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Sunday, July 1, 2018

Sunday Post July 1, 2018/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday July 2, 2018

Sunday Post #318 Chairs, Compliance, and Storms
I am linking with Sunday Post at Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading now at The Book Date.
What Are You Reading, is where we gather to share what we have read this past week and what we plan to read this week. It is a great way to network with other bloggers, see some wonderful blogs, and put new titles on your reading list.

I am back home in the office working again to catch up. We are looking forward to our July 4 celebration even with temps in the 90s and possible rain.

My reading was good this week. I finished three books: 2 Audibles and 1 ebook. I  posted two reviews on the blog and three at Goodreads.  I did get to all of my usual memes.

I visited only 19 blogs again last week.
Shout Out this week to A Magical World of Words
Thank you to all the nice people who visit me.

These were last week's posts:
  • Goodreads Review A2018- Audible Book Review: A Rare Book of Cunning Device by Ben Aaronovitch; Fantasy, Shortstory, Supernatural Detective; my rating 4.0; Narration 5.0.
  • #NetGalley Book Review: The Voice Inside by Brian Freeman; Crime, Psychological Thrillers; my rating 4.5.
  • Goodreads Review ATBR- Audible Book Review: Beneath the Skin The Sam Hunter Case Files By Jonathan Maberry; Fantasy, Paranormal, Short story Collection; my rating 4.5 for story (language); Narration and Overall 5.0.
  • LBC-Book Review: Stranger Things by Erin Healy; Christian Suspense, Crime; my rating 4.5.
Finished Reading:
1. Audible/Smartphone (TBR)
A Rare Book of Cunning Device audiobook cover art


A Rare Book of Cunning Device
By: Ben Aaronovitch
Narrated by: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith
Length: 29 mins
This is a fun, quick mystery.
Goodreads review linked above.
Source: 2018 Free Audible Credit Purchase.
Publisher's Summary
Exclusive to Audio! Somewhere amongst the shadowy stacks and the many basements of the British library, something is very much amiss - and we're not talking late returns here. Is it a ghost, or something much worse? PC Peter Grant really isn't looking forward to finding out....
©2017 Ben Aaronovitch (P)2017 Audible Studios



2. Audible/Smartphone (TBR)
Beneath the Skin audiobook cover art


Beneath the Skin
The Sam Hunter Case Files
By: Jonathan Maberry
Narrated by: Ray Porter
Length: 4 hrs and 55 mins
I was really drawn into these stories. 
My Goodreads review is linked above.
Source: 2018 Audible Sale Purchase from 2017 Daily Deals.
Publisher's Summary
A collection of short stories featuring Sam Hunter, from best-selling author Jonathan Maberry!
Sam Hunter is a bit of an animal. He's a former Twin Cities cop who lost his badge because of excessive force. Abusive husbands, child molesters, and other lowlifes wound up looking like they'd been mauled by a dog...or a wolf.
Now Sam's a low-rent PI in Philadelphia. He takes the kinds of cases no one wants. His clients are usually on the fringes of society. The kind who are prey for all manner of predators - human and otherwise.
When Sam takes on a client, they become part of his pack, and no one protects their own better than a werewolf. At least the kind of werewolf like Sam, who comes from a long, long line of Benandanti - also known as "the hounds of God".
Stories in this collection include "Like Part of the Family", "Toby's Closet", "Crazy Town", "We All Make Sacrifices", and "A House in Need of Children".
©2016 Jonathan Maberry (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.



3. eBook/Kindle (Author)


Lance: A Spirit Unbroken
by Walter Stoffel
This was a sad and beautiful memoir of a mistreated dog.
My Goodreads review is linked above.

Source: Author Review offer.
Click on book title for full description.


These are some of the books I read to my grandchildren last week.



Currently Reading:
1. Print (LBCTBR)


The Letters (The Inn at Eagle Hill Book #1): A Novel
by Suzanne Woods Fisher
I haven't quite finished but am enjoying this!
Source: 2013 print copy;  2016 Kindle. This is for Ladies Book Club discussion July 14.
Click on book title for full description.



2. Audible/Smartphone (TBR)


Discount Armageddon
InCryptid, Book 1
By: Seanan McGuire
Narrated by: Emily Bauer
Series: InCryptid, Book 1
Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
I thought I might like this "monster-hunter" fantasy.
Source: 2016 Audible Credit Purchase after I saw this at Book Haven.
Publisher's Summary
Ghoulies. Ghosties. Long-legged beasties. Things that go bump in the night....
The Price family has spent generations studying the monsters of the world, working to protect them from humanity - and humanity from them. Enter Verity Price. Despite being trained from birth as a cryptozoologist, she'd rather dance a tango than tangle with a demon, and is spending a year in Manhattan while she pursues her career in professional ballroom dance. Sounds pretty simple, right? It would be, if it weren't for the talking mice, the telepathic mathematicians, the asbestos supermodels, and the trained monster-hunter sent by the Price family's old enemies, the Covenant of St. George.
When a Price girl meets a Covenant boy, high stakes, high heels, and a lot of collateral damage are almost guaranteed. To complicate matters further, local cryptids are disappearing, strange lizard-men are appearing in the sewers, and someone's spreading rumors about a dragon sleeping underneath the city....
©2012 Seanan McGuire (P)2012 Audible, Inc.



3. eBook/Kindle (2017 NetGalley)


The After War: (Book One of The After War Series)
by Brandon Zenner
I really liked how this post apocalyptic has started. 
Source: 2017 NetGalley.
Two years have passed since humankind faced extinction: Two cousins are leaving the protection of their underground bunker for the first time, after a cataclysmic war and unrelenting disease ravaged the earth. On the other side of North America, a young survivalist is leaving the seclusion of his cabin deep in the woods, traveling with his aging canine companion, Winston. For individual reasons, these men are traveling east, where the fragmented lives of a small number of survivors will soon be decided by the choices of a corrupt few. Although they are not yet aware, the strength that resides inside them will soon be tested, and destiny will call for their fates to be forever intertwined. "A fierce post-apocalyptic story of war and loss, of nature's vengeance, of survival in the face of overwhelming odds." - Manhattan Book Reviews



4. Audible/Smartphone (TBR)
Heartless audiobook cover art


Heartless
By: Mary Balogh
Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor
Series: Georgian (Balogh), Book 1
Length: 14 hrs and 3 mins
I started this on my MP3 to listen while doing chores. I am so engaged I switched to the smartphone and am more than half way through!
Source: 2016 Audible Sale Purchase.
Publisher's Summary
From New York Times best-selling legend Mary Balogh - the beloved author of Longing, Silent Melody, and Beyond the Sunrise - comes a ravishing novel of passion and duty, love, and menace....
Life has taught Lucas Kendrick, duke of Harndon, that a heart is a decided liability. Betrayed by his elder brother, rejected by his fiancée, banished by his father, and shunned by his mother, Luke fled to Paris, where he became the most sought-after bachelor in fashionable society. Ten years later fate has brought him back home to England as head of the family who rejected him. Unwilling as he is to be involved with them, he must assume responsibility for his younger siblings, the family estate he once loved - and the succession. He faces the prospect of marrying with the greatest reluctance - until he sees beguiling Lady Anna Marlowe across a ballroom one night.
Anna, far from being the bright-eyed innocent Luke takes her for, is no more a stranger to the shadows of a painful past than he is. But for her, marriage cannot so easily solve what is wrong in her life - not when a tormentor stalks her to the very doors of Bowden Abbey, where Luke and Anna must learn to trust in each other or risk any chance they may have for a happy future.
©1995 Mary Balogh (P)2015 Recorded Books.


July1, 2018 - I am still enjoying the prayer app which gives me five prayer groups each morning! I continue on track with my morning reading the One Year Bible plan on my smartphone. You can check out audio of the One Year Bible Plan on the companion commentary online.


I completed 3 books and completed 5 reviews. This gets me to just 1 review due. 
I need to find time to add more reviews to Goodreads, Amazon and Audible.
My NetGalley shelf is at 11; I still have one more author title in queue. Still many through InstaFreebie and many new author requests but I haven't replied to.


Welcome to Mailbox Monday.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. This Meme started with Marcia at A Girl and Her Books (fka The Printed Page) and after a tour of hosts has returned to its permanent home at Mailbox Monday. Thanks to the ladies sharing hosting duties: Leslie of Under My Apple Tree, Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit and (yours truly). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
I didn't pick up any new review books this week although I am eyeing several.
I did get the SYNC Audios this week.
I resisted all the Audible daily deal titles and kindle bargain deals.

I did pick up some free kindle titles this week. (Note these are in my Amazon library, NOT on my Kindle until I download and transfer them.)
Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles
NONE


Won
NONE

Purchased
NONE

Free
I have not yet downloaded week 10 SYNC audio titles:

Macbeth by William Shakespeare Read by Josh Cooke, JD Cullum, Dan Donohue, Jeannie Elias, Chuma Gault, James Marsters, Jon Matthews, Alan Shearman, André Sogliuzzo, Kate Steele, Kristoffer Tabori, Joanne Whalley
The Curse of Crow Hollow by Billy Coffey Read by Gabe Wicks

I added 36 free titles to my Kindle library this week.  Titles found linked through Bookbub, Bookfun, Ereader News Today, Free Par-tay, Ignite Your Book, Inspired Reads, Pixel of Ink or Kindle ebooks.

11 comments:

  1. Have a good July 4! It’s going to be ridiculously hot here, too. That’s a good excuse to stay inside and read.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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  2. Well done! Finishing 2 audiobooks this week!

    Angelica @ Paperback Princess

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  3. I enjoy Mary Balogh's HR novels so I'm glad to read you're enjoying Heartless. Have a nice holiday, Martha!

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  4. Three books in one week is good.

    I can only read one book at at time, and it takes me a week.

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  5. Hm, I wonder how a Shakespeare title would work on audio for me. Have a great week!

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  6. Enjoy your week, and the books you choose. Thanks for sharing, and for visiting my blog.

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  7. Looks like you've been busy. Don't know that I could read a book about a mistreated dog, but Mary Balogh is always a good read. Hope you have a great week. Thanks for visiting my blog earlier today.

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  8. Great reading! Some of your books seem really interesting! I added "The Letters" to my "Want to Read" list at Goodreads! How neat that you read to your grandchildren! Nice!

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  9. A Rare Book of Cunning Device looks good, so I've added the first book in the series to my "Want to read" list.

    I haven't listened to any of Seanan McGuire's books, but I've really enjoyed the InCryptid series in print.

    I haven't downloaded any of the SYNC titles this year, but I need to!

    Happy reading...

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  10. Whew it's hot here, too. Hope yall have a wonderful Independence Day!

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Your comments are always appreciated!