Michale Connelly’s thriller is set mostly in Hong Kong. I was so glad I had my passport ready for this one! ~ Sheila
From the streets of L.A. to the shimmering skyline of Hong Kong, Harry Bosch must find his missing daughter.
Harry Bosch is assigned a homicide call in South L.A. that takes him to Fortune Liquors, where the Chinese owner has been shot to death behind the counter in a robbery. Joined by members of the department’s Asian Crime Unit, Bosch relentlessly investigates the killing and soon identifies a suspect, a Los Angeles member of a Hong Kong triad.
But before Harry can close in, he gets the word that his young daughter Maddie, who lives in Hong Kong with her mother, is missing.
Bosch drops everything to journey across the Pacific to find his daughter. Could her disappearance and the case be connected? With the stakes of the investigation so high and so personal, Bosch is up against the clock in a new city, where nothing is at it seems.
Book Tour
My Thoughts:
Michael Connelly is an author I just became a reader of this year. This is actually his 14th book where he uses Detective Harry Bosch as the main character and I was a bit concerned that this would put me on the outside looking in to a series of books that had started long ago. This was not a concern in this book, Michael Connelly writes his character so well that I did not feel that I was missing information needed to fully understand Harry Bosch, who he was, and where he was coming from.
I don’t know what it is about this time of year but my reading style actually changes up from the lighter reads of summer (beach reads, vacation themes, chick lit…) to almost a need for a more hearty style book as the cooler weather creeps into Minnesota. Michael Connelly delivers such a read. A gripping and colorful background layout of Hong Kong lead me deeper into this story. Twists and turns galore I was not lacking for adventure as I hit the road with Detective Harry Bosch.
Fast paced – starting the book out in LA and our Detective has his hands full right from the start with a homicide with connections (leaving that for the reader to discover), a partner who is causing concern, and leading up to the kidnapping of Harry’s own daughter, Maddie.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read and found it hit the literary spot that I was craving!
Michael Connelly decided to become a writer after discovering the books of Raymond Chandler while attending the University of Florida. Once he decided on this direction he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing — a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.
After graduating in 1980, Connelly worked at newspapers in Daytona Beach and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, primarily specializing in the crime beat. In Fort Lauderdale he wrote about police and crime during the height of the murder and violence wave that rolled over South Florida during the so-called cocaine wars. In 1986, he and two other reporters spent several months interviewing survivors of a major airline crash. They wrote a magazine story on the crash and the survivors which was later short-listed for the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing. The magazine story also moved Connelly into the upper levels of journalism, landing him a job as a crime reporter for the Los Angeles Times, one of the largest papers in the country, and bringing him to the city of which his literary hero, Chandler,
had written.
Michael lives with his family in Florida.
Thank you to Hachelle Book Group who has offered me four copies of this wonderful book to give away. Here is how to enter:
1) Leave a comment here with the name of a Michael Connelly book you have read OR if you have not read Michael Connelly before please look at his books here and leave me the title of one you think you would enjoy. (*This must be done to receive your entry into the drawing for this book)
For Additional Entries:
2) Receive a second entry if you Twitter, Facebook, or blog about this. Be sure to leave me a separate comment here with where you did this.
3) A third entry is available if you comment on any other non giveaway post here and be sure to let me know on a separate comment which post you commented on
Thats it! Have fun! This giveaway is open to USA and Canada. Giveaway will end on November 20.
My review copy came from Valerie from Hachette Book Group
I am excited that this post is going to be up somewhat earlier for me than usual. I had a good week – a busy week and just now I am able to unpack these treasures with you here!
Leaving Yesterday by Kathryn Cushman
When Alisa Stewart’s son checks himself into rehab, he seems to find a healing faith that’s real. Yet the hope she feels at this news is cracked when a policeman shows up asking dark questions about a murder of someone Kurt knew. Alisa is terrified. Her boy is different now. He’s changed and deserves a second chance. But as his old life refuses to stay buried, Alisa finds herself facing an impossible choice: keep silent and keep her son or risk everything in a quest for the truth.
This is a book from Bethany House Reviews. I usually do not like covers with people on them but this one I do!
Watch Over Me by Christa Parrish
Deputy Benjamin Patil is the one to find the infant girl–hours old, abandoned in a field. When the mother can’t be located, Ben and his wife, Abbi, seem like the perfect couple to serve as foster parents. But the baby’s arrival opens old wounds for Abbi and shines a harsh light on how much Ben has changed since a devastating tour in Iraq. As their marriage teeters on the brink, they now must choose to either reclaim what they once had or lose each other forever.
This book is also from Bethany House Reviews. This books topic really spoke to me ad I knew I wanted to review it. I have a real heart for children in need.
Things Worth Remembering by Jackina Stark
Kendy Laswell and her daughter, Maisey, used to do everything together–until one fateful summer when Maisey witnessed something she shouldn’t have, and their relationship fractured. Now, Maisey is back home to get married and Kendy realizes this is her last chance to reconnect with her daughter. Will Kendy and Maisey be able to reclaim the bond they once shared?
Totally cover love on this one – also from Bathany House Reviews. The cover caused me to read on and the topic sounds good.
Tirissa and The Necklace of Nulidor by Willow
One day twelve-year-old Tirissa discovers that everyone in her village is under a spell. Everyone but her! Then she sees a mysterious stranger change into a huge bird, a bird with a beak like a sword. Did he cast the spell? Desperate to find someone who can break it, she flees, leaving her village behind. Soon she meets some wood nymphs and learns, to her surprise, that she is part wood nymph.
An old herbwoman tells her to seek help from a wizard who lives far away, a journey that will take her across the Three Kingdoms. Along the way she’s joined by a kindly troll and a reluctant palace guard. They are pursued by the twin princes of Kellayne, the best hunters in the Blue River Kingdom, as well as by the huge, dangerous bird.
Meanwhile, an evil wizard watches Tirissa and her friends in his magic mirror and plans a second spell that will kill everyone
in the Three Kingdoms.
Seriously did you read this description? Does that sound wonderfully fantasy? This is a book tour for Nov 24 sponsored by Pump Up Your Book Promotion. The author stuck me a little post it note message on the book – way cool!
let go by Sheila Walsh
Burdened. The word alone makes shoulders sink. It slows down our lives. It clouds our vision. It is the result of so many memories, grudges, fears, uncertainty, and stress. It is heavy.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matt 11:28)
Sound impossible? Sheila Walsh thought so – until God proved himself again and again through his Word, his people, and her life.
In Let Go, the bestselling author and speaker walks readers through the journey to freedom in Christ. Along the way, she tackles some of the toughest struggles that weigh women down, answering them with overwhelming truth, promise, and hope.
I picked this up at the Women of Faith Conference this weekend. Sheila Walsh spoke there and I am always impressed on how real she is. Sheila really opened up about her own life happenings and I knew I had to read this book.
A Perfect Mess by Lisa Harper
In this liberating look at how God adores and transforms imperfect people, Bible teacher Lisa Harper weaves poignant stories of her own personal foibles with a fresh take on selected Psalms to reveal a loving Father who remains your greatest champion even when you don’t feel anywhere close to holy.
Join Lisa in discovering what happens when we stop trying to hide our inadequacies and doubts and instead trust God with our anger, frustrations, flaws, and regrets. As you accept God’s loving invitation to exchange your junk for His joy, you’ll find the imperfect pieces of your life shaped into a glorious pattern of divine grace.
I seen Lisa Harper for the first time this weekend and thought that anyone that can talk about carrying a dead goat up a hill of her property and lose her pants at the same time has to be an alright author! Lisa was incredibly funny and I am excited to dive into her book.
What To Do When The Roof Caves In by Marilyn Meberg
Every family and every person has been there in one way or another. It’s the moment when everything falls apart unexpectedly. The roof has caved in. And the question immediately following comes from the rubble: Now what?
Marilyn Meberg’s What To Do When the Roof Caves In offers readers a certified counselor’s answer to that question in their own lives. Moving from topic to topic,she helps readers understand where their emotional responses are coming from when hard times hit. And she offers practical, sisterly advice to tackle those trials that seem like they can’t be mended.
Marilyn is one of those people that you look at and think – what could this woman possibly have to share with me in a book? I have heard Marilyn speak 5 different times now and each times she leaves me laughing so hard there are tears in my eyes and at the same time she sneaks her own witty wisdom inside her stories. Marilyn is a joy to listen to and I have already dropped my head intot his book on our way home from Minneapolis.
Blurt package and Timeless Toys book!
This is just a funny story. It is no secret on this blog that I a lover of all things words and games are right there in that mix! I posted a few weeks ago a Morning Meandering on my love of board games. If you know my meanderings – they are just that…. me rambling on about whatever is on my mind, and on this particular morning it was my love of all things board games. Later that week I received this email:
Sheila,
I caught your Morning Meandering Post the other day and I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to hear that Blurt is in your game closet! I am the designer of Blurt and I am also an author. We may be cut form the same cloth May I send you a book/game play extravaganza package?
My Best,
Tim
I had no idea what would be sent… maybe some BLURT stationary or pens… something fun like that, so I sent off my address and then forgot about it. Then this week my husband brings up this box that was delivered to our business office that is behind out house. I asked, “What is it?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “Its addressed to you.”
Don’t get me wrong – I love a good mystery box so I opened it right away and was overly delighted to see a new Blurt! game, this gorgeous book called Timeless Toys (which I have also already been reading and drooling!) and this book called SUPER BOOK about WHAM-O toys! I hauled the BLURT! game with me to this past weekends conference but with as much as we had going on and the fact that I was in a lot of pain (see my morning meandering today about that) I did not get into the game yet. Never fear though – I will! First chance I get to have some friends together and we will play and review this wonderful game.
So that is my mailbox this week. I am excited to hear what is in all of yours? Be sure to write your post and then link it over at Kristi’s In My Mailbox post at Story Siren. She is so fun and I love to watch her vlog each week!
I returned late last night from the Women of Faith Conference. We had a great time despite the fact that I was on 800 milligrams on Ibuprofen the entire weekend. Seems that I have an abscessed tooth and it started hurting Thursday after we left from the conference and continued to get worse throughout the weekend. Thank goodness my wonderful dentist was able to line up a prescription for me from where we are at until I can get into him on Monday.
Once I was all medicated (ha ha) I could jam with the rest of them! We had a blast listening to Marilyn Meberg, Patsy Clairmont, Anita Renfroe, Lisa Welcehell, (yes – Blair from the Facts of Life), Sheila Walsh, Lisa harper and yeah Steven Curtis Chapman and Nicole C Mullen rocked the house!
And oh yes, I did come home with three new books! These I will share with you In My Mailbox post today. I even was able to get a bit of reading done so my review of 9 Dragons will also go up today as well as a few others I need to catch up throughout this week.
Cindy Woodsmall writes an Amish love story… a story of heartbreak and restoration… written in a way that touched my heart as well. ~ Sheila
The Sound of Sleigh Bells
Beth Hertzler works alongside her beloved Aunt Lizzy in their dry goods store, and serving as contact of sorts between Amish craftsmen and Englischers who want to sell the Plain people’s wares. But remorse and loneliness still echo in her heart everyday as she still wears the dark garb, indicating mourning of her fiancé. When she discovers a large, intricately carved scene of Amish children playing in the snow, something deep inside Beth’s soul responds and she wants to help the unknown artist find homes for his work–including Lizzy’s dry goods store. But she doesn’t know if her bishop will approve of the gorgeous carving or deem it idolatry.
Lizzy sees the changes in her niece when Beth shows her the woodworking, and after Lizzy hunts down Jonah, the artist, she is all the more determined that Beth meets this man with the hands that create healing art. But it’s not that simple–will Lizzy’s elaborate plan to reintroduce her niece to love work? Will Jonah be able to offer Beth the sleigh ride she’s always dreamed of and a second chance at real love–or just more heartbreak?
My Thoughts:
I read Cindy Woodsmall earlier this year when I had the opportunity to review Hope For Refuge. Once again I find myself in an Amish setting as I relaxed into a book of a world so different than my own. Beth is a single woman in the Amish country who does not know where she fits. She feels she is too old to sit with the young single girls, but does not fit with the married groups either. She lives her days in a state of mourning a loss that has gone on too long, and her family is worried about her future.
In this book I was surprised at the reaction to Beth’s time of mourning being a concern t o those around her. It seemed that the Amish had a strong feel for the importance of being married. At first I was thinking that was the Amish way, but as I read more, I know it was more the family not wanting Beth to drown in her grief, and certainly to not live her life alone. That I would think would be the case for any of us.
A book on grieving and loss hits home for me. I felt Beth’s need to mourn in her own way in her own time. I know first had that you can not put a time limit on grief and I think that is where I became sort of stuck in this book. This book reminds me of forgiveness in yourself… and caused me to take pause, take a deep breath and read on. When Jonah steps into the book, you are given a romantic interest for Beth and a connection of hearts. A quick light Christian read with a pleasant flow.
Cindy Woodsmall is a veteran homeschool mom. As her children progressed in age, her desire to write grew stronger. After working through reservations whether this desire was something she should pursue, she began her writing journey. Her husband was her staunchest supporter as she aimed for what seemed impossible.
Her first novel released in 2006 to much acclaim and became a Christian Book Association best seller. Cindy was a 2007 ECPA Christian Book Award finalist, along with Karen Kingsbury, Angela Hunt, and Charles Martin.
I received this book for review from Liz Johnson Publicist
Multnomah Books, a division of Random House
Here I am in Minneapolis… enjoying my coffee with my good friend Suzette. We leave for the conference in 15 minutes. We had a great night last night…. ate a wonderful dinner at Jake’s Restaurant with 4 of the other girls in our group.
Off to the Excel Center for a morning of music, books, inspirational messages, and fun! I will be back this afternoon with updates pictures – and I am sure a book or two.
Today I am up and packed! After I finish at the office at 2 pm, I am coming back home and my friend Suzette is picking me up to head to St Paul for The Women of Faith Conference. This will be my fourth year in a row attending and it is so much fun! Great speakers, music and many of the speakers have books so I get to do a little book shopping as well!
This year I will be attending with 22 girls from our area. I usually pick up a set of group tickets the previous year and then sell them to friends and acquaintances. In 2007 and 2008 we had 36 girls each time, with the economy the tickets were a harder sell this year and so we have a smaller group.
Tonight we are in a hotel – hanging out, hot tubbing and hopefully I will sneak in some reading as well. Tomorrow starts the conference and then it ends on Saturday at 4 pm and we head back this way. Laptop and Coffee Cup will be attending as well so I will be active all weekend.
If you have ever wondered about Women of Faith conferences, I highly recommend them. They travel all over (see map here) and it is just a light hearted, funny at times, and positively high energy weekend! Last year we were jumping up and down to Jodi C Mullen.This year we have Steven Curtis Chapman, “American Idol” finalist Mandisa, Nicole C. Mullen, Sandi Patty, Lisa Whelchel (from TV’s “The Facts of Life”), Sheila Walsh, Patsy Clairmont, Marilyn Meberg, Luci Swindoll, and more!
I will be around today and throughout the weekend. I have reviews that must (must!) be posted! Have a wonderful day!
As promised… here is my recipe for My Friend Amy’s recipe Exchange. Pop on over to her blog and add yours to her linky as well as check out all the other wonderful recipes that have been linked. YUM!
Pumpkin Roll
This is one I usually make around Christmas time and then deliver to neighbors and friends. I wrap the finished product in wax paper, then cover it with colored saran wrap and use crafting twine to add a home made gift tag and tie it with a bow.
Ingredients:
3/4 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon each of baking soda and baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup of canned pumpkin
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a cookie sheet with sides and line ir with waxed paper. Put a light cooking spray on the wax paper and sprinkle a little powdered sugar on the paper as well. Sprinkle towel with powdered sugar.
Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon,nutmeg, and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and sugar in a separate large bowl. When well mixed, add in the pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread into pan.
Bake about 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. Take pumpkin roll out of pan right away by turning it on to a flour sack towel that is covered with a light layer of powdered sugar. Carefully peel off wax paper. Roll up pumpkin roll and towel together, then let cool.
FILLING:
8 ounces of cream cheese
1/4 cup of powdered sugar
6 Tablespoons of butter (softened)
1 teaspoon of vanilla
BEAT cream cheese, powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll the pumpkin roll and remove the towel. Spread the cream cheese mixture over the pumpkin roll. Roll it up again . Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.
* Once refrigerated, you can freeze these as well. They keep for 60 days and thaw quickly for company, dinners, etc… This recipe makes one but I have tripled this recipe to make three at a time and that has worked out well.
Only a few minutes this morning as I am now back to being alone in the mornings as Chance has gone back home after his month stay with us. No more rushing to the school by 8 am each morning, no more getting up to get a cup of coffee and he is already waiting for me at the table, no more 14 year old under foot every day at 3:30 pm asking what I am doing as I read or blog or….
yeah. I miss him already.
So this morning holding on to Coffee Cup and basking in the fact that it is 8:30 and I am still sitting at the table wondering how much longer I can push the getting out out the door to get to the office by 9:00 am…. ahhhh quiet mornings! I haven’t blog hopped a whole lot this morning as I had a review to post for a tour and had a couple finishing touches to put on it. I actually had two that were due up today, so if you have a moment, please check them out:
Last nights book club was a lot of fun and a lot of great food! We reviewed A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and it was a great discussion. I am going to post that review tomorrow as I already have the two reviews up today. Oh – and yes, I still need to post my fall recipe that I mentioned in yesterdays meandering…. this afternoon I should be able to do that 🙂
Written with a witty pen that caused moments of out loud laughter and an occasional wipe of the eye, Jess Walters writes a book that takes the pain of financial destruction and twists it into a novel of a man pushed too far and trying to make his way back. ~ Sheila
Meet Matt Prior. He’s about to lose his job, his wife, his house, maybe his mind. Unless . . .
Following Matt in his week long quest to save his marriage, his sanity, and his dreams, The Financial Lives of the Poets is a hysterical, heartfelt novel about how we can reach the edge of ruin—and how we can begin to make our way back.
In the winning and utterly original novels Citizen Vince and The Zero, Jess Walter (“a ridiculously talented writer”—New York Times) painted an America all his own: a land of real, flawed, and deeply human characters coping with the anxieties of their times. Now, in his warmest, funniest, and best novel yet, Walter offers a story as real as our own lives: a tale of overstretched accounts, misbegotten schemes, and domestic dreams deferred.
A few years ago, small-time finance journalist Matthew Prior quit his day job to gamble everything on a quixotic notion: a Web site devoted to financial journalism in the form of blank verse. When his big idea—and his wife’s eBay resale business— ends with a whimper (and a garage full of unwanted figurines), they borrow and borrow, whistling past the graveyard of their uncertain dreams. One morning Matt wakes up to find himself jobless, hobbled with debt, spying on his wife’s online flirtation, and six days away from losing his home. Is this really how things were supposed to end up for me, he wonders: staying up all night worried, driving to 7-Eleven in the middle of the night to get milk for his boys, and falling in with two local degenerates after they offer him a hit of high-grade marijuana?
Or, he thinks, could this be the solution to all my problems?
Book Tour
My Thoughts…
In all honesty, the title of this book, the cover too… this would have been a book that I more than likely would have passed on if I had seen it in the book store. I am here now writing this review telling you not to do that! When Matt Prior loses his job he finds himself wallowing in reruns of The Rockford Files and becoming more paranoid about his wife’s on line flirtations…. when Matt winds up with an opportunity to sell drugs to help out his financial woes, at this point only days away from losing his home and pulling his kids out of a private school… he jumps into a humorous look at what people will do at the breaking point.
I would say in today’s world of economic uncertainties this book is surely a timely fictitious story of riches to rags… to living with the knowledge that it is possible to take a deep breath and live within our means… even if our means isn’t what we had hoped and dreamed. There are more important things than money, big homes, and two cars…. and Matt Prior takes the long way around to finding this out.
Jess Walter is the author of five novels, including The Zero, a finalist for the 2006 National Book Award and Citizen Vince, winner of the 2005 Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel. He has been a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize and the PEN USA Literary Prize in both fiction and nonfiction. His books have been New York Times, Washington Post and NPR best books of the year and have been translated into twenty languages.
An interesting look into the game of football and relationships ~ Sheila
Can learning about football be sexy? According to Football is for Lovers, when it comes to your love life, football can be better than oysters.
The good news is that Football is for Lovers makes the basics so . . . well, so basic that learning the game is easy as eating an ice cream cone. And just as much fun.
With anecdotes, illustrations, and a lot of laughs, Football is for Lovers not only makes it easy to understand the game, but also shows you how to put an end to the TV clicker wars, improve your relationship, and spice up your love life.
It just takes looking at the game of football a little bit differently.
Then again, since Football is for Lovers contains references to football great Jerry Rice in a pink tutu, images of paintings by French artist Jean Dubuffet, an alert about the dangers of speaking Northeastern Mandarin, an explanation of the value of M & M’s in a relationship, and a Burma Shave sign, to say it looks at football “a little bit differently” may be something of an understatement.
But if your football-obsessed partner has been making you a ‘football widow’ from August NFL pre-season through the February Super-Bowl, thus convincing you that you hate football, this little book may be just the ‘different look’ you need to discover that, after all, Football really is for Lovers!
My Thoughts….
Uhhhh…. well, hmmmm… Ok. For those of you who read this blog on any normal basis would know that this book is way out in left field for me (no pun intended). When it arrived in the mail I looked closely at the cover and had to question myself as to what I thought I was getting. A book on football that was suppose to explain the game and in a humorous way was my response. AND… in all honesty, that is what I did get… with just a bit more…
Football is For Lovers is a book about football – and it is also about how to draw your significant others attention back your way during the season that makes many of us women feel like we are on the outside looking in. The book does cover information on the game itself that I did not know and that was helpful for the few games I have tried to watch and be excited about.
The more intimate parts of the book are actually minimal and I can see where this book would be a great gift for newly weds who are also sports fans. This book is more about getting to know the game of Football and being able to enjoy it together. Bob and Kaye share the how tos of football in a light and fun manner that even made sense to someone like me who knows very little about the game.
Bob Brooker and Kaye O’Dougherty have been adventuring together for a lot of years now. They first met at a recording studio on 42nd Street. Yes, that 42nd Street. They recorded a commercial for E.J. Korvette’s, who went out of business soon thereafter.
Bob is an old saloon singer who, as Bobby Brookes, recorded for Victor and Capital back in the day. Kaye has trouble carrying a tune in a bucket. Nevertheless, over the years, as Brooker and O’Dougherty, the two have collaborated on a variety of theater projects, performing, writing, directing, managing, and producing. In keeping with the changing times, they have even created a cyber alter-ego named eBobb.
Recently, Bob and Kaye both took long-overdue turns at being rather mature college kids. Kaye now holds a Bachelors Degree in the Humanities from St. Peter’s College in Englewood Cliffs, NJ. Bob was graduated magna cum laude from Montclair State University with a BA in Theater, and is a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.
What I Learned…
I actually learned quite a bit about the game of football. On page 104 there is a great page of a little cartoon referee who shows what each of the penalty signs mean. I even picked up on a few facts that the guys may not know such as the width of the field…
From the streets of L.A. to the shimmering skyline of Hong Kong, Harry Bosch must find his missing daughter.
Once he decided on this direction he chose a major in journalism and a minor in creative writing — a curriculum in which one of his teachers was novelist Harry Crews.
Thank you to Hachelle Book Group who has offered me four copies of this wonderful book to give away. Here is how to enter:
Book Journey 