Tuesday Intro- Creep Factor x 100

Hosted by Diane @ Bibliophile by the Sea

My Tuesday Intro pick is from, The One I Left Behind,  a NetGalley book that caught my interest the other night as I was browsing through my titles trying to decide which one to read next. The first paragraph is chilling and scary...I couldn't stop reading!!!

cover image courtesy of Goodreads.com

It began with the hands. Right hands, severed neatly at the wrist. They arrived on the granite steps of the police station in empty red and white milk cartons stapled closed at the top, photos of missing children on the back--the whole package wrapped in brown butcher's paper, tied neatly with thin string like a box of pastry.

Based on the opening paragraph would you keep reading?

Mailbox Monday and It's Monday...What Are You Reading?

Mailbox Monday 

is a gathering place for readers to share the books that

came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. 

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

April Host is Mari @ MariReads

cover images courtesy of NetGalley

I have no excuses. I have been bad, very bad. Today I'm just highlighting two of the books I requested from NetGalley because I'm ashamed of myself. Don't worry there are plenty more to come for future Mailbox Monday posts. In my defense, all I can say is that the covers of The Longings of Wayward Girls and The Lavender Garden are awesome and the synopsis of both sounded wonderful. Whoever writes those should be paid in GOLD!!

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Hosted by

 Sheila @ One Person's Journey Through a World of Books

We discuss the books that we've read 

and what we're planning to read for the week.

Read and talked about last week:

In The Pleasure Groove- great audio narrated by John Taylor of Duran Duran

What She Wants- fun romance book told from the male POV

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle- my thoughts on Book One

Bookish Thoughts to share this week:

The Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen

Two DNF's from my Kindle Spring Cleaning

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle Book Two

May Book Box- discussion thoughts about the books I will be choosing

What She Wants- Six Sentence Bookish Thoughts #98

cover image courtesy of www.sheilasplace.com

A little about What She Wants (Life in Icicle Falls #4):
What do women want? Jonathan Templar and his poker buddies can't figure it out. So when Jonathan stumbles on a romance novel at the Icicle Falls library sale, he knows he's found the love expert he's been seeking—Vanessa Valentine, top-selling romance author. At first his buddies laugh at him for reading romance novels, but soon they, too, realize that these stories are the world's best textbooks on love. Poker night becomes book club night…and when all is read and done, they're going to be the kind of men women want!

Sheila Roberts has created a small town that I loved coming back to and had me wishing that Icicle Falls really did exist. This time around the reader gets to see the male's POV on romance, figuring women out, learning how to attract the "right" one, and having their own HEA. I adored the male characters in this story and even more so when each of them found themselves lost in the romance story they were reading!! There were many funny, tender, and aha moments while reading What She Wants and it truly made for an enjoyable afternoon of escapism. Now, if I could get my own husband to read one of my romance books!! I have plenty of them and would even help him out with highlighted parts and post-it notes!!!

Recommend? Yes. I thought it was a fun book that left me with a smile on my face and the desire to visit more of the townspeople in Icicle Falls!

Source: NetGalley/Harlequin MIRA

Six Sentence Bookish Thoughts #98
© 2013, Staci of Life in the Thumb. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Life in the Thumb or Staci's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles Book One Update

My reading buddy

 

 

My Brief Thoughts: I really was amazed at how fast I flew through book one and how MUCH I actually enjoyed all it!! Even though this is my first Haruki Murakami book, it will not be my last. I found this great BINGO game to play while reading his books, thanks to one of Ti's followers on Twitter. I want to thank Ti for hosting this RAL and for encouraging me to step outside of my comfort zone. Saturday is the DEWEY RAT and I will be working my way to the end of this book...can't wait. I feel like I'm getting smarter!

 

Posted with Blogsy

In the Pleasure Groove(audio)- More than Six Sentences Bookish Thoughts

cover image courtesy indiebound.org

What In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death, and Duran Duran is about:
In his frank, compelling autobiography, John recounts the highs - hanging out with icons like Bowie, Warhol and even James Bond; dating Vogue models and driving fast cars - all the while playing hard with the band he loved. But there were tough battles ahead - troubles that brought him to the brink of self-destruction - before turning his life around.

My heart broke a little bit when I realized that I was quickly coming to the end of this audio book. John became a treasured friend, someone who I quickly became accustomed spending my early morning driving time with, and also someone who I daydreamed about since the early 80's from the first moment I listened to Planet Earth!! I loved every single moment that I spent listening to John as he told his story of a young lad growing up in Birmingham, being a teen in the 70's music scene, meeting Nick Rhodes, and becoming a driving force behind Duran Duran. What I LOVED most was how authentic John was in telling his story. He didn't sugarcoat any of his mistakes, his drug and alcohol abuse, and being a lousy boyfriend. He was also such a true gentlemen by NOT dishing the dirt on his fellow bandmates and friends, and for that I respect him.

Recommend? If you were a Duranie then YES, of course you MUST read this. I was in love with John Taylor from the first moment I saw him. I knew one day that my last name would be Taylor...had to be,  because I was so going to marry this man!! (Got the same last name just a different guy!!) I saved my money so that I could buy the teen mags that always had some type of poster of Duran Duran or one of the guys. My bedroom walls were one big Duran Duran collage with John being the main focus. What I learned from this audio was that all those years mooning over a fantasy has led me to now realize that John Taylor is so very human, down-to-earth,  and truly someone I would be honored to call friend!

* Warning:  Listening to this audio book can lead to hours spent on YouTube watching Duran Duran videos, interviews, and singing at the top of your lungs....Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand.....

Source: Audible.com
Narrator: John Taylor (I admit to pretending that he was sitting beside me in the car telling his story)
Length: 7 hours and 55 minutes

Six Sentence Bookish Thoughts #97
© 2013, Staci of Life in the Thumb. All Rights Reserved. If you reading this on a site other than, Life in the Thumb or Staci's feed, be aware that this post has been stolen and is used without permission.

Tuesday Intros- The Last Camellia

Hosted by Diane @ Bibliophile by the Sea

My Tuesday Intro pick comes from Sarah Jio's newest and highly anticipated release, The Last Camellia. I know that I can't wait to read this one!!!

Prologue- A cottage in the English countryside April 18, 1803

The old woman's hand trembled as she clutched her teacup. Out of breath, she hadn't stopped to wash the dirt from under her nails. She hovered over the stove, waiting for the teakettle to whistle as she eyed the wound on her finger, still raw. She'd clumsily cut it on the edge of the garden shears, and it throbbed beneath the bloodstained bandage. She's tend to it later. Now she needed to come to her senses.

Based on the opening paragraph, would you continue to keep reading?

Posted with Blogsy

Mailbox Monday and It's Monday...What Are You Reading?

Mailbox Monday 

is a gathering place for readers to share the books that

came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. 

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

April Host is Mari @ MariReads

cover images courtesy of Goodreads

Yes, I've been naughty...again. Shouldn't really come as any surprise to my friends that I've been browsing shopping at NetGalley. I couldn't resist The Glass Wives and I love Bohjalian's work so requesting The Light in the Ruins was a total no-brainer. Plus, I've been feeling pretty good about working my way through my Kindle this month, so I used that success to justify adding more.  Hey, I never said that it made sense!!

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Hosted by

 Sheila @ One Person's Journey Through a World of Books

We discuss the books that we've read 

and what we're planning to read for the week.

Read and talked about last week:

Scarlet (audio version) Lunar Chronicles #2- LOVED IT!!!!!!!!

A Perfect Proposal- charming Brit Chick Lit

Bookish Thoughts to share this week:

In the Pleasure Groove (audio) by John Taylor of Duran Duran

What She Wants by Sheila Roberts

Wind-Up Bird Chronicles- brief update on Book One

April Kindle Book Box:

I'm coming into the home stretch with only one book left to read which I'm currently working on....Cover of Snow. Overall, I am having a great time reading my Kindle books and deleting them as I go!!