Sharing Beyond Books #306 Comment Giveaway June 10, 2017

Hello again and Welcome to Sharing Beyond Books, SBB!


Thanks to everyone who commented last week.
Nine of us would choose our Husband or partner to be stranded with. (Glad I wasn't the only one.) Five commenters chose different adventurers, including Bear Grylis and Robinson Crusoe. MaryP chose her sister and Carol hoped someone with skills would come along because she couldn't pick just one of her seven children.

~~~~~

The Winner from SBB #305 comments is: #9 Elizabeth who can make a GC choice if international or book choice from the Updated (**Finally!) ARC/Review titles or (recently updated) Love and Christmas titles - all linked near the end of the post.

**NOTE: I did post an Updated ARC and Other books for Giveaways. I have to go back and list the titles -- someday.
Please let me know your choice by completing the WINNER FORM.

WEEK #306

(One Question.)

bn100 asks: What Summer movie are you looking forward to watching??

I honestly have not paid much attention to new movie releases. We usually wait till they are available on TV, Amazon or Plex - like Beauty and the Beast which is available soon.
I searched for summer movies and found 19 titles. I know members of my family will want to see Cars 3 and Despicable Me 3. But the two that caught my eye are War for the Planet of the Apes and Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets which is based on a legendary French comic.
On another search I found Megan Leavey which looks good.

Image found at A Guide to the Epic Scifi Movie Valerian...

Thanks to those who are sending in Questions. DON'T BE SHY! Surely everyone has a Q or two you'd like to ask. Input suggestions in this Suggested Question Form. At the end of each month I draw from the suggestions I used during the month and that person will get a book choice or GC. I thank everyone for submitting questions. Thanks for sending in questions! The supply of questions is dwindling so share some if you think of any -- even if they are duplicates I'll weed through or try to modify.

Your turn to share. bn100 asks: What Summer movie are you looking forward to watching??

SBB Comment Winners can choose a selection from the Updated ARC and Other books, including the "Love" and Christmas titles all in one post.

SBB Rules:
a) Must be a follower.
b) Share a comment on the question above.
Open internationally and an international winner may get a smaller book or a $5.00 GC if I decide the mailing is too much.
I will pick a Comment winner from all comments made through Saturday June 17, 2017 at 5 PM central.

Book Review: Hunt the Dawn by Abbie Roads

This is 'gritty' but wonderfully suspenseful and romantic.
Hunt the Dawn (Fatal Dreams Book 2)
by Abbie Roads

File Size: 1643 KB
Print Length: 352 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca (December 6, 2016)
ASIN: B01JASIXSI
Genre: Suspense, Supernatural
My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0

"Dark and delicious."—Kerrelyn Sparks, New York Times bestselling author on Race the Darkness
Out of darkness and danger
You can't hide your secrets from Lathan Montgomery-he can read your darkest memories. And while his special abilities are invaluable in the FBI's hunt for a serial killer, he has no way to avoid the pain that brings him. Until he is drawn to courageous, down-on-her-luck Evanee Brown and finds himself able to offer her something he's never offered another human being: himself.
Dawns a unique and powerful love
Nightmares are nothing new to Evanee Brown. But once she meets Lathan, they plummet into the realm of the macabre. Murder victims are reaching from beyond the grave to give Evanee evidence that could help Lathan bring a terrifying killer to justice. Together, they could forge an indomitable partnership to thwart violence, abuse, and death-if they survive the forces that seek to tear them apart.

Review:
Lathan is a man who has always been sensitive to others – more than he wants. His olfactory glands are stronger than normal and he can smell the emotional memories of those around him. In a crowd that can be overwhelming and it creates difficulties on individual interactions too. Although his ‘gift’ is frowned on by many, and even makes his parents uncomfortable, the skill has come in handy as he consults with the FBI.

One night as Lathan is riding his motorcycle home he comes upon a car and truck by the side of the road. He smells the fear and anguish of the young woman trying to escape an attacker and steps in to face off with the attacker.

Evanee is trying to make enough money to get out of town and away from her abusive stepbrother, Junior. She shouldn’t go off with a stranger but she must get away from Junior. Evanee is accustomed to having nightmares but having ones that put her in touch with murder victims is new – and frightening. During each nightmare episode, the victim reaches out to her and a dark presence makes her take a token.

Lathan calls in the FBI and they begin to tie together the clues and the bodies to a serial killer known as the Strategist. Lathan has never had a woman focus on his eyes instead of the tattoo on his face. He is awed to have a woman respond to him as honestly as Evanee does. He can’t stop her nightmares but he is determined to keep Evanee safe from her Junior and the Strategist. And both come after her.

I liked the strength of Lathan and Evanee from the very beginning of the story. They both had harsh childhoods and, even as survivors, they are emotionally vulnerable. The author created a relationship with depth and steamy chemistry. There is language and graphic brutality which is why I say this is “gritty”. But Ms. Roads creates wonderfully believable characters and a finely crafted plot, with twists, that carry the story beyond any “grittiness” for me. I may well go back and pick up book 1. I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy strong romantic suspense with a supernatural twist.

I received this from the publisher through NetGalley. It qualifies for my 2017 NetGalley Challenge, Mount TBR and “H” in Alphabet Soup Challenge.

Audible Book Review: Finding Dory by Disney Press

This is a fun, cute listen.

Finding Dory
Written by: Disney Press
Narrated by: Adam Verner

Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release Date:03-14-17
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Genre: Kids
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Disney-Pixar's Finding Dory reunites everyone's favorite forgetful blue tang, Dory, with her friends, Nemo and Marlin, on a search for answers about her past. What can she remember? Who are her parents? And where did she learn to speak Whale?

Review:
I would imagine that most anyone with children or grandchildren around has seen Finding Nemo. I had enjoyed it and know that the grandkids liked to watch it in the car while traveling.
I guess I knew that there was a sequel but I had not seen the movie, nor read the book.

Finding Dory tells Dory’s story as she struggles to remember her past and what/where is “home”. Dory has trouble with her memories. Her parents use paths and tools to help her find her way but she gets lost and ends up far away. She makes friends with Marlin and Nemo and they become her family. But one day she remembers the place that was home and she insists that her friends help her find her way home. They travel far and Dory gets separated from Nemo and Marlin. She makes new friends, Hank the octopus, Becky the loon, two whales Destiny and Bailey, otters and more.

Dory faces one obstacle after another but manages to come up with creative, and sometimes daring, solutions. The story is wonderfully cute. My four-year-old granddaughter has seen the story but she still loved listening to this on the computer and with my MP3 player. I enjoyed it too for a quick, light listen.

Audio Notes: Adam Verner does a wonderful job with the narration. He gives each character a believable, unique voice with distinct emotions. He makes the story fun to listen to. I will be looking for other books he narrates.

This was from my TBR Audible shelf. This qualifies for my Audiobook Challenge, Mount TBR and “F” in Alphabet Soup Challenge.

Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway June 9, 2017

Happy Friday!
This has been a crazy week at work playing catch-up and juggling now that Heather is on vacation.
I hope to pull together another set of books for next week and if I get out to get my haircut I hope to buy a new camera too.

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 June 2 Pick. There were TWO 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 blocks this week.
ELIZABETH gets Snowbound with Mr. Right
and BECKY gets Passions Treasure.

CONGRATULATIONS
to Random.org picked Winners from June 2 Pick:
LINDA gets a GC
LESLEYSAYS 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.}

Another week of HAPPY AUDIOBOOK MONTH!
Image found at Books On Tape.

New Book Group #72 May 12, 2017
PAIRS:
Brenda Joyce: The Third Heiress and The Rival
Jayne Ann Krentz: Dangerous Affair and True Colors
SINGLES:
Identity: Unknown by Suzanne Brockmann
The Third Victim by Lisa Gardner
Anna’s Book by Barbara Vine (Audio Cassette)
Passions Treasure by Betina Krahn
My Reckless Surrender by Anna Campbell
Led Astray By A Rake by Sara Bennett
Deep Freeze by Lisa Jackson
Rainbow Mars by Larry Niven
Bound by Destiny by Rayka Mennen
Valley of Bones by Eric Wilson
Memorial Day by Vince Flynn (Hardcover)
The Fireman’s Fair by Josephine Humphreys (Hardcover)


New Book Group #71 March 10, 2017
Mysteries and Thrillers
PAIR:
Matthew Reilly: Temple and Area 7
SINGLES:
Deception on His Mind by Elizabeth George
‘E’ is for Evidence by Sue Grafton
In Plain Sight by C.J. Box
Keepers by Gary A. Braunbeck
Lullaby and Goodnight by Wendy Corsi Staub
One Dark Night by Kevin F. McMurray
Rattlesnake Crossing by J.A. Jance
The Cat Who Sang for the Birds by Lillian Jackson Braun
The Panic Zone by Rick Mofina
The Silenced by Heather Graham
The Tale of Cuckoo Brow Wood by Susan Wittig Albert
Total Exposure by Tori Carrington
There Was A Little Girl by Ed McBain (Audio Cassettes)
The Old Silent by Martha Grimes (Audio Cassettes)


New Book Group #70 January 27, 2017
Thought I’d share some romances for February:
PAIRS:
Betty Neels: The Girl With Green Eyes and the Damsel in Green
Linda Howard: The Touch of Fire and Loving Forever
SINGLES:
The Devilish Pleasures of a Duke by Jillian Hunter
Kissed by Shadows (Get Connected Romances) by Jane Feather
Love's Brazen Fire by Betina Krahn
Winter Fire by Jo Beverly


New Book Group #69 November 18, 2016
(I'll post a picture and links later)
Some books for Christmas:
Jingle Bell Blessings by Bonnie K. Winn
Snowbound with Mr. Right by Judy Christenberry


New Book Group #68 October 28, 2016
SINGLE:
Plan of Attack by Dan Brown


New Book Group #67 September 9, 2016

(*Three more very old books from my Gothics box.)
SINGLES:
*The Man in the Garden by Paule Mason (1969 - yellowed)


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.)
SINGLES:
*Maggie – Her Marriage by Taylor Caldwell (1953 very old, yellowed pages, some stain damage doesn't effect reading)
Fire Dancer by Ann Maxwell


New Book Group #65 April 29, 2016

SINGLES:
The Champion by Heather Grothaus


New Book Group #64 March 4, 2016
SINGLES:
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey- Audio Cassette

New Book Group #63 January 22, 2016 -- All Gone

New Book Group #62 November 6, 2015 -- All Gone

New Book Group #61 October 30, 2015
SINGLES:
Border Bride by Deborah Hale

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

SINGLES:
The Shadowing by Joan Overfield
Trilogy Of Mysteries Audio Book Shadow Prey, There Was A Little Girl, Smokescreen Audio Cassettes (NOT CDs)

New Book Group #59 July 31, 2015 -- All Gone

New Book Group #58 June 26, 2015 -- All Gone

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

New Book Group #56 March 20, 2015
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 -- All Gone

BOX 4 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 47-53)

The Hidden Truth of Cytech's Randall Forty by Vickie Kennedy
Jezebel by Katherine Sutcliff
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)
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
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)

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 seven years I have posted 68 groups of 16 (1,088) books to find new homes! (as of November 4, 2016).

I am happy to say that so far about 1,069+ 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!

Book Review: The Invisible City (The Stolen Future Trilogy Book 1) by Brian K. Lowe

This is a fun time travel sci fi full of creatures and daring adventures.
The Invisible City (The Stolen Future Trilogy Book 1)
by Brian K. Lowe

File Size: 2316 KB
Print Length: 399 pages
Publication Date: December 13, 2013
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B00D69LF9C
Genre: Science Fiction, Time Travel
My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0

Tracking German soldiers through the muddy trenches of France, Captain Charles Clee stumbles onto something amazing--a secret archeological expedition from the far future. Discovered and trapped, he flees through their time machine and finds himself stranded nearly one million years in the future. Clee falls in love with a beautiful woman whose family has befriended him, but when she is taken from him by one of Earth's alien overlords, he finds himself the enemy of the one of most powerful men in the world. In his quest to rescue her, he is startled to learn that a working time machine may still exist somewhere. With that machine, he could return to his own time and save his men from certain annihilation, but to do so would mean abandoning his quest. Torn between love and his duty to the men who served under him a million years past, pursued by the merciless assassins of the Time Police, Clee faces war, slavery, and fantastic beasts in a race against time itself--knowing that whatever the outcome, he must lose.
Brian K. Lowe is a member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.

Review:
Captain Charles Clee is an American who choose to face war in France. One morning he was preceding his men into a dangerous situation tracking German soldiers in the rainy, muddy trenches. He follows a man into a cave and inadvertently stumbles into another world… or at least another time! He learns that he has stepped through a time machine and discovers himself far in the future. Clee finds a people whom he initially can’t understand. But he is befriended by a family and falls in love with a young woman. The family helps him create a cover so he can search for the time machine while trying to avoid ‘time cops’.

Clee has to maneuver among a tyrannical alien race, the Nuum, and his troubles increase when his new love is taken by one of the powerful Nuum overlords. Although Clee wants to find a way to return to his own time, he is intent on saving his kidnapped love. His friends provide him with a powerful tool in the form of a holographic library he can carry with him – as long as he isn’t caught with it since possession is illegal. Before he can set off on his adventure he gets caught up in a rebellion and gets shanghaied.

Clee has to escape one perilous situation after another. Along the way he picks up a speaking gorilla, Timash, as a friend and companion. After escaping from a T-Rex they make another friend, Maire, who appears to be a fierce female warrior but turns out to be something else as well.

I must admit that at one point the travels (airships and hovercrafts) and dangers (giant spiders, dinosaurs, and more) made me think of the old tales of Sinbad. Further along I was reminded of spy tricks akin to Mission Impossible escape magic. I appreciated Clee’s friends who help save him when things looked bad. There is plenty of action and several twists that made it a fun adventure to the end.

The story is well written in first person voice of the hero Clee. He is an affable fellow with a strong, optimistic view and logical, if sometimes impulsive, nature. I also liked the literary references to Jules Verne and Shakespeare which would be works known to Clee. This is the first novel I have read by Mr. Lowe and I would be interested in more adventures for Clee and his friends. I recommend this to readers who enjoy engaging science fiction adventure.

I received this in 2016 through NetGalley. It qualifies for my NetGalley Challenge and Mount TBR.

I was drawn to the cover from the NetGalley version. Apparently the cover has changed as it now appears on Amazon with this cover:

What do you think? Do you prefer one cover more than the other?