Welcome to "Laurie Here - Contemporary Fiction and MORE - Book Reviews"! Join me and let's escape life into the wonderful world of books getting lost between the covers where the lives of the characters live and their amazing stories take place for a little while! Let's learn about the authors, too! I write "honest" book reviews about my experiences and tell you how the trip was! You may want to follow along with me, too! Leave a comment while you're here, too!
Sunday, April 26, 2015
The #NYTimes Top 15 (20) #Bestsellers for the week ending 4-26-15! Plus Blog Updates!
Welcome! It's been another GREAT week of books! I'm anxious to see what books made the list! This post is up by NOON every Sunday, and sometimes earlier!
My husband made it through his Umbilical Hernia surgery this last week with flying colors! He had pain, but he was a TROOPER! He barely complained at ALL! You know how we women will often say it's worse when the men are ill? I cannot say that! The hilarious part was seeing him right after surgery! He was FAR away in la, la land! The cup of coffee they had given him was the BEST cup of coffee he ever had! LOL! He's done excellent recovering at home here, too, but he did exactly as the doctor told him! He is still not done recovering, and has another week to go, but this week shouldn't be so bad, thankfully.
I have other news, too, not so good news, but I'll fill you in on that later. I will say it's about my dog, Carly. She's not doing well. One thing after another. When it comes to the pets we love so much, life can really stink. I've been having to care for her 24/7, so I've not been able to do one thing besides care for her. Long story which I'll tell you about next week.
On a brighter note, let's see the books!!
FICTION: COMBINED EBOOK AND PRINT - All links to the books go to the ebook. If you want a different version, while you are at the book, just click on the version you would like! Enjoy!
1. The Liar by Nora Roberts
ebook: $12.31
print: $16.77
2. The Girl on the Train: A Novel by Paula Hawkins
ebook: $ 6.99
print: $14.11
3. The Stranger by Harlan Coben
ebook: $ 8.97
print: $14.64
4. The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
ebook: $5.99
print: $4.90
5. Every Fifteen Minutesby Lisa Scottoline
ebook: $12.99
print: $16.79
6. All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr
ebook: $12.99
print: $14.14
7. Beautiful Secret (The Beautiful Series) by Christina Lauren
ebook: $ 7.99
print: $13.08
8. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
ebook: $12.99
print: $14.66
9. Outlander: A Novel (Outlander, Book 1) by Diana Gabaldon
ebook: $1.99
print: $5.75
10. Until July: ( Until Her ) by Aurora Rose Reynolds
ebook: $ 3.99
print: $11.69
11. NYPD Red 3 by James Patterson and Marshall Karp
ebook: $9.99
print: $9.56
12. True Love (Nantucket Brides Trilogy Book 1) by Jude Deveraux
ebook: $1.99
print: $7.99
13. At the Water's Edge: A Novel by Sara Gruen
ebook: $11.84
print: $16.88
14. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
ebook: $ 6.50
print: $12.07
15. Hot Pursuit (Stone Barrington Book 33) by Stuart Woods
ebook: $11.64
print: $18.98
Thanks for coming by today! Hope you liked the books! Have a GREAT rest of the week ahead! If you would like to share what you are reading in the comments, we'd LOVE to hear about them! Here are the last 5!
16. THE GOLDFINCH, by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown)
17. A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD, by Anne Tyler (Knopf)
18. THE STORY OF SON, by J. R. Ward (St. Martin's Press)
19. VIRTUOUS, by M. S. Force (HTJB)
20. THE MEPHISTO CLUB, by Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine)
Sunday, April 19, 2015
The #NYTimes Top 15 (20) #Bestsellers for the week ending April 19th, 2015! Plus #blog updates!
WELCOME! It's been another week of GREAT books, and I hope you've lost yourself inside of some! This post is ALWAYS up by NOON every Sunday and sometimes earlier! I apologize, I am a little late today.
Blog News:
Life. Ho-hum. I wish I had better news to share, but life has gotten in the way of my being able to blog yet another week - again. My dog is going blind, which I'll explain more about below, but she got really sick this week, SO sick, we thought we were going to lose her. Life stopped and ALL we did was care for her.
She has NEVER been the type of dog to get into things and chew them up even as a puppy, but we had two doctor appointments this week, and I guess she was a little angry at us for leaving her here! She killed a cornucopia from Thanksgiving I had missed putting away. I had set it on a table in our room, and she pulled it down and destroyed it. I had to treat her like a baby this week she was so sick. (I could just KICK myself in the rear, but we never had a problem or thought she would possibly touch that thing. I still keep blaming myself.) Everytime she saw me with a book or the Kindle - I SWEAR - she came over and would DEMAND attention be given to her! NO KIDDING!!! We gave her ALL the love and attention she wanted! We had to, how could we not?
Her illness could have been one of two things. That, and we have tried a new snack over this last month which happen to be powdered cheese covered rice cakes. Delicious! The problem - we shared some of them with her. BAD idea! She is back to her old self again, finally, but she really gave us a scare!
We have made an appointment for her on Monday to go see the Vet. That was his ONLY opening, and the soonest. Dr Mike is who she sees, and he is the BEST when it comes to Vets! I've been taking my pets there for over 16 years! Every one of them LOVE HIM TO PIECES!
So now for my baby's eyes. He'll check her eyes, and check her overall health by taking blood, etc. As for her blindness, we knew this would happen - eventually, but no one can possibly be prepared for it. Our dog is a mix of chow chow/black lab/australian cattle dog. Her eyelids, because of being part chow chow and lab, which I learned while doing research online, so this made even more sense as to why this happens, is the eyelids roll inside of themselves causing the eyelashes to rubs against the eyes. On top of that, most of these same dogs have allergies! Yes! Dogs have allergies, too, just like people!
Back when our dog was a pup, we got the diagnosis, and that was 9 years ago. Back then there was nothing that could be done, no surgeries, etc., however, now they do do a surgery, but it is to late for her as the damage is done. We have done research, as well as knowing people who have blind dogs. They do not suffer any pain, they just have a hard time if you are to move the furniture around. Here is an article I found about dogs going blind, and it all has to do with what type of dog they are. Read this. My grandparents had a blind dog for years. She did quite well. Here is another article showing places all over DO adopt out blind dogs! No one puts dogs down, or to sleep just because they are blind. You can read about that HERE. After reading those articles and MANY, MANY MORE, I don't see why we would EVER put her down ONLY because of her blindness.
I am home 24/7 because of my disability. The only time I go out is to the Doctors' offices because of how difficult it is to go out with the wheelchair in tow. I have found MANY articles ALL about blind dogs, and not ONE of them said to put the dog down. Since I am here ALL the time, we would NEVER consider putting her down, unless, of course, it hurt her or caused her pain. That would be a different matter.
How do all of you feel about a blind dog?
My husband DID see the surgeon about his umbilical hernia. His surgery is scheduled and he'll be going later next week, so I have a LOT to do! Laundry, mostly, freshening up the bedding, getting sheets out to cover the couch so he doesn't get into dog hair! Her favorite place to sleep is on the love seat, and as MUCH as you try to vacuum the hair off of the couch, it's almost impossible to get it all out. She's shedding now, too, so you can imagine how MUCH hair there is right now!
LIFE - THERE IS SO MUCH GOING ON!!!
REVIEWS
I have 9 reviews I am working on writing! Yes, 9! I'll be posting them as I can! One book has me SO upset! I'm kind of stuck with that review and what I want to say about it. It happens to be The Promise by Beth Wiseman. AWFUL book, but serious issues the author NEVER talks about! That is what I am SO upset about. It will be in my review, and I'm going to TRY to post that tonight.
AFTER I WROTE THIS, I FOUND THIS WEBSITE! CLICK HERE! It is FULL of myths about blind dogs! It says they even STILL adopt blind dogs out to owners who are willing to love them! They say there is no reason blind dogs cannot still be real dogs! They DO, and I can attest to this, rely on scent the most. They really do. Carly sees the Vet today at 4:30!!! I got her in!! I cannot WAIT to find out how that appointment goes! The BUMMER part is I cannot go because we only have a pick-up truck! It's a 2-seater. One for my husband to drive, and one for Carly to sit in! I have to wait, patiently, to find out how things go. I won't be able to sit still until they get home! PLEASE wish us luck! THANK YOU!!!
Okay! Let's say we get to the books!
FICTION: COMBINED EBOOK AND PRINT All links go to the ebook. If you are interested in a different version of the book, you can click on it while you are there.
1. The Girl on the Train: A Novel by Paula Hawkins
ebook: $ 6.99
print: $14.82
2. The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
ebook: $5.99
print: $5.04
3. Hot Pursuit (Stone Barrington Book 33) by Stuart Woods
ebook: $11.84
print: $21.13
4. The Stranger by Harlan Coben
ebook: $8.97
print: $9.37
5. All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr
ebook: $12.99
print: $ 9.67
6. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
ebook: $12.99
print: $ 9.81
7. NYPD Red 3 by James Patterson and Marshall Karp
ebook: $9.99
print: $9.41
8. Outlander: A Novel (Outlander, Book 1) by Diana Gabaldon
ebook: $1.99
print: $6.04
9. A Deadly Web (A Bishop Files Novel Book 2) by Kay Hooper
ebook: $5.69
print: $5.99
10. When I'm Gone: A Rosemary Beach Novel (The Rosemary Beach Series Book 11) by Abbi Glines
ebook: $ 7.99
print: $11.68
11. Falling in Love: A Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery (Commissario Brunetti) by Donna Leon
ebook: $12.99
print: $19.71
12. All I Ever Need Is You (The Sullivans Book 14) by Bella Andre
ebook: $ 4.99
print: $12.67
13. Still the One (An Animal Magnetism Novel Book 6) by Jill Shalvis
ebook: $5.99
print: $7.99
14. Silver Bastard (Silver Valley Book 1) by Joanna Wylde
ebook: $ 5.12
print: $12.13
15. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
ebook: $ 6.50
print: $12.97
Thank you SO much for stopping by today! I wish you the BEST week of reading this week ahead, better than you've EVER had! Now go on and enjoy your books! See you next week! Here are the rest of the books, up to #20!
CHASING SUNSETS, by Karen Kingsbury (Howard)
THE GOLDFINCH, by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown)
MIRACLE AT AUGUSTA, by James Patterson and Peter de Jonge (Little, Brown)
DARK HEIR, by Faith Hunter (Roc)
A SPOOL OF BLUE THREAD, by Anne Tyler (Knopf)
Sunday, April 12, 2015
The #NYTimes Top 15 (20) #Bestsellers in #Fiction combined #ebook and #print for the week ending April 12, 2015!
Welcome! It's been another week of great books! Let's see what books hit the #Bestseller list! This post is always up by NOON every Sunday and sometimes earlier!
I hope you all had a GREAT week! I had a bit of a crazy one with three doctor appointments, but this time I only had one, that was the best part! It was my hubby who had two! HE beat me! LOL! We like to joke around about that since it always seems like it's 'me' who takes up all kinds of time at those places!
You know the problem with ALL doctor appointments at the end of the day? The doctor is behind. ALWAYS! We have scheduled OUR time to be there, BROKEN OUR NECKS to get there "on time", such as my husband taking time off early from work - LOSING MONEY just to end up sitting in the waiting room and the room up to 1-1/2 hours waiting to see the doctor, while in the meantime you are exposed to ALL these SICK people who look awful, feel awful, and the room is SO TINY - within 3 days, "YOU" ARE SICKER THAN A DOG! Plus, my husband's doctor has a policy if you are more than 10 MINUTES late for your 'actual' appointment time, regardless if the doctor is behind or not, you get one strike! Three strikes - YOU'RE OUT! She'll NEVER see you again! She FORCES YOU to sign a paper AGREEING to that! I'm sorry, but that is WRONG! Is SHE going to "PAY US" for sitting there, my husband losing time from work? NO! After all, I did hire HER! WHAT ABOUT ALL THAT MONEY (it adds up over time) WE LOSE FOR TAKING OFF OF WORK EARLY - REALLY? It's time to FIGHT BACK! FIRE THE DOCTOR, OR GIVE 'THEM' A BILL FOR EVERY MINUTE THEY MAKE YOU WAIT!
Not to mention misdiagnoses such as with my husband. She was SO WRONG!
That's another story. SHE decides WHEN we can see a specialist, IF we can even SEE a specialist, and if her answer is NO, you do NOT get to see a Specialist! In my husband's case, he NEEDED TO SEE A SPECIALIST ASAP, regardless what SHE thought about his problem or not because eventually he would have needed to see one anyway! She was playing with borrowed time! She held him back, essentially by putting his life IN DANGER!
After I accidentally came across an article on some website in one of those ads in the side columns about Umbilical Hernias. Hmmm? I wondered about it because when he gained some weight in his belly a few years ago, his belly button WAS an innie, and now it became an OUTIE! I clicked on the ad and read all about what he had! (No, he never told me what it was - Grrrrr! Husband's sometimes!!)
I also learned this 'could' KILL you! With him having had that for so long, I DEMANDED HE GET TO SEE A SPECIALIST! What was the Primary Care Doctor waiting for? WHAT was she thinking??? How would my husband have known WHEN the time was to make an appointment to first go see HER, THEN get to make an appointment to see a Specialist? He is not a doctor, and he doesn't have to go back in to see the Primary Care doctor for an entire YEAR now. That IS his next appointment!
According to her, all he had was an umbilical hernia - no big deal, right? He had no pain, even though it has been there for 2-1/2 YEARS!!! It was SO dark purple you could have called it black! The color is the blood vessels and even the intestines that pop into that hole being cut off from their blood supply. This could cause peritonitis, a poisoning of the internal cavity of your body, thus, killing you.
Excuse me, but I think that is something for a SPECIALIST to decide whether or not surgical intervention needs to be done, and NOT a Primary Care doctor to wait and watch! I did further searches, and it is advisable to NEVER WAIT AND WATCH this type of hernia! Essentially, this doctor has committed medical malpractice!
So what happened? We have a date for surgery! His life will NOT be in danger! The Specialist also explained to me not to worry. She did tell us about certain symptoms, such as pain, if they occur, to contact her ASAP!
It was a COMPLETELY different story when we was the Specialist!
I have SHARED ALL OF THIS WITH YOU BECAUSE "YOU" NEED TO TAKE YOUR OWN HEALTHCARE INTO YOUR OWN HANDS!
DON'T TRUST DOCTORS WHO ARE NOT SPECIALISTS, OR WHO DO A WAIT-AND-SEE APPROACH, OR EVEN THE SPECIALISTS! Get second opinions, too, (this was ours). Get online and do some RESEARCH! Research, research, research!
This also happens to be how I learned about the disease I have. The doctor who was treating me diagnosed me with Osteoarthritis. WRONG!!! I KNEW IT IMMEDIATELY! Osteoarthritis does NOT induce the severity of muscle spasms I had. It never 'fit'. I trusted my gut feeling. Thank God I did!
We have a severe problem with having good doctors around here. We are so far away from the suburbs of Detroit that they don't want to come here. I don' want to go into more detail about this, so I won't, but listen to your gut! Good luck!
Giveaways - Are ALL listed in the LEFT side column! Go ahead and click on the photos to enter!
Let's say we hit the books NOW!
FICTION - combined ebook and print - ALL links go to the ebook. If you are interested in purchasing a different version, while at the ebook, just click on the version you want! It will take you there!
1. The Girl on the Train: A Novel by Paula Hawkins
ebook: $6.99
print: $8.90
2. The Shadows (Black Dagger Brotherhood, Book 13) by J R Ward
ebook: $11.95
print: $12.58
3. The Stranger by Harlan Coben
ebook: $10.99
print: $12.58
4. The Patriot Threat (Cotton Malone Book 10) by Steve Berry
ebook: $12.99
print: $18.53
5. Deep (Stage Dive Series Book 4) by Kylie Scott
ebook: $ 3.99
print: $11.79
6. The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
ebook: $5.99
print: $3.82
7. All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr
ebook: $12.99
print: $15.26
8. NYPD Red 3 by James Patterson AND Marshall Karp
ebook: $ 9.99
print: $12.61
9. At the Water's Edge: A Novel by Sara Gruen
ebook: $11.84
print: $16.80
10. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
ebook: $12.99
print: $15.74
11. Four Nights with the Duke (Desperate Duchesses Book 8) by Eloisa James
ebook: $ 6.43
print: $15.29
12. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
ebook: $ 6.50
print: $13.08
13. The Skull Throne (The Demon Cycle Series Book 4) by Peter V Brett
ebook: $11.84
print: $18.88
14. A Spool of Blue Thread: A Novel by Anne Tyler
ebook: $10.99
print: $15.57
15. Outlander: A Novel (Outlander, Book 1) by Diana Gabaldon
ebook: $1.99
print: $4.55
Thanks for stopping by this week! I LOVE when you come by! Be sure to grab some of these books at the prices they are! You won't see them this low again! I MUST buy Outlander! A Spool of Blue Thread has been calling to me since it came out, too! We'll see! Have a GREAT week!
Here are the rest!
Sunday, April 5, 2015
The #NYTimes Top 15 (20) #Bestsellers for the week ending April 5th, 2015
Welcome! It's another week of GREAT books! I hope you've had your head stuck in a book unable to pull it out! This posted every Sunday by NOON and sometimes earlier!
This was a busy week, huh? Wow! I'm wiped! You can see EVERYTHING I did in the LEFT side column! Look at ALL those Giveaways in the left side column! WOW!!!
They are FOR YOU! Giveaways, Hops and a book! GO FOR IT! Go enter them ALL, NOW!!! After you are done, then come on back here to read the bestsellers! Hey! I understand! LOL!
To LAVENDER LIBRARIAN - I'VE LOST YOUR LAST EMAIL!! HELP, PLEASE!!! I cannot find it ANYWHERE in my Gmail??? Do you have a copy you can resend to me, please? I owe you your $10 book! I have not forgotten! Thanks a million!
The rest of this upcoming week I am going to FLOOD YOU with REVIEWS! I'm not kidding! I have 7 reviews I can think of off the top of my head I need to write NOW! So watch out for some great books, one book that REALLY ticked me off, and all the others that were great! Bet you're DYING to know what book ticked me off? The Promise by Beth Wiseman. Yep. Stay tuned for the review.
Let's say we get to the books!
FICTION - COMBINED EBOOK AND PRINT All books link to the ebook. If you are interested in a different version of the book, while you are at the link, click on the version you want! It will take you there!
Thank you for purchasing any of your books from this blog's links. It DOES help support ALL the giveaways I participate in for YOU! The $250 Giveaway, ALL the blog Hops, and more! ALL of those giveaways are given out of my pocket, so your help is GREATLY appreciated! ANYTHING you purchase through ANY link on my blog goes towards Giveaways! (Plus it gives my husband something to do! LOL! He's in charge of all of that! I get the FUN stuff, like reading!!! LOL!)
1. The Girl on the Train: A Novel by Paula Hawkins
ebook: $ 6.99
print: $11.86
2. The Stranger by Harlen Coben
ebook: $10.99
print: $12.28
3. The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks
ebook: $5.39
print: $5.10
4. NYPD Red 3 by James Patterson and Marshall Karp
ebook: $ 9.99
print: $12.67
5. All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel by Anthony Doerr
ebook: $12.99
print: $12.20
6. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
ebook: $12.99
print: $12.59
7. A Spool of Blue Thread: A Novel by Anne Tyler
ebook: $10.99
print: $15.57
8. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
ebook: $ 6.50
print: $11.69
9. Shopping for a Billionaire Boxed Set (Parts 1-5) by Julia Kent
ebook: $ 2.99
print: $20.33
10. Gone Girl: A Novel by Gillian Flynn
ebook: $4.20
print: $5.72
11. The Escape (John Puller Book 3) by David Baldacci
ebook: $ 9.99
print: $12.97
12. A Wicked Snow by Gregg Olsen
ebook: $ .99
print: $5.99
13. Still Alice by Lisa Genova
ebook: $6.99
print: $5.99
14. Cuba Straits (A Doc Ford Novel Book 22) by Randy Wayne White
ebook: $10.99
print: $20.80
15. Manwhore (The Manwhore Series) by Katy Evans
ebook: $ 7.99
print: $12.97
Thanks again for stopping by! I LOVE HAVING YOU HERE!!! DON'T FORGET TO ENTER ALLLLLL OF THE GIVEAWAYS, TOO!
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK!!!!
And the rest of the books are . . .
- ORPHAN TRAIN, by Christina Baker Kline (Morrow/HarperCollins)
- AND "I" TRULY HOPE THIS IS THE END OF THE 50 SHADES THING AND PEOPLE GET BACK TO A REGULAR LIFE! I am just SO tired of everything playing off of the "50 Shades" wording, seeing NEW sex parties, products online, MORE books about the books, etc., etc.! Be mad at me if you want, but after OVER 2 YEARS of this stuff, I'm SO TIRED of it! Maybe now we'll get some authors who deserve to be on this list without these books taking up SPACE by people obsessed with sex, literally, knocking other excellent books right off the list! I'm READY for NEW Authors, NEW books, NEW blood! You've probably noticed I haven't even linked the 50 to Amazon anymore! I'm SO TIRED of it! How about you? I'M DONE!
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