July Reading Wrap Up

 

📚 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐖𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐔𝐩 📚

Seems like July just flew by. My reading this month started slowly. I just didn’t devote enough time to reading, but I finished the month strong. Thank you to Simon & Schuster Audio for the #giftedcopies and to NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing, and Soho Press for the digital ARCs. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lessons in Chemistry - I loved everything about this book! I already know this will be one of my top 10 this year. I’ll be recommending this to everyone I know. 

Shifty’s Boys - I love how economically Chris Offutt can tell a story with such rich characters and setting. Perfect for fans of modern noir. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

What’s Coming to Me - a YA story about grief and loneliness 

Real Easy - police investigate the murders of two women who worked at a strip club

Golden Girl -a quintessential summer read

🎧Bad Things Happen Here- a teen girl still mourning the death of her best friend must also deal with another tragedy

Run Time - an actress experiences weird and terrifying situations on a remote movie location 

🎧First Born - a British woman must overcome her anxieties and travel to NYC when her twin sister is found dead 

Winter Counts- a Native American man seeks answers and justice after his nephew almost dies of a heroin overdose

All my four stars reads were entertaining and enjoyable reads and I’d recommend them to any reader. 

QOTD: what are you planning to read in August? 

I have a few library holds that I hope will be ready for me soon and I’ll also be buddy reading This Tender Land. 

#readingwrapup #monthlywrapup #julyreads #lessonsinchemistry #shiftysboys #fivestarreads #netgalley #simonaudio #crimefiction #mysteryfiction #thrillerfiction #bookstagram #igreads #audiobooks #audiobookstagram #bibliophile #booksbooksbooks #booknerd

Book Tour-The Scandalous Hamiltons

 

Author: Bill Shaffer

Publisher: Kensington Publishing 

Year: 2022

🎊 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 🎊

Thank you @kensingtonpublishing @BetweentheChapters & @tlcbookktours for my #gifted copy & having me on this tour. Can’t wait to start this! It’s perfect for fans of The Gilded Age & Inventing Anna! It published tomorrow so be sure to grab a copy. 

𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: An Alexander Hamilton heir, a beautiful female con artist, an abandoned baby, & the shocking courtroom drama that was splashed across front pages from coast to coast—this is the fascinating true story behind one of the greatest scandals of the Gilded Age . . .


It’s a story almost too tawdry to be true—a con woman prostitute who met the descendant of a Founding Father in a brothel, duped him into marriage using an infant purchased from a baby farm, then went to prison for stabbing the couple’s baby nurse—all while in a common-law marriage with another man. The scandal surrounding Evangeline and Robert Ray Hamilton, though little known today, was one of the sensations of the Gilded Age, a sordid, gripping tale involving bigamy, bribery, sex, and violence.

When the salacious Hamilton story emerged in during Eva’s trial for the August 1889 stabbing, it commanded unprecedented national and international newspaper coverage thanks to the telegraph and the recently founded Associated Press. For the New York dailies, eager to capture readers through provocative headlines, Ray and Eva were a godsend.

As lurid details emerged, the public’s fascination grew—how did a man of Hamilton’s stature become entangled with such an adventuress? Nellie Bly, the world-famous investigative reporter, finagled an exclusive interview with Eva after her conviction. Hamilton’s death under mysterious circumstances, a year after the stabbing, added to the intrigue.

Through personal correspondence, court records, and sensational newspaper accounts, The Scandalous Hamiltons explores not only the full, riveting saga of ill-fated Ray and Eva, but the rise of tabloid journalism and celebrity in a story that is both a fascinating slice of pop culture history and a timeless tale of ambition, greed, and obsession. 

QOTD: what are you reading this week? 

I’m reading Lessons in Chemistry and loving it.

#thescandaloushamiltons #billshaffer #kensingtonpublishing #betweenthechapters #tlcbooktours #gildedage #hamilton #conartist #scandal #nelliebly #tabloidjournalsim #truthisstrangerthanfiction

Golden Girl

 

Author: Elin Hilderbrand

Publisher: Little Brown

Year: 2021

😎 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 😎

Golden Girl was this month’s read for my book club. The story revolves around best selling author Vivian Howe who is killed by a hit and run driver. I’m not giving anything away because this happens right at the beginning. But Vivi goes to what I would say is a way-station on the way to heaven. Her afterlife guide allows Vivi to watch over her family for the summer. Her guide also gives Vivi three “nudges” that she can use to influence a person or an outcome on earth. 

So Vivi watches how her three children, ex husband, and her best friend deal with their grief at losing her so suddenly. Vivi also looks back at her life and recalls her teenage years growing up in a small town in Ohio- especially a long buried secret regarding her high school boyfriend. It’s a secret that might be revealed in her soon to be published novel. And since this is an Elin Hilderbrand novel, it’s also a love letter to Nantucket. 

I thought this was an entertaining family drama-rama with a little side dish of who killed Vivi. It’s a perfect summertime read for the beach or by the pool. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

QOTD: what are you reading this week? 

I’m reading the NetGalley ARC of Run Time by Catherine Ryan Howard. 

#goldengirl #elinhilderbrand #littlebrown #bookclubread #summerread #nantucket #contemparyfiction #familydrama #heavancanwait #hitandrun #grief #crimefiction #bookstagram #igreads #bibliophile #bibliophilelife #reader #bookworm 

The Woman Underwater

 

🎊 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫 🎊

Thank you to Secret Harbor Press author @pennygoetjenmysteryauthor and @prbythebook for inviting me to be part of this tour and the #giftedcopy of The Woman Underwater. This looks like a perfect contemporary mystery to read by the pool or on the beach this summer. 

Here’s the synopsis: 

No one disappears without a trace....

Don't try to tell Victoria Sands that time heals all wounds. It doesn't work that way for a woman who's lost her husband the way she did. She was never able to say goodbye. Never able to arrange a memorial. Receive friends at the service. Write thank-you notes for the flowers and donations sent in his name. Because it didn't happen that way.

Victoria's husband never returned home at the end of a work day. And no one seems to know what happened to him.

In the seven years since his disappearance, no witnesses have stepped forward and no credible evidence has been collected-not even his car. The few tenuous leads the police had are now ice cold. He simply vanished on a field trip with the private boarding school where he taught behind stone walls-the same school their son now attends.

But someone has to know what happened. And that someone may be closer to Victoria than she realizes.

I can’t wait to dive into this atmospheric mystery that features a strong female main character. The Woman Underwater publishes on July 26th, so make sure you add it to your #TBR. 

QOTD: How’s everyone doing? 

I’m good, just been busy with stuff. 

#TheWomanUnderwater #contemporaryfiction #mystery #bookstagram #pennygoetjen #disappearance #igreads #TBR #giftedcopy #booksbooksbooks #booknerd #alwaysreading #greatful #somanybookssolittletime #bibliophile #readerlife #suspensefiction #mysteryfiction #publishingsoon

June Reading Wrap Up

 

📚 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐔𝐩 📚

Happy July! And happy Canada Day to any booksta friends up North! 

June was a good reading month for me. But honestly, every month is a good reading month for me. 😀 I had a nice mix of audiobooks and print books. I don’t think I’ve gotten around to writing up reviews for most of them. My bad! 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 

The Cartographers - loved this unique story of a map, obsession, and a magical town. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Canary in a Coal Mine - down on his heels, PI takes on a case that turns out to be more than he bargained for. 

🎧Gone Dark- the nation’s power grid has failed, causing widespread panic and chaos. A teenage girl and her friends trek to find safety with her off the grid father. 

🎧 The Patron Saint of Second Chances - an man’s little lie to save his sleepy little Italian village snowballs into something big. 

Notes on an Execution - a killer’s story is told through the points of view of three women who impacted his life. 

🎧 The It Girl - a woman begins to question the events surrounding the murder of her college roommate which occurred years earlier. 

Dead Silence - a small crew discovers a long lost luxury cruise ship and are confronted with the horrors that took place on the space ship. 

🎧 The Mercies- set in the 1600s, a tiny fishing village on a remote island Is devastated when a sudden and viscous storm wipes out all the villager’s men. As the women work to survive and rebuild their lives, a threat arises- a witch hunt. 

The Other Mother - a teenage boy struggles to cope with the death of his father, caring for his younger siblings, his mother’s remarriage, and a huge secret. 

🎧 The Fourth Money - a serial killer has terrorized Chicago for five years when an unidentified body is found with evidence of the serial killer’s newest victim. 

A Scandal in Brooklyn - Irene Adler and her friend Tommy Diaz investigate a man’s death in this high tech locked room mystery. 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Audio for the gifted audiobooks of  Gone Dark, The Patron Saint of Second Chances and The It Girl! Thank you to Down and Out Books for the gifted copy of Canary in the Coal Mine! Thank you to Amazon Publishing for the digital review copy of A Scandal in Brooklyn! 

QOTD: what was your favorite June read? 

#readingwrapup #junewrapup #monthlyrecap #bookstagram #igreads #audiobooks #audiobookstagram #alwaysreading #cantbelieveitsjulyalready