Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway July 22, 2016

Happy Friday!
Hubby continues to get better and will be released to home next week. :-) We are hunting down PT services either for home care or outpatient. 
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer (or for a few, winter) time.
(I just have not had time to get a picture of the latest book group, nor pull books from the last several weeks. I hope to get this done this weekend and have my clerk prepare for mailing early next week.)

TO ENTER FRIDAY PICK

US Entrants: Leave a comment and tell me WHICH BOOK you would like to get from the Friday Pick lists.
INTERNATIONAL: Leave a comment indicating "Gift Card" (see further comments near the end of the post.)

CUT OFF TIME IS THURSDAY NIGHTS AT 9:00 PM CENTRAL so I do not have to stay up too late to do the winner post! I will randomly pick two winners to announce Friday mornings with the next Pick post.

Thank you to all who entered the July 15 Pick. There were no automatic wins this week. Automatic wins are those who requested the book four times without other people asking for that book during those weeks. There were no titles blocked.
AUTO: none

CONGRATULATIONS
to Random.org picked Winners from July 15 Pick:
RUVYNREBA gets the Joan Johnston pair

Marjorie gets a GC

All winners please fill in the Winner's Acceptance Form or email me to confirm your win, send your snail mail address information and let me know if you would like bookmarks - sensual, sexy or sweet bookmarks. {The form is new because Google changed their forms and the old one wasn't letting me print out the responses.}

This looks fun but I would probably like audio while riding! 

Image found at RealSimple

New Book Group #66 June 25, 2016
(I will post a picture later. *Four of these books are very old; pulled from a box of gothic novels I have had for many years. They may not be wanted by anyone and if so, I will donate elsewhere in time.)
Sandra Brown: Above and Beyond and Honor Bound (my copy is 1986 edition with a different cover
Joan Johnston: Faron & Garth: The Cowboy and the Princess / The Wrangler and the Rich Girl and Sweetwater Seduction
SINGLES:
Swan for the Money by Donna Andrews (new- hardcover)
*Maggie – Her Marriage by Taylor Caldwell (1953 very old, yellowed pages, some stain damage doesn't effect reading)
*Witch’s Hammer by Caroline Farr (a 1967 yellowed pages - different cover)
*Mistress of Mount Fair by Jane Gordon
Once an Angel by Tammy Hilz
Bound By Temptation by Lavinia Kent
Fire Dancer by Ann Maxwell
On Fire by Carla Neggers (1999 version with different cover)
Breathing Room by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Waiting for Nick & Considering Kate by Nora Roberts
*She Came Back by Patricia Wentworth (1981 yellowed pages)
Freedom's Stand by J. M. Windle


New Book Group #65 April 29, 2016

PAIRS:
Jayne Ann Krentz: Gift of Gold and Man with a Past (spine creased) 
Linda Howard: Cover of Night and Strangers Night
SINGLES:
A Dangerous Fancy by Tracy Cozzens
The Bodyguard and the Snitch by Christy Tillery French (autographed)
When Dashing Met Danger by Shana Galen
The Champion by Heather Grothaus
Never Marry a Cowboy by Lorraine Heath
Just The Way You Are by Donna Jordan
The Second Chair by John Lescroart (hardcover)
What a Rogue Desires by Caroline Linden (spine creased)
Violets are Blue by James Patterson
The Bequest by Candice Proctor
A Perilous Attraction by Patricia Francis Rowell (spine creased)
So Wild A Kiss by Nancy Richards-Akers


New Book Group #64 March 4, 2016

SINGLES:
Short Straw (Ed Eagle Novel) by Stuart Woods Hardcover
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey- Audio Cassette
N is for noose by Sue Grafton -Cassettes
Regretsy: Where DIY Meets WTF by April Winchell


New Book Group #63 January 22, 2016

SINGLES:
Wayward Winds by Michael Phillips - Audio Tapes

New Book Group #62 November 6, 2015
All Gone

New Book Group #61 October 30, 2015
After I noticed the trend I went on a hunt for “bride” titles. I even pulled a couple from some of my long time collections(*). (But they are not getting read on my shelves.)

SINGLES:
Bride of Lochbarr by Margaret Moore (*)
The Ideal Bride by Stephanie Laurens (*)
A Necessary Bride by Debra Mullins
Border Bride by Deborah Hale

New Book Group #60 September 18, 2015
A set of "haunting" tales and a few mysteries for October!

Shannon Drake –  Realm of Shadows (Alliance Vampires#4) 
SINGLES:
The Shadowing by Joan Overfield
The Renegade Hunter by Lynsay Sands
Trilogy Of Mysteries Audio Book Shadow Prey, There Was A Little Girl, Smokescreen Audio Cassettes (NOT CDs)


New Book Group #59 July 31, 2015
A few more summer titles, historicals and mysteries!

SINGLES:
Cruise to a Wedding by Betty Neels

New Book Group #58 June 26, 2015 -- All Gone
SINGLES:
Servant, The Awakening by L.L. Foster

New Book Group #57 May 1, 2015 -- All Gone


New Book Group #56 March 20, 2015
(I'll try to get the rest linked another day.)

SINGLES:
The Sweetheart Dance by Patti Ann Colt
Raintree Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones (spine creases)

New Book Group #55 February 5, 2015 -- All Gone

New Book Group #54 December 26, 2014

SINGLES:
Ender’s Shadow by Orson Scott Card - Tape Cassettes


BOX 4 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 47-53)

The Hidden Truth of Cytech's Randall Forty byVickie Kennedy
First to Fight Anthology
Jezebel by Katherine Sutcliff
The Commander by Kate Bridges
A Garden of Friends by Penny Pierce Rose
Undateable by Ellen Rakieten & Anne Coyle


BOX 3 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 39- 47)

Shetland Summer by Janet Lynnford
Breakfast in Bed by Sandra Brown - Audio Cassette Tapes (link is for mass media version)
A Lady of Consequence by Mary Nichols
Sweet Talking Man by Betina Krain


BOX 2 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 24- 38)

Thinner by Stephen King
Foundation (Foundation Novels) by Isaac Asimov
Magic: The Gathering Distant Planes, An Anthology
The Willful Widow by Valerie King (spine wear)
An Honorable Man by Rosemary Rogers (spine creases)
A Courtesans Guide to Getting Your Man by Susan Donovan and Celeste Bradley -- NOTE This book has dog bite damage; it is missing half back cover and the edges of pages in the back third of the book... it does not effect the text but I will understand if no one wants this one
Tara Taylor Quinn: Father: Unknown and McGillus v.Wright
The Trailsman: Texas Lead Slingers by Jon Sharpe
Anthology: Something Borrowed, Something Blue - this book has spine creases and minor water damage...I thought I had read it and liked it but now I realize it was another anthology I read with Elaine Barbier.


BOX #1 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 1- 23)

Circle of Stars by Anna Lee Waldo
Alien Chronicles - The Crimson Claw by Deborah Chester
Ghost Writer (Shivers #3) by M.D. Spenser


If you saw the pictures posted of my bookshelves and boxes you know I do have lots of books! And that doesn't include the other eight or so boxes at my office!! And more books as I find deals too good to pass up! I am sharing my book bounty by these Friday Pick Giveaways.

I started Friday Pick on November 27, 2009 and in almost six years I have posted 62 groups of 16 (992) books to find new homes! (as of November 6, 2015).

I am happy to say that so far about 978+ books have found new homes! YAY. I have to update my print out to check the exact number sent out - a few were never claimed. I periodically update the lists - deleting those won. You can still go to the Friday Pick list link to see older posts and the older lists book pictures if you want!

Note rules here regarding international entries.

Because postage to overseas can be prohibitive I am willing to give a $5.00 book certificate to international winners - Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, ARe, TWRP, ClassAct Books, eTreasures, Desert Breeze, etc....you tell me where and I'll set it up. So for my overseas visitors your comment may indicate a smaller book and I'll check postage or note your choice of gift card.

I learned that The Book Depository does not ship to everywhere. The postage for some of the books to far away places runs between $7.00 and $10.00 and up. Since I would award $5.00 for The Book Depository to an international winner, as an alternative you may choose a smaller book and we will hope the postage will not exceed $6.00. If the postage is more, or if you want to pick a larger book and you are willing to pay any extra postage beyond the $6.00 I will work with you on that. This may not make a difference to many but if it helps one or two of you to give one of my books a home that will make me happy too. :o)

Repeating this helpful blog tip: You can right click on a link and you will be given the choice to open the link in a new window or tab so you do not navigate away from the screen you are on!! I use this all the time!

Guest Post: REGINA SHEN WORLD by Lance Erlick

REGINA SHEN WORLD by Lance Erlick

The seed of the idea for the Regina Shen stories and her world was a challenging realm of the future that tested a resilient young woman every step of the way. In fact, the budding scene was of the outcast, Regina, adrift in a storm with no safe port.

In the story’s mythical past, abrupt climate change, rising seas, famines, and wars caused a collapse of the old order. In the final days, an all-female militia rose up, denying men procreation rights until they became extinct. The heroic, three-century-old Grand Old Dames saved the world and created an all-female society, vowing that there would be no more wars and no more gender strife. They created the World Federation to restore peace.

Before the Grand Old Dames took over, they were able to perfect fertility research to enable two women to have a child without men. This enabled them to make this a foundation for building their new society. Then, as a means to maintain order and control, they introduced a defect into the human genome so that only regulated Federation fertility clinics could bring forth new life. Only those who receive the blessing of the new order are allowed to have children.

This gave the new leaders complete control over the people and their futures. Then something happened so that the process began to decay and fail until there were no live births. For unknown reasons, Regina Shen’s DNA does not have the defect; she was not the product of a Federation clinic. Now the Federation is hunting her down to control her genes amidst a power struggle over a successor to the dying World Premier.

Because of desperate times after the worldwide collapse, the Federation adopted a caste system to help maintain order and to fill the necessary roles in society with Working Stiffs on the bottom, Professionals and Elites in the middle, and the Grand Old Dames at the top. Outcasts like Regina Shen were thrown over massive barrier walls built with slave labor to hold back the rising seas. The outcasts were left to fend for themselves, and fend they did, becoming stronger and more resilient than citizens of the Federation. In fact, many are captured as slaves to work the toughest Federation jobs.

The Federation created the Department of Antiquities in its early days to find and destroy all evidence of life before the Federation. The Grand Old Dames banned all print books and took control of their mesh, a future version of the Internet with one distinction. All information resides in Federation cloud-type databases and can be rewritten or purged in support of Federation goals. Rising in power and requiring military resources, the Department of Antiquities became the police and military rolled up into one, enforcing the laws of the Federation.

It is the Department of Antiquities that discovers Regina Shen’s DNA, turning her into a pawn of a worldwide power struggle.

Author's Bio:

He was raised by a roaming aerospace engineer, growing up in various parts of the United States and Europe, as well as traveling through Asia. He took to stories as his anchor, including the works of Asimov, Bradbury, and Heinlein, and has been writing since age eleven.

Growing up, he was inspired by his father’s engineering work on cutting-edge aerospace projects to look to the future.

In an ideal world, Lance would find time loops where he could step out for a week at a time to read and write. Then he would return to the moment he left, without life getting in the way. Of course, since everyone would have the same ability, he suspects life would still sneak in.

Lance is also the author of short stories and novelettes.

Connect with the author:  Website   Twitter   Facebook   Goodreads

I have found the series engaging. My reviews of the four books (and giveaway links) can be found through this link.

Book Review: Regina Shen: Endurance by Lance Erlick

This is my favorite of the series so far.
Regina Shen: Endurance
by Lance Erlick

File Size: 3964 KB
Print Length: 297 pages
Publisher: Finlee Augare Books (July 1, 2016)
ASIN: B01FWERE7K
Genre: Sci Fi, Dystopian, YA
My Rating 4.25 of 5.0

Outcast Regina Shen continues her adventure as a hunted fugitive and as a pawn in a worldwide grab for power.
Competing World Federation power brokers seek to control Regina for her unique DNA that could reverse a global fertility collapse. They make use of her unique memory for ancient forbidden texts that help her locate illegal artifacts from before the Federation, which agents then destroy.
For months Regina has been treading a fine line, trying not to let the Federation destroy any more of their past while doing all she can to rescue her kidnapped sister from agents who dangle the sister as bait. Betrayed again by her mom, Regina flees to the Southwest Desert with a close companion to hunt down a vault to exchange for her sister’s freedom. Nothing goes according to plan.
Before her journey concludes, tragedy will shake Regina to her core. It will also open up new possibilities that could lead down an even more dangerous path closer to her destiny but farther from her sister.

Review:
Regina is a young girl in an all female society. She was raised as one of the many outcasts, known as 'marginals' living in the swamps outside the Barrier walls Within the walls the society is divided into castes of working stiffs, professionals and elites. With the direction of her teacher, Mo Mere, Regina escaped under the wall to try to make it at university. But, like many independent marginals, Regina couldn’t fit in, and, unlike a good quiet citizen, Regina could not stop challenging the limits and restrictions of the Federation order. Regina left university with her new friend, Ester, still intent on rescuing her sister, Colleen.

The Federation has a serious fertility problem and they are seeking to capture Regina as they think her blood/DNA will prove a solution. Although the Federation inspectors have been close on her trail, Regina found friends along the way who helped her get to Alaska. Inspector DeMarco keeps dangling Colleen’s release as a reward if Regina will find other DNA vaults and deliver healthy samples to DeMarco. Even though Inspectors Volpe and Wendt destroyed the Alaska vault, DeMarco directs Regina to the Southwest vault.

Once again Regina gets aid from the truckers to get her from Fairbanks, Alaska to Flagstaff. There she and Ester find another DNA vault but DeMarco and Volpe are still on her tail, seeking to fight over the DNA coolers and, in the case of Volpe, determined to destroy the entire vault, no matter how valuable the contents might be to the future of society.

It is fairly obvious to the reader, if not to Regina, that DeMarco has been arranging help all along the road. Still, DeMarco doesn’t keep her bargains very well and Regina has little reason to trust her. DeMarco again sends Regina off to another vault, this time back over the barrier wall to the underwater city of Philadelphia. While Regina makes her way back across the country to her home in the swamps, DeMarco continues to lose control of her backing in the Department of Antiquities.

The infighting among the inspectors intensifies in this book and Regina faces more danger and tragic loses. I appreciated the good pacing and action in this story and liked the excitement of the find in the Philadelphia salvage. Regina’s ‘legend’ and gift of hope to others grows even as a plot twist sets the stage for a new stage in Regina’s life. The ending of this volume left me wanting to follow the new journey and adventure. There are still too many unanswered questions so I do hope there is to be another book.

I received this through iReads Book Tours for an honest review. PLEASE SEE AUTHOR GUEST POST HERE.

See my reviews of books one through four in this series through this link.

Book Review: A Better World by Marcus Sakey

This portrays an exciting and scary world - dreams of a better world but one that is ready to go up in flames.

A Better World (The Brilliance Trilogy Book 2)
by Marcus Sakey

File Size: 6407 KB
Print Length: 391 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1477823948
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (June 17, 2014)
ASIN: B00IA7N7C8
Genre: Sci Fi, Suspense Thriller
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

The brilliants changed everything. Since 1980, one percent of the world has been born with gifts we’d only dreamed of. The ability to sense a person’s most intimate secrets, or predict the stock market, or move virtually unseen. For thirty years the world has struggled with a growing divide between the exceptional…and the rest of us.
Now a terrorist network led by brilliants has crippled three cities. Supermarket shelves stand empty. 911 calls go unanswered. Fanatics are burning people alive.
Nick Cooper has always fought to make the world better for his children. As both a brilliant and an advisor to the president of the United States, he’s against everything the terrorists represent. But as America slides toward a devastating civil war, Cooper is forced to play a game he dares not lose—because his opponents have their own vision of a better world.
And to reach it, they’re willing to burn this one down.

Review:
This story picks up where book 1, Brilliance, left off. Nick Cooper has exposed the villainy of the American President and Nick’s own boss, the head of the Department of Analysis and Response. Those men had staged a massacre, blaming it on John Smith, a brilliant who they labeled as a terrorist. Now John has been exonerated and is free to move around the country to fulfill other plans.

Nick is pulled into the position of advisor to the new President where Nick is a single voice struggling to find a way to defuse the fear, animosity and tension between the brilliants and all ‘normal’ humans. Nick learns that scientists have been searching for the secret to the Brilliant gnome. Nick believes this work can solve the problem and he seeks to protect the scientist before others destroy him and his research. But other men in power have a different vision for a better world than Nick’s harmonious vision.

Soon Nick begins to think John has some serious conspiracy plans of his own and, to Nick’s dismay, he has been played as a puppet. Even though Sharon and Nick have grown close, they keep their own secrets so they are not certain if they can trust each other as the lines of right and wrong seem to waver. Nick continues to race against time and opposing forces but each plot he exposes, instead of diffusing the tension, seems to fuel the fires of unrest and civil war. The Federal Government threatens the brilliant community that has been developed to provide a safe haven for brilliants.

This story presents a scary (for its possible realism) picture of how a handful of powerful men can manipulate facts, people, news and resources to meet their own agenda. The characters are complex and the plot twists, constant action and suspense kept me turning pages. This is a good second installment but it ends rather mid theme so I am glad that I have book three to finish out the excitement.

I received this series through NetGalley for an honest review. It qualifies for my NetGalley Challenge.

Audio Book Review: The Christmas Kitten: A Polly Parrett Pet-Sitter Cozy Murder Mystery, Book 2 by Liz Dodwell

This is a delightful, quick cozy with warm characters, including four legged varieties.
The Christmas Kitten: A Polly Parrett Pet-Sitter Cozy Murder Mystery, Book 2
Written by: Liz Dodwell
Narrated by: Jennifer Fournier

Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
Series: Polly Parrett, Book 2
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:05-06-16
Publisher: Mix Books, LLC
Genre: Cozy Mystery
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Publisher's Summary
Polly Parrett finds herself in the midst of another murder mystery. This time it involves two little girls, a wicked stepmother, and a missing father. Oh, and Christmas is almost here.
It all begins with a mysterious gift box that’s left on Polly's doorstep. Along the way she encounters problems with her pet-sitting customers and her arch nemesis, Britney Harris, who has her eye on Polly's boyfriend Tyler. An Open House is planned at Welcome Home, the residential home Polly and her mom have created to provide a safe haven for homeless military veterans and their pets. It's all go in Polly's world, but with a killer on the loose and two children in need of her help, she'll do anything she can to keep everyone safe.
Book 2 of the Polly Parrett Pet-Sitter series.
©2015 Liz Dodwell (P)2016 Liz Dodwell

Review:
Polly Parrett has a lovely business as a pet-sitter in Mallowapple, Maine. As Christmas draws near she is busy taking care of pets and helping her mother plan an Open House for their new venture, Welcome Home, a residential home created as a safe haven for homeless military veterans and their pets.

Polly is only a little surprised to find a rescue kitten left on her doorstep. The greater surprise is the expensive bracelet around the kitten’s neck. The new kitten is quickly adopted by one of Polly’s dogs (which is adorable).

Polly brings the kitten to her mother at Welcome Home where two young girls have just been discovered sheltering in the barn. The girl’s father is away in the service while they have been left with their mean stepmother. When a murder is reported, Polly and her lawyer boyfriend, Tyler, begin to investigate the mystery of the necklace, the runaway children and the murder.

This is light and fun listening with wonderful pets to share in the warmth of the holiday season. I loved the animals and the concept of the shelter for the vets with pets. The mystery is fully developed for a short work. Polly is a lively, likeable character and I am sure I would enjoy more of her adventures.

This is a nice cozy mystery for all ages. I especially recommend it to cozy fans who like animals. It may be set at Christmas time but it is a warm story for any time of year.

Audio Notes: Jennifer Fournier does a charming job with the narration. It is light and easy and brings appropriate emotions to the listener. The audio added to my enjoyment of the story.

I received this audio title from the author through AudioBook Boom. This qualifies for my Audio Book Challenge.