23 Hours by K. Riley

23 Hours by K. Riley is a dystopian novella approximately 78 pages in length. I read the ebook edition of 23 Hours by K. Riley back in August of this year and am finally getting around to writing my review of it now.

I was able to download 23 Hours by K. Riley to my Kindle for FREE from Amazon.

Below is my unbiased, honest review of 23 Hours by K. Riley.

I like dystopian tales, but don't read them very often. 23 Hours by K. Riley is a good dystopian novella that features a zombie theme... I'm usually not a big fan of reading anything that features zombies in it, but I found that 23 Hours by K. Riley was interesting enough to hold my attention. I'd recommend 23 Hours for zombie/dystopian fans.

Below is a plot summary for 23 Hours by K. Riley from Amazon:

I went to that cabin with a very simple plan; drink until the whiskey ran out, then use my last bullet to set myself free. I’d been bitten so I knew exactly how much time I had left. I also knew what would happen when time ran out and there was no way I was going to let that happen. I wasn’t upset about it; I was almost relieved. Hell, I was even looking forward to the freedom that death would bring. Then I found that damn kid.

I am giving 23 Hours by K. Riley a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Dawn Patrol: (Undead Ultra Prequel) by Camille Picott

I am not usually into zombie apocalypse short stories. BUT I decided to go ahead and read Dawn Patrol: (Undead Ultra Prequel) by Camille Picott, which is a zombie apocalypse short story approximately 56 pages in length.

I was pleasantly surprised by Dawn Patrol: (Undead Ultra Prequel) by Camille Picott! The writing is good. The storyline is good. I also liked the characters as well. Overall I had a good experience reading Dawn Patrol: (Undead Ultra Prequel) by Camille Picott. I'm not sure I'll read the rest of the series, but I would recommend this short story.

I was able to download Dawn Patrol: (Undead Ultra Prequel) by Camille Picott to my Kindle for FREE from Amazon. I've shared my honest, unbiased review of this Dawn Patrol: (Undead Ultra Prequel) by Camille Picott here in my post.

The following is a plot summary for Dawn Patrol: (Undead Ultra Prequel) by Camille Picott from Amazon:

What if running from the undead is the only way to avoid becoming one of them?

It was just another training day for Niles. Getting ready for a one-hundred-mile footrace takes dedication.

Twenty-five miles into his run and Niles is faced with the unthinkable.

A campground overrun. People dead. Corpses reanimated, eating the living.

With his skills and training, Niles could outrun the zombies. But when he stops to help two hunters, he needs to slow his pace and teach them to run.

Can endurance running be taught on the go? Will they make it out alive?

I am giving Dawn Patrol: (Undead Ultra Prequel) by Camille Picott a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Little Free Library in Del Mar, California!

13558 Mango Drive, Del Mar CA 92014

In September of this year, I visited my parents in SoCal for roughly 10 days. While I was there, my mom and I found a cute Little Free Library in Del Mar, California! 

The host for this Little Free Library loves to paint designs on rocks and share them with visitors. I came away with a cute painted rock. I can't remember which book I left or took with me though. I simply remember having fun finding a Little Free Library with my mom.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

I've been wanting to read a novel by Robert Louis Stevenson for quite a while. 

Earlier this fall I came across the dramatized audio adaptation of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson on Audible that was free to download for Audible members. I've had some good experiences with dramatized audio versions of books, so I decided to download and listen to Treasure Island in August of this year.

Listening time for Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson is 6 hours, 23 minutes.

Below is my honest, unbiased review of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson may be a great novel, but the Audible original version was AWFUL!! I didn't like this dramatization audio adaptation of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson because I had a difficult time following the storyline in parts of it. It was also difficult trying to figure out which characters were speaking in certain scenes as well. 

I plan to find a physical copy of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson in the future as I'm sure I'll have a better experience reading the book itself.

I am giving Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson a rating of 1 star out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Moonshine & Murder by Kathleen Brooks

I read the ebook edition of Moonshine & Murder by Kathleen Brooks in August of this year. Moonshine & Murder by Kathleen Brooks is a mystery novella approximately 106 pages in length. It's also the first book in the Moonshine Hollow series.

I was able to download Moonshine & Murder by Kathleen Brooks for FREE to my Kindle from Amazon's website.

Below is my honest, unbiased review of Moonshine & Murder by Kathleen Brooks.

Moonshine & Murder by Kathleen Brooks is a fun, fast read. One I enjoyed reading during the summer to pass the time. I'm not sure if I'll continue reading this series or not though.

The following is a plot summary for Moonshine & Murder by Kathleen Brooks from Amazon:

Zoey Mathers had everything going for her until one night she lost her biggest client, her job, and her reputation. Leaving her life up to fate, Zoey closed her eyes and pointed. She would serve out her career exile in the small mountain town of Moonshine Hollow where moonshine flowed as freely as a mountain stream.

Giving up the law to become a baker in Moonshine Hollow turned out to be the best thing Zoey had ever done. She was happy and enjoying life in her new small town. But Zoey should have learned the first time . . . one night can change your whole life.

After unknowingly crashing a battle between witches, Zoey accidentally becomes a witch herself. That’s all before Zoey stumbles over a murder victim and the town’s sheriff becomes involved. Now she’s trying to find a murderer, stop two old witches from playing matchmaker, and learning she’s way more than a mere accidental witch.

And that’s all before fate turns up one more sexy hunk of a twist.

I'm giving Moonshine & Murder by Kathleen Brooks a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!

Drinking with Dead Women Writers by Elaine Ambrose and AK Turner

Drinking with Dead Women Writers by Elaine Ambrose and AK Turner made for an interesting read. Take two women writers, Elaine Ambrose and AK Turner, who've captured what it what it might be like to converse with famous, deceased woman writers (come back to life ever so briefly) over their favorite beverage of choice in unique locals. 

Good storytelling and writing by the authors. Drinking with Dead Women Writers by Elaine Ambrose and AK Turner is a short read at approximately 102 pages. This novella is perfect for anyone who has every tried envisioning what it might be like to have a brief interaction with a female author from the past.

Below is the plot summary for Drinking with Dead Women Writers by Elaine Ambrose and AK Turner from Amazon:

Essays on drinking with Dorothy Parker, Louisa May Alcott, Jane Austen, Erma Bombeck, The Bronte Sisters, Willa Cather, Emily Dickinson, George Eliot, Margaret Mead, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Margaret Mitchell, Carson McCullers, Flannery O'Connor, Sylvia Plath, Ayn Rand and Virginia Woolf.

Facts about Dead Women Writers: 

Most early female writers used pen names because women weren't regarded as competent writers.

Margaret Mitchell wrote only one published novel in her lifetime, but Gone with the Wind won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1937 and sold more than 30 million copies.
Emily Dickinson was so paranoid that she only spoke to people from behind a door.

Carson McCullers wrote The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter at age 22. Her husband wanted them to commit suicide in the French countryside, but she refused.

Ambrose and Turner explore these and other intriguing facts about the most famous (but departed) women in literary history.

I am giving Drinking with Dead Women Writers by Elaine Ambrose and AK Turner a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Innocent In Las Vegas by A. R. Winters

I listened to the unabridged audio version of Innocent In Las Vegas by A. R. Winters and narrated by Erin Moon. 

Listening time for Innocent In Las Vegas by A. R. Winters is 5 hours, 4 minutes.

Innocent In Las Vegas is the 1st novel in the Tiffany Black Mysteries series. I felt like the main character, Tiffany Black, is like a Stephanie Plum knockoff from Janet Evanovich's novels... Tiffany has a grandma that lives with her parents and her grandma reminds me of Plum's Grandma Mazur. Tiffany Black also has an associate that reminds me too much of Ranger from the Stephanie Plum series. And, Tiffany Black is also in the process of becoming a private investigator.

As far as Innocent In Las Vegas goes, it is a light and fun read... I even laughed during certain scenes, but overall it was a flop in the end. The way in which the main character solved the murder was unrealistic. It seemed like she solved the murder without much substantial evidence from her investigating. Additionally, it also felt unrealistic that an unlicensed investigator could solve a murder almost entirely on her own. Especially when the police were all over this high profile murder case to begin with. Like how could the police not discover what Tiffany found and use it to solve the case themselves?
Below is the plot summary for Innocent In Las Vegas by A. R. Winters from Amazon:

A Cupcakes-and-Crime Caper

"I tell myself every day that I don't hate my job... But there's a reason I'm trying to leave the madness of the casino pit to become a Private Investigator."

"Winters will have you giggling into your book!"

Cupcake-loving croupier Tiffany Black is determined to leave her job at the casino for good. She's one small step away from acquiring her private investigator license and has her eye on the prize.

Accepting her first real case - investigating the murder of casino-mogul Ethan Becker - should be exciting. Instead, things spiral out of control, and Tiffany finds herself in over her head as she confronts secretive suspects, corrupt casino henchmen, and a bodyguard with a mysterious past.

Tiffany's poker-hustling Nanna and pushy parents want her to find a nice man and settle down, but Tiffany just wants to track down the real murderer before he finds her first....

I am giving Innocent In Las Vegas by A. R. Winters a rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars!

Until my next post, happy reading!

Scraps of Paper by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

I listened to the unabridged audio version of Scraps of Paper by Kathryn Meyer Griffith. It's a mystery novel that is the 1st in the Spookie Town Murder Mysteries.

Listening time for Scraps of Paper by Kathryn Meyer Griffith is 7 hours, 56 minutes.

I enjoyed Scraps of Paper by Kathryn Meyer Griffith. It contains good writing, good characters, a good storyline, and it takes awhile to figure out whodunnit!

Below is the plot summary for Scraps of Paper by Kathryn Meyer Griffith from Audible:

Abigail Sutton's beloved husband walks out one night, doesn't return, and two years later is found dead, a victim of a long ago crime. It's made her sympathetic to the missing and their families.

Starting her new life, Abigail moves to small town and buys a fixer-upper house left empty when old Edna Summers died. Once it was also home to Edna's younger sister, Emily, and her two children, Jenny and Christopher, who, people believe, drove away one night, thirty years ago, and just never came back.

But in renovating the house Abigail finds scraps of paper hidden behind baseboards and tucked beneath the porch that hint the three could have been victims of foul play.

Then she finds their graves hidden in the woods behind the house and with the help of eccentric townspeople and ex-homicide detective, Frank Lester, she discovers the three were murdered. Then she and Frank try to uncover who killed them and why...but in the process awaken the ire of the murderer.

I am giving Scraps of Paper by Kathryn Meyer Griffith a rating of 3 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!

Witch of the Water by B. B. Griffith

I read the ebook edition of Witch of the Water by B. B. Griffith a few months ago in August. Witch of the Water by B. B. Griffith is approximately 63 pages in length and falls into the horror genre.

I was able to download Witch of the Water by B. B. Griffith for FREE to my Kindle from Amazon.

Below is my honest, unbiased review of Witch of the Water by B. B. Griffith.

I liked the overall premise for Witch of the Water by B. B. Griffith, but I didn't like the ending. The overall story line and characters were okay and so was the writing in my opinion.

The following is a plot summary for Witch of the Water by B. B. Griffith from Amazon:

Matthew Macrae has been tending to the lighthouses of Pentland Firth, in northern Scotland, for over thirty years. His son, Rowan, will follow in his footsteps, just like Matthew followed in the footsteps of his father before him. Soon, Matthew will have to share with Rowan the dark secret that their family keeps.

The lighthouses must always shine at night because their light does much more than guide ships safely in…it also keeps a terrible evil out. 

When the storm of the century puts the lighthouses in danger, Rowan finds himself following in his father’s footsteps sooner than he thought, where he’ll come face to face with the greatest fear he’s ever known.

I am giving Witch of the Water by B. B. Griffith a rating of 2 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch

Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch is a book that has been in my 'to be read pile' for well over 5.5 years! 

In an effort to read some of my older books waiting to be read, I chose to listen to the unabridged audio version of Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch and narrated by Coleen Marlo this fall... And I am so glad that I read this nonfiction book as I enjoy memoirs and reading about other peoples journeys of healing through reading books!

Below is the summary for Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch from Amazon:

“Nina Sankovitch has crafted a dazzling memoir that reminds us of the most primal function of literature-to heal, to nurture and to connect us to our truest selves." —Thrity Umrigar, author of The Space Between Us

Catalyzed by the loss of her sister, a mother of four spends one year savoring a great book every day, from Thomas Pynchon to Nora Ephron and beyond. In the tradition of Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project and Joan Dideon’s A Year of Magical Thinking, Nina Sankovitch’s soul-baring and literary-minded memoir is a chronicle of loss, hope, and redemption. Nina ultimately turns to reading as therapy and through her journey illuminates the power of books to help us reclaim our lives.

I'm giving Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Reading by Nina Sankovitch a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!