Contents of blog copyright Book Dragon's Lair 2009-2023
I've been gone a while. I started reading fanfiction to escape and I got sucked in an abyss.

I have no idea if someone else is hosting similar challenges. I just grabbed some of what I have hosted before.

Here's to a happy year of great reading
Jan2023: Not much has changed. Writing a fanfiction now O_o as well as reading but I bought 7 new books in December and hope to get those read soon. Crossing fingers about adding challenges (late!)

Monday, January 30, 2017

Happy Monday - January's edition

I wasn't going to post a month at a time during the new year. Or at least not until summer. But life gets in the way and my Mom died early in the month. I just couldn't see myself getting posts up on a schedule while dealing with my grief, my children's grief and my Dad's grief. Plus, I'm helping my Dad go through Mom's stuff. Seventy-three years of marriage has a by-product of a lot of stuff, at least in Mom's case, a child of the depression. edit: MIL is in the hospital, she had quadruple bypass surgery!


Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.

Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.  ;-)

Don't forget to link up your list





~ here are the newest review books in my house ~




~ here are the newest books in my house ~
Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
Giver Quartet, 2013, paperback

"Mother? " There was no reply. She hadn't expected one. Her mother had been dead, now, for four days, and Kira could tell that the last of the spirit was drifting away ... Now she was all alone.

Left orphaned and physically flawed in a civilization that shuns and discards the weak, Kira faces a frighteningly uncertain future. Her neighbors are hostile and no one but a small boy offers to help. When she is summoned to judgement by The Council of Guardians, Kira prepares to fight for her life. But the Council, to her surprise, has plans for her. Blessed with an almost magical talent that keeps her alive, the young girl faces new responsibilities and a set of mysteries deep within the only world she has ever known. On her quest for truth, Kira discovers things that will change her life and world forever.


Messenger by Lois Lowry
Giver Quartet, 2006, paperback

He noticed Kira reaching for her pack and spoke sharply to her. “What are you doing? We have to move on a minute. It’s dangerous here.” She hadn’t seen the deadly thing that had grabbed at Matty, but he knew there would be more; he watched the bushes for them.

It had come for him first, he realized. He did not want to be the first to die, to leave her alone.

To his dismay, she was removing her embroidery tools. “Kira! There’s no time!”

“I might be able to . . . ” Deftly she threaded a needle.

To what? He wondered bitterly. To create a handsome wall-hanging depicting our last hours? He remembered that in the art books he had leafed through at Leader’s, many paintings depicted death. A severed head on a platter. A battle, and the ground strewn with bodies. Swords and spears and fire; and nails being pounded into the tender flesh of a man’s hands. Painters had preserved such pain through beauty.

Perhaps she would.

He watched her hands. They flew over the small frame, moving in and out with the needle. Her eyes were closed. She was not directing her own fingers. They simply moved.

He waited, his eyes vigilant, watching the surrounding bushes for the next attack. He feared the coming dark. He wanted to move on, out of this place, before evening came. But he waited while her hands moved.

Finally she looked up. “Someone is coming to help us,” she said. “It’s the young man with the blue eyes.”


Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
middle grade, 2014, paperback

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life . . . until now.

Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief.


Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Historical fiction, 2011, paperback

As the German troops begin their campaign to "relocate" all the Jews of Denmark, Annemarie Johansen’s family takes in Annemarie’s best friend, Ellen Rosen, and conceals her as part of the family.

Through the eyes of ten-year-old Annemarie, we watch as the Danish Resistance smuggles almost the entire Jewish population of Denmark, nearly seven thousand people, across the sea to Sweden. The heroism of an entire nation reminds us that there was pride and human decency in the world even during a time of terror and war.


When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare
Castles Ever After, 2015, mass market paperback

On the cusp of her first London season, Miss Madeline Gracechurch was shy, pretty, and talented with a drawing pencil, but hopelessly awkward with gentlemen. She was certain to be a dismal failure on the London marriage mart. So Maddie did what generations of shy, awkward young ladies have done: she invented a sweetheart.

A Scottish sweetheart. One who was handsome and honorable and devoted to her, but conveniently never around. Maddie poured her heart into writing the imaginary Captain MacKenzie letter after letter . . . and by pretending to be devastated when he was (not really) killed in battle, she managed to avoid the pressures of London society entirely.

Until years later, when this kilted Highland lover of her imaginings shows up in the flesh. The real Captain Logan MacKenzie arrives on her doorstep—handsome as anything, but not entirely honorable. He's wounded, jaded, in possession of her letters . . . and ready to make good on every promise Maddie never expected to keep.


The Tail of Emily Windsnap by Liz Kessler
Tail of Emily Windsnap, 2012, paperback

For as long as she can remember, twelve-year-old Emily Windsnap has lived on a boat. And, oddly enough, for just as long, her mother has seemed anxious to keep Emily away from the water. But when Mom finally agrees to let her take swimming lessons, Emily makes a startling discovery — about her own identity, the mysterious father she’s never met, and the thrilling possibilities and perils shimmering deep below the water’s surface. With a sure sense of suspense and richly imaginative details, first-time author Liz Kessler lures us into a glorious undersea world where mermaids study shipwrecks at school and Neptune rules with an iron trident — an enchanting fantasy about family secrets, loyal friendship, and the convention-defying power of love.


The Girl with the Silver Eyes by Willo Davis Roberts
fantasy, 2011, paperback

Katie Welker is used to being alone. She would rather read a book than deal with other people. Other people don’t have silver eyes. Other people can’t make things happen just by thinking about them!

But these special powers make Katie unusual, and it’s hard to make friends when you’re unusual. Katie knows that she’s different but she’s never done anything to hurt anyone so why is everyone afraid of her? Maybe there are other kids out there who have the same silver eyes . . . and the same talents . . . and maybe they’ll be willing to help her.



On the Road by Jack Kerouac
fiction, 2008, paperback

The legendary 1951 scroll draft of On the Road, published as Kerouac originally composed it

IN THREE WEEKS in April of 1951, Jack Kerouac wrote his first full draft of On the Road—typed as a single-spaced paragraph on eight long sheets of tracing paper, which he later taped together to form a 120-foot scroll. A major literary event when it was published in Viking hardcover in 2007, this is the uncut version of an American classic—rougher, wilder, and more provocative than the official work that appeared, heavily edited, in 1957. This version, capturing a moment in creative history, represents the first full expression of Kerouac’s revolutionary aesthetic.


Tears of the Silenced by Misty Griffin
true crime, 2014, ebook

One freezing morning in early March I made a dash for a tiny police station in rural Minnesota. I was a frightened Amish girl with nowhere to go, a second-grade education and no ID or social security card. Based on the Author's tragic true life story.

When I was six years old my family started to live and dress like the Amish. A few years later we moved to a mountain ranch where my sister and I were subjected to almost complete isolation, sexual abuse, and extreme physical violence. We knew that no rescue would ever come because only a handful of people even knew we existed and they did not know us well enough to care.

In my late teens, my parents feared we would escape and took us to an Amish community where we were adopted and became baptized members.I was devastated to once again find myself in a world of fear, animal cruelty and sexual abuse. Going to the police was severely frowned upon. A few years later I was again sexually assaulted, I knew I had to get help and one freezing morning in early March I made a dash for a tiny police station in rural Minnesota. As a result, I found myself plummeted into the strange modern world with only a second-grade education and no ID or social security card.

Author's Note-Please never turn a blind eye towards child abuse or think someone else will report it. That is what happened in my case and no one ever reported. After the fact, some individuals came forward and admitted they had thought about it, but ultimately never did. You could be that child's last chance, be a hero and report ( National Child Abuse Hotline 1-800-422-4453)- Misty Griffin


American Gods by Neil Gaiman
fiction, 2016-anniversary editon, mass market paperback

It is the story of Shadow—released from prison just days after his wife and best friend are killed in an accident—who gets recruited to be bodyguard, driver, and errand boy for the enigmatic trickster, Mr. Wednesday. So begins Shadow’s dark and strange road trip, one that introduces him to a host of eccentric characters whose fates are mysteriously intertwined with his own. For, beneath the placid surface of everyday life, a storm is brewing—an epic war for the very soul of America—and Shadow is standing squarely in its path.



The Numberlys by William Joyce
Picture book, 2014, hardcover

Once upon a time there was no alphabet, only numbers…

Life was…fine. Orderly. Dull as gray paint. Very…numberly. But our five jaunty heroes weren’t willing to accept that this was all there could be. They knew there had to be more.

So they broke out hard hats and welders, hammers and glue guns, and they started knocking some numbers together. Removing a piece here. Adding a piece there. At first, it was awful. But the five kept at it, and soon it was…artful! One letter after another emerged, until there were twenty-six. Twenty-six letters—and they were beautiful. All colorful, shiny, and new. Exactly what our heroes didn’t even know they were missing.

And when the letters entered the world, something truly wondrous began to happen…Pizza! Jelly beans! Color! Books!


Karly Sheehan by Karen Spears Zacharias
Memoir/true crime, 2014, ebook

A true recounting of the high-profile Oregon murder case that led to Karly's Law. Part memoir, part investigative journalism, this is the story Ann Rule called "A Must Read." Reminiscent of Capote's In Cold Blood, the book has been written in the tradition of new journalism. The writer's proximity to the people involved make for unrelenting storytelling. As Karly's abuse escalates, the investigations unravel at a rapid-fire pace.




~*~*~*~*~

What I Read this Week
Shelia at Book Journey, hosted a weekly meme about what you read last week and what you were hoping to read this week. I don't believe she's still doing it but I've gotten use to letting you know what I read last week. Never was very good about knowing what I was going to read next!

Finished:
Stupid Mistletoe by Joyee Flynn
Tristan by Joyee Flynn
Borrowing Blue by Lucy Lennox
The Road Home by Elsa Winters, Brad Vance
Carson by Joyee Flynn
Dare You To by Riley Hart
Edric by Joyee Flynn
Lennox by Joyee Flynn
Dewey by Joyee Flynn
Vencentio by Joyee Flynn
The Musgrave Ritual by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Wesley by Joyee Flynn
Brody by Joyee Flynn
Romance Omega Style by Joyee Flynn
The Adventure of the Speckled Band by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Sampson by Joyee Flynn
Baptista by Joyee Flynn
A Taste of Love by Andrew Grey
Mighty Men with Weapons by Addison Avery
Shiny! by Amy Lane
Do-over by Amy Lane
The Adventure of the Yellow Face by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Fish Stick Fridays by Rhys Ford
Clear Water by Amy Lane


Happy Reading!

No comments:

Disclaimer

In accordance to the FTC guidelines, I must state that I make no monetary gains from my reviews or endorsements here on Book Dragon's Lair. All books I review are either borrowed, purchased by me, given as a gift, won in some kind of contest, or received in exchange for an honest review.