January 2016 – Always With a Book

k2reader January 31, 2016

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

Title: Bones Are Forever Author: Kathy Reichs Series: Temperance Brennan, #15 Narrator: Linda Emond Published: August 2012, Simon & Schuster Audio Length: 9 hours 30 minutes Source: Library #1 New York Times bestselling author Kathy Reichs, a producer of the Fox hit show Bones, is back with her fifteenth “pulse-pounding” (Publishers Weekly) novel featuring North America’s favorite forensic anthropologist, Tempe Brennan—a story of infanticide and murder set in the high…

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k2reader January 31, 2016

#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in January 29

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog and That’s What I’m Talking About It was an ok week. I was really tired all week for some reason, so getting up to go to the gym didn’t really happen after Monday…not sure what’s going on there. I still have my head cold, though it is much better. I think fighting that is really taking a lot out…

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k2reader January 30, 2016

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

Title: Flash & Bones Author: Kathy Reichs Series: Temperance Brennan, #14 Narrator: Linda Emond Published: August 2011, Simon & Schuster Audio Length: 8 hours 33 minutes Source: Library Just as 200,000 fans are pouring into town for Race Week, a body is found in a barrel of asphalt next to the Charlotte Motor Speedway. The next day, a NASCAR crew member comes to Temperance Brennan’s office at the Mecklenburg County…

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k2reader January 29, 2016

Review: The Things We Keep by Sally Hepworth

Title: The Things We Keep Author: Sally Hepworth Published: January 2016, St. Martin’s Press Format: ARC E-copy, 352 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher Anna Forster, in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease at only thirty-eight years old, knows that her family is doing what they believe to be best when they take her to Rosalind House, an assisted living facility. She also knows there’s just one another resident her age,…

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k2reader January 26, 2016

Book Spotlight, Excerpt & Giveaway: No Ordinary Life by Suzanne Redfearn (Giveaway Closed)

Title: No Ordinary Life Author: Suzanne Redfearn Published: February 2016, Grand Central Publishing Suzanne Redfearn delivers another gripping page-turner in her latest novel, a story about a young mother’s fight to protect her children from the dangerous world of Hollywood. Faye Martin never expected her husband to abandon her and her three children . . . or that she’d have to struggle every day to make ends meet. So when…

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k2reader January 25, 2016

Short & Sweet Review: Lost & Found in Cedar Cove by Debbie Macomber

Title: Lost & Found in Cedar Cove Author: D ebbie Macomber Series: Rose Harbor, #1.5 Published: July 2013, Ballantine Books Format: E-book, 36 pages Source: Library Debbie Macomber’s heartwarming new series, set at the Rose Harbor Inn in picturesque Cedar Cove, displays the author’s signature talent for creating characters who feel like friends, and small towns that feel like home. In this original short story available exclusively as an eBook,…

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k2reader January 24, 2016

#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in January 22

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog and That’s What I’m Talking About So, this week wasn’t my best week. I was nursing a head cold, plus I spent three days at my brother’s house babysitting my nieces. I didn’t make it to the gym at all this week, but that’s ok…I did focus on watching what I eat. My sister-in-law is an amazing cook and…

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k2reader January 21, 2016

Review: Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave

Title: Eight Hundred Grapes Author: Laura Dave Narrator: Joy Osmanski Published: June 2015, Simon & Schuster Audio Length: 8 hours 6 minutes Source: Library There are secrets you share, and secrets you hide… Growing up on her family’s Sonoma vineyard, Georgia Ford learned some important secrets. The secret number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine: eight hundred. The secret ingredient in her mother’s lasagna: chocolate. The…

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k2reader January 18, 2016

Review: The Forgotten Room by Karen White, Beatriz Williams & Lauren Willig

Title: The Forgotten Room Author: Karen White, Beatriz Williams & Lauren Willig Published: January 2016, NAL Format: ARC E-copy, 384 pages Source: Netgalley via Publisher New York Times bestselling authors Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig present a masterful collaboration—a rich, multigenerational novel of love and loss that spans half a century…. 1945: When the critically wounded Captain Cooper Ravenal is brought to a private hospital on Manhattan’s Upper…

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k2reader January 17, 2016

#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in January 15

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog and That’s What I’m Talking About Another good week…I managed to get another 5K on the treadmill at the gym again. And I’m done with jury duty…only needed to go in on Monday – those 14k+ steps that day were from me walking to and from the train station and then walking around the city…it was a cold…

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k2reader January 15, 2016

Review: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

Title: Me Before You Author: Jojo Moyes Series: Me Before You, #1 Published: July 2013, Penguin Books Format: Paperback, 369 pages Source: Personal copy Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life—steady boyfriend, close family—who has never been farther afield than their tiny village. She takes a badly needed job working for ex-Master of the Universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident. Will has always…

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k2reader January 14, 2016

Review: The Muralist by B.A. Shapiro (audio)

Title: The Muralist Author: B.A. Shapiro Narrator: Xe Sands Published: November 2015, High Bridge Company / Algonquin Books Length: 9 hours 9 minutes / ARC Paperback 352 pages Source: Audio – Library / ARC – Publisher From the author of the New York Times bestseller The Art Forger comes a thrilling new novel of art, history, love, and politics that traces the life and mysterious disappearance of a brilliant young…

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k2reader January 14, 2016

Book Spotlights: The She Reads’ Books of Winter Selections

Last week, the gals at She Reads announced the three ‘Books of Winter’ selections. I’ll be reading these, so be sure to keep an eye out here for my reviews. So without further ado…here are the Books of Winter: Title: The Gates of Evangeline Author: Hester Young Published: September 2015, G.P. Putnam’s Sons From a unique new talent comes a fast-paced debut, introducing a heroine whose dark visions bring to…

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k2reader January 11, 2016

Book Spotlight: The 8th Circle by Sarah Cain

Title: The 8th Circle Author: Sarah Cain Series: Danny Ryan Thriller, #1 Published: January 2016, Crooked Lane Books Format: Hardcover, 336 pages A year ago, Danny Ryan lost his wife and son in a car accident. He’s still reeling from the tragedy when Michael Cohen, his friend and fellow journalist, drives into the pond in front of his house with a bullet through his gut. With Michael’s death ruled a…

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k2reader January 11, 2016

Review: A Wedding on Primrose Street by Sheila Roberts

Title: A Wedding on Primrose Street Author: Sheila Roberts Series: Life in Icicle Falls, #7 Published: July 2015, MIRA Format: ARC E-copy, 384 pages Source: Netgalley There’s nothing like a wedding! The joy, the fun, the memories—the stress. As a wedding planner, Anne Richardson has seen mothers of the bride turn into Momzillas, and she’s determined not to do that when it’s her daughter’s turn to get married. But once…

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k2reader January 10, 2016

2016 #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks Reading Challenge

I typically fail at TBR reading challenges despite having so many of my own books sitting on my shelves just waiting to be read…Each year without fail, I sign up for the challenges, saying “this year will be different…I will read my own books…I will make a dent in those piles sitting own my shelves” and without fail, those are the challenges that I never seem to make any progress…

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k2reader January 10, 2016

#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in January 8th

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog and That’s What I’m Talking About It was a pretty good week…I managed to get in my 5K – actually did 2 this week, though I did them on the treadmill at the gym, but still got them in! I am in the middle of jury duty, so I don’t know what the rest of the month will hold,…

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k2reader January 8, 2016

Review: Night Blindness by Susan Strecker

Title: Night Blindness Author: Susan Strecker Published: September 2015, A Thomas Dunne Book for St. Martin’s Griffin Format: Paperback, 295 pages Source: Publisher 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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k2reader January 4, 2016

Review: 3 Truths & a Lie by Lisa Gardner

Title: 3 Truths & a Lie Author: Lisa Gardner Series: Detective DD Warren,#7.5 Published: January 2016, Dutton Format: ARC E-copy, 52 pages Source: Netgalley Boston Detective D.D. Warren faces her most brutal adversaries yet—a class of jaded thriller writers—in New York Times Bestselling Author Lisa Gardner’s exclusive e-Book short story In Lisa Gardner’s second short story, after the New York Times bestseller The 7th Month, Detective D.D. Warren takes on…

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k2reader January 3, 2016

2016 Goals for Reading/Blogging/Fitness

I have done this the last 3 years, and it helped me set myself up for the upcoming year. I think this will be a fixed feature on January 1 (or close to) of each year I blog. BALANCE: This is going to be my word of the year. I tend to get so focused on one thing to the exclusion of everything else and I really need to remember…

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k2reader January 3, 2016

#FitReaders: Weekly Check-in January 1

#FitReaders is hosted by Geeky Bloggers Book Blog and That’s What I’m Talking About So, at the beginning of December, I challenged myself to do 10,000 steps everyday…and I did pretty well with that goal. I ended up getting that many steps 28 out of the 31 days…not too shabby!!! Of course, I realized a few things in setting that goal – as long as I go…

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k2reader January 2, 2016

Review & Giveaway: Anything for You by Kristan Higgins (Giveaway Closed!)

Title: Anything for You Author: Kristan Higgins Series: Blue Heron, #5 Published: December 2015, HQN Books Format: ARC E-copy, 416 pages Source: Netgalley via Little Bird Publicity Before you get down on bended knee… …you should be pretty darn sure the answer will be yes. For ten years, Connor O’Rourke has been waiting for Jessica Dunn to take their on-again, off-again relationship public, and he thinks the time has…

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k2reader January 2, 2016

2016 New Authors Reading Challenge

The 2016 New Authors Reading Challenge is hosted by Literary Escapism, and it goes from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016. The goal of this reading challenge is to read new-to-you authors. There’s no levels to join at for this challenge – which means that we get to pick how many new authors we want to read. I join this challenge primarily to keep track of how many new…

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k2reader January 2, 2016

2016 E-Book Reading Challenge

The 2016 E-Book Challenge is hosted by Annette’s Book Spot and it goes from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016. I’ve done this challenge for the past couple years and love seeing just how much I end up reading on the iPad at the end of the year. I’m joining at the Megabytes level, which means I need to read at least 25 e-books in 2016. I’ll keep track…

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k2reader January 2, 2016

2016 Audiobook Challenge

The 2016 Audio Book Challenge is hosted by The Book Nympho & Hot Listens, and it goes from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016. I love listening to audio books and have been doing this challenge for the past few years. I’m joining at the Marathoner level, which means I need to listen to 50+ audio books in 2016. I’ll keep track of them here. ***As of 8/31/16, I…

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k2reader January 2, 2016

2016 Netgalley Reading Challenge

The 2016 Netgalley Reading Challenge is hosted by Ariel Avalon, and it goes from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016. This goal of this challenge is to not only read all those books we’ve requested from Netgalley but to then review them so as to get our feedback ratio up to the recommended 80%. I’m joining at the Hard level, which means I need to read and review at…

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k2reader January 2, 2016

2016 I Love Libraries Reading Challenge

The 2016 I Love Library Books Reading Challenge is hosted by Bea’s Book Nook, and it goes from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016. I love my local library and love doing this challenge. This is my seventh year participating in the library challenge! I’m joining at the Middle Grades level, which means I need to borrow at least 18 books from the library in 2016. I’ll keep track…

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k2reader January 2, 2016

2016 You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge

The 2016 You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge is hosted by The Crafty Engineer’s Bookshelf, and it goes from January 1, 2016 through December 31, 2016. This is a reading challenge where we are challenged to read, read, read!!! I am going to join this challenge at Level 2, where I hope to read 150 books. Me Before You — Jojo Moyes Lost & Found in Cedar Cove…

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k2reader January 1, 2016

First Book of the Year 2016

Each year, Sheila over at Book Journey makes a big deal over what the first book she’ll read will be for the new year and once again she’s asked us to join her. I joined in last year and it was a lot of fun seeing what book everyone selected. For my first book of the year, I decided to go with a book that I’m probably one of the…

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k2reader January 1, 2016

Year in Review: 2015

2015 has been another great year and it’s hard to believe that 2016 starts tomorrow! Some of the highlights of this year include: Attending BEA 2015 – for the second year in a row. Another fantastic experience with my partner-in-crime, T from Traveling with T!!! Lots of great books, meeting other bloggers in person, networking with publishers/publicists, meeting authors and attending some of the parties! So much fun! Still…

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