Tag: Netgalley Reviews

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

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew’s day-to-day is a little grim, searching for next of kin for those who die alone. Thankfully, he has a loving family waiting for him when he gets home, to help wash the day’s cares away. At least, that’s what his coworkers believe.

Andrew didn’t mean for the misunderstanding to happen, yet he’s become trapped in his own white lie. The fantasy of his wife and two kids has become a pleasant escape from his lonely one bedroom with only his Ella Fitzgerald records for company. But when new employee Peggy breezes into his life like a breath of fresh air, Andrew is shaken out of his routine. She doesn’t notice the wall he’s been safely hiding behind and their friendship promises to break it down.

Andrew must choose: Does he tell the truth and start really living his life, but risk losing his friendship with Peggy? Or will he stay safe and alone, behind the façade? How Not to Die Alone is about the importance of taking a chance in those moments when we have the most to lose. Sharp and funny, warm and real, it’s the kind of big-hearted story we all need.

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

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

 

 

TELL NO ONE by BARBARA TAYLOR SISSEL

Tell No One

“It’s not the lies you tell everybody else that matter so much, but the lies you tell yourself can kill you.”

This tale is told from two points of view. Caroline and Harris. Caroline is trying to find the father that left when she was young and she shut out for good. But now her father’s sister is dying and she needs to tell him something. Caroline is determined to find him all the while her own life is in shambles.

Her story was rambling and all over the place and I had little patience for all of the jumping all over the place.

Harris was a little easier to feel for, but even then, it was just too all over the place I thought and the ending was okay.

I would have loved to have known more about the characters before we went on the rambling ride with Caroline.

NetGalley/ May 14th 2019 by Lake Union Publishing

 

 

 

 

 

THE NIGHT BEFORE by WENDY WALKER

The Night Before

This story is told in dual timelines. The night before and the day after.

There is also a conversation from months ago with what looks to be her therapist. Laura is angry, self-destructive and obsessed with finding love.

We find out bits and pieces seen through the eyes of Laura as well as her sister Rose.

Laura grew up believing her father loved Rose more. And then he left. Is Laura simply not loveable? She has a pattern of falling for unavailable men and then exploding when they don’t commit. So when her latest relationship is over, she heads home to Rose and Joe. The first thing she does is sign up for a dating app. When she doesn’t come home after one date, Rose isn’t sure who she is more frightened for. Laura or John.

As Rose, Joe and best bud, Gabe search for Laura, long-buried secrets come bubbling to the surface. Did any of them really know the others? The past seen through the eyes of all of them is quite different. But who is right?

This one sent me in so many different directions! It was like trying to untie a complicated knot! There were secrets inside of secrets and when it all came to a head at the end I was left sitting there with my mouth hanging open! What???

Netgalley/ May 14th 2019 by St. Martin’s Press