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Wednesday, August 17, 2022

Audible Book Review: The Breaking by Daniel Greene

This is a brutal zombie story.
The Breaking: The End Time Saga, Book 2
By: Daniel Greene
Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka

The Breaking  By  cover art

Series: The End Time Saga, Book 2
Length: 12 hrs and 55 mins
Release date: 07-24-18
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
 Genre: Horror, Military, Post-Apocalyptic
My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.75; Narration 4.25


Publisher's Summary
The hunt is on to find Patient Zero...
Both the East and the West Coasts of the United States have collapsed, and the US military is in full retreat. All their attempts to stem the tide of the dead have failed.
Former counter-terrorism agent Mark Steele and his fellow survivors have been bushwhacked in the West Virginia hills. The fringe West Virginians are teaching him a valuable lesson in the new rules of the apocalypse. The mountain folk are as resilient as they are ruthless, and Steele must find a way out to save his people.
In a desperate gamble to stop the virus, retired Air Force Colonel Michael Kinnick has been entrusted with finding Dr. Joseph Jackowski, who's gone missing in West Virginia. Kinnick's depleted unit of Special Forces soldiers have reached the breaking point as the dead assault them at every step.
Outside of Pittsburgh, Dr. Joseph Jackowski's quest to find Patient Zero has stalled. Unwillingly conscripted into the National Guard, he has been enlisted into Colonel Jackson's rapidly depleting force. As the military quarantine disintegrates around Pittsburgh, death marches closer, and time is running out.
Steele is forced to go further than he ever imagined in order to save his loved ones, but when he is done, will anyone still recognize him? Will he recognize them? And will he recognize himself?
In this thrilling sequel to End Time, Daniel Greene continues his fast-paced and gripping apocalyptic saga. The Breaking transports us to a near future composed of death, honor, destruction, and hope as the United States falls and lives crumble before a devastating zombie virus.
©2018 Daniel Greene (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.


Review:
Mark Steele seems to be a “man of steel” but he takes a brutal beating when he and his small band of survivors, including his love, Gwen, are attacked by a violent group of hillbilly-country bullys (think Deliverance). Steele is left for dead while the survivors in his team are taken captive to be used for vile forms of entertainment.

Dr. Joseph Jackowski escaped the attack that took down Steele. He can’t spend time thinking about those he left behind because he is intent on finding Patient Zero. Joseph is glad to get to a military facility in Pittsburgh thinking they will help him on his quest. Instead, he finds himself in the clutches of a tyrant who insists that he put his skills to use to help the injured on his base.

Once Steele gets aid, he has to face the evil enemy on one side and the undead on the other. Can Steele save his friends without becoming like the brutes that tortured them? Meanwhile can Joseph find Patient Zero and what will happen if he does?

Although I like the action in this story, this one felt a little too long as it kept delivering blow after blow. I have the next book in the series, but I don’t plan to listen very soon. Fans of evil filled zombie action might like the series.

Audio Notes
: Keith Szarabajka does a good job with the narrations. I enjoyed his voice characterizations and the energy he brings to the story. I am glad I listened to this.

Source: October 2020 Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2022TBR and 2022Audiobook goals.

Sunday, August 14, 2022

Sunday Post August 14, 2022/It's Monday! What are You Reading? Plus Mailbox Monday August 15, 2022

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 (at Wordpress)
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 already miss time with the Illinois family.
Tomorrow I have to face LOADS of work.  And I have been advised that my office at work has been dripping water either from a plugged AC or a visible hole in the roof. I will be working out of the spare conference room.

I have to get a special family picture from my son to share. But here is a cute picture of my grandchildren. The youngest (twin) is wearing my sun hat but the eldest sister slipped a toy pig on top. :-)
One thing I forgot to note last week is that we watched episodes of The Chosen most nights. My son was excited to share it with me. I will have to get it playing on my system at home although it isn't nearly as nice to watch alone.

I continue with my previous prayer lists.

I had 14 hours of driving to get home. Only a few tense minutes of rain each day. The weather here is nice - actually a little cooler than Illinois.


I got to enjoy more audios and a couple more children's books. I finished four audios and shared three children's books.  I posted three reviews and my usual memes.

I visited 14 blogs last week.
No Shout Out today.

Audible offerings for free children's titles ended June 30, 2021.
Audiobooks.com is still sharing some free listens for children.

These were the posts over the past two weeks:
  • ATBR: Audio Book Review: Tattered Loyalties by Carrie Ann Ryan; Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Shifter, Wolves; My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.0.
  • ATBR: Audible Book Review: Nomad, The Nomad Triology 1, by Matthew Mather; Genre: Action, Post-Apocalyptic; My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.0.
  • ATBR: Audible Book Review: Dead Cat Bounce by Sarah Graves; Genre: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Women Sleuths; My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.75; Narration 3.75.
Finished Reading:
1. Audio Chirp App Smartphone (ATBR)
Elemental Thief


Elemental Thief
Written by Rachel Morgan
Narrated by Arielle Delisle
Run Time: 7hrs 46
This fantasy was just okay for me.
Source: 10/10/19 Chirp $.99 purchase.

Click on book title for full description.



READ WITH THE CHILDREN. My grandson said that they had read the Bear Hunt at school so we got it at the library; the other two books he had and asked me to read with him - he reads them quite well too!

We Love You, Mr Panda by Steve Antony

We Love You, Mr. Panda
By Steve Antony


Thank You, Mr. Panda/Gracias, Sr. Panda by Steve Antony

Thank You, Mr. Panda / Gracias, Sr. Panda
By Steve Antony


We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen

We're Going on a Bear Hunt
By Michael Rosen




2. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)


The Accidental Alchemist
By: Gigi Pandian
Narrated by: Julia Motyka
Series: Accidental Alchemist Mysteries, Book 1
Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins
I enjoyed this fantasy and will get more in the series.
Source: February 2021 Audible Plus Catalog.

Click on book title for full description.



3. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)


Wolves
by D. J. Molles
Narrated by: Christian Rummel
Length: 18 hrs and 19 mins
I like this author. This story is a bit brutal and sad - but engaging.
Source 9/18/18 Audible Credit.

Publisher's Summary
From the best-selling author of the Remaining series...
They took everything - killed his wife, enslaved his daughter, destroyed his life. Now he's a man with nothing left to lose...and that's what makes him so dangerous.
Ten years after the collapse, Huxley has built a good life again. He has a loving wife, a farm with fields of golden barley, and a daughter with a strange and wonderful gift. Then the slavers come. Working out in the fields during the attack, Huxley returns too late. His daughter has been taken, and his wife is bleeding out, her last whispered words about a man with a scorpion tattoo on his neck.
Where do the slavers go? Huxley has no idea. He knows only that they head east, and so will he, setting out on foot across the desert of the Wastelands. Eighteen months into his journey, he has no hope of ever seeing his daughter alive. Dying of thirst in the open desert, he doesn't even expect to see another day.
Then a man appears out of the desert and offers Huxley water from his canteen, an unheard of kindness in these savage times. Jay is an odd man, full of violence and guided by his hatred of the slavers, but he helps Huxley survive. And he gives Huxley a new purpose: Nothing can bring back the dead, but the two men can chase down the slavers and make them bleed.
Together Huxley and Jay carve a path of destruction across the remains of a once-great land. The slavers are brutal, but they have no idea what's coming for them. Huxley has found something to live for again: blood and vengeance.
In his most powerful work yet, New York Times best-selling author D. J. Molles delivers a carefully woven novel of violence and redemption, bringing to life a devastating portrait of a man pushed to the edge of his own humanity.
©2015 D. J. Molles (P)2016 Audible, Inc.



4. Audio Chirp App Smartphone (ATBR)


A Bargain For A Bride
Written by Amelia Rose
Narrated by Charles D. Baker
Run Time 4h 10min
I enjoyed this quick, sweet western romance.
Source: 11/22/2020 Chirp purchase for $.99.

Publisher Description
When Lady Moira Brennan leaves her home at Brennan Castle for the wilds of her own homestead claim in the Montana territory, she had no idea that a husband awaited her. Sold into marriage by her uncle, she arrives to find a bleak landscape of scarce farmers, all desperately trying to scratch out a living on their claims.
Pryor MacAteer came to Montana himself only three years ago, and his farm has prospered. All that he needs to make it complete is a wife and family, one whose passage he paid, and whose name is on the marriage contract.
Will Moira realize her dream of owning her own land and uncover the truth behind a marriage contract with her name on it?



Currently Reading:
1. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)
Marked in Flesh Audiobook By Anne Bishop cover art


Marked in Flesh
A Novel of the Others, Book 4
By: Anne Bishop
Narrated by: Alexandra Harris
Length: 15 hrs and 21 mins
I enjoy this series.
Source: 8/14/2021 July Audible Credit.

Publisher's Summary
Fourth in the "flawless" (The Reading Café) New York Times best-selling series from the author of Vision in Silver.
For centuries, the Others and humans have lived side by side in uneasy peace. But when humankind oversteps its bounds, the Others will have to decide how much humanity they're willing to tolerate - both within themselves and within their community....
Since the Others allied themselves with the cassandra sangue, the fragile yet powerful human blood prophets who were being exploited by their own kind, the delicate dynamic between humans and Others changed. Some, like Simon Wolfgard, wolf shifter and leader of the Lakeside Courtyard, and blood prophet Meg Corbyn see the new closer companionship as beneficial - both personally and practically.
But not everyone is convinced. A group of radical humans is seeking to usurp land through a series of violent attacks on the Others. What they don't realize is that there are older and more dangerous forces than shifters and vampires protecting the land that belongs to the Others - and those forces are willing to do whatever is necessary to protect what is theirs....
©2016 Anne Bishop (P)2016 Penguin Audio



2. Audible Smartphone (ATBR)
The Coming Apostasy  By  cover art


The Coming Apostasy: Exposing the Sabotage of Christianity from Within
By: Mark Hitchcock , Jeff Kinley
Narrated by: Paul Christy
Length: 5 hrs and 34 mins
I am interested in this topic.
Source: August 2021 Audible Plus Catalog.

Publisher's Summary
"For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)
Jesus Christ is coming back. It is certainly a Christian's greatest hope during these difficult times. The Bible warns us that the last days will be tumultuous - wars and rumors of wars will spread (Matthew 24:6). In our age, the world seems to be spinning out of control, creating fear, confusion, and uncertainty. In addition to violence, pestilence, and epidemics, the Bible predicts a great "falling away" from God in the end times. Bible teachers call that "the great apostasy". Are we seeing evidence today in the church of this massive rejection of sound and wholesome teaching?
Best-selling authors Mark Hitchcock and Jeff Kinley team up to examine the evidence from the teachers of our time. Are today's teachers allowing people to follow their own desires by telling them what they want to hear, as the Bible clearly predicts? Are major portions of the church ready to abandon sound and wholesome teaching?
Together, Mark and Jeff explore alarming trends among today's church leaders, and they are simply stunned by what they discover. The great apostasy is coming, but is it closer than we imagine? Let Mark and Jeff be your steady guides to the difficult days ahead.
©2017 Mark Hitchcock and Jeff Kinley (P)2017 Two Words Publishing LLC



I will probably pick another audio but I haven't decided what title yet.

August 14, 2022 - I am on track and continue to enjoy the informative videos in The Bible Reading Plan is: BibleProject | One Story that Leads to Jesus. I am enjoying keeping up with my reading each day.
No new study this week.


I still have 7 books to review plus 7 children's books. I will have to push to catch up.

NETGALLEY STATUS-- NO CHANGE
My NG shelf is back to the three old ebook titles. I will probably end up letting A Place Called Armageddon go as DNF.
I don't have any author reviews in my queue right now.
(Plus a few that I received from Facebook links and newsletter sign-ups, not specific review requests.)
Still many titles through InstaFreebie and many new author requests 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: Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit, me and new to the team, Velvet at vvb32reads. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.
No new review or NetGalley titles this week.
I selected my two for one credit titles at Audiobooks.com.
Seven free Kindle titles this week.

Are your mailbox and TBR piles blooming?

Review Titles
NONE

Won
NONE

Purchased
8/10/22 Two for One Credit at Audiobooks.com.
The Snow
Author Flint Maxwell
Narrator: Matt Godfrey

Duration: 4 h 13 min

Red Right Hand
Author Chris Holm
Narrator: John Glouchevitch

Duration: 9 h 0 min



Free
8/9/2022

No Mercy (A Valerie Law FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 1)
Blake Pierce

(Thanks to The Book Connection for the 'heads up'.)


8/10/22 Author book notice:

The Saint Of Mercy: Book 1 (The Saint Of Mercy Series)
John Belle




Seven titles added to Kindle library. Free titles often found at Bookbub, Bookfun, Book Adrenaline, Ereader News Today, Inspired Reads, Pixel of Ink or Kindle ebooks.

Sunday Words of Encouragement August 14, 2022 When You Speak

This is a very late post today. I have been busy the past two days working on my committee tasks as our new year program begins soon.
I tried to do church online this morning but they had technical difficulties.
I miss my church fellowship but I am glad I can read my Bible verses and 'hear' God speak to my heart.

I chose this song as it speaks to me today.
A Verse for Today
Isaiah 30:21 NIV
21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”


Lord, Thank You for speaking "peace" to me and thank you for guiding me. Please continue to guide me each day.




isaiah 30 | WJTL FM 90.3 - Christ. Community. Music.

Saturday, August 13, 2022

MBS July 2022 Reading List Wrap Up

MBS 2022 Reading List - JULY

Code for the list is:
A = Audible; ABB = Audiobook Boom
e = eBook; eA = eBook from Author; eT = eBook from Tour
NG = NetGalley
P = Print; PT = Print from Tour
LBC = Ladies Book Club
TBR = From the TBR shelves prior to 2022
Favorites for the month:

5 Stars =
4.75 Stars =  Man of War, Christmas Every Day
4.5 Stars = (4) End of Summer, The Plus One Pact, Forget Nothing, After it Happened
  1. NG2022: #NetGalley Audio Book Review: Just Tyrus: A Memoir by Tyrus; Genre: Biography, Memoirs; My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.0.
  2. ATBR: Audible Book Review: End of Summer by S.M. Anderson; Genre: Adventure, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.
  3. AT2022: Audible Book Review: Man of War by T. J. London; Genre: Action and Adventure, Historical Fiction; My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.75; Narration 4.75.
  4. A2022: Audible Book Review: The Plus One Pact by Portia MacIntosh ; Genre: Contemporary, Romantic Comedy; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.
  5. ATBR: Audible Book Review: Christmas Every Day by Beth Moran; Genre: Action and Adventure, Historical Fiction; My Rating: 4.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.75; Narration 4.75.
  6. ATBR: Audible Book Review: Forget Nothing by Jason Anspach and Michelle C. Meyers; Genre: Action, Fantasy, Science Fiction; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.5; Narration 4.5.
  7. ATBR: Audible Book Review: After It Happened Books 5 and 6 by Devon C. Ford; Genre: Adventure, Fantasy, Post-Apocalyptic; My Rating: 4.5 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.25; Narration 4.5.
  8. ATBR: Audible Book Review: Sidekick, Raptors, Book 1 by Jaime Castel and C.J. Valin; Genre: Action and Adventure, Comic, Teen and Young Adult; My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.75; Narration 4.25.
  9. ATBR: Audio Book Review: Tattered Loyalties by Carrie Ann Ryan; Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal, Shifter, Wolves; My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.0.
  10. ATBR: Audible Book Review: Nomad, The Nomad Triology 1, by Matthew Mather; Genre: Action, Post-Apocalyptic; My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0 Overall; Story 4.0; Narration 4.0.
  11. ATBR: Audible Book Review: Dead Cat Bounce by Sarah Graves; Genre: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Women Sleuths; My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.75; Narration 3.75.
Total read = 11
TBR = 8
New Authors = 8
Audio/Audible = 11 (8 TBRs)
NetGalley = 1 (1 audio) (0 TBRs)
Author Review books (other than NG) = 1 (0 TBR)
Nonfiction = 1
eBook = 0 (0 TBR)
Print = 0 (0 TBR)

Goal Progress (to Date meaning through the end of the given month):
Goodreads Goal Read to Date: 73 of 125
TBR to Date: 57 of 90 total
Audio to Date: 68 of 100
NetGalley to Date: 11 of 10
Author Reviews: 3 of 12
Nonfiction: 6 of 12
TBR ebooks or Print: 5 of 12

• Series: 50 of 75 (21 continuing, 29 new)
• New to me Series: 29 (8 Yes to continue; 9 likely to continue, 9 maybe, 3 unlikely)
• Finished for me Series: 3

Special Goals
• Seasonal title: 3 of 4: Winter, Spring, Summer
• Alphabet letters covered: AUDIO SERIES: 4 Jan, 2 Feb, 7 March, 3 April, 4 May, 2 June (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, Z) (22 of 26)   
Remaining: V, W, X, Y
• Alphabet letters covered: MIXED MEDIA (focus on stand alones but can be series): 3 Jan, 4 Feb, 3 March, 7 April, 3 May, 2 June; (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, U, W, Y, Z) (23 of 26)
Remaining: T, V, X

Friday, August 12, 2022

Audible Book Review: Dead Cat Bounce by Sarah Graves

Although I enjoyed the full story, it is a bit plodding.
The Dead Cat Bounce
By: Sarah Graves
Narrated by: Lindsay Ellison

The Dead Cat Bounce Audiobook By Sarah Graves cover art

Series: Home Repair is Homicide, Book 1
Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
Release date: 08-01-09
Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Genre: Cozy Mystery, Mystery, Women Sleuths
My Rating: 3.75 of 5.0 Overall; Story 3.75; Narration 3.75.


Publisher's Summary
Since she bought her rambling fixer-upper of a house, Jacobia Tiptree has gotten used to finding things broken. But her latest problem isn't so easily repaired. Along with the rotting floor joists and sagging support beams, there's the little matter of the dead man in Jake's storeroom, an ice pick planted firmly in his cranium. Jake's unknown guest turns out to be local boy turned billionaire Threnody McIlwaine. When Jake's best friend, quiet and dependable Ellie White, confesses to the murder, cops and journalists swarm into the snowbound Eastport. Jake smells a cover-up, and begins poking into past history between McIlwaine and Ellie's family. But someone doesn't like nosy neighbors...and Jake's rustic refuge may become her final resting place.
©1997 Sarah Graves (P)2009 BBC Audio


Review:
Jacobia (Jake) had a successful career as a financial planner helping people salvage damaged accounts. Now she has chosen to retire with her teenage son to the insular community of Eastport, Maine where she invests her money in a damaged, fixer-upper house. While working on house renovations, a dead body is found in her storeroom. The dead man is a local playboy billionaire who has created many enemies along his flamboyant path.

The prime suspect is Jake’s best friend, Ellie, who is known as a caring, dependable woman who has remained single to live at home and take care of her loving father and bitter, demanding, mother. George, the local police officer who is first to investigate, has had a crush on Ellie but hasn’t been able to get her to leave her parents. George would do a lot to protect Ellie but he can’t do much when she confesses to the crime.

Jake doesn’t believe Ellie and is sure she is protecting someone. Jake sets out to investigate on her own, even making the authorities aware of her disdain for their failure to look for an alternative to Ellie’s quick confession.

There is family drama with both primary female characters. Ellie has her loving father who has doted on her nasty, bitter mother. Jake has to deal with her high-power ex-husband who wants to push their not so motivated son into Ivy League schools where he will struggle. Jake is also involved with a rugged, local man who is a water rescue specialist, Wade. Wade is very likeable while her ex is repulsive.

Unlike many cozy mysteries, the dead body was found early in the book, rather then far into it. However, the story still seemed slow in getting to the details and suspects. I enjoyed the setting and descriptions, but the writing, though clear, was more plodding than exciting. I found it interesting to learn the term "Dead Cat Bounce". I do have the second book from the plus catalog so I will listen to it sometime. Fans of light cozy mystery might want to check this out for themselves.

Audio Notes: The narration by Lindsay Ellison was clear and adequate but didn’t infuse any “oomph” to the story. I would still want to listen rather than read.

Source: 11/6/2021 Audible Plus Catalog. This qualifies for 2022TBR and 2022Audiobook goals.

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