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Let’s talk about books. What type of book do you like to read? Do you stick to the same authors or are you willing to take a chance on something radically different from your norm? I have a cluster of authors that I gobble up the new books they put out like a binge eater…all in one sitting. And in between waiting for said authors to put out the next book, I have a group of “fill in” authors. And then there are the ones I read because I am so very curious about everything. It has been pointed out to me that my reading list is probably linked to Homeland Security but how can you have an opinion on anything if you haven’t fully researched it?

On my bookshelf you will find every James Patterson novel, every Laurell K. Hamilton, every Stuart Woods, Harlan Coben, Catherine Coulter, Iris Johansen, Anne Rice, Laura Childs, Tom Clancy, George R.R.Martin, Kim Harrison, Kathy Reichs, Patricia Cornwell, Lisa Scottoline, Lisa Unger, Karin Slaughter, Don Winslow, Sara Blaedel along with all the classics. I don’t do romance books, no heaving bosoms or glistening abs for me.

Reading is a magical thing that can take you places you would never have access to in the living world. I love everything about books. The cover, the feel and smell of the paper, it all has to come together for me.  Books are like a good friend who stays around. My grandmother told me once “Never get rid of a book or your land.”  I paid attention to that one. Not so much on the other advice, much to the chagrin of my mother.

So here we are going to be talking about books. What we’ve read, what we are reading and what we hope to read. I find it so interesting that two people can read the same book and have totally different takes on it. But that is the fun of books and imagination. Everyone’s is different and I am intrigued by those different opinions.

Stick around for some really good, new authors I have found and feel free to make suggestions and comments!  Join us on Facebook for free books, authors looking for reviewers and new releases and giveaways! On Twitter @GaPirate  Email me at piratepatty@hotmail.com. Have your Marketing people or Publisher contact me for reviews.

THE LAST THING SHE REMEMBERS by J.S.MONROE

The Last Thing She Remembers

I can’t remember my name.

On Day One, we meet a young woman. From our point of view, we see someone who has suffered some type of trauma and only knows that her things are gone and she is in the village of Wiltshire, knocking on the door of her own house. She knows it is her house but she can’t fully explain how she knows this and nothing else.

The couple who owns the house is suspicious. The police are suspicious. The entire village is suspicious. And more than one person thinks they know her.

As we learn more about her and the couple who take her in at first, things begin to take an odd turn. The wife up and leaves. The husband is acting very odd. Who do they think she is?

This was a thriller, a mystery, with an ending that was both shocking and satisfying!

Well Done!

NetGalley/  May 28th 2019 by Park Row (first published 2018)

 

 

 

 

How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper

How Not to Die Alone

Andrew is a forty years old, single, living in a small one-room bed-sit, working for the council attending to those who have died with no apparent family or means to provide for a funeral. It’s a grim and depressing job.

Due to a misunderstanding when he first got the job, his boss and co-workers think he has a wife and two children and he has never bothered to set them straight.

Okay right here is where I started getting bored with wimpy Andrew and what may or may not have happened in his past. So much angst over a tiny lie that no one cares about. Maybe if he’d move his train collection to a warehouse he could have a life.

As it is I was bored to death by this book. There was no depth or logic to it.

NetGalley/ May 28th 2019 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons

 

 

 

 

 

 

TRUTH WORTH TELLING by SCOTT PELLEY

Truth Worth Telling

An inspiring memoir from the front lines of history by award-winning 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley.

Don’t ask the meaning of life. Life is asking, what’s the meaning of you?

Journalist, Scott Pelley, is someone I have always respected. And counted on to give us the news and the story behind the news. The Truth.
Scott gives us true accounts of people changed forever by the events like The World Trade Center bombing, 9/11, fighting in Afghanistan, Iraq.
I found his telling of his own and others experiences on 9/11 to be difficult to read. The book is raw and unforgettable. Pelley has a writing style that is equal to his reporting style and that made this both a heartbreaking read and a profound one.
Free Speech and what it means for the people. Why it is the most important thing at all times and especially at this moment in history. A Free Press is part of the checks and balances that we must have in a democracy.
For readers who believe values matter and truth is worth telling, Pelley writes, “I have written this book for you.”  Scott Pelley
NetGalley/ Harlequin Hanover May 21, 2019

THE SCENT KEEPER by ERICA BAUERMEISTER *Blog Tour and Giveaway*

The Scent Keeper

“Back before there was time, I lived with my father on an island, tucked away in an endless archipelago that reached up out of the cold salt water, hungry for air.”

The Island is all Emmeline has ever known. Her father teaches her about magic and the world of scents and how they are tied so closely to our memories.

Since she was a small child she has believed in the magic of the island. How mysteriously things appear when they need them. The walls of small drawers in their little cabin full of tiny pieces of paper from the mysterious machine that can capture a memory with scent. She believes it all.

As she gets older and begins to question her father and his actions, she finds her own answers and feels betrayed and angry. When tragedy occurs, she is suddenly removed from her island and enters the real world. A world that is ugly and mean and one she wants no part of.

She sets out on her own to find who she is and why she is so different from other people and in doing so will find out about family, loyalty, and betrayal by the ones you love the most.

This may be the most beautiful piece of writing I have seen in a long time. I was left with a beautiful ending and had tears streaming down my face.

This is a must read!

NetGalley/ St.Martin’s Press May 21, 2019

Scent Keeper - Author Image_credit to Susan Doupé

About the Author:
Erica Bauermeister is the author of the bestselling novel The School of Essential Ingredients, Joy for Beginners, and The Lost Art of Mixing. She is also the co-author of the non-fiction works, 500 Great Books by Women: A Reader’s Guide and Let’s Hear It For the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14. She has a PhD in literature from the University of Washington, and has taught there and at Antioch University. She is a founding member of the Seattle7Writers and currently lives in Port Townsend, Washington.

 

I am doing a Giveaway for this book!  Comment below on the subject of scents! Will draw on Monday!
xxP

 

 

Smitten by the Brit by Melonie Johnson

Smitten by the Brit (Sometimes in Love, #2)

A Sometimes in Love Novel

If you were a fan of Getting Hot With The Scot, well there is more! Bonnie and Theo.

I love Bonnie and her Austen obsession. And Theo is such a gentleman and determined to do the right thing. But you know what they say about good intentions.

Bonnie is back home and still engaged to Gabe. And Theo just happens to be in town on business. When we find out trusty Gabe has been untrue! He cheated! On Bonnie! Which leaves the road free for Theo to make a move.

Only Theo’s mother is determined he marry an heiress to shore up the family’s coffers.

Will they get together? Will Love win? You will have to read it to find out!

NetGalley/ May 28th 2019 by St. Martin’s Paperbacks

Sconed To Death by Lynn Cahoon

Sconed to Death (Cat Latimer Mystery #5)

A Cat Latimer Mystery #5

This week Cat is hosting my favorite kind of writer. Cozy Mystery! And one of them is a mystery already. While Cat and Shauna get everything ready for the week they are interrupted by a visit from the Health Inspector. A reluctant Inspector, but a disturbance they didn’t need. The ladies know that any anonymous complaint toward Shauna’s kitchen can only come from one source.

Dee Dee, owner of the local bakery is sure Shauna is stealing her recipes for a cookbook and is looking for any reason to shut her down. While Cat tries to reassure her no one is stealing anything, Dee Dee may soon find herself out of a job and having to answer for a lot, specifically a dead Denver chef in her bakery.

I’ve read all of this series and the characters have evolved into a family that I love to check in on often. And if you are a fan also, Dante’ shows up in this one….he is one very intriguing man.

Another job well done!

NetGalley/ May 28th 2019 by Kensington Publishing Corporation

 

 

 

 

 

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ASSAD OR WE BURN THE COUNTRY by SAM DAGHER

Assad, or We Burn the Country: How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria

From a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist specializing in the Middle East, this groundbreaking account of the Syrian Civil War reveals the never-before-published true story of a 21st-century humanitarian disaster.

Finally a real account of what is going on in Syria! And from a Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist who specializes in the Middle East. A never before heard boots on the ground look at the Syrian Civil War that is killing the country.

In 2011, President Bashar al-Assad, decided to address the Arab Spring-type protests in Syria with crushing violence on his own people. There would be no uprising here. Instead, there would be a long war that so far has killed almost 500,000 and as citizens flee, terrorist groups came in and suddenly we had an enormous refugee issue. His response went against the advice of his friend Manaf Tlass, commander of the army. 

Dagher uses his own observations and experiences in Damascus and has interviewed many on both sides of this war. Including Tlass. Everything he says rings true. The campaign waged by Basheer has turned the country and the entire region into chaos.

This book could not be more timely. Dagher has shown us what evil looks like and how easily it can be ignored by the world. There is so much false information out there and this book clears it all up very nicely.

Keep bringing us the truth and great journalism!

NetGalley/ May 28th 2019 by Little, Brown and Company