Links I love

 

Things are beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. I started my shopping fairly early so I'm hoping it will be less stressful.  I'm a little over halfway through this book - check back for a review soon!

1. Barnes and Noble has announced its Book of the Year. The complete list of National Book Award Winners is here.
2. There has been an increase in walking pneumonia cases this year.
3. On coming of age in the era of serial killers.
4. Little Women gift list.
5. Best tabasco sauces ranked.
6. I want to make this soup this weekend.
7. The only  two states without chik-fil-a.
8. The best books of 2024 according to BookRiot.
9. Notable self help books of 2024.
10. Gladiator II is out.
11. Gilmore Girls gift guide.
12. How to motivate yourself to read more.
13. Some true crime memoirs for you.
14. Stocking stuffers for readers that are under $25.00.
15. Histories and non fiction books for everyone.
16. Gift ideas for writers. And for librarians.
17. What kind of power did a medieval monarch actually have?

Just a reminder that if you use the code found here on your first order at Pangobooks, you get $5.00 off your first order.  

REVIEW: The Blue Sisters by Coco Mellors

 

This is Ms. Mellors second novel and boy was it a doozy (in a good way!). We meet four sisters that are now three - Avery, Bonnie, Nicky and Lucky. The three remaining sisters - Avery, Bonnie and Lucky - are trying to come to terms with Nicky's death by overdose. When we meet them, it is the one year anniversary of her death.  Their mother is threatening to sell the apartment that they grew up in and the same apartment that Nicky was living and died in one year previously. Since Nicky's death, things have seemed to change since the glue that kept them together - Nicky - is now gone. 

Avery is the oldest and in some ways, very much a stereotype. She's Type A and a lawyer, having gotten there after getting sober. She is serious and a perfectionist - she feels compelled in a way to keep all the sisters well and care for them, as well as her mother. Avery, however, is a kleptomaniac. Bonnie, the second oldest, is a boxer. She had a professional boxing career that ended abruptly with a loss right around the time that Nicky died and she harbors a romantic love to her trainer, Pavel. Lucky is the youngest. She's a model that struggles with drugs and alcohol and partying.  The three return to NYC in an effort to stop the sale of the apartment and to pack Nicky's things. 

I loved this book.  The characters are amazingly deep and the book deals with the theme of generational trauma, including how it impacts different people differently even though they were all raised in the same environment. I loved how it also addressed how substance misuse and addiction can appear in different forms. Definitely a heavy book but well worth it in the end.  

Links I love

 I hope that everyone had a good week! Thank you to the Veterans!  I  am finishing up the Blue Sisters and will have a review out this week. I'm looking forward to starting Patriot after that.  

• Disney's new land is up.
• Some Disney gifts under $20.00.
• Notable  non fiction for this fall.
• What is with the current obsession with the Mormons?
• Richard Allen, the Delphi Murder case and how he was found.
• Orbital wins the 2024 Booker Prize.
• Time's 100 must read books of 2024.
• What is contagious anxiety and how to deal with it.
• Full menus released for Epcot Festival of holidays.

I have also decided to participate in the Mount TBR challenge in the hopes that I can chip away at my TBR piles.  My level is Mt Vancouver (36 books).  Wish me luck!

Links I love

 

Two weekends ago, the weekend before Halloween, we were at Head of the Fish and that picture was taken from the launch site.  This weekend we went to see Duran Duran. I hope that everyone had a good week! I ha ve started training for this half marathon.  I might do this one though.

• Lord of the Rings books in order. 
• Store bought  coffee beans that are of the highest quality.
• Quincy Jones passed away. I didn't realize he had done Captain EO.
• Tips for all three Holiday Parties at Disney.
• Reports on banned book numbers in schools.
• The appeal of the female sleuth.
• 15 stress free reads.
• What does having a new DA mean for the Menendez brothers?
• Since it's almost Hot Chocolate season - spices to elevate your hot chocolate! I love Peppermint!
• Australia proposes social media ban for children under the age of 16.
• Therapy llamas at an airport!
• Amazon has a 3D shop.
• Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard out of Carolina, has died.
• Can a fictional character change real world perceptions?

The holidays are coming up.  Pangobooks makes buying books for your reader more affordable.  Follow this link and use the code to get $5.00 off your first order.

REVIEW: Verity by Colleen Hoover

 

I'm a little late to the game here, but at least I made it right? This is a psychological thriller in which we meet Lowen Ashley, a struggling writer who is asked to ghost write Verity Crawford's books after she has suffered seemingly extensive injuries in a car accident. Things take a very, very dark turn when she discovers an unpublished autobiographical manuscript written by Verity herself, which includes shocking confessions and an insight into Crawford's mind. Lowen reads the manuscript and finds herself moving through an increasingly confusing world in which she has a difficult time discerning truth and fiction.  

I really, really enjoyed this book.  I think I read it in about 3 days so it moves very, very quickly.  The plot itself keeps you on your toes. I was caught by surprise a lot.  I really enjoyed the characters themselves, even the ones that were arguably less than morally stellar. The themes were wonderful also.  The main theme appears to be the line between truth and deception and what is the definition of either.  Hoover shows us that the line is constantly shifting and in doing so, keeps us uncomfortably unbalanced. Hoover also looks at love versus obsession. We are constantly made to question how far the characters will go in order to maintain connection with or control over the people or things that they are obsessed with. 

I really enjoyed this novel and would highly recommend it. 

Links I love

 It has been a crazy week. I hope that everyone else's week has been a lot more easy and relaxing than mine.

• Some must read books on Native Americans
• Yikes about this costume?
• Some stocking stuffers for the guy in your life.
• A Daily routine that makes stress management enjoyable.
• The Oregon Trail game is being made into a movie!
• 9 books celebrating or written by Navajo authors.
• Starbucks has revealed their new cups.
• How does Anesthesia work?
• Most overpriced tourist attraction in each state, by map.
• Finalists for Barnes and Noble Book of the Year.
• Tarot inspired bookish gifts.
• Recent celebrity book club picks.
• Why you need noise to fall asleep.
• How do they measure the heat of hot peppers.

Don't forget Pangobooks, where you can buy and sell used books!  Use the code found here for $5.00 off your first order!