Month in Review: December 2014

Here are my reading stats for December!  Books read:  11 Books I read:  The Perfect Witness — Iris Johansen (audio book) Leaving Time — Jodi Picoult Hunted — Elizabeth Heiter Some Kind of Wonderful — Beth Ciotta (e-book) The Midnight Rose — Lucinda Riley (audio book) The Lodge on Holly Road — Sheila Roberts (e-book) Bare Bones –Kathy Reichs (audio book) Butternut Lake: Night Before Christmas — Mary McNear (e-book)…

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Review & Giveaway: The Life Intended by Kristin Harmel (GIVEAWAY CLOSED)

Title: The Life Intended    Author: Kristin Harmel           Published: December 2014, Gallery Books   Format: ARC E-book, 368 pages    Source: Netgalley via Publicist   From the author of the international bestseller The Sweetness of Forgetting, named one of the Best Books of Summer 2012 by Marie Claire magazine, comes a captivating novel about the struggle to overcome the past when our memories refuse to be…

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Review: Butternut Lake: The Night Before Christmas by Mary McNear

Title: Butternut Lake: The Night Before Christmas    Author: Mary McNear     Series: The Butternut Lake Trilogy, #2.5       Published: December 2014, William Morrow Impulse   Format: E-book, 112 pages     Source: Publicist  Butternut Lake is so beautiful at Christmas—from the delightfully decorated shops, to the cozy homes with their twinkling lights outside, to the lake itself. And this year so much is happening! A wedding: Caroline meticulously…

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Review: The Cinderella Murder by Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke (audio)

Title: The Cinderella Murder     Author: Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke    Series: Under Suspicion, #1    Narrator: Jan Maxwell   Published: November 2014, Simon & Schuster Audio   Length: 8 hours 40 minutes    Source: Personal copy via Audible  Television producer Laurie Moran is delighted when the pilot for her reality drama, Under Suspicion, is a success. Even more, the program – a cold case series that…

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Review: Some Kind of Wonderful by Beth Ciotta

Title: Some Kind of Wonderful     Author: Beth Ciotta     Series: Cupcake Lovers, #3.5      Published: October 2013, St. Martin’s Paperbacks   Format: ARC E-book, 83 pages     Source: Netgalley   Have yourself a scrumptious, small-town Christmas with this special Cupcake Lovers holiday novella, Some Kind of Wonderful! Growing up in Sugar Creek, Maya Templeton and Zachary Cole were best friends. After high school, each went out…

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The Sunday Post #53 (12.28.14)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.  What a wonderful holiday we had – it’s…

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Book Blog Walkers: Weekly Check-in December 26

  #BookBlogWalkers is hosted by Felicia @ The Geeky Bloggers Book Blog This is the last weekly check-in for 2014. It was a challenging week trying to get everything set for the holidays – we traveled down to Long Island to my in-laws Wednesday -Friday and then hosted some of my family here on Saturday – four siblings and their families, my dad plus my husband and I ended up with 19…

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Review: The Lodge on Holly Road by Sheila Roberts

Title: The Lodge on Holly Road    Author: Sheila Roberts      Series: Life in Icicle Falls, #6      Published: October 2014, Harlequin MIRA   Format:  ARC e-copy, 364 pages   Source:  Netalley  How Santa Gets His Christmas Spirit Back… James Claussen has played Santa for years, but now that he’s a widower, he’s lost interest—in everything. So his daughter, Brooke, kidnaps him from the mall (in his Santa…

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Review: Hunted by Elizabeth Heiter

Title: Hunted    Author: Elizabeth Heiter     Series: The Profiler, #1       Published: December 2013, Harlequin MIRA   Format: Paperback, 368 pages    Source: Library   Terror stalks a small Virginia town. FBI rising star, criminal profiler Evelyn Baine, knows how to think like a serial killer. But she’s never chased anyone like the Bakersville Burier, who hunts young women and displays them, half-buried, deep in the woods.…

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Review: One of Us by Tawni O’Dell (audio)

Title: One of Us    Author: Tawni O’Dell    Narrator: Nick Podehl & Amy McFadden   Published: August 2014, Brilliance Audio   Length: 9 Hours 52 Minutes    Source: Publisher  From the New York Times bestselling author of Back Roads comes a fast-paced literary thriller about a forensic psychologist forced to face his own demons after discovering his small hometown terrorized by a serial killer. Dr. Sheridan Doyle—a fastidiously groomed…

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The Sunday Post #52 (12.21.14)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.    It’s hard to believe this week is…

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Book Blog Walkers: Weekly Check-in December 19

  #BookBlogWalkers is hosted by Felicia @ The Geeky Bloggers Book Blog Well, this week certainly didn’t go as planned. Work was insanely busy, plus I ended up getting that cold that was brewing last week. Needless to say there wasn’t too much exercising going on here other than the usual dog walks each day. Oh well…at least the dogs get me moving each day!!!   Here’s how my week went:  Dec…

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Review: The Oleander Sisters by Elaine Hussey (audio)

Title: The Oleander Sisters     Author: Elaine Hussey    Narrator: Janet Metzger    Published: July 2014, Brilliance Audio   Length: 10 Hours 22 minutes    Source: Publisher  An emotionally riveting tale of the bonds of family and the power of hope in the sultry Deep South In 1969, the first footsteps on the moon brighten America with possibilities. But along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, a category five storm is…

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Book Spotlight & Guest Post: House Broken by Sonja Yoerg

Title: House Broken    Author: Sonja Yoerg     Published: January 2015, NAL Trade    In this compelling and poignant debut novel, a woman skilled at caring for animals must learn to mend the broken relationships in her family.… For veterinarian Geneva Novak, animals can be easier to understand than people. They’re also easier to forgive. But when her mother, Helen, is injured in a vodka-fueled accident, it’s up to…

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The Sunday Post #51 (12.14.14)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.    At the beginning of last week, I…

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Book Blog Walkers: Weekly Check-in December 12

  #BookBlogWalkers is hosted by Felicia @ The Geeky Bloggers Book Blog All week I’ve been fighting a cold – it never really materialized into anything big, just those annoying sniffles and a scratchy throat. Due to that, I kept things low key – I really don’t want to be sick over the holidays and usually when I get sick, I get really sick.   Here’s how my week went:  Dec  6: …

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Review: Shopaholic to the Stars by Sophie Kinsella (audio)

Title: Shopaholic to the Stars    Author: Sophie Kinsella    Series: Shophaholic, #7     Narrator: Clare Corbett    Published: October 2014, Random House Audio   Length: 12 hours 37 minutes   Source: Personal copy via Audible  Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) has stars in her eyes. She and her daughter, Minnie, have joined husband Luke in LA—city of herbal smoothies, multimillion-dollar yoga retreats, and the lure of celebrity. Luke is…

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Short & Sweet Review: Alex Cross, Run by James Patterson

Title: Alex Cross, Run    Author: James Patterson     Series: Alex Cross, #20      Published: February 2013, Little, Brown & Company   Format: Hardcover, 407 pages    Source: Personal copy   Detective Alex Cross arrests renowned plastic surgeon Elijah Creem for sleeping with teenage girls. Now, his life ruined, Creem is out of jail, and he’s made sure that no one will recognize him–by giving himself a new…

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Help Suzanne Redfearn Pick the New Title & Cover for her Upcoming Book

Last year, I had the pleasure of reading Suzanne Redfearn’s debut novel, Hush Little Baby, for one of my online book clubs. It was a fantastic read and I have been eagerly awaiting for more from this author. Well, the wait is almost over. But first, Suzanne needs our help… Do you enjoy novels by Jodi Picoult, Liane Moriarty, JoJo Moyes, or Anita Shreve? Then you are the perfect reader…

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Review: Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman

Title: Ruin Falls     Author: Jenny Milchman     Published: April 2014, Ballantine Books   Format: Hardcover, 352 pages    Source: Library   In a suspenseful follow-up to her critically acclaimed Cover of Snow, Jenny Milchman ratchets up the tension with this edge-of-your-seat story of a mother determined to find her missing children.   Liz Daniels has every reason to be happy about setting off on a rare family…

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The Sunday Post #50 (12.7.14)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.    I started to do some holiday decorating…

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Book Blog Walkers: Weekly Check-in December 5

  #BookBlogWalkers is hosted by Felicia @ The Geeky Bloggers Book Blog This week was much better than last week. I got my walking in every day and even made it to the gym one day. Now I just need to keep this going…so there isn’t any holiday weight gain!!!   Here’s how my week went:  Nov 29:  restNov 30:  rest Dec  1:  70 minutes (on treadmill) Dec  2:  1 hour (indoor…

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Review: Yours for Christmas by Susan Mallery

Title: Yours for Christmas    Author: Susan Mallery     Series: Fool’s Gold, #15.5      Published: October 2014, Harlequin   Format: E-book, 98 pages    Source: Personal copy   Step out of the winter chill and into the warmth of Fool’s Gold, California, the charming small-town setting for a new holiday novella from New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery Famous former NFL stars don’t date single working moms…

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Guest Post: Beth Albright (and a giveaway!!! -CLOSED)

Please join me in welcoming Beth Albright to Always With a Book. Beth’s newest book, Christmas in Dixie, part of her In Dixie series, is now out and she’s been busy promoting it. You can read my review of the book here. I just adored her Sassy Belles trilogy – The Sassy Belles, Wedding Belles, & Sleigh Belles – and was quite bummed when I got to the end, but…

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Review: Christmas in Dixie by Beth Albright

Title: Christmas in Dixie      Author: Beth Albright     Series: In Dixie, #2       Published: November 2014, Beth Albright   Format: ARC e-book, 148 pages    Source: Author  “Christmas gifts aren’t always just a fun surprise. Sometimes they totally take your breath away.” ~ Blake O’Hara Bartholomew From National Bestselling and award winning Author Beth Albright, comes a new, funny, heartwarming southern Christmas tale —told as only…

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Review & Giveaway: Scorched Eggs by Laura Childs (CLOSED)

Title: Scorched Eggs     Author: Laura Childs     Series: Cackleberry Club, #6       Published: December 2014, Berkley Hardcover   Format: ARC Paperback, 320 pages     Source: Author    In Laura Childs’s New York Times bestselling mystery series, Suzanne, Petra, and Toni—co-owners of the Cackleberry Club Café—are equally good at serving up breakfast and serving up justice. This time they turn up the heat on a deadly firebug……

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Guest Post: Jenny Milchman – Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day

Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day A.K.A How to Build Literacy, Support Community, & Make Magic Happen All in One Day In 2010 I had two young children whom I was bringing to story hour at our local bookstore almost every week. After all, what better activity to do with kids? It was enriching, fun, even relaxing. I didn’t have to feel guilty when I drank that 700 calorie…

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Review: Christmas on 4th Street by Susan Mallery

Title: Christmas on 4th Street     Author: Susan Mallery     Series: Fool’s Gold, #12.5      Published: September 2013, Harlequin HQN   Format: Hardcover, 336 pages    Source: Personal copy   There’s nowhere better to spend the holidays than with New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery in the town of Fool’s Gold, where love is always waiting to be unwrapped… Noelle Perkins just got a second chance…

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Review: Delicious! by Ruth Reichl (audio)

Title: Delicious!     Author: Ruth Reichl       Narrator: Julia Whelan    Published: May 2014, Random House Audio   Length: 12 hours 58 minutes    Source: Personal copy via Audible  In her bestselling memoirs Ruth Reichl has long illuminated the theme of how food defines us, and never more so than in her dazzling fiction debut about sisters, family ties, and a young woman who must finally let go…

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Month in Review: November 2014

Hello December!!! How is it that the holiday season is once again upon us? I feel so unprepared…last year by this time, I had all my shopping done! This year – not even close! Problem is, I still am not sure what to buy for half the people (mainly nieces/nephews) on my list, which is kinda stressing me out…hopefully I can figure it out and bang out my shopping one…

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The Sunday Post #49 (11.30.14)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.    We had a very nice Thanksgiving up…

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Book Blog Walkers: Weekly Check-in November 28

  #BookBlogWalkers is hosted by Felicia @ The Geeky Bloggers Book Blog I didn’t do so great this week due to the holiday and our quick trip up to Boston to my sister-in law’s. Plus, the weather was certainly not on our side. We ended up changing our traveling plans last minute due to the Nor’easter that came through on Wednesday – instead of leaving mid-day, we got up and left first…

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Short & Sweet Review: Grave Secrets by Kathy Reichs (audio)

Title: Grave Secrets    Author: Kathy Reichs      Series: Temperance Brennan, #5       Narrator: Katherine Borowitz   Published: July 2002, Simon & Schuster Audio    Length: 10 hours    Source: Library     It was a summer morning in 1982 when soldiers ravaged the village of Chupan Ya, raping and killing women and children. Twenty-three victims are said to lie in the well when Dr. Temperance Brennan and the…

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Review: Bones Never Lie by Kathy Reichs (audio/print)

Title: Bones Never Lie      Author: Kathy Reichs    Series: Temperance Brennan, #17     Narrator: Katherine Borowitz   Published: September 2014, Random House Audio / Bantam  Length: 10 hours 48 minutes  / ARC Paperback, 331 pages  Source: Audio via Audible / Print via publisher In the acclaimed author’s thrilling new novel, Brennan is at the top of her game in a battle of wits against the most monstrous…

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Review: The Look of Love by Sarah Jio

Title: The Look of Love    Author: Sarah Jio    Published: November 2014, Plume   Format: ARC Paperback, 320 pages    Source: Publisher   Born during a Christmas blizzard, Jane Williams receives a rare gift: the ability to see true love. Jane has emerged from an ailing childhood a lonely, hopeless romantic when, on her twenty-ninth birthday, a mysterious greeting card arrives, specifying that Jane must identify the six types of…

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Review: The Burning Girl: A Whispers Story by Lisa Unger

Title: The Burning Girl: A Whispers Story    Author: Lisa Unger     Series: The Whispers, #2      Published: November 2014, Gallery Books   Format: ARC e-book, 75 pages    Source: Netgalley    From New York Times bestselling author Lisa Unger comes the second of three stories in an e-novella about a psychic medium and the strange secrets she begins to uncover–for better or for worse. Ten years after…

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The Sunday Post #48 (11.23.14)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.  So if you remember in last week’s post,…

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Book Blog Walkers: Weekly Check-in November 21

  #BookBlogWalkers is hosted by Felicia @ The Geeky Bloggers Book Blog It was quite cold here this week, so most of my walking was done indoors. I also managed to do some yoga a few times this week. I didn’t get to any actual classes, but just practiced at home. I’ve found quite a few yoga flows online that I like to do and always feel so good after doing them.…

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Review: Nantucket Sisters by Nancy Thayer (audio)

Title: Nantucket Sisters    Author: Nancy Thayer  Narrator: Kate Rudd   Published: June 2014, Brilliance Audio    Length: 10 hours 5 minutes    Source: Library  Friendship takes center stage in New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer’s captivating, emotionally charged novel featuring all the tenderness and wit, drama and romance that readers have come to expect from this insightful, much-loved writer. When they meet as girls on a beach in…

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Review: The Hidden Girl by Louise Millar

Title: The Hidden Girl     Author: Louise Millar  Published: August 2014, Atria/Emily Bestler Books   Format: ARC e-book, 400 pages    Source: Netgalley   From “a writer to watch” (Booklist), this gripping psychological thriller follows a young woman who uncovers a terrible secret in her idyllic suburban neighborhood—but who will believe her? Hannah Riley and her musician husband, Will, hope that a move to the Suffolk countryside will promise…

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The Sunday Post #47 (11.9.14)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.  This past week I became an aunt again…my…

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Book Blog Walkers: Weekly Check-in November 14

  #BookBlogWalkers is hosted by Felicia @ The Geeky Bloggers Book Blog This week was a little hectic, but I managed to still get in my 30 minutes every day. I was down at my youngest sister’s for a few days because she was having baby #2 and I was in charge of watching her 19 month old, who happens to be my goddaughter. We had a great time together and I…

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Review: The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain

Title: The Silent Sister     Author: Diane Chamberlain      Published: October 2014, St. Martin’s Press   Format: ARC e-book, 352 pages    Source: Netgalley via She Reads Riley MacPherson has spent her entire life believing that her older sister Lisa committed suicide as a teenager.  Now, over twenty years later, her father has passed away and she’s in New Bern, North Carolina cleaning out his house when she finds…

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Book Blog Walkers: Weekly Check-in November 7

  #BookBlogWalkers is hosted by Felicia @ The Geeky Bloggers Book Blog I’ve been trying to get outside and walk as much as I can. Yes, it’s been quite cool here in NY, but I really do love walking outdoors and since I am back in training mood for my next 1/2 marathon, which is obviously an outside event, I prefer, when I can, to do my training walks outside. A few…

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Review: Close to Home by Lisa Jackson (audio)

Title: Close To Home     Author: Lisa Jackson       Narrator: Joyce Bean   Published: August 2014, Brilliance Audio   Length: 15 hours 52 minutes   Source: Publisher  From #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson comes an atmospheric and riveting novel of suspense that uncovers the horrifying secrets buried within a ramshackle house. . . Vowing to make a fresh start, Sarah McAdams has come home to…

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Review: The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes

Title: The Ship of Brides     Author: Jojo Moyes     Published: Penguin Books, October 2014 Format: ARC e-book, 464 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher   From the New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You and One Plus One, a post-WWII story of the war brides who crossed the seas by the thousands to face their unknown futures 1946. World War II has ended and all over…

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The Sunday Post #46 (11.2.14)

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It’s a chance to share news. A post to recap the past week, showcase books and things we have received and share news about what is coming up on our blog for the week ahead. I’m also going to link this up with Sheila’s It’s Monday post over at Book Journey.  Whew…my crazy work project is finally done…YAY!!! Now…

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Month in Review: October 2014

Hello November!!! Can’t believe there are only two months left in 2014…where is the time going? I think for these next two months, my reading plan is going to be to read my own books. I have a few review books that I need to read, but other than that, I’m going to pick books that have been sitting on my shelf – or at least that’s my plan at…

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Book Blog Walkers: Weekly Check-in October 31

  #BookBlogWalkers is hosted by Felicia @ The Geeky Bloggers Book Blog My work project is finally done as of Thursday, so my schedule should go back to normal. That means that starting next week, I plan to be back at the gym. Plus, I will be signing up this week for my next 1/2 marathon (walking) that I will be doing once again with my mom! The 1/2 marathon is in…

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Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway: Us by David Nicholls (CLOSED)

Title: Us     Author: David Nicholls      Published: September 2014, Harper    Format: ARC Paperback, 416 pages    Source: Publisher via TLC Book Tours   David Nicholls brings the wit and intelligence that graced his New York Times bestseller one day to a compellingly human, deftly humorous new novel about what holds marriages and families together–and what happens when everything threatens to fall apart. Douglas Petersen may be…

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