't wait for the next one. 

Ismae is able to escape from a planned marriage.  Her next stop is the sanctuary at the convent of St. Mortain, the saint of death.  She learns well and then is given a big assignment!

I think this will be my favorite read of this month--it does not get much better than this.
(Gerard's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

"Every Secret Thing" by Ann Tatlock

Every Secret Thing by Ann Tatlcok is about how God sees all of us and calls to us if we listen.  The author makes this point through the characters in this story.  Beth Gunnar is a lonely English teacher who now teaches at the prep school she used to attend herself, where she was inspired by her English teacher, Mr. Dutton.  Unfortunately, she felt betrayed by him and couldn’t stop thinking about it.  She takes an unhappy student, Satchel Queen, under her wing and they develop a close friendship through their love of books and poetry. 

I didn’t care for this book much because it is slow moving and the teacher-student relationship just seemed very strange to me.  I thought it odd that Beth only seemed to care and be interested in one of her students.  I liked Ann’s other book, Promises to Keep, so much more and was disappointed in this one.

 (Karen's review)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. Happy Reading!

We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during May to Joni and Friends for Camp Scholarships for families with special needs children.

Tuesday Teasers: 3 This week

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should  Be Reading. Anyone can play along, so I thought  I  would play for fun! Just do the following

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on  that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away!   You don’t  want  to  ruin the  book for others!)
• Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can  add the book to their TBR  Lists  if they  like your teaser.   

Gerard's:

The beliefs she had cherished for a lifetime would be vindicated. But now she couldn't deny what was staring her plainly in the face: dogs in China ate better than doctors in North Korea.

From pate 220 of Nothing to Envy--Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick. (Non-fiction)

I wanted to shout, "Of course we're going to die! The sisters are the lucky ones--for them it is over!"

From page 152 of The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan.

Karen's:

I wanted to do for Satchel Queen what Theodore Dutton did for me. At least what he did for me before the tragedy happened.

From page 87 of Every Secret Thing by Ann Tatlock.

Happy Reading! We are donating 50 cents for each legitimate comment we receive on all our blogs during April to Paralyzed Veterans of America.