Book Review: Breakwater by Carla Neggers

This was a good little romantic suspense book.

Quinn Harlow, an independent contractor in Washington DC. She used to work for the justice department. Her friend and colleague Alicia from the Justice Department is having a rough time. Thinking that her friend is suffering burnout form work Quinn lets her use her bayside cottage in Yorkville. Quinn becomes worried about Alicia when her friend rushed up to her at a coffee shop yells about how "The Ospreys are going to kill me" runs off and disappears into a black Lincoln town car. Quinn tries to call Alicia, visits her DC townhouse with no answer. She drives to Yorkville hoping that she will find Alicia there. Unfortunately she finds her friend dead on the shore, an apparent drowning victim to a kayaking accident.

Bodyguard Huck McCabe from the Breakwater Institute, a startup security firm is out for a run when he hears Quinn screaming for help. He is in fact an undercover US Marshal investigating Breakwater as he suspects that there is more to the security firm than it looks: a front for a group of violent vigilantes that may be headed by a powerful politician. McCabe tries to keep Quinn from investigating her friends death. However, Quinn doesn't listen and starts asking questions. Questions that bring her to the attention of the vigilantes. Huck finds his attention divided. To continue his undercover work, and to protect this inquisitive woman.

I really enjoyed this because while there was attraction between the two main characters the mystery was the main focus. Which doesn't always happen in these types of romantic suspense books. It was a fairly light and quick read. Just what I needed at the end of the semester. This was an older book from My TBR pile. It came from another bookcrossing member in 2017.

Book Review: Terror in the Shadows Vol. 9: Horror Short Stories Collection with Scary Ghosts, Paranormal & Supernatural Monsters by by Scare Street (Publisher), Ron Ripley (Author), David Longhorn (Author), Sara Clancy (Author), Bronson Carey (Author), Kathryn St. John-Shin (Editor), Michelle Reeves (Editor)

 I received a review copy through librarything's Early Reviewer's program.

This is the first horror short story collection I have read by Scare Street. This collection has seventeen stories by four authors. Many are set in the northeastern portion of the United States. Many of the characters meet grisly ends from the hands of the undead. A few stories have very current settings with references to the current pandemic, and the very last story Fatberg, while it didn't quite match up with the tone of the other stories in the book was probably my favorite as it had a little more humorous tone than the other stories. Like many short story collections that I have read the stories varied in strength. Some of these were very good, and others weren't as engaging in my opinion.

All in all though, this was an engaging collection of spooky stories, perfect for fall spooky reading.

Bout of Books 27 updates

I'm starting the read a thon with:

1/6/2020

  

Elengil and I are listening to:

1/7/2020 I have almost finished A Quick Bite and we have listened to about four hours of  A Crown of Swords.

1/8/2020 - I finished A Quick Bite tonight. I am starting

Which was bought secondhand and registered by me on bookcrossing.com in 2015. I think it is time to get it off the to be read pile.

Bout of books 27

I'm going to be reading during the Bout of Books read a thon this week.

Bout of Books 26

I had planned on sitting this round out as this week is crazy with professional development days and the fact that I am in a bit of a reading slump at the moment.  However, I pulled  something in my back and have to take it easy. So I'm signing up for the read a thon  anyways. I know I won't get a ton of reading done Thursday or Friday due to the professional developments. But I don't think I will be in the classroom tomorrow (year round programs are fun) as I am thinking that picking up babies and chasing toddlers  might make my injury worse.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01 AM Monday August 19th and runs through Sunday August 25th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is a low pressure read-a-thon. There are challenges, Twitter chats, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional.  For all Bout of Books 26 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - from the Bout of Books team

I'm starting off with 

Swimming Lessons by Mary Alice Monroe
(Don't) Call Me Crazy 33 Voices Start the Conversation About Mental Health.
 Edited by Kelly Jensen

The hubby and I are listening to:

Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn


8/19/19 Day 1:

did not read for the read-a-thon

8/20/19 Day 2: 

Read 100 pages of Swimming Lessons
Read one essay in (Don't) Call Me Crazy
Listened to several hours of Thrawn: Treason in the evening

8/21/19 Day 3:

Finished Swimming Lessons
Finished Thrawn: Treason
Started Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan (audiobook) with Elengil

8/22/19 Day 4:

Listened to Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan (audiobook) with Elengil

8/23/19 Day 5:

Listened to Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan (audiobook) with Elengil

8/24/25 Day 6:

listened to Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan (audiobook)with Elengil
Started Gluten-Free Girl by Shauna James Ahern Read about 100 pages

8/25/19  Day 7:

listened to Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan (audiobook)with Elengil
Still reading  Gluten-Free Girl by Shauna James Ahern


Books Finished:

Bout of Books 25 updates

This round will be interesting, I have several days off and the rest of the week will be combined  with reading on my breaks and after dinner is made/housework done.

Day 1: Today I have to stay at home to wait for a technician to come with my new CPAP machine. So lots of chances to get some reading done today.

Finished:

A bunch of articles on gender awareness for a class tomorrow evening.

Started/In Progress:

Day 2: Today rather than sitting in a waiting room while my mom is in surgery, I'm at work. I left my copy of Secret Wars at home so pulled the book in my work bag out during lunch. Also I have a class until late so I only see a little of audio book listening on the way home tonight.

Started/In Progress:

China Dolls - Read at Work

Secret Vows - at home possibly before bedtime reading

Artemis - Audiobook that Elengil and I are listening to together.

Bout of Books 25

I am planning on taking part in the bout of books read a thon this week. I'm off due to family medical stuff going on during the week and expect to have plenty of reading time while sitting in waiting rooms, etc.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 13th and runs through Sunday, May 19th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, Twitter chats, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 25 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Bout of Books 24 Reading List and Update page

I am planning on reading the following this round:

The Book of Rack the Healer by Zach Hughes - Commute/break reading

The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm edited by Terri Windling & Ellen Daltow - Home reading

The Only Pirate at the Party by Lindsey Stirling & Brooke S. Passey - Home Reading

Metal Swarm by Kevin J. Anderson - Audiobook that I am listening to with Elengil currently.

Day 1:

I actually started the Read a thon with a book not on my above reading list. I thought I would be finished with the ebook I was reading when I made my planned list. Instead, I was about 130 pages into it, with another 110 or so to finish reading.

Don't Call Me Cupcake by Tara Sheets - Finished reading

The Faery Reel - This is an anthology I have been reading for a couple weeks. It's large and heavy which disqualify it for commute reading. But it is excellent for short reading moments in the evening. Today I read 3 short stories and a poem from it. probably about 80 pages read total.

Metal Swarm - Elengil and I listened to maybe an hour of this today.

Day 2:

Due to an unexpected and unplanned trip to the urgent care and a sick day off of work due to a rotovirus and a wonky stomach I got a lot of reading and sleeping done today. Fun Fact, having to take public transportation and walking a half mile when your stomach is wonky is no fun.

The Only Pirate at the Party - I loved this. I have been listening to Lindsey's music since before her first album came out and really enjoyed her autobiography. I knew she was a youtube content maker when youtube was fairly new but didn't know she had been on and voted off of America's Got Talent. This was a fairly quick read especially since I was held hostage to bus arrivals and waiting rooms. -Finished Reading.

The Faery Reel - Read one excellent story in this anthology.  It was around 35 pages.

Day3:

Back to work and I have parent conference paperwork to catch up on, so not sure what reading will get done.

Elengil and I listened to two hours of Metal Swarm last night, but not much reading got done 

otherwise today.

Day 4:

Very little reading at all today. I was busy busy busy. I started The Book of Rack the Healer on the train home, not sure I'm going to enjoy this one. It is very odd in the little I have read so far. When I got home I vegged out to The Great British Baking Show: Beginnings.

Day 5:

I finished The Faery Reel tonight. Only had two short stories left in it to finish. This was an amazing collection, that I don't understand how it ended up sitting on my TBR pile for so long (I got it from another bookcrossing member in 2013!)

Day 6:

I picked up my nook today while taking breaks from work paperwork. I read Ride Me by Rebecca Brooke which is the second book in the Jaded Ivory series. I haven't read the first book, but I liked the character Mari a lot, and book 1 is her story so I will be picking it up at some point. Elengil and I listened to a little more of Metal Swarm tonight. We are a little bit over halfway done with the audiobook. Which means we still have seven plus hours to listen to.

Day 7:

I picked up a reread of a book I loved years ago when I read it last. I read The Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones. This is the sequel to Howl's moving Castle which is one of my favorite books of hers. This is a bookcrossing copy that I wanted to read before I left it in the little free library in front of the magnet school just South of the 0-5 program I work at.

I also read the Graphic Novel Tank Girl One which was one of the books I received for this past Christmas. I was reading the Dark Horse comics in the 90's so it was fun to read these in the original black and white format.

Not sure I will get any more reading done today as I have some more work paperwork to finish up this afternoon.

Finished Reading:

  

Bout of Books 24

I was unable to participate in the 23rd round of the Bout of Books read a thon due to missing the sign up dates (I read quite a bit that week but didn't post here). I am going to try and take part in the 24th round which starts next week.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 7th and runs through Sunday, January 13th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 24 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Bout of Books update post

Wrap-Up:

Progress:

5/14: read 100 + pages of The Radon file by Denise Vitola 100 pages left to read
5/15: finished The Radon file by Denise Vitola
          started and finished The Weirdly World of Strange Eggs
          Started Miracle by Deborah Smith
5/16: finished Miracle by Deborah Smith
5/17:  started and finished Traveler of the Moon Volume 1 by Lee Na Hyeon
5/18: started and finished Ursa Minors: Wait For The Trade, Volume 1 by Neil Kleid
5/19: started and finished Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei 1: The Power of Negative Thinking by Koji Kumeta
           Started The Optimist's Guide to Letting Go by Amy E. Reichler
5/20: Finished The Optimist's Guide to Letting Go by Amy E. Reichler
Finished:

Finished on 5/15/2018

Finished on 5/15/2018

Finished on 5/16/2018

Finished on 5/17/2018

Finished on 5/18/2018

Finished on 5/19/2018

Finished on 5/20/2018

Bout of Books 22

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly Rubidoux Apple. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 14th and runs through Sunday, May 20th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 22 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

I almost missed signing up for Bout of Books 22! I plan on reading as much as my commute and breaks allow. I am looking at mainly science fiction and manga/graphic novels this round.

Bout of Books 21 - Reading List & Progress

Bout of Books has started! This year, unlike other years I am working while the read a thon is going on. So my reading will be constrained to my morning commute, my break and evening reading will most likely be listening to the audiobook my husband and I are listening to together.

Reading List (at the start of the read-a-thon):

• Cold Flat Junction by Martha Grimes - I am starting the read a thon with a book I started last October and then set aside where it got buried under junk on my dining room table
• The Kingmakers by Clay and Susan Griffith Book 3 in the Vampire Empire series - steampunky vampire series that elengil and I are listening to.
•  Thirty Million Words Building a Child's Brain by Dana Suskind, MD - Reading for work

Books in Progress:

Introduce Yourself in 6 words challenge:

Geeky, Teacher, Gamer, Wife, Loves Reading. #boutofbooks #insixwords

Reading Progress:

1/8/2018 Day 1:

• I read about 50 pages of Cold Flat Junction (I forgot to record where I started reading so this is a guesstimate).

1/9/2018 Day 2:

• I read another 50 pages of Cold Flat Junction, and am now past the halfway mark on the book.
• I also picked up a graphic novel which I completed reading:
• Crossing Midnight: Cut Here Vol. 1 by by Mike Carey 

1/10/2018 Day 3:

• Set down Cold Flat Junction again. The mystery is good. However I'm having a hard time letting the plot grab me.
• Picked up The Christmas Wish by Nora Robert - have read 287 pages so far.

1/11/2018 Day 4:

• I finished reading The Christmas Wish this morning. I'm going back to Cold Flat Junction for my commute reading this morning.
• Today was a trip to the Kohl's Children's museum with the three toddler classrooms. I'm  pooped! no reading got done this evening.

1/12/2018 Day 5:

•  I forgot to grab my book this morning. My nook was still in my bag from last week. So I started reading The Mapmaker's Children by Sarah McCoy. I was so entranced by it that I was enthralled during my lunch break reading and finished it this evening.

1/13/2018 Day 6:

• I had a professional development today so spent the day at the Chicago Botanical Gardens. it was sunny but cold! We took a nature walk and found coyote scat and deer tracks in the mud ;P not much physical reading today outside the class, but Elengil and I have spent the evening listening to The Kingmakers by Clay & Susan Griffith. 

1/14/2018 Day 7:

Books Completed:

Finished on 1/12/2018

Finished on 1/11/2018

Finished on 1/9/2018

Bout of Books 21

The 21st round of Bout of Books starts next Monday. I am planning on reading through the week to start a dent in my goal of reading 175 books during 2018.

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 8th and runs through Sunday, January 14th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 21 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Book Review: A Rotten Person Travels the Caribbean: A Grump in Paradise Discovers that Anyplace it's Legal to Carry a Machete is Comedy Just Waiting to Happen by Gary Buslik

Title:  A Rotten Person Travels the Caribbean: A Grump in Paradise Discovers that Anyplace it's Legal to Carry a Machete is Comedy Just Waiting to Happen
Author: Gary Buslik
Publisher: Travelers' Tales
Publushed in: 2008

Author Gary Buslik and his wife have been married twenty years. In that time they have traveled to the Caribbean many times for vacations, Add in Buslik's time as a travel writer and he has spent quite a bit of time visiting the Islands that dot this area that many consider paradise. The author considers himself a rotten person, easily turned grumpy, which affects how he sees these islands and the culture clash that occurs between his Midwestern American lifestyle and that lived in the warmer Island climates.

 This book is a collection of travel stories that were originally published elsewhere. So at times there feels a bit of repetition that may have been  avoided by chnging the order of the stories presented. I enjoyed the stories inside. They were written with a black humor and sometimes homesick feeling. The author presents some near brushes with celebrities both unwanted (such as the time he accidently insulted Idi Amin) and wanted (trying to meet Princess Di only to encounter her security and the confusion of a local man who just wanted to get home through a blocked off route). There are stories of crazy and wildly smart Rastifarians, pokes at both the British and the French, as well as musings on how progress is changing island lifestyle.

The author can come across as brusk and a bit of a jerk at times. He is a self proclaimed Republican and Jewish agnostic who is married to a more liberal leaning woman, and who teaches in a very liberal university setting. He loves to weave in observations about growing up in Skokie, IL and his current home in Mundelien, IL and compare them to the islands he has visited.  However you really get a feeling of his appreciation of the islands and the people who host he and his wife during their times staying there. I don't know if this travelogue is for everyone. but I enjoyed it quite a bit, especially his stories about visiting Cuba and visiting Hemingway's home.

Bout of Books 20 Day 7 and wrap up!

Much of the morning and early afternoon were spent playing West of Loathing and relaxing. I did read one more book to it's finish and got started on another that I didn't complete.

Currently Reading:

Cold Flat Junction by Martha Grimes (read 150 pages)

Shadow of Victory by David Webber (listened 2 hours)

Books Finished:

Remember Me? By Sophia Kinsela

Final wrap up:

I ended up reading nine books to finish and got well into 2 others. The audiobook is a long one and I think it will take Elengil and I another week or so to finish if we listen a bit every evening together.

Books Finished:

Pioneers Woman by Ree Drumond

Confessions of a Closet Catholic by 

Marvel graphic novel: Champions, Volume 1 Change the World (reread)

6 Rainier Drive by Debbie McComber 

Home in Seattle: The Playboy and the Widow\Fallen Angel by Debbie McComber

The Kagonesti by Douglas Niles

The Secrets of Cranberry Beach by Ted Murphy 

The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh

Remember Me? By Sophia Kinsela

Books read during the Read a thon but not finished: 

Cold Flat Junction by Martha Grimes (read 150 pages)

Shadow of Victory by David Webber (listened to about 8 hours this week)

I'm going to end this with a picture to show the box I was pulling from during this Read a Thon

Day 1:  Day 7: 

Though I just took some books off my desk and put them in the box, so it looks full again :/

Bout of Books 20 Day 6

Books in Progress:

Elengil and I listened to another hour of our audiobook Shadows of Victory by David Webber''

Books Finished:


The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh

Book Reviw: The Kagonesti by Douglas Niles

Title: The Kagonesti

Author: Douglas Niles

Publisher: Random House

Publish Date: 1995

I have a love of the Dragonlance saga. However some of the books are written much better than others. Because I have been disappointed in this series before I have picked up and set down this copy several times without getting past the prologue. I am very glad that I continued with it this time around. The Lost Histories series is a group of books set in the Dragonlance world which probe the historical roots and records the struggles (sometimes epic) of some of the lesser known races of Krynn. This book looks at the Kagonesti - the wild elves. It starts with their founding as a separate people from the more civilized "house" elves. The wild elves with their black hair aand dusky skin still live in the wilderness as the Silvestri led by Silvanos are retreating from the wilderness to live in their crystal cities. Kagonos and his people are beloved of the silver dragon Dalannar who gifts Kaganos with a mystical rams horn which can call his "people" to help them if they are able.

The book is written in three parts. The first shows Kagonos as the first pathfinder and wielder of the mystic horn at the end of the First Dragon War, As he and his people withdraw from the other Elves to retreat deep in the forest of Ashalon.

The second story follows Ashaway as he leads his people during the third dragon war (During the time of Huma). Ashaway has the role of Pathfinder thrust upon himself suddenly when the previous Pathfinder is killed in a raid by the bakali, lizardmen who serve the dragon queen. Ashaway has to find safety for his people while helping the Knights of the Rose travel through the deep forests and mountains to the Dragon Queen's stronghold of Sanction. Even as helping the humans goes against the traditions of the Kagonesti, Ashaway is urged to help the Solamnic knights by the current silver dragon who carries the match to the hown he carries.

The third and final story of the Kagonesti elves takes us to the years before the cataclysm. We see the struggles of young warrior Iydahoe as he witnesses the destruction of the four tribes of the Kagonesti. He and his father struggle to keep their small band of survivors hidden and alive as the Humans from the city of Ishtar and the Silvenesti build a massive road through the forest homes of the Kagonesti tribe. Iydahoe seeks vengeance upon the men who killed his people. A raid on a caravan leads the capture of himself and a young warrior under his care. They are in the caravan wagon of a cleric of Mishakal when the cleric is pulled away by magic - a signal that the thirteen days before the end of the world is to arrive. Iydahoe and his tribesman escape with the help of a priestess Vanisia and return to his tribe. They are led to go up into the mountains by the mystic Grandfather Ram and are saved from the water that rushes in and destroys Ishtar and created the Newsea as the Cataclysm breaks the world of Ansalon.

I really enjoyed how this fills in some of the history to events before the cataclysm.

Bout of Books 20 Day 5

Starting a new book from the box under my desk. This has been on my bookcrossing TBR pile since 2015 but may have been in my TBR pile since 2014. 

Currently Reading:

The Long Secret by Louise Fitzhugh

Books Finished:

The Kagonesti by Douglas Niles
The Secrets of Cranberry Beach by Ted Murphy