Sharing Beyond Books #438 Comment Giveaway January 22, 2022

Welcome to Sharing Beyond Books.

Thanks to everyone who commented on the last question.
Last post SBB#437 Ashfa asked: What did you think was cool then, when you were young, but isn’t cool now?
This was another question that brought out an interesting variety of replies. Three commenters couldn't think of anything. The other six of us listed: Getting dressed up for shopping (I remember people used to dress for flying too, but not anymore); fat pens with multi colors (I had a client that used those and passed them out); costume for carnival (perhaps costumes are more for the young); the Tetris game (hmm - does Candy Crush qualify too?); Uno? ( Hey I spent holidays playing this with my grandkids - they love it and it helps the 5 year olds identify colors and numbers); gaudy costume jewelry (it was fun sometimes); and mine was cootie catchers. Thanks for sharing!

For US participants: I need to update and refill the books available to US winners. I have used "Love" and "Christmas" titles as well as ARC titles. Since the supply is lower, I have author collections I could choose from, mostly romance - historical, suspense and some contemporary. What genres/books/authors would you like me to include?

The Winner from SBB#437 comments is #9 ASHFA 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. -- [9-18-2021 I have added a new box and crossed off books no longer available through August 2021.]

Please let me know your choice by completing the WINNER FORM.

WEEK #438

(One Question.)

Elizabeth asks: Do you check out eBooks or eAudiobooks from your local library? Does your library offer streaming videos or streaming/downloadable music that you check out??

Sadly, I do not use my library as I have overflowing TBR shelves. I do not know if they have streaming videos or music. I just checked and they do offer books through Google Play, Libby, Overdrive, plus a few others. They offer tutoring classes online. They also offer items through Hoopla - is that streaming?

Image found at Winter Haven Library.

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 1/2 book choice or $2.50 towards 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 them.
January 2022 questions were shared by Ashfa and Elizabeth who each get $2.50 credit. Thank you.

Your turn to share. Elizabeth asks: Do you check out eBooks or eAudiobooks from your local library? Does your library offer streaming videos or streaming/downloadable music that you check out??

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, February 5, 2022, at 5 PM central.

#NetGalley Audio Book Review: The Chase by Candice Fox

This is a solid crime thriller.

The Chase
by Candice Fox
Narrator: David de Vries, Lisa Negron

12 hours and 38 minutes
Audible.com Release Date March 08, 2022
Publisher Macmillan Audio
Genre: Crime Thriller, Suspense
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.25.

The Chase is a modern The Fugitive with characters only number-one New York Times and Globe and Mail best-selling author Candice Fox can write.
“Are you listening, Warden?”
“What do you want?”
“I want you to let them out.”
“Which inmates are we talking about?”
“All of them.”
When 650 of the world’s most violent human beings pour out of the Pronghorn Correctional Facility into the Nevada Desert, the biggest manhunt in US history begins.
For John Kradle, this is his chance to prove his innocence, 26 years after the murder of his wife and child. He just needs to stay one step ahead of the law enforcement officers he knows will be chasing down the escapees.
Death Row Supervisor turned fugitive-hunter Celine Osbourne is single-minded in her mission to catch Kradle. She has very personal reasons for hating him - and she knows exactly where he’s heading....
A Macmillan Audio production from Forge Books

Review:
A threat to civilians has the warden of the Pronghorn Correctional Facility facing a terrible decision. Before she can take action, the facility staff move on their own to open up the cell blocks and release every prisoner into the Nevada Desert.

John Kradle, released from death row, sees this as his last chance to prove that he did not murder his wife and child 26 years ago. He has had plenty of time to plan what he would do if he had the chance to escape. He sets out in a different direction from most of the prisoners. Unfortunately, another brutish prisoner decides to tag along with John, nearly killing him before the man realizes that he needs John’s plan for a chance to escape recapture.

Celine Osbourne is a Death Row Supervisor who prides herself on knowing the crimes and natures of her row of inmates. She has developed a hate-on-hate relationship with many of them over the years. Her past personal trauma has caused her to have truly negative attitude towards Kradle. Celine joins the fiercely determined US Marshall, Trinity, in the chase for the worst of the criminals. Trinity is focused on those she believes could have planned the breakout – most likely the terrorists or the mass murderers. But Celine is focused on getting Kradle and she is sure she knows where he is heading.

Celine finds herself teaming up with a former inmate, Keeps, who was released the day of the breakout. Keeps has the ability to think like a criminal and provide a distinct perspective that helps track the inmates that Trinity and Celine are focusing on. He acknowledges his skills come from his past as a conman, but Celine thinks perhaps she can trust him.

I found the primary characters interesting and was intrigued by the different thought processes that come from the law officer versus the criminal mind perspectives. There is action and violence that is ugly but to be expected from violent prisoners. I did like the several twists that make the story move along well. The story set out with action and continued through to the end. I would like to read more by this author, and I recommend this to those who like a good crime thriller.

Audio Notes: David de Vries and Lisa Negron do a good job narrating the male and female voices. They provide fitting accents and inflection for the several characters. I really enjoyed the audio performance.

Source: Received 11/17/2021 Audiobook through NetGalley. This qualifies for 2022TBR, 2022NetGalley, 2022Audiobook, and 2022Alphabet goals.

Martha's Bookshelf***Friday Pick Giveaway January 21, 2022

Happy Friday!
TO ENTER FRIDAY PICK.

This week was a little off kilter with a holiday Monday and hubby in hospital from Friday to Thursday.
I plan to pull together another box of books soon. :-) I think I planned to do GC before year end but didn't get to it. I will try to do them this month but I have a club reporting forms due 2/1 so I may have to work on that and push the GC accounting out until early February. They might make nice Valentines.

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 January 14, 2022 Pick. There was one automatic win last 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 last week.
CHRISTY gets Darkness Tell Us

CONGRATULATIONS to:
Random.org picked Winners from January 14, 2022 Pick:
MYSTICA gets a GC
AND
MARYP 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.}

I'm always "fixin' to read...something.
Image found at Texas Book Lover.

New Book Box #95 November 7, 2021

I'll add the titles through the week (16 including 2 doubles, 1 pair).
(on top) (Two) Rancher's Wild Secret and Hold Me Cowboy by Maisey Yates
(on top) Shadowlight by Lynn Viehl
(Two) The Taming & The Conquest by Jude Deveraux
(Pair) Dreaming of You and Promises of Dreams by Lisa Kleypas
My Darling Caroline by Adele Ashworth
Love's Surprise by Karen Ball
Manhunt by Wayne Barton and Stan Williams - Audio CDs
What We Find by Robyn Carr
Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich
The Hollows by Ben Larken
Robbie Taggart: Highland Sailor by Michael Phillips and Judith Pella
Storm Sisters: Friends Through All Seasons by Afton Rovrik (Hardback)
After the Light by Kimberly Clark Sharp (Hardback)


New Book Box #94 May 28, 2021 (10 books)

Three Audio CD Books:
Web of Evil by J.A. Jance
One Good Deed by David Baldacci
Dance Upon the Air by Nora Roberts
SINGLE TITLES
Flowers From the Storm by Laura Kinsale
The Hidden Heart by Laura Kinsale
A Summer of Firsts by Susan Wiggs and Sarah Morgan
Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane
Christmas on 4th Street: An Anthology by Susan Mallery
The Stranger by Harlan Coben
Vortex by Robert Charles Wilson

New Book Groups #92 and #93 November 13, 2020.
#92 (15 books):

A Most Unsuitable Man by Jo Beverley
The Tender Stranger by Carolyn Davidson
Her Wedding Wish by Jillian Hart
Heart's Desire by Ruth Ryan Hagan
The Deputy's Duty by Terri Reed
Summer by the Sea by Susan Wiggs

Box #93 (14 books)

Seducing Mr. Darcy by Gwyn Cready
There's Only Been You by Donna Marie Rogers (personally signed)
For the Love of Pete by Julia Harper
The Irish Bride by Alexa Harrington
When We Met by Susan Mallery
Anne of Green Gables by Montgomery
All of Me by Lori Wilde

New Book Group #91 October 2, 2020 - Suspense themed

SINGLES: Ten books in this box:
Fight or Flight by Natalie J. Damschroder
The Sinister Pig by Tony Hillerman Audiobook

PICK TWO  your choice (listed below the picture) Nora Roberts:

Born in Fire Audiobook Cassettes
Montana Sky
Valley of Silence
Inner Harbor and
Chesapeake Blue


New Book Group #90 June 19, 2020
Quite a few mysteries in this box.

SINGLES:
Alias by Smy J. Fetzer
Hot Sex by Janet Evanovich (Audio cassettes)

New Book Group #89 March 6, 2020

Singles:
My Surrender by Connie Brockway
How to Tame a Modern Rogue by Diana Holoquist
Phoenix by A.J. Scudiere

New Book Group #88 November 8, 2019

Singles:
A Lady Never Tells by Candace Camp
Dawn of Redemption by Starla Childs

New Book Group #87 August 23, 2019

SINGLES:
Captain's Paradise by Kay Hooper
Open Season by Linda Howard AUDIO CASSETTES

New Book Group #86 June 7, 2019
Another group of variety from my shelves.

SINGLES:
Show No Fear by Marliss Melton
A Question of God's Balance (Vol 1) by Joseph Thek
King by Right of Blood and Might by Anna L. Walls

New Book Group #85 March 22, 2019
A variety from my shelves.

SINGLES:
Summer Skies by Judith Christenberry
Windfall (two stories) by JoAnn Ross
Daddy's Little Cowgirl (two stories) by Judith Bowen and Kimberly Raye
The Forever Year, Cold Pursuit, Lover's Lane and Temporary Sanity (Reader's Condensed)
ToxiCity by Libby Fischer Hillmann

New Book Group #84 December 15, 2018
Here are some Christmas titles to pick from.

SINGLES:
A Family for Thanksgiving
On this Holy Night
Christmas Haven
King Harold's Snow Job

New Book Group #83 November 30, 2018

(Starting bottom left and continuing up then down)
SINGLE
Seductive Secrets by Lynne Connolly
Seven Up by Janet Evanovich - Audio Cassettes
A Good Walk Spoiled by John Feinstein Audio Cassettes
Three Reader's Digest Condensed Books - each hardback:

Cold Harbour and The Courtship of Peggy McCoy
The Things We Do for Love, Three Weeks With My Brother, The Murder Artist and Night Train to Lisbon
Follow the Stars Home, Hunting Badger, The Quiet Game and Second Wind

New Book Group #82 November 9, 2018

SINGLES:
Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews
Killing Time by Linda Howard
The Wedding Night by Barbara Dawson Smith

New Book Group #81 August 17, 2018

SINGLES
Best Laid Plans by Allison Brennan
Darkness Tell Us by Richard Laymon
Cooking Most Deadly by Joanne Pence

New Book Group #80 August 17, 2018

Note: The Final Judgment and
The Book of Fate are Audio Cassettes
SINGLES:
Summer’s Moon by Lacey Baker
The Final Judgment by Richard North PattersonAudio Cassettes
Firebird by Janice Graham
No Getting Over a Cowboy by Delores Fossen
The Book of Fate by Brad Meltzer Audio Cassettes

New Book Group #79 July 13, 2018
I found this box of books buried under some other boxes.

The Vanishing Act of Esme Lenox by Maggie O’Farrell
P.S. by Helen Schulman
Her Sexiest Surprise by Dawn Atkins (personally autographed)
Dakota Child by Linda Ford
Calling the Shots by Ellen Hartman
Promises, Promises by Amber Miller
This Time for Keeps by Jenna Mills
A Daughter’s Legacy by Virginia Smith
Another Man’s Baby by Kay Stockham

New Book Group #78 April 27, 2018

SINGLES
Blackberry Bush
Breaking Point
A Tangled Affair
Too Wicked to Love
Roses are Red Audio Cassettes

New Book Group #77 February 16, 2018-
All gone

New Book Group #76 November 3, 2017
13 books remain of the original 37:

I finally Have them Listed!
Boots & Booties by Kristine Rolofson
Saucer the Conquest by Stephen Coonts
The Scorpion Seducer by Bonnie Vanak
Hell On Earth by David L. Porter
Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
The Glimpses of the Moon by Edith Wharton
Crisscross by Harmon Henkin
Maelstrom by Anne McCaffrey
Inhuman Condition by Clive Barker
101 Commonsense Rules for the Office by John R. Brinkerhoff

This shelf of 35 books are what is left from Groups #1 (11/27/09) through Group #75 September 29, 2017

(Title list reads left at bottom to right at top.)
Rehabilitation
Secret Blessing
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

(Title list reads left at bottom to right at top - 21 titles.)
Plan of Attack by Dan Brown
(*Three One more very old books from my Gothics box.)
*The Man in the Garden by Paule Mason (1969 - yellowed)
Fire Dancer by Ann Maxwell
*Four One books are very old; pulled from a box of gothic novels I found.
*Maggie – Her Marriage by Taylor Caldwell (1953 very old, yellowed pages, some stain damage doesn't effect reading)
First Things First by Stephen R. Covey- Audio Cassette
Trilogy Of Mysteries Audio Book Shadow Prey, There Was A Little Girl, Smokescreen Audio Cassettes (NOT CDs)
Raintree Haunted by Linda Winstead Jones (spine creases)
The Shadowing by Joan Overfield
The Sweetheart Dance by Patti Ann Colt
BOX 4 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 47-53)
Undateable by Ellen Rakieten & Anne Coyle
Jezebel by Katherine Sutcliff
The Hidden Truth of Cytech's Randall Forty by Vickie Kennedy
Breakfast in Bed by Sandra Brown - Audio Cassette Tapes (link is for mass media version)
BOX 3 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 39- 47)
Shetland Summer by Janet Lynnford
BOX 2 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 24- 38)
The Trailsman: Texas Lead Slingers by Jon Sharpe
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
An Honorable Man by Rosemary Rogers (spine creases)
The Willful Widow by Valerie King (spine wear)
Foundation (Foundation Novels) by Isaac Asimov
BOX #1 2015 (reboxed from Boxes 1- 23)
Ghost Writer (Shivers #3) by M.D. Spenser
Alien Chronicles - The Crimson Claw by Deborah Chester

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 TWELVE years I have posted 91 groups of mostly 16 books plus an additional 21 totaling approximately 1,535 books available to find new homes! (As of November 26, 2021).

I am happy to say that so far at least 1,389 books have found new homes through this feature! YAY. [A year or so ago I posted I had reached 2000 books given away. As I calculated the numbers 11/2/17 I realized that had to be an error. I realized I went from 1098 to 2001 instead of 1101. Guess I was tired; sorry for the error.] 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, TWRP, 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 faraway 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: Book 3 of The After Days Trilogy by Scott Medbury

Book three in this series moved the story forward and brings the community to a point of evacuation.

The After Days Trilogy
(After Days Trilogy #1-3)
by Scott Medbury

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 656 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1519573251
Genre: Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

The complete After Days trilogy
Fifteen year old Isaac Race has already lost everyone close to him. He is about to lose a lot more. We all are. A mystery outbreak sweeps North America, it is chilling in both its speed and deadliness. The odd thing is though, it is only fatal to adults. Too late, it becomes clear to authorities that the virus is man made - a biological weapon - and that the United States is at war... a war it has already lost.
As his country is invaded and occupied, Isaac must help his ragtag group of survivors find refuge in a world turned upside down. A world full of fear and danger. A world where enemies can be friends and friends... worse than enemies.
Don't miss Scott Medbury's After Days, the dystopian trilogy destined to become a classic.
This version includes:
Affliction
Sanctuary
Attrition

Review:
I read book from the middle of Sanctuary (book two) through book three, Attrition. This picks up where the young survivors led by Isaac manage to escape from what they thought would be sanctuary but turned out to be a tyranny led by a mad professor. The escape is not without chase and death, but once again the survivors struggle on to find a new safe place. They find a valley farm where they begin to settle in.

As they return to inspect the surrounding cities, they find that the mad scientists counter chemical attack has succeeded. Isaac and friends release enslaved American youth but not all of them are receptive to friendly survival. One particularly sullen youth, Ash, takes off with a Hummer full of weapons. It soon becomes clear that Ash will become a brutal enemy.

The book moves fairly quickly over early years of survival for the valley colony which grows from natural pairings and outsiders seeking to join a safe community. Finally, an attack by some of the marauding army, pushes the peaceful survivors to evacuate their valley home in search of another safe settlement.

As noted in my review of Books 1 and 2, the writing is not complex, but it is consistent, and, I am glad to say, it does not resort to ugly vulgar language. Basically, the main characters continue with the addition of a couple more key additions. There are some areas which I thought were just too convenient or easy for the survivors, but it moved the story along not getting too bogged in details of farm survival. This allowed for a good mix of action with some relationship development.

I am likely to continue with the next books (as a boxed set) at some point. I recommend the boxed sets (better value) to fans of post-apocalyptic/dystopian.

[This is the same or previous edition of America Falls. Affliction and part of Sanctuary became America Falls Book 1, Hell Week and Book 2, On the Run, which I listened to in October 2021.]

Source: Free Kindle 2017. This qualifies for 2022TBR, 2022eBook, and 2022Alphabet goals.

Audio Book Review: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

I was a little disappointed by this second book.
Artificial Condition
By Martha Wells
Narrated By: Kevin R. Free

Duration: 3 h 21 min
Release date: 05-08-18
Publisher: Recorded Books
Genres: Science Fiction & Fantasy
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.25.

Summary:
The follow-up to the hugely popular science fiction action-adventure All Systems Red Artificial Condition continues The Murderbot Diaries, a science fiction series that tackles questions of the ethics of sentient robotics. It appeals to fans of Westworld, Ex Machina, Ann Leckie's Imperial Raadch series, or Iain M. Banks' Culture novels. The main character is a deadly security droid that has bucked its restrictive programming and is balanced between contemplative self-discovery and an idle instinct to kill all humans. 'As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure.' It has a dark past-one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself 'Murderbot.' But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more. Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don't want to know what the 'A' stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue. What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks.

Review:
‘Murderbot’ is an AI droid who has overcome his controlling programming and is suspected of being a raging murderer. Now a rogue droid, Murderbot sets out on his own to research his past. He has to negotiate security systems to move through the communities that would take him back under control. He manages to get on a droid only transport with the expectation he can travel under the radar and with no interference. However, the command of the Research Transport vessel, dubbed ART, does interfere and, for good or not, ART encourages Murderbot to pursue his memories. And ART steps in to help several times.

I did like the fact that Murderbot was able to investigate what really happened. I also enjoyed the aid he reluctantly received from ART. I liked the quirkiness of both characters. This episode was reasonably entertaining and moved along well. However, I didn’t find it particularly enthralling. The story does indicate a conspiracy that might result in danger in the future, although that isn’t clear. I would not pay full price for these small episodes but would pick up more in the series if I can get them on sale.

Audio Notes: Kevin R. Free does a good job with the narration. He actually conveys the mostly unexcited nature of the AI characters. I am glad I was able to get the audio through a deal.

Source: 8/28/2021 Two for One Credit at Audiobooks.com. This qualifies for 2022TBR, 2022Audiobook, and 2022Alphabet goals.