I've been using my Kindle more and more, and I just bought one for Hubby for Father's Day so we'll both be able to read while we're on vacation--he's really enjoying it too. If you don't yet have a Kindle but have been thinking about getting one, Amazon recently reduced the price of the Kindle Fire HD--with the Fire you can access the internet, watch movies and TV shows, listen to books on tape, etc. I'm not pushing the Kindle by any means--I still enjoy holding a "real" book in my hands occasionally--but since we're talking about books, I thought I'd mention it.
Anyway, since getting the Kindle, I've also subscribed to Amazon Prime, and one of the benefits is that I can "check out" a book each month from the Amazon lending library. For July, I checked out a book called Opal Fire by Barbra Annino. It had some pretty good reader reviews and some of the reviewers said it reminded them of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books--that sounded pretty perfect to me!
Having now read Opal Fire--and I think I read it in a day--I'd agree. There were parts that had me laughing aloud and thinking about how the quirky characters in this book were every bit as quirky as the characters in Stephanie Plum's family.
The main character, Stacy Justice, is a newspaper reporter in a small town. Her grandmother and her two great aunts own a bed and breakfast and are practicing witches; they think Stacy should take her heritage more seriously and join them. Stacy has a cousin/best friend named Cinnamon and a Great Dane named Thor. Besides that, it appears--in this book at least--that she also has two attractive men hanging around. Oh, there are also some dead bodies--because essentially, the book is a mystery of the cozy type. So no, Opal Fire isn't deep and thoughtful reading, but it is entertaining, and sometimes that's just what I'm looking for.
Opal Fire is the first of what are four books in the series so far. It's available as a Kindle book as well as a paperback. If you want to read the reviews and sample the first few pages, click HERE. I've downloaded the second book to my Kindle and hope to read it soon.
So, what have you enjoyed recently?
I have been spending the summer reading something a little different than my usual fare. I say "reading" but mostly I've been listening to audiobooks while in my quilt room. The books are the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child. They are crime/suspense stories and I'm really enjoying them. They are a little more, um... brutal, than I usually would read, however, Lee Child makes the bad guys really, really bad, so when Reacher "gets them" in the end, it is frankly a bit satisfying. Child is a great writer, too, and there are twists along the way.
ReplyDeleteHi Kim, if you like fun, quirky, mysteries you'll like "Her Royal spyness" series by Rhyes Bowen. A royal heir to the throne, with no money has to work, and ends up solving mysteries. Very fun and enjoyable. Rhyes Bowen also writes another mystery series with the main character an Irish immigrant, female, who goes into the spy business in the early 1900s. Those are The Molly Murphy Mysteries. A bit of History, quirky characters, and a fun mysteries. excellent writing.
ReplyDeleteI just finished "War Brides" by Helen Bryan. I really enjoyed the book as it portrayed life in England during WWII. There is a mystery involved as one of the wives is looking for a traitor in their town. I enjoy history and this story has that but without you realizing it. I highly recommend it. Got it on Kindle lending library for Prime subscribers. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI just finished "Light Between Oceans". I really enjoyed it and it left me thinking what would I have done. That's how I know it is a good book, if I think about days after I've finished.
ReplyDeleteI finally got around to 'reading' THE HELP. I actually listened to the audio version, but it was wonderful! I really had trouble putting this down; I kept wanting to find out what happens to these incredible women. This was all the rage a year or so ago when the movie came out, and I hear the movie is a good version of the book. I can personally recommend the audio version as one of the best audio books I have listened to. They used different actresses/readers for the different women and they were wonderful! Cannot recommend this highly enough.
ReplyDeleteSince it is summer and I can't afford to travel to the beach, I love reading books that take place there. My favorites Re by Elin Hilderbrand, she makes me feel like I am lying on the beach in Nantucket.
ReplyDeleteI have a Kindle Paperwhite and I love it because I can read it outside with no glare and at night with no light.
I highly recommend "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed. It's her true story about her hike on the Pacific Coast Trail. Absolutely amazing.
ReplyDeleteI read Term Limits by Vince Flynn. It's a great novel of political suspense. It is over 600 pages and I could not put it down!!! Right now I'm in the middle of Michael Gill's non-fiction book, How Starbucks Saved My Life. Very thought provoking.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that recommendation! I will check it out and add it to my Kindle wish list. I try to do some conventional reading but my work commute is 90 minutes one way so I do a lot of audio books. I've been "reading" audio books for the last 10 years or so. I'm currently listening to "The Witness" by Nora Roberts. It's pretty good. I'm enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteI read all the time, mostly trashy romances, murder mysteries & some action. I found a site BookBub http://home.bookbub.com/home/ that sends me an email every morning with free or very low prices books, usually 6 or so. I can choose any or none depending on what I think sounds good.
ReplyDeleteI down load them to my Ipad thru Amazon. In your case to your Kindle. You chose the genre you like to read & they send books according to that. There is a pretty good description of each book so easy to tell if you may enjoy it or not. I only choose the free as I would rather spend my money on fabric, but that's a given of course.
Happy reading
I read a wonderful book this winter called "Me Before You" by JoJo Moyes. 1st 5 star review in a while for me! I have also started listening to audiobooks on my iPhone while sewing and love it. I'm up to the last 2 of John Sandford's Lucas Davenport series... maybe I'll try the Lee Child books next.
ReplyDeleteI generally do not have much time to read as I have gone back to school, but since it is summer I have read a couple books by Ian Rankin. He has a couple of different series, Inspector Rebus and Malcolm Fox. I have only read the first two of the Malcolm Fox (Complaints) series and have really enjoyed them. Not too heavy, quick, a good little crime mystery. I want to start the Inspector Rebus series but it doesn't look like the first book is in the Kindle version yet.
ReplyDeleteHave you read any books by Stephanie Grace Whitson? Her books are a great read and some of her books involve quilts.
ReplyDeleteA non-fiction title I found interesting was Frozen in Time by Mitchell Zuckoff. Set in two time frames, WWII and last year details a search for a missing plane. sounds a tad boring but it wasn't. A Walk Across the sun by Corbin Addison was good and I really liked the Light Between the Oceans by M L Stedman. The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin is a fictionalized account of Anne Morrow Lindburg's life also very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI just read The Profiler's Daughter by P.M. Steffen. It is a psychological thriller, murder mystery. I listen to my ancient kindle with the text to speech. While robotic sounding occasionally it allows me to listen to a book while I am sewing.
ReplyDeleteTry the mysterys from JD Nixon who has the Little Town series. Mysteries with a little punch. I really liked them.
ReplyDeleteI found a new series I'm really liking – starts with "The Eyre Affair" by Jasper Fforde. It's kind of science fantasy/magic/mystery, plus with a British flavor, with lots of literary references. It's very hard to describe but quite enjoyable. I got it from the library, but every time I picked it up, it just sounded so weird I got ready to take in back to the library unread. While I was in the parking lot, I read the first page just to give it one last chance, and I was hooked. I've actually laughed out loud. Best of all, it's a series with at least eight books!
ReplyDeleteI finished "Exodus" by Leon Uris interesting, long historical fiction about the birth of Israel
ReplyDeleteand "The Half-Stitched Amish Quilting Club"- a fun light read, intersting characters & wonderful Amish quilt patterns in the middle of the book. Have you looked into Goodreads.com? It's a great spot for finding books to read & recording what you've read.
I bought "Opal Fire" from Audible and listened to it while I was sewing. I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to buy more of her books. Thanks for the recommendation!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing with a full time job and crafting that you have time to read. I'm a stay at home mom and have to put reading on my to-do list to make sure I get that time in. It works. I love to read. I always have a book in the house and an audio book in the car. I like serials, so I've been reading the Alex Cross books by James Patterson; The Walk Book 4 by Richard Paul Evans and 2 or 3 of Danielle Steel's most recent books.
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