nice all read

Fiction Losers hating Steubenville A WELCOME MURDER By Robin Yocum 256 pp. Seventh Street Books Reviewed by Eric Petersen Journalist turned writer Robin Yocum is back with his fourth novel ( A Brilliant Death is also reviewed on this site). That book was a haunting, heart-wrenching murder mystery set in a once great Ohio steel mill town. A Welcome Murder has the same setting, but it’s unlike anything the author has written so far – a comic mystery with an undercurrent of tragedy and featuring alternating first person narration from several characters who all knew each other in high school. Johnny Earl, the main character, begins the novel by introducing the story of how in 1989, he became the prime suspect in a murder not long after returning home to Steubenville, Ohio, following a seven-year prison sentence. Once a great steel mill town, Steubenville is now a decaying shell. In high school, Johnny was the most popular boy – a good student and star baseball and football player who da...

The story started at dawn on the fourteenth of September, 1943 . . .' All her life, London-born Angelika has been intrigued by her mother's secret past. Now planning her wedding, she feels she must visit the remote Crete village her mother grew up in. Angie's estranged elderly grandmother, Maria, is dying. She welcomes Angie with open arms - it's time to unburden herself, and tell the story she'll otherwise take to her grave. It's the story of the Nazi occupation of Crete during the Second World War, of horror, of courage and of the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her children. And it's the story of bitter secrets that broke a family apart, and of three enchanting women who come together to heal wounds that have damaged two generations. Often when I see a book that promises to be great for fans of much loved authors of mine, my heart does an excited little lurch but typically when I pick up the book I am more often than not left disappointed and...

Fiction The stratosphere of Tibet SKELETON GOD: An Inspector Shan Tao Yun Mystery By Eliot Pattison 305 pp. Minotaur Books Reviewed by Alan Goodman This is Edgar Award winner Eliot Pattison’s ninth installment in the Inspector Shan series. The world of Inspector Shan moves along quite slowly as murder mysteries go, particularly in the opening sections. Pattison is a deliberate writer, apparently intent upon setting the detailed backdrop of Tibetan culture as much as he is on drawing the scene of the obligatory opening murder itself. I mention this because while popular mystery writers such as Michael Connelly, with his detective hero Harry Bosch, rush you along with staccato-like narrative, Inspector Shan moves at a much more leisurely pace. Maybe because I had just finished the Harry Bosch series, it took some time to get down to the new speed limit. The reward for making this adjustment was to be introduced to a world that one knows mostly from myth – the stratosphere of worlds – the...

Nonfiction Thinking like humans ALGORITHMS TO LIVE BY The Computer Science of Human Decisions By Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths 368 pp. Picador Reviewed by Sue Ellis An algorithm is a process, a series of logical steps taken to solve a problem, and is typically used to program computers to “think” like humans. In Brian Christian’s and Tom Griffiths’ new book, Algorithms to Live By , they explain eleven algorithms and the applications where they have been useful, and then suggest ways in which the same problem-solving process might help us in our daily lives. A few of the problems covered in the book are: prioritizing one’s way through a list of tasks, how to filter a list of job applicants and make the smartest pick, how to make better use of your memory and understand its limitations, and how to organize a closet. The suggestions are smart, thoroughly explained, and personable. Here’s a tongue-in-cheek excerpt about the roommate of Danny Hillis, inventor of the famous Connection Ma...

Meet Bridget, a successful travel journalist with ambitions to turn her quirky relationship blog into a novel. But, after numerous rejections from publishers, she accepts an alternative proposition: Nicole Dupre died leaving behind a bestselling novel and an incomplete sequel, and the family need someone to finish it. Bridget is just thankful to have her foot in the publishing door. But as she gets to know Nicole’s grieving family, and the woman behind the writing, Bridget’s priorities begin to change … It is that exciting time of the year again when a new Paige Toon novel is released into the wild and bookworms get ready to race to the bookshops to get their copy and let me tell you her new novel The Last Piece of My Heart will not leave fans disappointed. Our main character Bridget is a travel journalist who also has a relationship blog but when she gets an incredible opportunity to write the sequel to a bestselling book she jumps at the chance. Author Nicole Dupre died leaving behin...

The Final Giveaway! A copy of The Hourglass  A Weekly Organiser  A beauty and the beast mug perfect for any bookworm! a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is the second to last giveaway and up for grabs this time is a Hardback Copy of The Night Visitor by Lucy Atkins and a Bookish notebook. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Fiction Cancer vaccine and letter puzzles ... THE GIRL AT THE BAR By Nicholas Nash 383 pp. Fireflies Publishing Reviewed by David E. Hoekenga, M.D. Despite a completely nondescript title, The Girl at the Bar is a well crafted mystery set in the vicious, high-finance world of cancer drug research. Rebecca is a beautiful, brilliant young researcher who disappears after a night of drinking in New York. The next morning she is slated to deliver an important paper about a vaccine that could protect humans from all forms of cancer. For several weeks despite finding a bloody dress of hers with stab marks in it, Rebecca’s fate remains unknown. A variety of denizens from bosses, associates, a fiancé, a one-night stand, a Triad member and a research subject come under suspicion. Nash effectively weaves the timeline of the story, and casts a bright light on the various denizens mentioned above as possible killers. The actual killer turns out to be more vicious and focused that could easily be im...

Here is Giveaway number 3, I couldn't resist doing a Lesley Pearse giveaway as in my opinion Dead to Me is Lesley Pearse at her best. This is also a worldwide giveaway but please read the T&Cs GOOD LUCK! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Let's carry on with the celebrations with Giveaway number 2! Again this is open worldwide but please read the T&Cs  Up for grabs is a copy of  Lyrebird for fans of Cecelia Ahern, I have yet to read this one but have seen many good reviews on this book so hopefully it will be one the winner loves. Also included is a sticker weekly organiser and a pen. Good Luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway

1 1th September 2001. Lucy and Gabe meet in New York on a day that will change their lives – and the world – forever. As the city burns behind them, they kiss for the very first time. Over the next thirteen years they are torn apart, then brought back together, time and time again. It’s a journey of dreams, of desires, of jealousy, of forgiveness – and above all, love. As Lucy is faced with a devastating choice, she wonders whether their love is a matter of destiny or chance. …what if this is how their story ends? The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo is such a remarkable debut that captured my heart. The authors voice shouts from the pages and it feels as though she is talking directly to the reader in such an open and honest way that soon pulls you in and melts your heart. Lucy and Gabe had such a powerful and intense romance but when they both have to make an important decidion regaring their passion for their careers and wanting to make a difference to the world their relationship co...

Today I want to say a big THANK YOU to you all for your continued support. My Blog is celebrating reaching its 6th year which is something I am so thrilled about and so proud of. This last year has seen a big change in my personal circumstances and this has meant that I find the time I have free to read is limited and I had been toying with stopping the blog but I enjoy interacting with you all, finding new books you have loved and also sharing my views on the books I have read. Thank you to all of you who have shared my blog with friends and a big thank you to all of the wonderful and generous Authors and Publishers who continue to send me the advanced copies allowing me to get the reviews up ready for you all to read around publication day. So come and celebrate with me this week on the blog, enter the giveaways so be in with a chance of winning some wonderful reads. Thank You. Rea -x-  This Giveaway is open Worldwide ( Please read T&Cs ) a Rafflecopter giveaway

Nonfiction Unstoppable FIRE IN MY EYES By Brad Snyder and Tom Sileo 248 pp. Da Capo By George O’Har Fire in My Eyes is the story of one man’s journey to hell and back. Ever since he had watched the towers come down on September 11, 2001, Brad Snyder knew what he wanted to do: become a warrior. Snyder’s grandfather had served in the Navy in World War II, and later spent his life building ships for the Navy.  His influence, and his patriotism, infused Brad. He joined the swim team in high school, and then ended up attending the U.S. Naval Academy, where he was selected to become an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) expert. This was a choice that would ultimately cost Snyder his sight.  The book recounts, in vivid and exciting detail, Snyder’s training as a bomb disposal expert, his deployment to Iraq in 2008, and his subsequent deployment to Afghanistan in 2011. The story of his first attempt to disarm a real IED mortar in the field is told with heart-stopping detail. But on the...