The Sunday Post #89 (11.8.15)

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 Kathryn’s It’s Monday post over at Book Date.            I’ve been a bit MIA lately,…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in November 6

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About        What wonderful weather we had this week, so I took full advantage of it and walked outside everyday!!! I had to babysit my 2 adorable nieces on Monday and Tuesday, so I walked with them those days – they love going for walks and looking at all the Halloween decorations that are still…

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Review: Christmas Bells by Jennifer Chiaverini

Title: Christmas Bells Author: Jennifer Chiaverini Published: October 2015, Dutton Format: ARC Paperback, 336 pages Source: Publisher New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini celebrates Christmas, past and present, with a wondrous novel inspired by the classic poem “Christmas Bells,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. I heard the bells on Christmas Day/ Their old familiar carols play/ And wild and sweet/ The words repeat/Of peace on earth, good-will to men! In…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: The Producer’s Daughter by Lindsay Marcott (Giveaway Closed)

Title: The Producer’s Daughter    Author: Lindsay Marcott       Published: November 2015, Crooked Lane Books   Format: Hardcover, 288 pages    Hannah Doran is the paparazzi’s dream: a perfect pedigree (wild child of a famous Hollywood producer and his gorgeous society wife, who died mysteriously in her prime); perfect friends (A-list movie stars and celebutantes); and a perfect fall from grace (convicted of grand theft after a night of…

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Month in Review: October 2015

Here are my reading stats for October!  Books read:  12  Books I read: Dogwood Hill — Sherryl Woods (audio book) Gossamer Ghost — Laura Childs Marry Me at Christmas — Susan Mallery (audio book) Parchment and Old Lace — Laura Childs Willow Brook Road — Sherryl Woods (audio book) The Last September — Nina de Gramont (audio book) Winter Stroll — Elin Hilderbrand Pop Goes the Weasel — M.J. Arlidge…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in October 30

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About     This was a tough week. Friday was supposed to be my last day of week but I had to move that up to Tuesday due to a family emergency. I spent Wednesday and Thursday at my sister’s watching my 2 nieces, which was fun, but quite tiring…and I’m heading back there for a few days…

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Review: Gossamer Ghost by Laura Childs

Title: Gossamer Ghost    Author: Laura Childs     Series: A Scrapbooking Mystery, #12      Published: October 2014, Berkley   Format: Hardcover, 336 pages    Source: Library   Carmela Bertrand knows that Halloween in New Orleans means a week of rabble-rousing, costumed craziness—and she can’t wait to get the party started. But when a local antiques dealer turns up dead, Carmela suddenly finds herself in a real-life danse macabre……

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Book Spotlight: The Barter by Siobhan Adcock

Title: The Barter      Author: Siobhan Adcock    Published: August 2015, Plume   Format: Paperback, 320 pages    In today’s “lean in” era, debut novelist Siobhan Adcock casts the issue of whether women can ever “have it all” into a superbly written novel that will have readers everywhere talking. Bridget has given up her career to raise her daughter, but now a terrifying presence has entered their Texas home—and…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Untimely Death by Elizabeth J. Duncan (Giveaway Closed)

Title: Untimely Death    Author: Elizabeth J. Duncan      Series: Shakespeare in the Catskills Mystery, #1      Published: November 2015, Crooked Lane Books   Format: Hardcover, 304 pages    A Catskills resort’s production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet takes a wickedly ironic turn when the leading lady, Lauren Richmond, is first poisoned and then stabbed. Who would extinguish the life of such a beautiful young thespian? Who wouldn’t?…

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Review: Nine Lives by Wendy Corsi Staub

Title: Nine Lives    Author: Wendy Corsi Staub          Published: October 2015, Crooked Lane Books   Format: ARC Paperback, 288 pages     Source: Publisher   After the death of her husband, Bella Jordan and her son need a fresh start. But on their way to stay with family in Chicago, they stop in Lily Dale, New York and a storm forces them to spend the night. Brimming with…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams (Giveaway Closed)

Next week, Along the Infinite Sea, the latest book by Beatriz Williams comes out (November 3rd!) and I’m super excited about this one. This is the third and final book of the Schuyler sisters and I’ve been looking forward to reading it since finishing the last one, Tiny Little Thing over the summer.  I had the please of meeting Beatriz quite a few times and will be seeing her again…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in October 23

  #FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About     Another week of just squeaking by with my step goal (10k/day) this week, except for Wednesday. I’ve had some long days at the computer this past week, trying to finish up projects at work before my last day, which is this Friday.  I foresee another long week of computer time and meetings ahead of…

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Review: Marry Me at Christmas by Susan Mallery (audio)

Title: Marry Me at Christmas    Author: Susan Mallery     Series: Fool’s Gold, #19    Narrator: Tanya Eby   Published: September 2015, Brilliance Audio   Length: 6 hours 37 minutes   Source: Publisher  Wish upon a Christmas star with New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery’s sparkling Fool’s Gold romance! To bridal boutique owner Madeline Krug, organizing a Christmas wedding sounds like a joy—until she finds out she’ll be…

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The Sunday Post #88 (10.18.15)

 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 Kathryn’s It’s Monday post over at Book Date.          Fall is definitely here! We had our…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in October 16

  #FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   I ended up going away last weekend and I didn’t get a chance to post, so here is 2 week’s worth of steps. I haven’t made it to the gym in a while, but last week, I forced myself to hit my goal of 10k steps each day and I felt good doing that.…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Nine Lives by Wendy Corsi Staub (Giveaway Closed)

Title: Nine Lives    Author: Wendy Corsi Staub     Published: October 2015, Crooked Lane Books    Format: Hardcover, 288 pages     After the death of her husband, Bella Jordan and her son need a fresh start. But on their way to stay with family in Chicago, they stop in Lily Dale, New York and a storm forces them to spend the night. Brimming with psychics and mediums, Lily Dale…

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Review: Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand

Title: Winter Stroll    Author: Elin Hilderbrand      Series: Winter #2       Published: October 2015, Little Brown & Company   Format: ARC Paperback, 272 pages    Source: Publisher   The Quinn family celebrates their most dramatic Christmas yet in this enchanting sequel to Elin Hilderbrand’s bestselling Winter Street. Christmas on Nantucket finds Winter Street Inn owner Kelley Quinn and his family busily preparing for the holiday season. Though…

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Review & Giveaway: Parchment and Old Lace by Laura Childs

Title: Parchment and Old Lace     Author: Laura Childs     Series: A Scrapbooking Mystery, #13      Published: October 2015, Berkley    Format: Hardcover, 336 pages    Source: Author   The New York Times bestselling author of Gossamer Ghost returns to the Big Easy and the historic Garden District, where scrapbook shop owner Carmela Bertrand discovers a bride-to-be murdered in the legendary Lafayette Cemetery… Carmela couldn’t imagine a…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Another Woman’s Daughter by Fiona Sussman (Giveaway Closed)

Title: Another Woman’s Daughter     Author: Fiona Sussman     Published: October 2015, Berkley   Format: Paperback, 304 pages      Set against the tumultuous background of apartheid South Africa, a powerful and moving debut about family, sacrifice, and discovering what it means to belong… Celia Mphephu knows her place in the world. A black servant working in the white suburbs of 1960s Johannesburg, she’s all too aware of her…

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Review: The Admissions by Meg Mitchell Moore

Title: The Admissions    Author: Meg Mitchell Moore           Narrator: Allyson Ryan   Published: August 2015, Random House Audio   Length: 14 hours 34 minutes   Source: Personal copy via Audible   The Admissions brilliantly captures the frazzled pressure cooker of modern life as a seemingly perfect family comes undone by a few desperate measures, long-buried secrets—and college applications! The Hawthorne family has it all. Great jobs, a beautiful…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Chance Harbor by Holly Robinson (Giveaway Closed)

Title: Chance Harbor    Author: Holly Robinson     Published: October 2015, NAL   Format: Paperback, 448 pages    From the acclaimed author of Beach Plum Island and The Wishing Hill… “No one does it better than Holly Robinson.”—Susan Straight, National Book Award Finalist and Author of Between Heaven and Here Catherine and Zoe are sisters, but even their mother, Eve, admits her daughters are nothing alike. Catherine is calm…

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The Sunday Post #87 (10.4.15)

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 was a crummy week weather-wise, which…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in October 2

  #FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   This week I had no motivation…none! Work is definitely getting the best of me and not in a good way 🙁  I’m frustrated beyond belief and stressed but have no desire to workout. The steps I got were from walking the dogs and then from running around like a crazy woman at work –…

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Review: The Dance Begins by Diane Chamberlain Plus Spotlight of New Book

Title: The Dance Begins     Author: Diane Chamberlain           Published: August 2015, St. Martin’s Press   Format: E-book, 44 pages    Source: Personal copy   In this short story prequel to Pretending to Dance, psychologist Graham Arnette longs to dance the way he used to, before illness stole his ability to walk. Graham lives on one hundred acres of family land with his daughter Molly and…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Night Blindness by Susan Strecker (Giveaway Closed)

Title: Night Blindness    Author: Susan Strecker      Published: September 2015, St. Martin’s Press (first published 2014)  Format: Paperback, 320 pages    One October night, when Jensen Reilly is sixteen, she and her high school sweetheart are involved in a horrible accident. Ever since then Jensen has been running from her past. But when Jensen’s beloved father is diagnosed with a brain tumor, she returns to her childhood home…

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Month in Review: September 2015

Here are my reading stats for September!  Books read:  13  Books I read: Come Away With Me — Karma Brown 206 Bones — Kathy Reichs (audio book) The Girl in the Spider’s Web — David Lagercrantz (audio book) The Paris Key — Juliet Blackwell (e-book) Real Murders — Charlaine Harris (audio book) The Middle of Somewhere — Sonja Yoerg The Admissions — Meg Mitchell Moore (audio book) Little Black Lies…

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#30 Authors Day 30: Liza Klaussmann recommends A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia Berlin

I’m so excited to be participating in a second day of this year’s #30Authors event and on the final day…what a great event this has been and I’m so honored to have been a part of it! Today I have Liza Klaussman here to discuss Lucia Berlin’s A Manual for Cleaning Women.  And don’t forget to check out the amazing giveaway below as well. But first, here’s a little bit…

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Review: Christmas in Mustang Creek by Linda Lael Miller

Title: Christmas in Mustang Creek  Author: Linda Lael Miller     Series: The Brides of Bliss County, #4      Published: September 2015, HQN Books   Format: ARC E-copy, 272 pages    Source: Netgalley via Little Bird Publicity    No one does the holidays like Linda Lael Miller, whose Christmas novels have warmed the hearts of millions of readers the world over! Charlotte Morgan grew up in Mustang Creek, Wyoming,…

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Review & Giveaway: A Perfect Heritage by Penny Vincenzi (Giveaway Closed!)

Title: A Perfect Heritage     Author: Penny Vincenzi       Published: October 2015, The Overlook Press   Format: Hardcover, 768 pages    Source: Publisher   The House of Farrell – home of The Cream, an iconic face product that has seen women flocking to its bijoux flagship store in the Berkeley Arcade since 1953. At Farrell, you can rely on the personal touch. The legendary Athina Farrell remains the…

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The Sunday Post #86

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.          Busy, busy, busy!!! That’s what it’s been…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in September 25

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About     This was a tough week…it was hard getting in my 10k steps, but luckily my dogs help with that. They need their walks and so by default, I do, too! I didn’t make it to the gym this week, but did try to get up at least once an hour to move around for…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: The Secret Chord by Geraldine Brooks (Giveaway Closed!)

Title: The Secret Chord     Author: Geraldine Brooks        Published: October 2015, Viking   Format: Hardcover, 320 pages     A rich and utterly absorbing novel about the life of King David, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of People of the Book and March. With more than two million copies of her novels sold, New York Times bestselling author Geraldine Brooks has achieved both popular and critical acclaim. Now,…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Laguna Nights by Kaira Rouda (Giveaway Closed!)

Title: Laguna Nights    Author: Kaira Rouda     Series: Laguna Beach, #1      Published: July 2015, Real You Publishing Group    Format: Paperback, 250 pages   Madison Alcott left her Laguna Beach childhood in the past as soon as she could, never imagining she’d be forced to return. Caring for her ill mother and holding down a high-pressure position at the best resort in town, Madison’s life is…

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Review: Everything I Never You by Celeste Ng

Title: Everything I Never Told You     Author: Celeste Ng           Published: May 2015, Penguin Books   Format: Paperback, 292 pages    Source: Publisher   Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet . . . So begins this debut novel about a mixed-race family living in 1970s Ohio and the tragedy that will either be their undoing or their salvation. Lydia is the favorite child…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: After You by Jojo Moyes (Giveaway Closed!)

Title: After You    Author: Jojo Moyes      Series: Me Before You, #2      Published: September 2015, Pamela Dorman Books Format: Hardcover, 368 pages     How do you move on after losing the person you loved? How do you build a life worth living? Louisa Clark is no longer just an ordinary girl living an ordinary life. After the transformative six months spent with Will Traynor, she is…

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The Sunday Post #85 (9.20.15)

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.          Wow, did this past week fly by!…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in September 18

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   It ended up being a crazier week than I anticipated due to work, which I have the feeling is going to be the case for a while now. Being involved in those FitBit weekly challenges does help motivate me to get my steps in which is a good thing, especially when I’m stuck on the…

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Short & Sweet Review: Devil Bones by Kathy Reichs (audio)

Title: Devil Bones    Author: Kathy Reichs     Series: Temperance Brennan, #11       Narrator: Linda Emond Published: August 2008, Simon & Schuster Audio   Length: 10 hours   Source: Library     Following her most successful book to date, Kathy Reichs — international number one bestselling author, forensic anthropologist, and producer of the Fox television hit Bones — returns to Charlotte, North Carolina, where Temperance Brennan encounters a deadly…

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Review & Giveaway: The Middle of Somewhere by Sonja Yoerg (Giveaway Closed!)

Title: The Middle of Somewhere    Author: Sonja Yoerg           Published: September 2015, NAL   Format: ARC Paperback, 336 pages    Source: Publisher    A troubled, young widow hikes from Yosemite Valley deep into the wilderness on the John Muir Trail to elude her shameful past in this emotionally gripping story from the author of House Broken. With her thirtieth birthday looming, Liz Kroft is heading for…

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Review: The Secret Life of Violet Grant by Beatriz Williams

Title: The Secret Life of Violet Grant    Author: Beatriz Williams        Published: May 2014, G.P Putnam’s Sons  Format: Hardcover, 448 pages     Source: Personal copy   Passion, redemption, and a battered suitcase full of secrets: the New York Times-bestselling author of A Hundred Summers returns with another engrossing tale. Manhattan, 1964. Vivian Schuyler, newly graduated from Bryn Mawr College, has recently defied the privilege of her storied old…

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Cover Reveal: Lies and Other Acts of Love by Kristy Woodson Harvey (with a Giveaway!!!)

I am so excited to be part of the big cover reveal today of Kristy Woodsen Harvey’s second book, Lies and Other Acts of Love, due out April 4, 2016. I absolutely loved her debut novel, Dear Carolina, and am looking forward to reading this new book. Here’s what’s already being said about this book: “We loved everything about LIES AND OTHER ACTS OF LOVE. From the strong plot about…

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Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Dark Waters by Chris Goff (Giveaway Closed!)

Title: Dark Waters    Author: Chris Goff     Series: Raisa Jordan Thriller, #1      Published: September 2015, Crooked Lane Books   Format: Hardcover, 352 pages      Raisa “Rae” Jordan, an agent for the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, isn’t in Israel for more than a day before her predecessor is gunned down in a Tel Aviv square by a sniper. Assigned to investigate the assassination of one of her…

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Review: The Paris Key by Juliet Blackwell

Title: The Paris Key    Author: Juliet Blackwell        Published: September 2015, NAL   Format: ARC E-copy, 384 pages    Source: Netgalley via Publicist   An American in Paris navigates her family’s secret past and unlocks her own future, in this emotionally evocative novel by New York Times bestselling author Juliet Blackwell. As a girl, Genevieve Martin spent the happiest summer of her life in Paris, learning the delicate…

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The Sunday Post #84 (9.13.15)

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 was a busy week, but…

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#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in September 11

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog  and That’s What I’m Talking About   This week, I set a goal for myself to get at least 12k steps Monday thru Friday and I was successful. I like setting little goals like that – it really motivates me to keep moving. I think I am going to do the same thing for this week coming up. Work is starting to…

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#30 Authors Day 11: Mary Kubica recommends Come Away With Me by Karma Brown

I’m so excited to be participating in this year’s #30Authors event. I have the lovely Mary Kubica here to discuss Karma Brown’s debut novel, Come Away With Me. I actually just read this book myself and loved it. I’m so glad Mary is reviewing this book here today!  And don’t forget to check out the amazing giveaway below as well. But first, here’s a little bit about the #30Authors event…

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Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway: Come Away With Me by Karma Brown (Giveaway Closed)

Title: Come Away With Me     Author: Karma Brown        Published: August 2015, MIRA   Format: ARC Paperback, 368 pages     Source: Publisher   One minute, Tegan Lawson has everything she could hope for: an adoring husband, Gabe, and a baby on the way. The next, a patch of black ice causes a devastating accident that will change her life in ways she never could have imagined. Tegan…

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Review: Love and Miss Communication by Elyssa Friedland

Title: Love and Miss Communication    Author: Elyssa Friedland          Published: May 2015, William Morrow Paperbacks    Format: Paperback, 400 pages     Source: Publicist   This unforgettable debut novel asks us to look up from our screens and out at the world . . . and to imagine what life would be like with no searches, no status updates, no texts, no Tweets, no pins, and no posts…

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Book Spotlights: The She Reads’ Books of Fall Selections

Last week, the gals at She Reads announced the four ‘Books of Fall’ selections. I’ll be reading/listening to some of these, so be sure to keep an eye out here for my reviews. So without further ado…here are the Books of Fall:   Title: The Admissions    Author: Meg Mitchell Moore          Published: August 2015, Doubleday       The Admissions brilliantly captures the frazzled pressure cooker of modern…

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The Sunday Post #83 (9.6.15)

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 was a quiet week, for…

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