All things Books and Reading thread - 2017

[Mamanyt1953]

Take a look at the Harrison Investigation books, as well. They are precursors to the Krewe series, when Mr. Harrison first began putting together those folks who could speak with spirits. I actually like most of them better than the Krewe books (which I like very well). One of them actually introduces Brent Blackhawk.

I'm am ECSTATIC! I will actually have enough money in the budget to get my printer toner, Hekitty's flea meds, AND order 3 or 4 books this month! Life is SWEET!

 

[rubysmama]

I wish my library had e-books to borrow. Nope, not a single one.

Have you checked out the free e-book sites? Not best sellers, but if you're just looking for e-books to read, you might find something interesting.

 

[Winchester]

Places for free or lower-priced ebooks:

BookBub: Free Ebooks - Great deals on bestsellers you'll love
Freebooksy - Free Kindle Books, Nook Books, Apple Books and Kobo Books Hand-Selected Daily. Pick your favorite genre, and start reading free kindle books.

There are lots of other sites, too. I belong to these two and I receive an email every day with free books or books that are 99 cents. And some of them are actually pretty good. When you sign up, you can tell them what you're interested in reading and they'll gear their selections to what you want (for the most part).

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Got those bookmarked!

I've just started on Clea Simon's "Dulcie Schwartz Mysteries." So far, so good. About a young woman who has had to have her beloved cat put to sleep, and now his ghost has appeared in her life. The little I've read so far is engaging and well done. Only about 50 pages into the first one, so we shall see. I do like Mr. Grey's ghost.

 

[foxxycat]

I love Heather Graham=fun fact=she used to write silhouette romances! (I still have some original white covered Silhouette Intimate Moments books from 1980s) And Historical Romances! Her other pen name is Shannon Drake=those books are gothic romance type=I really love both of them!

Yesterday I came across this title: Three seconds to Rush by Danielle Stewart=I read it in one day. It's shorter than most books but packs a punch! If you like suspense and complex characters=you will like this one.

I just purchased book #2 and #3 on ebooks-Amazon. The first book I got from Freebooksy. There's been a few very good books from there! Some just fluff and fun reading=then this novel just blew me away! I will be buying ebooks from her=normally I never do it-but I really interested in her series!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I'm on the third of the four Dulcie Schwartz books that I have now. The good news is that I tracked my Thriftbook order, and the shipment was in Greenville, SC yesterday, which means that the last Josephine Fuller AND three more Dulcie Schwartz books will arrive tomorrow or Tuesday! OH JOY OH BLISS!

 

[debbila]

I read some reviews on ine about Three Seconds To Rush after reading foxycat's post. It sounds really good, so I'm going to get it from my library. I love suspense novels!

 

[foxxycat]

I think you will like it. I am reading the 2nd book -Just for a Heartbeat- in that series-Amazon ereader service. This is a new Author and I really like her style. I like real people-not rich and famous-you know the ones who work the crappy jobs and still raise their kids.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

New books are in! YAY!

 

[Margret]

Places for free or lower-priced ebooks:

BookBub: Free Ebooks - Great deals on bestsellers you'll love
Freebooksy - Free Kindle Books, Nook Books, Apple Books and Kobo Books Hand-Selected Daily. Pick your favorite genre, and start reading free kindle books.

There are lots of other sites, too. I belong to these two and I receive an email every day with free books or books that are 99 cents. And some of them are actually pretty good. When you sign up, you can tell them what you're interested in reading and they'll gear their selections to what you want (for the most part).

BookBub has some huge advantages:

1. You can specify what kind of books you like.
2. You can "follow" your favorite authors.
3. You can "bookmark" a specific book, so that they'll be sure to inform you when it's on sale.
4. You can inform them if you can't find a specific book or author on their website. They'll research it, find that author or book, and add it, then inform you so that you can follow the author or bookmark the book.
5. Their emails come every day.
6. Unlike some of the free lists (the ones designed for starting authors) BookBub doesn't insist that you give your email address to the individual authors, so you don't get flooded with unwanted author emails.

Early Bird Books – eBook Deals Newsletter for Kindle or Other eReaders is another daily newsletter. They almost always have one totally free book (generally a classic). They don't give you the option of stating your preferences or following specific authors.

And then there's this one: Free Book Emails from Books Butterfly - Subscribe Now! The Best Free Books, The Best Book Deals, The Best Box Set Deals, The Best Book Offers! You can tell these folks which device you have and they'll just send you links to the correct seller. They don't come out every day. About half of the books in their newsletter are free, but they tend to repeat. I ran through today's newsletter, and of all the freebies in it only two were ones that I hadn't already "bought" from an earlier newsletter.

___________________________________________________​

I'm currently on Volume 2 of the Wonder Cats Mysteries, by Harper Lin, titled Pawsitively Dead. The series features a family of witches who try to keep their small town free of interference, both by otherworldly entities and by humans who wish to use magic to do harm. They do have cats, who occasionally assist in the magic, and the protaganist is able to communicate with animals so the cats frequently give them a much-needed clue, but the cats aren't nearly as central to the mysteries as, say, Midnight Louie or Joe Grey. That said, they're good stories and I like the characters.

Margret

 

[Mamanyt1953]

I've now read all but the newest Dulcie Schwartz book, and am reading the third of the "Magical Cats" series. SO FUNNY!

 

[Winchester]

We haven't touched this thread since July 7th! Are we not reading?

I've read many books, but kept forgetting to post them here. I read a lot of books that I've downloaded from Amazon for the Kindle app. And recently, downloaded five e-books from our local library.

I received some kind of notice from Kindle to congratulate me on reading 50 of their Kindle books. I don't know how they figure out what I'm reading, unless it's just from the app.

What are you all reading lately? Anything interesting?

 

[rubysmama]

It's funny you posted in this thread today, because I finished Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Sunday and was thinking I should mention it here. I put the e-book on hold at the library back in September and it just became available 2 weeks ago.

It was ok. The screenplay style took a little getting used to. My main complaint would be that being a screenplay, it left out tons of stuff that would be mentioned in novel format. Then I started wondering if there ever was a new HP book, would the events that happened in the screenplay have occurred in the new book. Or was this truly a standalone. Anyone who's read the HP series, would probably get some enjoyment out of this. Or maybe not.

Other than that, I haven't been reading much at all this summer. In fact, I just had some e-books expire before I finished them. And now I'm back in the hold queue!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

LOL...I'm reading about a book every two days, and several books ahead on my Goodreads Challenge for the year. I've become addicted to cozy mysteries, especially concerning cats and paranormal, and am thrilled to report that there are any number of series with both! Right now I'm reading the Fat Cat series.

 

[boney girl dad]

The last book I read was John Barleycorn by Jack London, back in June. Interesting view on alcohol, alcohol use and alcoholism. Summer has so many things to keep me occupied. I have mostly caught up on my fishing magazines when I have had time to read. I did load up 7 books from smashwords during the annual July sale, so I do have words on deck.

 

[Margret]

I haven't been posting because the easiest way to get to the thread is to click on a notification that someone else has posted! (Does it strike you that there may be a flaw in my system?)

I just finished re-reading The Blue Sword and am currently nearing the end of re-reading The Hero and the Crown, both by Robin McKinley. And I've been reminded just how much I like Narknon, and Aerin's King Cat.

I went to a science fiction convention on Saturday two weeks ago, Myths and Legends Con (Home - MALCon, and scheduled to host Westercon next year!). Every Saturday night at M&L Con they have a program named Grimm After Dark, where they do dramatic re-tellings of some of the original versions of old fairy tales. Children are not allowed, because the originals weren't pretty stories where everyone lived happily ever after. It would be more accurate to call them cautionary tales, or, some of them, examples of standards which have changed greatly over the years. And for two years running, when Grimm After Dark was finished the performers would ask for suggestions of fairy tales they might want to use in future. And, for two years running, I've said "Sleeping Beauty." (I won't go into detail here because this is, after all, a family site, but in the original Sleeping Beauty is not awakened by True Love's first kiss.) And this year, Grimm After Dark featured Sleeping Beauty, with a special "Thank you" to me for suggesting it. I was surprised that they remembered me and not just my suggestion.

Margret

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Oh, but PM me with it! I've forgotten, although I once knew!

 

[Margret]

rubysmama , I pre-ordered Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, thinking I was getting a new Harry Potter short story, and was quite disappointed to discover that it was actually a play-script. I read about a third of it before giving up on it. It felt like there was no real character development. The main thing that you get in a story or novel that you don't get in a script is a clear idea of what's inside the character's heads. When a script is made into a movie or play it's the actors who give you that, but that's a matter of interpretation, and the skill of the actors and of the director, and those don't appear in the script. However, Ms. Rowling does consider the events of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child to be part of the Harry Potter canon. Remember, the very first scene from the play is, in fact, the epilogue of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and Rowling herself has stated that it's canon.


Margret

 

[micknsnicks2mom]

i'm still reading A Man Called Intrepid: The Incredible True Story of the Master Spy Who Helped Win WWII. a great book, and i'm thoroughly enjoying reading it. i just don't have a lot of time available to read, too many other things that need doing.

 

[rubysmama]

Margret thanks for posting the J K Rowling tweet.