Our Favorite Reads for July

Gerard's:

 Actually, Say What You Will is one we both read and liked.

Karen's:

What She Saw is very good, Gerard will be reading this one too!

What was your favorite read in July?

"Stone Cold" by C. J. Box

Stone Cold by C. J. Box is another in a continuing series of Joe Pickett.  He is a game warden, part detective and part cop.  In this book, a very rich man controls a small town and pays other people to keep it that way while he gets away with various things.  It took me awhile to get into this because it moved slowly at first, but it picked up near the middle and was good after that!
(Gerard's review, 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!

"Coal Black Horse" by Robert Olmstead

Coal Black Horse by Robert Olmstead is about a young boy whose mom sends him on a journey to bring home his father.  Where is his dad?  He is off fighting the Civil War!  Does he find him?  Does he and his dad survive?  Where does the horse come in?  To find out the answers to these questions, you will have to read the book!  I liked it.  the writing was very descriptive and well worth reading.
(Gerard's review, 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!

Tuesday Teasers: 4 This Week!

Gerard's:

It was then he realized just how sad and how futile his journey was to be.  She was sending him in the direction of his own death and she could see it in no other way and she could do nothing else than send him off.

From page 6 of Coal Black Horse by Robert Olmstead. 

But she looked like Alisha and it brought back a wave of guilt, shame, and lethal rage.  And when the thug kicked the girl hard enough to send her flying, Nate barely resisted drawing his weapon and charging down the hill to what would likely have been his certain death.

From page 16 of Stone Cold by C. J. Box.

Karen's:

What would Kathryn's reaction be at seeing him like this?  And what had the past months been like for her, not knowing where he was?

From page 7 (Location 108 on Kindle) of Rekindled by Tamera Alexander.

I want you to apply because I want someone who will talk to me honestly about things.  You're the only person who ever has.

From page 27 of Say What You Will--They Told Each Other everything--Except what Matters Most by Cammie McGovern.  (We both read and liked this--see our review.)


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 (well, we cheat and choose specific ones)
• 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.   

Happy Reading!

"Say what You Will" by Cammie McGovern

This book deals with a young teen girl named Amy.  She is a special needs teen who needs help to get her through the day.  In her senior year of high school, she persuades her mother to hire classmates to help her instead of adults.  Matthew decides to help her but is pretty sure he will not make it through the first day.  The communications between Amy and Matthew are fantastic and is what makes this such a good read.  Along the way are some twists that test them both!  I LOVED this one and read it in just two days.  This past up my previous "book of the month" in my opinion.  It's a must read!
(Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

Now see what Karen thought of it:


While Gerard was reading this one, I took a look at it and after reading the first chapter, decided to keep going.  Say What You Will by Cammie McGovern is a teen novel about Amy, a girl who has Cerebral Palsy, and Matthew, a boy who has OCD.  When Matthew gets hired by Amy’s mom to be a peer helper for her once a week, they become friends and help each other.  This book has some funny parts as well as some serious issues.  I liked this book because it was interesting to see how Amy and Matthew’s friendship developed and their separate set of problems.  Between Amy and Matthew, I liked Matthew better.  (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!

"Paw And Order" by Spencer Quinn

Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn is another in a series of books about Chet and Bernie.  Bernie is a private investigator and Chet the Jet is his dog helper.  As usual, Chet steals the show in this book.  The story is about a murder that Bernie is being set up for.  The characters were never fully developed in my opinion, except for Chet.  The plot was kind of weak.  I liked this author's other books better:  Dog on It and The Dog Who Knew Too Much.
(Gerard's review, 3 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!

"What She Saw" by Sheila Lowe was one we Both Liked! (UPDATED)

image source:  Amazon

What She Saw by Sheila Lowe got me hooked right from the start with the woman having amnesia trying to figure out who she is and why she was on a train.  The more she discovers, the more puzzling and scary things get, like why she has two drivers licenses and two homes in different cities.   That's is all I'm saying because I don't want to spoil any surprises by revealing too much.

This is a very good story with lots of twists and turns throughout the book and a surprise ending.  I really enjoyed reading What She Saw.  It was so much fun reading how she figured out who she was that I found myself thinking about it even when I wasn't reading it!  There are some misspelled words, but the mystery and suspense kept my interest.  I highly recommend this one because it was hard to put down!
(Karen's review posted 7/24/14, 5 stars) 

Gerard read this too, here's his review:
What She Saw by Sheila Lowe is about a woman who finds herself on a train but does not know why she is on it or even her name!  This is a fantastic read!  There is plenty of twists and turns, especially near the end.  Excellent writing got me drawn in from the get go.  This is a must read--doesn't get any better than this!  (5++ 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!

"All The Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr is Fantastic

This novel is actually two stories and both are excellent!  Story one is about a blind young girl living in Paris.  When the Germans come to take control of their city, her father and her escape.  Story two is about a young German orphan boy who is an expert in putting together and fixing radios.  He is soon enlisted in the German army.  When the two stories collide near the end, I could hardly put this book down!  It's a fantastic read and my book of the month so far.  It sort of reminded me of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.
Gerard's review, 5++ 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!

Teaser Tuesday

Gerard's:

Her father lifts her, holds her to his narrow chest.
"It's so big," she whispers.
"You can do this, Marie."
She cannot.

From page 59 of All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. (large print edition)



Karen's:

I almost cannot contain--the rage and the tenderness together like a boiling weather front.  I stand beside her and breathe.  The two of us just stand there.

From page 32 of The Painter by Peter Heller.  (Gave up on this one due to the awful language and crude content.)

Instinct whispered that if she could only screw up the courage to pry open her eyes, she would see the world hurtling past with the breathless rush of a roller coaster.  But that kind of courage had deserted her.

From page 1 of What She Saw by Sheila Lowe.  (reading on Kindle)

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 (well, we cheat and choose specific ones)
• 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.   

Happy Reading!

"The Black Hour" by Lori Rader-Day

The Black Hour by Lori Rader-Day is about a woman professor who is shot.  The shooter is dead.  The professor comes back to campus to continue her teaching career and to find out why she was the one shot.  When a young male student wants to help her, is he doing it for good or does he have other motives?  There is not much action in this, just the mystery of why she was shot and why the student wants to help her find out.  It’s not bad, worth reading. 
(Gerard's review, 4.5 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!

"What Has Become of You?" by Jan Elizabeth Watson (Writer's Workshop)

What Has Become of You by Jan Elizabeth Watson is about a young woman named Vera who is a substitute English teacher at an all-girls school and one of her students named Jensen.  I loved the character of Vera and Jensen too.  Much of the book is journal entries the girls write to Vera.  If you are familiar with The Catcher in the Rye, you may find this book more interesting because that is the book the English class is discussing and there are a lot of references to it.  Gerard thought it moved along at a good pace and kept his interest; however, Karen was completely bored with it for the most part and kept dozing off when reading it, not even making it to the end.  Gerard thought the ending was a little strange and gives it 4.5 stars.  Karen hopes to go back to it someday to finish it, but is taking a break from it for now and will read something else.  

Now you should read it to see which of us you agree with since we both had different opinions about this one.
(A combined review by Gerard and Karen)

We received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest 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!

Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop prompt:  post a book review.

"Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands" by Chris Bohjalian is Fantastic!

Close Your eyes, Hold Hands by Chris Bohjalian is told by Emily Shepard who is a homeless teen who lives in an igloo made of ice and trash bags!  Half a year earlier, her parents caused a nuclear disaster.  Emily does not want anyone to know who she really is because she fears people will blame her too.  This is a fantastic page turner that I enjoyed.  Emily is a great character.  SPOILER ALERT, STOP NOW IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING! I loved the ending when she reunites with her dog!  
(Gerard's review, 5++ 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!