Saturday, October 31, 2015

The #NYTimes Top 15 (20) #Bestsellers for the week ending Nov 1, 2015 + Blog Updates!


Welcome! It's been another GREAT week of books and reading! Hope YOU have enjoyed it, too! This post is always up by NOON every Sunday and most of the time a little earlier!

Well, shall we go hit the land where ALL ebooks are mostly $14.99, and maybe a FEW at $12.99? The land where print books cost LESS than an ebook which is a COMPUTER FILE!!! HA!!!
Publisher's don't have to worry how to price the ebooks because they are mostly $14.99 and $12.99. The only way for prices to go is ALWAYS "UP" MUCH higher than the price of inflation, so are we one day going to be paying $20 for ONE ebook? Better not! Ebooks will be GONE!!! The way the publishers have UPPED the prices for ebooks, it DOES make sense for the prices to RISE yet even MORE!! Get ready! (Geeze!!!)
Although, doesn't it tick you off that the ebooks are ALL practically OUT OF REACH financially each month? It sure does me! I can't afford to read them at the prices they are, unless we come across an Indie Author, then they price their books accordingly, knowing we will buy their books for sure because we CAN afford them!
My final thoughts about ebooks are publishers DON'T WANT EBOOKS. Otherwise, they would be pricing them to where we COULD afford them. We have to wait a YEAR or longer now for the prices to drop, and now I'm starting to see the prices are NOT dropping when a NEW RELEASE comes out. What's up with that?
Then for the publishers to price ebooks AND print books THE SAME??? WRONG!!!! NO ebook is the SAME as a print book, something you can hold in your hands that is tangible! Is the internet or things ON the internet tangible? NO! Of course not! The SAME goes for books!
I guess ALL Authors are valued at the SAME amount, no matter WHO they are, which is a shame, because in MY world, they are not! I guess ALL we can do is wait and see what happens with ebooks. Will the prices go down after a while when publishers finally see ebooks are NOT the same value as their print counterpart? The ebooks CAN'T BE SELLING! I have read articles stating as such, too. No ebook sales, yet the publishers wonder why? Go figure!!!

Enough of that topic! Let's go see what made it where on the charts.

FICTION: COMBINED EBOOK AND PRINT

1. Rogue Lawyer by John Grisham
ebook: $14.99
print:   $17.46



2. Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith
ebook: $14.99
print:   $16.61



3. See Me by Nicholas Sparks
ebook: $12.99
print:   $13.92



4. The Martian: A Novel by Andy Weir
ebook: $8.99
print:   $9.00



5. The Survivor (A Mitch Rapp Novel Book 12) by Vince Flynn
ebook: $14.99
print:   $16.80



6. The Lake House: A Novel by Kate Morton
ebook: $12.99
print:   $15.40



7. The Murder House by James Patterson and David Ellis
ebook: $14.99
print:    $12.95



8. Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor
ebook: $12.99
print:   $10.99



9. Kian by Tijan
ebook: $ .99cents
print:   $12.95



10. The Girl in the Spider's Web: A Lisbeth Salander novel, continuing Stieg Larsson's Millennium Series by David Lagercrantz
ebook: $13.99
print:    $16.77



11. The Girl on the Train: A Novel by Paula Hawkins
ebook: $11.99
print:    $  7.89



12. Pretty Girls: A Novel by Karin Slaughter
ebook: $12.99
print:   $   9.74



13. All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr
ebook: $13.99
print:   $15.29



14. Wrong by Jana Aston
ebook: $ 3.99
print:   $11.69



15. Make Me: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child
ebook: $14.99
print:   $16.28



And there we have our 15 books for the week! Thanks so much for stopping by! Here are the rest!


  • AFTER YOU, by Jojo Moyes (Pamela Dorman/Viking)
  • FEAR THE DARK, by Kay Hooper (Berkley)
  • PIRATE LATITUDES, by Michael Crichton (Harper)
  • GRAY MOUNTAIN, by John Grisham (Doubleday)
  • THE NIGHTINGALE, by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin's)


  • Friday, October 30, 2015

    Stacking the Shelves #11 - 10-31-15

                           Thanks to our Host, Tynga's Reviews

    Hello everyone! I hope you all got some GREAT books this week! I don't have a lot of time to talk this week so I'm going to head straight to the books, but first I AM going to remind you that is you have NOT YET ENTERED THE:

     "THANK YOU, FOLLOWERS" #GIVEAWAY
    OR
    "THE SPOOKTAKULAR #GIVEAWAY #HOP"

    BOTH up in the LEFT SIDE COLUMN, you ONLY HAVE until tomorrow, 10-31 at midnight!! That would be Halloween!!! Hurry and enter both!

    ONE MORE ANNOUNCEMENT!!! For those of you who LOVE Hallmark Christmas movies, they are going to be running now 24/7 until New Year's Day!! I LOVE this! Turn your TV's on NOW and you'll see Hallmark and some other channels as well have started EARLY!! The Christmas movies are on . . . NOW!!! Enjoy!!!

    Okay! These are the books I got for review this week!


    The Dressmaker's War by Mary Chamberlain - I showed this before, BUT, it also had a different cover. THIS IS THE CORRECT COVER. This book is due to release January 12th, so I believe the publisher is still making changes with this book. I'm glad I have not yet started to read it yet!

    The Christmas Joy Ride by Melody Carlson - I've been DYING to read this one!!! I LOVE Melody Carlson and she can pull off some AMAZING stories, especially some of my favorite from her are her amazing Christmas stories!! You've GOT to try them! They can be VERY touching!

    AND A FEW I BOUGHT FOR MYSELF! Amazon had an AMAZING sale of books for $1.99, so I took advantage of that sale! I can't wait to read these, either! Even if I don't get to these right away, I at least have them in my amazing library of the BEST books I TRULY want to read! Here is the next one I WILL be reading this December! Every December I get SO TOTALLY IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT I MUST READ CHRISTMAS BOOKS!!! This year, so far as I can tell will be NO DIFFERENT!



    A Charming Christmas, Magical Cures Novella by Tonya Kappes


    A Ghostly Undertaking, A Ghostly Southern Mystery by Tonya Kappes


    Hanover House by Brenda Novak

    That is all for this week! I'll see you NEXT WEEK again, right HERE, same place, same time! Have a LOVELY week!!!
    Laurie

    #Review #BlogTour #GuestPost #Excerpt #Giveaway (3 prizes!) for "Reconnecting" by Katalin Kennedy



    Description:

    RECONNECTING is an essential novel for our times. Katalin Kennedy expertly weaves a captivating story about how the bonds that women experience guide their choices -- and ultimately destiny -- through relationships that can be as messy and wondrous as life itself. As we get to know Marlie and her enquiring mind, her pondering of crucial issues and ensuing flashes of insight reveal how love and friendship, with a good dose of providence, can guide our lives and lead to wisdom. This book is as heart-warming and comforting as a good feast for the soul. We are left wanting to share more time with Marlie and her distinctive friends.
    MY TAKE:
    4 Stars!
    “When we get to be older women, we’ll find a place to live together.”
    This is exactly what these four almost lifelong friends did, too! All four of them are now retired, 65, or maybe a year or two older, and ready to start that NEW life, even if it didn’t quite hit them until they were all moved in and everything had settled down. The neat thing is they ended up both accidentally and intentionally finding condo’s all in the same building where only one of them lived to start off with and who suggested they live together in her condo building where each could own their own condo, yet still be living together, yet individually as well, all at the same time like they said way back when. Now they were ready to start their NEW lives, and together. What each of these women realize is they are starting a new life with their friends, but it hits them individually, too, as everything they used to know that defines them, and the things they used to do in their lives is now completely different. Gone are the ‘regular’ days where they got up for work to do this or that, and now it’s time to make new days, a new life.
    One of the women said this is the third stage of life, and they should be full of wisdom. She was challenged by that, not quite agreeing as that put a lot of pressure on them as it was!
    All of the women start learning what it was that is now defining them, slowly, one by one. One woman adopts a new dog, another realizes she is a lesbian and follows that route, now out in the open, in front of her friends while another friend is so into mysticism that she thinks everything that happens in her life is a sign from her late husband, and I had to laugh at some of the things she came up with, out of the blue as some things were funny, at least I thought. She was so serious about it and there were so many signs she thought her late husband was sending her.
    I have to say a lot of the things these women realized were things I never gave thought to, such as this period in life being such another defining time in life, a time to remake ourselves as we really are new people again, and this author takes us on these women’s new discoveries about themselves, and some of them even learn things about their families they never knew, thanks to their children. This was an enjoyable book putting a new perspective on our lives, from our retirement years and beyond into the days ahead.
    I would like to thank the publisher, Baico Publishing, for providing me a copy of this book at no cost to me in exchange that I write a review about this book of my own opinion.


    Excerpt from “Reconnecting” what Iris saw:  Pages 247-249


    I keep waiting for that bolt of lightning which will zap me back once more to the innocence and comfort I used to accept about my belief. But, as hard as I try, I’m not attaining what I once felt. And I keep having such astounding dreams! They are so strange, but so very real. I can see the last one, as though it were some vision before my waking eyes. I’ve even written it down, attempting to make sense of it, to no avail. You have given me such comfort and I am hoping that you will let me prevail upon you one more time and ask that you read what I’ve written about the dream. Does it mean anything?


    What I saw in my dream was totally vivid. First there was an eye, not my own. It was clear and almond shaped belonging to different faces but the eye was always the same and distinct – not frightening – but evidently searching. Then what became most pronounced was a face with a beard; the beard was first white then red and then turned to flames that would not go out. Was that Michelangelo’s God and Moses merged into one or someone else whom I may have known?
    Then the face was no more – but now darkness set in. And when the darkness opened as though it were a curtain, which was parted from the middle, what I saw were brilliant colours arcing like a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. I knew about rainbows because my name Iris comes from the Greek Goddess, the Messenger from Olympus, and Goddess of sea and sky and the rainbow. I remembered that the rainbow is also a sign of a covenant from God to Noah that he would never again destroy the planet.
    As I thought about these things, the rainbow disappeared and what became visible was the cosmos − the universe with spinning planets which I had heard of others seeing but I never had. Then the canvas of my mind became a map. No, not a map; it was a globe. At least that’s what it felt like because I could clearly see Africa and then another view as the globe slowly turned this time to Australia and then to Italy. Maybe I saw these land masses because they are poles apart and I know them geographically. But the colours were all wrong. The land masses were all red and where the water should have been was all black. And I couldn’t tell if this was the beginning of time or the end – the Alpha and the Omega all rolled into one. I wanted to conjure the black to turn to blue. And I did. And then I conjured the red to turn to green. That took longer first turning yellowish, starting in the Americas but in the end all did turn green though only briefly until it all looked cosmic again with red and deep violet flowing like a great river.

    And then out at the right northern corner of the dark universe I noticed something forming ever so slowly. There was turbulence – a red, gold and blue cyclone that turned clearly to a gold white tunnel with a separate streak emerging from it like a lightning bolt; but then it became what I knew as one of William Blake’s paintings called ‘Ancient of Days’. It is God all alone, all powerful surrounded by cosmic fire with his white beard hurled in fury to the side, his hand outstretched wielding a three pronged lightning bolt through his fingers. I remembered something similar from a postcard sent years before by a friend. This image remained the longest in my vision moving slowly but clearly. Then the tunnel receded and a dark opaque cloud began to move over the entire space. In the end the mass flowed from violet to blue to green to yellow to orange and then drifted to red rolling mists no longer distinguishable just gliding in an arc − back to cosmo

    THE AUTHOR, Katalin Kennedy

    About Katalin Kennedy:

    Katalin (András) Kennedy escaped from Hungary with her parents on Christmas Eve 1956. She married Duncan Scott Kennedy in 1972 and graduated from Ottawa’s Carleton University. In the latter part of her career, she managed major national projects with Health Canada’s Family Violence Prevention Programs, until her retirement. Her beloved soul mate, the Rev. D. S.  Kennedy passed away in 2006. She now resides in Cornwall, Ontario and continues her involvement in various organizations: Canadian Federation of University Women, Probus Club of Cornwall and Area, Encore Seniors’ Education Program and the Cornwall and Regional Writers’ Society. For ten years she was a columnist for Seaway News. In 2012, Kennedy launched her first novel “The Women Gather” and in June 2015 “Reconnecting” was also released by Baico Publishing.

    You can find this author at these places!
    Katalin Kennedy's website: http://katalinkennedy.com 
    Reach her on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/emesesdreamprod
    Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/EmesesDreamProduction


    GUEST POST BY KATALIN KENNEDY:

    Laurie, 
    Thank you so much for agreeing to host me and my new novel “Reconnecting” on your web site Laurie Here - Contemporary Fiction and More.


    Topic: "What is your MUSE for writing? How did your Muse end up becoming your muse?"


    What huge questions these and how interesting ‒ as they compel me to explore my imagination yet again, from a new perspective.


    When I was a child, living in Hungary, the stories read to me were the gloomy and dark stuff of European fairy tales, including the many stories written by the Grimm brothers. The impression I still vividly remember was my fear of the horrid witch in the “Hansel and Gretel” story. Others I recall were steeped in superstition with dark and evil creatures that transformed into human form and visa-versa. It wasn’t until I came to Canada at the age of eight, and was given J. M. Barrie’s “Peter Pan” to read, that the world of  ‘light’ captured my imagination. The book opened  a window to enjoyment and merriment; even the mean old Captain Hook represented nothing more than an adventure to pursue and defeat.


    I turn to these memories as the backdrop of the plane of thought from where my ‘muse’ originated. Childhood is the unencumbered phase of development which can readily venture into that other dimension where adults fear to tread. Although, tucked in the depth of adult thoughts, we know this probably exists, but we have a need to define such matters logically. So we acknowledge the ‘mythology’ of the Greek and Roman gods. And we weave a faith based acceptance about the ‘miracles’ of the Bible – all the while shying away from the ‘mystic’ as something that isn’t really, real. Or we prefer a pseudo-scientific approach, which suggests that imagination is simply a bi-product of the brain’s function. Period. The concept that right brain thinking represents creativity and the left hemisphere is about analysis and problem solving has been debunked some twenty years ago. Apparently we humans require both in order to live a healthy balance. I do think this concept very much applies to writing: creativity and control go hand in hand.


    Now back to the question as to what is my ‘muse’ for writing? In my later years, I became intrigued by the ancient “Gnostic” movement which supports the philosophy of an inner “knowing”. I’ve taken this to the next step: there is an intuitive understanding of the mystic within each of us. I ‘know’ that I can consciously summon that other realm and grasp bits of what hides behind shadows. I believe Carl Jung would approve of this way of thinking.


    In my first novel “The Women Gather” I wove this concept throughout the storyline. The characters themselves demonstrate various aspects of this thinking; mysticism, superstition and logic all mingle together. The storyline unfolds at a symposium of 2066, and is told through articles, letters, journals and videos. A group of visionary women offer solutions to create a harmonious future.


    For my current novel, “Reconnecting” I have taken a different approach both in setting and style. Four older women decide to live together in a Condo Complex of 2012 Ottawa. They come from different professions and backgrounds: Marlie the writer, Kendra the psychologist, Vanessa the artist and Iris the health care promoter. They agree to meet at weekly dinners where they discuss their beliefs, their fears, their hopes and their secrets. Over arching it all are mystical messages that emanate in dreams and waking hours.


    From where did I arrive such storylines? Well from my ‘muse’ of course! For me the ‘muse’ doesn’t fall out of thin air, nor is it some angelic entity. It is something quite inexplicable though perhaps ethereal, existing within us. How and what I draw from it, are influenced by my background, my learnings as well as my own personal beliefs, feelings, experiences and observations. It is from all these that I am able to weave my particular world view.


    I have been an avid reader and researcher all my life. I know of the works of Shakespeare such as “Titus Adronicus” and epics such as Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace” each of which attempt to explore the human condition, to find a balance between good and evil. We now have the tremendous knowledge base of the world wide web at our fingertips. We can readily explore what all has been written and reviewed by writers of any culture throughout the ages.


    I do think one consistency among  writers is that we have a ‘need’ to write. Now is that the universal consciousness to which Jung refers, and which calls on us to create?


    In as much as I have always written for myself, I was hesitant to produce an entire novel for the public because ‒ hasn’t it all been said? What finally gave me the encouragement to begin was when a friend proclaimed that I haven’t said it yet.


    First and foremost, I am a methodical writer. I need to research my topic, then develop a solid outline, and begin to weave the storyline as well as shape the characters and their raisons d’être. As I am very much a supporter of what I call ‘the mystic’, I can’t help but intertwine that into my novels. Thus, from the outset, I acknowledged the relevance of this other dimension in both my novels and called upon it to make an appearance. But I made every effort to consciously control how that fit the storyline. It was not until I was well into the writing that I ‘let go’‒ now and again. This is the experience that I call the ‘magic’ and ‘reward’ of writing. For a period of un-clocked time, something takes over: the characters begin to assume a life of their own; the storyline begins to meander in directions one hadn’t considered. When this happens, one is drawn into a rapturous plane of ‘elsewhere’. I have heard this from artists, musicians and other writers. Somehow, we part that hidden veil and like Alice, walk through the looking glass or through the wardrobe of Narnia. For a moment ‒ or hours ‒ we drink in the experience of that other world we created. As the writer, however, we need to remember that it is we, who are the original ‘weavers’ of the magic; and therefore it is we, who must take control ultimately. Creativity must be tempered by boundaries, when writing a novel.


    I need to exist in a controlled universe. I need to know that the sun will come up again tomorrow and that I will wake up in the bedroom where I had slept during the night. But at the same time, I am conscious that I am able to explore other dimensions, beyond this one I consider to be real. Every night, since the time I was a child, rather than reading a book, I have instead closed my eyes and walked into the magic world of my own creation. Why it has taken me years to transpose my invented world onto the typed computer screen, is beyond me. Perhaps it has to do with vulnerability. Creativity comes from the land of imagination. We may all enjoy a good story that someone else has contrived; yet, we as writers are hesitant to disclose what our innermost muses reveal. It is one thing to dream within our personal space, but to physically write the words for a worldwide audience, is quite another matter. We fear the reviews of critics, be they friends or strangers. We are naked and exposed. Is it any wonder W. B. Yeats has written: “I have spread my dreams under your feet; tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”


    I hope my meanderings have provided some food for thought to your questions. Thank you again for hosting my new novel “Reconnecting”.  

    I just want to sneak in here and tell Katalin "Thank YOU SO MUCH, Katalin!" That was NOT an easy question! What a wonderful and beautiful answer you wrote for us! Thank you, again!



    Where to buy the book:

    Both novels:
    The Women Gather and Reconnecting are available in print only, no ebook at the following stores in both the US and Canada (sorry, no INTL sales UNLESS you can purchase your book from the US OR CANADA as an INTL sale. Please check with the sellers!

    US Sales: Chapters (US) 
    CA Sales: Chapters (Canada)
     
    GIVEAWAY TIME!!! Now to Nov 8th, 2015
    YOU COULD WIN 1 of 3 PRIZES!!! The prizes are:

    3rd place: Autographed copy of the print book!

    2nd place: Autographed copy of the print book!

    1st place: Autographed copy of the print book PLUS '1' $25 Amazon Gift Card!!! 





    a Rafflecopter giveaway

    Tuesday, October 27, 2015

    #REVIEW - The Skeleton Haunts A House by Leigh Perry


    DESCRIPTION


    Sid the Skeleton bones up on clues to solve a Haunted House homicide in this mystery from the author of The Skeleton Takes a Bow


    What holiday could bring more warmth to a skeleton’s chest cavity than Halloween? And when you’re a living skeleton who’s not supposed to be seen outside the house, it’s a welcome chance to get some fresh air and rub bony elbows with people. That’s why Sid doesn’t mind wearing a full-body dog suit and going as Scooby-Doo along with Georgia Thackery’s Velma to the Halloween Howl.


    Sid can’t wait to go through the Haunted House—but he gets rattled for real when a genuine dead body is discovered. Trapped inside as the police quickly seal off the crime scene, Sid makes no bones about dropping the dog suit and posing as an actual skeleton. This murder is a skull-scratcher, but as long as Sid is on the inside, he might as well case the joint to figure out who used the cover of darkness to commit the perfect crime…


    MY TAKE:
    4 Stars


    I got to read this book during the month of October, Halloween time, which made this book a really fun cozy mystery to read! While in the beginning and trying to learn all of the characters, I thought this was a little slow to start, but I know had I read this series of books from the beginning (this was book three) I probably would have felt like it was a reunion happening and really enjoyed it.
    So the story takes off! It begins with Georgia who works at the University, and there is a building called the McQuaid Hall where volunteers help to put together and to run a haunted house. She, her family and friends all refer to this as ‘The Haunt’.
    They are all going about their business having fun when a murder happens. All action stops while the police investigate and the Haunt gets shut down. The most worrisome thing is whether or not the Haunt will be able to reopen in time for it to be able to bring in the money it does every year so it can afford to run other things for the University.
    So the Haunt is shut down, and all Georgia, Sid and everyone else wants is for the Haunt to reopen and get running again, Sid included, too! This is the time of year when Sid gets to come out in public and actually roam the streets while walking around. He loves this! All Sid has to make sure of is that he is covered head to toe because if people were to come up to him and really take a good look, they would see a skeleton! LOL! Just hearing them talk about that and make jokes was a lot of fun! There were some hilarious parts about the story, too, such as when Sid would be in Georgia’s large purse or in a bag she was carrying (while hiding) and he would agree with something that was said, he would make sure to try to bump up against her leg! Or they would have sayings such as, “Oh, coccyx!” As well as references to other skeletal parts instead of swearing, too! Those were definitely laugh out loud moments! I found myself laughing quite a bit with the word play and how they had fun with it!
    Back to the more serious stuff now! Georgia and those she could trust, along with Sid the Skeleton, always, and in the safety of their home so no strangers would see them talking to a skeleton would discuss the murder and they all tried to solve it. As a matter of fact, they did not give up until the murder was solved, and they were the ones who did solve it! Not the police!
    It would be a LOT of fun to go back and read the first two books in this series. I plan on doing that when I have some free time! I highly suggest this series of cozy mysteries if they are your cup of tea!
    I want to thank the publisher, Penguin and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review of my own opinion! Thank you!

    **If you look in the LEFT side column, there is the SPOOKTACULAR GIVEAWAY HOP! I am giving this print copy along with a skull bookmark away! Go ahead and enter it!! Good luck!


    Saturday, October 24, 2015

    The #NYTimes Top 15 (20) #Bestsellers for the week ending 10-26! Plus blog updates!


    Welcome! It's been another week of great books and reading! This post is always up by NOON every Sunday and most of the time earlier!

    I hope you had an excellent week! Lately I've been seeing a LOT of articles about the HIGH cost of ebooks. What about you? Here is one article I read HERE.
    Have you read any? Please share in the COMMENTS below!

    ***Don't forget to look in the LEFT SIDE COLUMN!!! ENTER the Happy Holidays from me to You, and Thank YOU for being my follower! You can win a Kindle in the US and $30 worth of ebooks for INTL!

    ALSO

    ***Jump into the Spooktakular Giveaway Hop! NOW to 10/31! Then HOP blog to blog entering ALL of their Giveaways, too! Have fun!!!

    Let's get right to the books!

    FICTION: COMBINED EBOOK AND PRINT

    1.  See Me by Nicholas Sparks
    ebook: $12.99
    print:   $15.16



    2. The Martian: A Novel by Andy Weir
    ebook: $8.99
    print:   $9.00



    3. The Survivor (A Mitch Rapp Novel Book 12) by Vince Flynn and Kyle Mills
    ebook: $14.99
    print:   $16.80



    4. The Murder House by James Patterson and David Ellis
    ebook: $12.99
    print:    $16.80



    5. Foreign Affairs (A Stone Barrington Novel) by Stuart Woods
    ebook: $13.99
    print:   $17.08



    6. The Girl in the Spider's Web: A Lisbeth Salander novel, continuing Stieg Larsson's Millennium Series by David Lagercrantz
    ebook: $13.99
    print:   $16.77



    7. Make Me: A Jack Reacher Novel by Lee Child
    ebook: $14.99
    print:   $16.28



    8. Pretty Girls: A Novel by Karin Slaughter
    ebook: $12.99
    print:   $15.47



    9. The Girl on the Train: A Novel by Paula Hawkins
    ebook: $9.99
    print:   $8.08



    10. All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr
    ebook: $13.99
    print:   $15.29



    11. Wrong by Jana Aston
    ebook: $ 3.99
    print:   $12.99



    12. City on Fire: A novel by Garth Risk Hallberg
    ebook: $14.99
    print:   $17.47



    13. After You: A Novel by Jojo Moyes
    ebook: $12.99
    print:    $12.86



    14. Hell's Foundations Quiver (Safehold) by David Weber
    ebook: $14.99
    print:   $15.70



    15. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R R Martin
    ebook: $14.99
    print:    $18.00



    Thanks for coming by! Again, please tell us how YOU feel about the HIGH PRICE OF EBOOKS! What can we do about this HUGE problem because we all should be doing something to show the publishers we DO NOT AGREE WITH WHAT THEY ARE DOING, such as pricing us Readers OUT of being able to purchase a LOT of ebooks, especially the bestsellers. This is just wrong. PLEASE leave a comment and let us know what you think.
    Here are the last 5 books in our list!

    GRAY MOUNTAIN, by John Grisham (Doubleday)
    ALL THE STARS IN THE HEAVENS, by Adriana Trigiani (Harper)
    DANCE UPON THE AIR, by Nora Roberts (Berkley)
    WINTER STROLL, by Elin Hilderbrand (Little, Brown)
    THE NIGHTINGALE, by Kristin Hannah (St. Martin's)

    Friday, October 23, 2015

    Stacking the Shelves #10 - 10-23-15

                       Thanks to our Host, Tynga's Reviews

    Welcome! Hope you all got some great books this week! I did! I have a little announcement of what' going on in my life right now.

    Some of you may STILL be waiting on getting print books from me, or are even waiting to hear about WINNERS from other contests. I had an inquiry about a book one of you won, and I should have gotten in touch with you/her a second time after I knew I would not be able to go to the post office. For that, I am sorry.
    Here is what has been up with myself:
    I had some discs slip/flip-flop in my back. It was the WORST PAIN I have EVER felt in my back (the doctor is not sure exactly what happened, and has me going for an X-ray and I will be getting fitted for a back brace and will be able to ride out of the store wearing it riding out of the store in my wheelchair that very day as my husband pushes me out of the store on our way to the post office, finally!
    Bummer. I hear those back braces are very uncomfortable. This 'whatever it was' definitely changed my plans on going to the post office that upcoming week, or for not being able to do much but read for a good month, and shamefully, I did NOT contact her as SOON as that happened because I was NOT able to do as promised, and that was to go to the post office that upcoming week, and I truly should have contacted her ASAP, and for that, I TRULY apologize.
    I have to honestly say I don't want to have to put the responsibility of mailing out books to you onto my husband. He does so MUCH for me, sending out the books 'for him' is a LOT to ask for, so I do that on my own, with his help, of course!
    I can't drive due to this neuro disease, so I rely on my husband for 'everything', and after the discs did whatever it is they did, I ended up on bed rest per my neurologist, (when I called the doctor, I told him when my next appointment with him was yesterday, Oct 22nd, so he ordered bed rest for me, and he felt that was fine until I saw him.) He is booked 1-1/2 years out into the future. It is so hard to get in to see him, so I always have a standing 6-month appointment with him because of that. He works out of so MANY hospitals, has 4 office practices now and teaches at Wayne State University's Neurology program. He is the Detroit area's number '1' doctor, (actually the group of 3 Neurologists is continuously awarded the number one choice in a medical magazine for physicians for the TOP NEUROLOGISTS! Unfortunately, though, I think ALL he does does get in the way of his patients at times. He IS stretched too thin, but he is SO good! THAT is the catch-22!)
    I have not said anything to any of you because who wants to hear about someone's health problems? Boring!! However, you do deserve to know because this does impact the reason WHY some of you have not gotten your books lately, and why I am behind in getting some of those books out to you and getting winners chosen, which I WILL be able to do this upcoming week, finally! The back brace is supposed to help my muscles hold my skeletal system together, and I will no longer be on bed rest!!! I could go have surgery, but due to having Stiff Person Syndrome, it causes severe muscle spasms, and those muscle spasms cause damage to my discs. ALL SORTS of damage. You name it, it happens, not to mention the spasms could very well damage any corrective treatment (the surgery) before it heals. It's a catch-22. Get surgery to help what has been damaged and play Russian Roulette worrying if the spasms will damage what has been fixed, or just don't get any intervention, which HAS been my preferred method.
    I've done a TON of research about back surgery. At the 5-year mark, most patients are back to where they were when they started. Even my ex has had back surgery, and HE is BACK to where he was prior to having back his back surgery. The other topper is this would be a continuous circle. It's the disease that is causing the damage. UGH!!!
    When I saw the my neurologist yesterday, Thursday, Oct. 22nd, he would not speculate what could have happened until he sees the x-ray. I already have MRI's done, a LOT of those have been done. He doesn't feel a new MRI will tell him anything new, but he wants to see an X-ray of the discs to hopefully see where they are. I'm wondering/worried if he's looking for a fracture? He won't say. He tells me we take ONE step at a time, and I guess if you knew me, and my anxiety levels about this illness, you wouldn't tell me what you are looking for, either! LOL!
    Anyway, this upcoming week I DO get my back brace, and WILL be going to the post office! (I NEED to get stamps.com and then I'll be in business!) LONG story short, our local post office had a pipe bomb go off in the front mailbox after hours, thankfully, so no one was injured, but my post office has put in force HORRIBLE rules we have to follow before mailing ANY packages out. We cannot package them at home, books included (which is one of the reasons it can be difficult for me to get TO the post office). We have to bring ANY package, including envelopes that will have just a book in them OPEN so they can see what's in the package. Once they see what is going in the package, THEN they okay the purchase of postage, we can tape up the package, they add the postage, then THEY take the package. WE STILL cannot drop the package into the 'Outgoing Mail'. It's a pain in the butt a group of teenagers put into effect for us ADULTS a while ago and makes it a pain for us to mail things out. This is one of the reasons I give out a lot of ebooks. It's easier, and you get them faster, but some of you LOVE print books, and I love to give print books for you true 'real' book lovers! Also, I am getting overloaded with print books and want to spread the wealth!

    If you have ANY questions about books you have NOT received, please email me at laurieisreading@gmail.com and I will do my BEST to help answer your questions!

    I have one book here someone won a WHILE ago, and I DID LOST YOUR NAME AND ADDRESS. It's called, "A Christmas Gift for Rose" by Tricia Goyer and it's a Christmas book one of you won a while ago, but I lost your address. If you are that person who won that book and did NOT GET IT, please contact me!

    Thank you ALL for reading this!

    Okay! Let's see what books I got this week! Thankfully, it's been a SLOW week as compared to ALL the other lately!!

    Here are the books!


    The Hundred Gifts by Jennifer Scott this book does have a very light print to the cover.
    Release date: October 27th, 2015
    My Review Date: November 27th!


    Whispers in the Reading Room by Shelley Gray 
    New Release due out November 10th!
    My Review Date is December 11th

    That is all this week! See you next week!