2015 Snagged @ The Library Challenge discussion

Ok y'all time for September books! Remember that each book you read enters you for a chance to win a super special Library Book Bag! :) Good LUCK!

Finished reading Linda Fairstein's "Devil's Bridge" last night. Another solid entry in this series. I like the long running characters (mostly), the prosecutor and her 2 detectives, I like that it is set in NYC and every book has little tidbits of NYC history which I find very interesting. For me, the suspense is secondary to the relationships. In this installment, Alex is kidnapped and much of the book is told from Mike's viewpoint. They've been friends for a long but but their more intimate relationship is new, and he is still a little insecure. It takes almost 24 hours, before her friends begin to get worried about her. An enjoyable read.

Just finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Brady. These are such FUN books! Accidentally read the 7th installment first. This one is book #1. I will be reading the entire series and I highly recommend them!

Just finished Lizzy & Jane by Katherine Reay. I really loved this book! I discovered it from the ModernMrsDarcy.com website where she recommended this author. Katherine Reay has written another book before this and another one about to come out, but the description of this one captured me, estranged sisters, one a chef in NYC, the other a wife and mother on the west coast with breast cancer. The story drew me in from the first page. It was about repairing relationships sisters, husband and wife, father and daughters. It had the food thing going for it, that always draws me in. It even made me want to read a couple of classics, Jane Austen, who I must say, I have never read and The Wind in the Willows. There were even references to Hemingway. Not sure if I'll go that far. Excellent read!

Today I read "Eight Hundred Grapes" by Laura Dave. Light, yet engrossing read for a lazy day!

I read Danielle Steel's 44 Charles Street started yesterday and finished about 3 a.m. this morning. This is the first Danielle Steel book that I have read in quite some time. I used to read her books as soon as they came out, then when she started writing so many I kind of lost interest. In fact the last one I read, by the end of the book, I didn't care what happened to the main character at all. This one attracted my attention however, and was actually pretty good. The main character, Francesca, owns a house and an art gallery with her live-in boyfriend of 5 years. When their relationship falls apart, he wants to sell both and she is desperate to find a way to buy him out and save both her business and her home. To do this she takes in 3 boarders, a young schoolteacher, a part-time single dad and a famous chef/cookbook author. The stories that they bring to the house and the development of their friendships with each other and with Francesca is the main story in the book. There are side stories of the dangers of internet dating, domestic abuse, drug addiction, and of course romance. Although there was the drama of a typical Danielle Steel, this was a fairly speedy read and I enjoyed it.

Just finished Dirty Rowdy Thing by Christina Lauren and I loved it. I read this in preparation for Readers & 'ritas since they are the featured authors. The New Adult genre in general isn't usually my cup of tea, but this Wild Seasons series has hooked me (as have Jen Frederick's Woodlands series and Kristen Callihan's Game On series).

Just finished "W is for Wasted" by Sue Grafton yesterday. This is one of the latest in this long-running series. Now there is only the newest which just came out in the last few weeks, "X." "W" was a little slow, but interesting as it involved a drug trial fraud and during the course of her investigation, Kinsey found some more family that she didn't know of, this time from her father's side!

I don't think I've read anything by Barbara Delinsky in years, although I used to read her quite often, but the summary of "Blueprints" sounded interesting and it was. It was just the kind of women's fiction I love, all about relationships, mom/daughter, fiance's, co-workers, brothers/sisters, father/daughter, exes, family business. Yes, there were a couple of romances, but they weren't the whole story. All the relationships just created a good, engrossing read that I didn't want to put down until I finished it. Very enjoyable fiction!

BJ, I know a lot of people really enjoy Sue Grafton's alphabet series, but I don't really. I have however found that somethings I couldn't get through by reading I do enjoy in audio. Maybe I'll go and try her again. It's good to know that Blueprints is good. I have that in my TBR.

I listened to Beautiful Stranger by Christina Lauren. I picked this book because I had read the first in the series, and I wanted to continue with the rest of the series. I also picked it because Christina Lauren is going to be one of the keynote speakers at Readers 'n' Ritas and I wanted to get more of the series read if possible before attending this event.

Just finished Alert, by James Patterson, the newest in his Michael Bennet series. Generally, I like this series, some better than others, unfortunately this was one of the "not better" others! I found this one slow to read, I kept putting it down, although there was a tremendous amount of things going on. Maybe that was the problem. It was just too much to be believable. Although everything that happened probably could happen, it was unbelievable that everything could be carried out by 1 or 2 people within a span of a few days. No one could be that smart. You just have to suspend all belief to really enjoy this one. Of course, it's always possible that I was just not in the mood for this one and would have enjoyed it at another time!

A few days ago I finished The Arm of the Starfish by Madeleine L'Engle. Less sci-fi and more mystery, but still a good read filled with the life lessons I've come to expect from her books. This is such a great series. I highly recommend it to young readers!

I forgot to post that I read The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley. Although I forgot to post it on this thread, the book is NOT at all forgettable. The best of the Flavia de Luce books I've read so far. Honestly, I literally laughed out loud multiple times. What a character! And once again, the plot kept me guessing until the end. Great fun and CLEAN...if a bit morbid. ;-)

Just finished The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer. Another fabulous read that keeps you guessing all the way to the end! I love this author!

Finally finished Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire. October Daye's world is thoroughly built - that's both a compliment and a criticism. The book was so dense with the world-building that the story crawled a lot. BUT I really like the world, so I'll be reading the series. Thank goodness my library has the whole set!

I listened to To Kill A Mockingbird and Go Set A Watchman both by Harper Lee. There's a lot of chatter about Go Set A Watchman and people have varied theories. All I'll say is I didn't like it nearly as much as To Kill A Mockingbird and when it was over I felt like...that's it? It's over?

Maybe someday I'll revisit both again as one is definitely a classic and will will probably be some sort of cult classic.

Sandi

Just finished "Things You Won't Say" by Sarah Pekkanen. The fictional story of an officer involved shooting of a teenager. It was thought provoking and not always an "easy" read. Not particularly enjoyable, but a really good story.

I read Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine yesterday and I have a book hangover today. I loved it soooooo much! I wish parts 2 and 3 were out already.

I read A Curious Beginning by Deanna Raybourn and I truly enjoyed this book. It is one of the She Reads.com Fall book selections and the first in what I hope will be a long series starring Veronica Speedwell. The story had a little of everything, historical fiction (Victorian England), women's fiction (a scarred, yet sexy man and a female protagonist with moxie, with a little chemistry between the two), interesting secondary characters, and a bit of a mystery that I had no idea where the author was going with this up until the end. Really engrossing and enjoyable read.

I finally came across a Madeleine L'Engle book I wasn't so impressed with. Dragons in the Waters wasn't nearly up to the same level as the other books in the series. But I finished it, and am on to more library books!

I listened to Hope in a Jar by Beth Harbison. If you like some light hearted fun fiction than this is an author you need to check into! I've read almost everything she's written which is both good and bad...good in that I'm enjoying it all, and bad in that I won't have anything else to read until the next one!

The library had books 2-7 in the October Daye series on the shelf so I checked them all out. :-) Just finished book 2, A Local Habitation. I still really enjoy the world and what appears to be shaping up as a slow-burn romance, but I sincerely hope October's detective skills improve in the next book. Based on her backstory she's supposed to be a pretty good investigator. I'm feeling the same frustration I felt in one or two of the early Elemental Assasins books when Gin was being rather inept.

A couple of days ago I finished #5 in the Ace Collin's serial In the President's Service: The Devil's Eyes. It was good, but just good. Nothing extraordinary.

Just Finished "Before I Go" by Colleen Oakley. This was a book recommended by SheReads.com in one of their Author to Author segments. I Read the other half of the duo which was - "The Life Intended" by Kristen Harmel. I put off reading this one because I was afraid it would be too depressing. Surprisingly, it was not depressing, although it was sad, especially at the end. Daisy Richmond is 27 and she is dying of cancer. This is about her first few months after her diagnosis (for the second time!) and the way she is handling it, as well as her husband, best friend, and mother. It was sad, but it was also funny in places and it highlighted the different ways in which people handle grief. It was a good read, not necessarily an enjoyable one, but well worth the time.

My binge of the October Daye series continues and I just finished book 3, An Artificial Night. I'm still enjoying the mythology and the worldbuilding. I'm also still a little frustrated with some aspects, but my enjoyment outweighs my frustration since the library books are available. Some new releases came out today that I purchased, so I'll be taking a very brief break from library books and then I'll pick up book 4.