Top Ten Tuesday #7

Here is part two of my 20 books to read in 2020. They are not in any particular order. The synopsis will be coming from Good Reads as usual.

 I chose this book because I just received an e-arc from NetGalley so I need to read this one first before the sequel. A girl who can speak to gods must save her people without destroying herself.

A prince in danger must decide who to trust.

A boy with a monstrous secret waits in the wings.

Together, they must assassinate the king and stop the war.

In a centuries-long war where beauty and brutality meet, their three paths entwine in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Wicked Saints is the thrilling start to Emily A. Duncan’s devastatingly Gothic Something Dark and Holy trilogy.

 This has been on shelves for a long time. I bought this book in Texas when we took my soon to be daughter-in-law to visit the Old Town Springs. My son and daughter-in-law have been married almost 11 years now. It is time to read this book. I couldn't find the synopsis on good reads so this is what the back of the book says. The Amish, one of America's most intriguing people, have survived for 300 years! While much has been written on the Amish, little has appeared about their history.
This newly revised and updated book brings together in one volume a thorough history of the Amish people. From their beginnings in Europe through their settlement in North America, the Amish have struggled to maintain their beliefs and traditions in often hostile settings.
Atlantic crossings, westward migration, military conscription, and compulsory school laws were just a few of the many challenges to the Amish church through the years. Caught in the currents and conflicts of national life, the Amish have remained a distinct people in America's melting pot.

 This book was recommended to me for me to understand David's learning disability. He has a form of dyslexia but it is actually more of a form of dysgraphia. Two neurolearning experts reveal the hidden benefits of having a dyslexic brain.

In this paradigm-shifting book, neurolearning experts Drs. Brock and Fernette Eide describe an exciting new brain science that reveals that dyslexic people have unique brain structure and organization. While the differences are responsible for certain challenges with literacy and reading, the dyslexic brain also gives a predisposition to important skills, and special talents.

While dyslexics typically struggle to decode the written word, they often also excel in such areas of reasoning as mechanical (required for architects and surgeons), interconnected (artists and inventors); narrative (novelists and lawyers), and dynamic (scientists and business pioneers). The Dyslexic Advantage provides the first complete portrait of dyslexia

 This book I have borrowed from Bekah. I really need to finish this last book and get it back to her.
World of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes --
General introduction / by Kyle Freeman --
Introduction to Volume II / by Kyle Freeman --
Note on conveyances --
Return of Sherlock Holmes: Adventure of the empty house ; Adventure of the Norwood builder ; Adventure of the dancing men ; Adventure of the solitary cyclist ; Adventure of the priory school ; Adventure of Black Peter ; Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton ; Adventure of the six Napoleons ; Adventure of the three students ; Adventure of the golden ponce-nez ; Adventure of the missing three-quarter ; Adventure of the Abbey Grange ; Adventure of the second stain --
Valley of fear --
His last bow: Adventure of Wisteria Lodge: Singular experience of Mr. John Scott Eccles ; Tiger of San Pedro ; Adventure of the cardboard box ; Adventure of the red circle ; Adventure of Bruce-Partington plans ; Adventure of the dying detective ; Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax ; Adventure of the devil's foot ; His last bow --
Case book of Sherlock Holmes: Adventure of the illustrious client ; Adventure of the blanched soldier ; Adventure of the Mazarin stone ; Adventure of the three gables ; Adventure of the Sussex vampire ; Adventure of the three garridebs ; Problem of Thor Bridge ; Adventure of the creeping man ; Adventure of the lion's mane ; Adventure of the veiled lodger ; Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place ; Adventure of the retired colourman --
Introduction to Doyle's parodies --
Two parodies by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Field bazaar ; How Watson learned the trick --
Two essays by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: Truth about Sherlock Holmes ; Some personalia about Mr. Sherlock Holmes.

 This book is based off a movie. I have watched the movie a couple of times and now really need to read the book. When we first meet Michael Oher, he is one of thirteen children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or how to read or write. He takes up football and school after a rich, white, Evangelical family plucks him from the streets. Then two great forces alter Oher: the family's love and the evolution of professional football itself into a game in which the quarterback must be protected at any cost. Our protagonist becomes the priceless package of size, speed, and agility necessary to guard the quarterback's greatest vulnerability: his blind side.

 I bought this book shortly after we moved to Colorado. It has been almost 10 years and it is time to get this read.

The year is 1777. America is in turmoil. And Amish life is far different than today.

Pennsylvania in the late 18th century, once called William Penn's Woods, was an assortment of different faiths living together for the first time in American history. Included in this tapestry was a small and struggling population called Amish.

Surrounding this peaceful people were unavoidable threats: both Patriots and the British were pillaging land and goods for the sake of the war, young Amishmen were leaving the faith to take up arms and defend freedom. A simple walk in the untamed forests could result in death, if not from bullet or arrow, then from an encounter with a wild animal.

Amid this time of tumult, Adam Wyse is fighting a personal battle. To possibly join the war efforts and leave his faith, which would mean walking away from the only woman he's ever loved: Lena Yoder. But for that love he's made a promise that may keep them apart permanently.

When Adam withdraws from Lena, she's forced to turn to his brother, Isaac, for support. Must Lena deny her heart's desire to save Adam's soul? And will life in this feral and primitive New World be more than this peace-keeping people can withstand?

 This book hasn't been out to long. I just want to read it and its sequel because I have heard a lot about them. I have enjoyed reading her other books. Cassidy Blake's parents are The Inspecters, a (somewhat inept) ghost-hunting team. But Cass herself can REALLY see ghosts. In fact, her best friend, Jacob, just happens to be one.

When The Inspecters head to ultra-haunted Edinburgh, Scotland, for their new TV show, Cass—and Jacob—come along. In Scotland, Cass is surrounded by ghosts, not all of them friendly. Then she meets Lara, a girl who can also see the dead. But Lara tells Cassidy that as an In-betweener, their job is to send ghosts permanently beyond the Veil. Cass isn't sure about her new mission, but she does know the sinister Red Raven haunting the city doesn't belong in her world. Cassidy's powers will draw her into an epic fight that stretches through the worlds of the living and the dead, in order to save herself.

 This is one of his books that I haven't read yet. I am trying to read all of his books. In Boy, Roald Dahl recounts his days as a child growing up in England. From his years as a prankster at boarding school to his envious position as a chocolate tester for Cadbury's, Roald Dahl's boyhood was as full of excitement and the unexpected as are his world-famous, best-selling books. Packed with anecdotes—some funny, some painful, all interesting—this is a book that's sure to please

 I don't need to read the whole book. I just have to read Ironside and the short story at the end.
In Tithe, sixteen-year-old Kaye is a modern nomad. Fierce and independent, she drifts from place to place with her mother’s rock band until an ominous attack forces Kaye back to her childhood home. There, amid the blue-collar New Jersey backdrop, Kaye finds herself an unwilling pawn in an ancient and violent power struggle between two rival faerie kingdoms—a struggle that could very well mean her death.

In Valiant, the companion to Tithe, seventeen-year-old Valerie runs away to New York City, trying to escape a life that has utterly betrayed her. Sporting a new identity, she takes up with a gang of squatters who live in the city’s labyrinthine subway system. But there’s something eerily beguiling about Val’s new friends. When one talks Val into tracking down the lair of a mysterious creature, Val finds herself torn between her affection for an honorable monster and her fear of what her new friends are becoming.

In Ironside, the sequel to Tithe, the time has come for Roiben’s coronation. Uneasy in the midst of the malevolent Unseelie Court, pixie Kaye is sure of only one thing—her love for Roiben. But when Kaye drunkenly declares herself to Roiben, he sends her on a seemingly impossible quest to find a faerie who can tell a lie. Unable to see Roiben until she has fulfilled his quest, Kaye finds herself in the center of the battle of wits and weapons being waged over his throne.

This omnibus combines all three books into one.

This book I have borrowed from Ashley and need to finish this one plus the rest of the series. This is the third book in the series. Sky stepped out into the sunshine, blinking, still holding the bottle, and a black man, robed like the others, took him by the arm and whispered, 'God be praised, it has found you!'

Everything changes for Sky when he finds a perfume bottle that whiskes him away to the city of Giglia, an ancient city similar to Florence. This may be the beautiful City of Flowers, but things that seems beautiful might also be deadly. As a new Stravagante - someone who can travel through space and time with the help of a talisman - Sky finds himself caught up in a deadly feud between Giglia's two ruling families. Now, the Stravaganti must do all they can to avoid further bloodshed as politics, conspiracy and espionage unfold.

I am hoping to all twenty books read this year. It should be easy if I just put them on my list to reads when I am planning for the month. Right now it seems easy because everyone is at home with the virus. If you have read any of these books let me know what you think of them without spoiling them.
Until next time keep safe and keep reading.

Books Beside my Chair #12

This is for the week of March 16th -March 22nd. I read 5 books which totaled 1,626 pages. This brings my yearly reading total to 52 books. Again they will be in the order that I read them and I will be using Good Reads for the synopsis.

 I was kindly given the chance to review this from NetGalley. I will be having a review up for this book sometime this week. I also bought the book. This is a historical fiction and I gave it 4 stars. Near the end it got to political other wise I really enjoyed it.
He was a hero of the Revolution, a brilliant politician, lawyer, and very nearly president; a skillful survivor in a raw new country filled with constantly shifting loyalties. Today Aaron Burr is remembered more for the fatal duel that killed rival Alexander Hamilton. But long before that single shot destroyed Burr's political career, there were other dark whispers about him: that he was untrustworthy, a libertine, a man unafraid of claiming whatever he believed should be his.

Sold into slavery as a child in India, Mary Emmons was brought to an America torn by war. Toughened by the experiences of her young life, Mary is intelligent, resourceful, and strong. She quickly gains the trust of her new mistress, Theodosia Prevost, and becomes indispensable in a complicated household filled with intrigue--especially when the now-widowed Theodosia marries Colonel Aaron Burr. As Theodosia sickens with the fatal disease that will finally kill her, Mary and Burr are drawn together into a private world of power and passion, and a secret, tangled union that would have shocked the nation . . .

 I read this for an online book club I am involved in. This is a romance book and it was okay. I gave it 3 stars. This is about a family who has lost a member and they are still struggling with this lost. The member who dead had a twin brother and this twin blamed himself for his brothers death. The girl who is in this story was the twin who died best friend but she has always had feeling for the twin who survived. It is their story in this book. It was good and a lot of things going on in both of their families.
Opposites in every way . . . except the one that matters

Shaw Landon loved Rule Archer from the moment she laid eyes on him. Rule is everything a straight-A pre-med student like Shaw shouldn’t want—and the only person she’s never tried to please. She isn’t afraid of his scary piercings and tattoos or his wild attitude. Though she knows that Rule is wrong for her, her heart just won’t listen.

To a rebel like Rule Archer, Shaw Landon is a stuck-up, perfect princess-and his dead twin brother’s girl. She lives by other people’s rules; he makes his own. He doesn’t have time for a good girl like Shaw-even if she’s the only one who can see the person he truly is.

But a short skirt, too many birthday cocktails, and spilled secrets lead to a night neither can forget. Now, Shaw and Rule have to figure out how a girl like her and a guy like him are supposed to be together without destroying their love . . . or each other

 I read this book for Middle grade monthly. I really had a ball reading this book. I gave it 4 stars and highly recommend that you read it. It is a mystery and a page turner. This is a debut novel.
An enchanting urban fantasy middle-grade debut―the first book in a trilogy―set in a magical hotel full of secrets.

Orphan Elizabeth Somers’s malevolent aunt and uncle ship her off to the ominous Winterhouse Hotel, owned by the peculiar Norbridge Falls. Upon arrival, Elizabeth quickly discovers that Winterhouse has many charms―most notably its massive library. It’s not long before she locates a magical book of puzzles that will unlock a mystery involving Norbridge and his sinister family. But the deeper she delves into the hotel’s secrets, the more Elizabeth starts to realize that she is somehow connected to Winterhouse. As fate would have it, Elizabeth is the only person who can break the hotel’s curse and solve the mystery. But will it be at the cost of losing the people she has come to care for, and even Winterhouse itself?

Mystery, adventure, and beautiful writing combine in this exciting debut richly set in a hotel full of secrets.

 This is a YA contemparory. I gave it 3 stars. I read it for Spring into Reading. It was ok but not really for me. I had a feeling after hearing a lot of things about this book. Most of their books are based off of Shakespeare stories. High school senior Cameron Bright’s reputation can be summed up in one word: bitch. It’s no surprise she’s queen bee at her private L.A. high school—she’s beautiful, talented, and notorious for her cutting and brutal honesty. So when she puts her foot in her mouth in front of her crush, Andrew, she fears she may have lost him for good.

In an attempt to win him over, Cameron resolves to “tame” herself, much like Katherine in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. First, she’ll have to make amends with those she’s wronged, which leads her to Brendan, the guy she labelled with an unfortunate nickname back in the sixth grade. At first, Brendan isn’t all that receptive to Cameron’s ploy. But slowly, he warms up to her when they connect over the computer game he’s developing. Now if only Andrew would notice…

But the closer Cameron gets to Brendan, the more she sees he appreciates her personality—honesty and all—and wonders if she’s compromising who she is for the guy she doesn’t even want.

The last book I read was only 28 pages. I had this on my Kindle for who knows how long. I just decided to finally read it. It is about Percy who is sent by Apollo to find one of his back up singers. I can't say much more because it was a short story. I gave it 4 stars.
The trouble starts when Apollo introduces Percy and his friend Grover the satyr to the Chryseae Celedones. Three golden women--living statues--appear in front of them, and sing one blissful chord. Apollo has a concert tonight at Mount Olympus, and he needs the Celedones as his backup singers. But there should be a quartet, not a trio--one of the singers has gone rogue. It's up to Percy and Grover to find the missing Celedon somewhere in New York City before she causes any problems. Capturing an attention-seeking automaton in a crowd of mortals is going to require some cagey thinking. Will Percy and Grover succeed, or hit a sour note? 

I hope these books give you an idea of what to read next. I know a lot of us are at home because of the virus that is going around. Everyone of these books you can find as either an e-book or on audio.
I hope that everyone is doing well. Until next time keep reading.

Come Tumbling Down Review

As promised here is my review of this book. I really enjoy this series and this is book five in the series. This wasn't my favorite book but I still gave it 4.25 stars. I will try not to go into too much detail since it is the fifth book. 

This series is just like the series that CS Lewis wrote way back. That series was called The Lion,Witch and Wardrobe.

The difference in this series is that the children don't come at the same age that they left. If they age in their new world they will age in the world they were born in.
This book is about Jack and Jill again. The first book in the series has Jack and Jill in it and the second book is about them in their world. This book continues on with their world.
Jack comes back to the school in Jill's body and ask her former class mates to help her in her world.
Why is Jack in Jill's body? Jill needs a body that has never died to become a immortal.
It tells about the battle that occurs in the world and how Jack was able to back to the school temporarily. She needs to find Jill before she becomes immortal. There are some interesting things that happen in the story and Jack tries to explain her world to her friends.
Some weird things happen and friendship is strengthen.
I highly recommend this series especially if you liked the CS Lewis series.

The Unhoneymooners Review

As promised here is my book review on The Unhoneymooners.

This is the third book that I have read by this amazing duo. I did give this book a 4 star rating. So far I haven't been as excited by their books as I was with Autoboyography. That is my favorite from them.

This is book is about Olive who ends up going on her twin sister's honeymoon. Her twin sister Ami and her new husband Dane end up with food poisoning from the seafood buffet that was at their wedding. Dane's brother Ethan also goes on the honeymoon in place of his brother. Olive and Ethan don't get along. Why did these two not sick is because Olive is allergic to seafood and Ethan doesn't eat anything from a buffet.

They have to lie to everyone about them being married and Olive is a terrible at doing this but Ethan can do it with out a problem.

It takes them about half way through this trip to come to a truth and enjoy themselves. They learn a lot about themselves and each others family. Come to find out they actually have always wanted to get together but over thinking on Olives part and Dane on Ethan's part.

It was a great story and I did enjoy it for the most part.

Olive was a little whinny and Dane is a Jerk.

I don't want to go in to much because I don't want to give too much away.

I do highly recommend that read this book.

Books Besides My Chair #11

These are the books that I read for the week of March 9th -March 15th. I read 6 books which totaled 1,950 pages. Yearly total so far is 47 books. The books are in the order that I finished them.

 This is my non-fiction for the month. The book wasn't bad but not for me. I gave it 3 stars. This is what Good Reads has to say. I read this because Barnes and Noble recommended it.
A brilliant, soulful, and timely portrait of a two-hundred-year-old crabbing community in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay as it faces extinction from rising sea levels—part natural history of an extraordinary ecosystem, starring the beloved blue crab; part paean to a vanishing way of life; and part meditation on man’s relationship with the environment—from the acclaimed author, who reported this story for more than two years

Tangier Island, Virginia, is a community unique on the American landscape. Mapped by John Smith in 1608, settled during the American Revolution, the tiny sliver of mud is home to 470 hardy people who live an isolated and challenging existence, with one foot in the 21st century and another in times long passed. They are separated from their countrymen by the nation’s largest estuary, and a twelve-mile boat trip across often tempestuous water—the same water that for generations has made Tangier’s fleet of small fishing boats a chief source for the rightly prized Chesapeake Bay blue crab, and has lent the island its claim to fame as the softshell crab capital of the world.

Yet for all of its long history, and despite its tenacity, Tangier is disappearing. The very water that has long sustained it is erasing the island day by day, wave by wave. It has lost two-thirds of its land since 1850, and still its shoreline retreats by fifteen feet a year—meaning this storied place will likely succumb first among U.S. towns to the effects of climate change. Experts reckon that, barring heroic intervention by the federal government, islanders could be forced to abandon their home within twenty-five years. Meanwhile, the graves of their forebears are being sprung open by encroaching tides, and the conservative and deeply religious Tangiermen ponder the end times.

Chesapeake Requiem is an intimate look at the island’s past, present and tenuous future, by an acclaimed journalist who spent much of the past two years living among Tangier’s people, crabbing and oystering with its watermen, and observing its long traditions and odd ways. What emerges is the poignant tale of a world that has, quite nearly, gone by—and a leading-edge report on the coming fate of countless coastal communities.

 I have been reading this book since October. I decided I really needed to finish it. The reason it took me so long to read is because to me it was like Gone Girl and I didn't like that book. I gave it 3 stars. This is what Good Reads has to say about it. This is a mystery. When a group of neighborhood women gathers, wine in hand, around a fire pit where their backyards meet one Saturday night, most of them are just ecstatic to have discovered that their baby monitors reach that far. It’s a rare kid-free night, and they’re giddy with it. They drink too much, and the conversation turns personal.

By Monday morning, one of them is gone.

Everyone knows something about everyone else in the quirky small Ohio town of Yellow Springs, but no one can make sense of the disappearance. Kristin was a sociable twin mom, college administrator, and doctor’s wife who didn’t seem all that bothered by her impending divorce—and the investigation turns up more questions than answers, with her husband, Paul, at the center. For her closest neighbor, Clara, the incident triggers memories she thought she’d put behind her—and when she’s unable to extract herself from the widening circle of scrutiny, her own suspicions quickly grow. But the neighborhood’s newest addition, Izzy, is determined not to jump to any conclusions—especially since she’s dealing with a crisis of her own.

As the police investigation goes from a media circus to a cold case, the neighbors are forced to reexamine what’s going on behind their own closed doors—and to ask how well anyone really knows anyone else.

 Maybe I wasn't really in the mood for this book or not but again it was just an okay book. I gave it 3 stars. I will continue on with the series though. This is a fantasy book. I have been getting more into fantasy and really enjoying that genre. This is what Good reads has to say about this book. Fitz is a royal bastard, cast out into the world with only his magical link with animals for solace and companionship.
But when Fitz is adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and learn a new life: weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly. Meanwhile, raiders ravage the coasts, leaving the people Forged and soulless. As Fitz grows towards manhood, he will have to face his first terrifying mission, a task that poses as much a risk to himself as it does to his target: Fitz is a threat to the throne… but he may also be the key to the future of the kingdom.

 This is a short story collection. I did enjoy it but it was mostly about the Wild Bunch in Utah. Of course that is part of the title. I gave it 3 stars. Good reads says: From rustlers and robbers to crimes of passion and the wannabe outlaws who couldn't quite pull it off, the Outlaw Tales series offers entertainment and an unusual look at history.
Notorious Butch Cassidy, The Sundance Kid, Kid Curry, Gunplay Maxwell, and members of the Wild Bunch Gang all spent time hanging out, hiding out, and calling out in the Beehive State. Outlaw Tales of Utah uncovers their astonishing true stories, as well as those of equally raucous but lesser known outlaws and crimes from Utah history.

 I buddy read this book with my daughter Tara. I was a little worried that it was going to bad because of the way it started out. I actually liked it and gave it 4 stars. I am hoping to have a review up in the next few days. Good reads says: 
Olive is always unlucky: in her career, in love, in…well, everything. Her identical twin sister Ami, on the other hand, is probably the luckiest person in the world. Her meet-cute with her fiancé is something out of a romantic comedy (gag) and she’s managed to finance her entire wedding by winning a series of Internet contests (double gag). Worst of all, she’s forcing Olive to spend the day with her sworn enemy, Ethan, who just happens to be the best man.

Olive braces herself to get through 24 hours of wedding hell before she can return to her comfortable, unlucky life. But when the entire wedding party gets food poisoning from eating bad shellfish, the only people who aren’t affected are Olive and Ethan. And now there’s an all-expenses-paid honeymoon in Hawaii up for grabs.

Putting their mutual hatred aside for the sake of a free vacation, Olive and Ethan head for paradise, determined to avoid each other at all costs. But when Olive runs into her future boss, the little white lie she tells him is suddenly at risk to become a whole lot bigger. She and Ethan now have to pretend to be loving newlyweds, and her luck seems worse than ever. But the weird thing is that she doesn’t mind playing pretend. In fact, she feels kind of... lucky.

The last book read for the week was actually my favorite. I gave this book 4.25 stars. It wasn't my favorite of the series but it was still good. I will have a review up in a few days hopefully.  This is what Good reads has to say. The fifth installment in Seanan McGuire's award-winning, bestselling Wayward Children series, Come Tumbling Down picks up the threads left dangling by Every Heart a Doorway and Down Among the Sticks and Bones

When Jack left Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children she was carrying the body of her deliciously deranged sister--whom she had recently murdered in a fit of righteous justice--back to their home on the Moors.

But death in their adopted world isn't always as permanent as it is here, and when Jack is herself carried back into the school, it becomes clear that something has happened to her. Something terrible. Something of which only the maddest of scientists could conceive. Something only her friends are equipped to help her overcome.

Eleanor West's "No Quests" rule is about to be broken.

I hope you give these book a try. Even though most of them I gave 3 stars they were still good books just not for me. Let me know if you have read any of them and what you thought of them. ntil next time keep reading.