Q is For ….

Q is for …. Quality over Quantity

My Q stack is small but they are a couple great series books! Two of my favorites series actually.

Another little fun fact about me, I am a also a Quilter! I don’t have quite as much time as I would like to give to this hobby but it brings me so much joy when I can.

Quicksand by Iris Johansen

Published: 4/22/2008

Book 8 in the Eve Duncan series

This is one of my favorite Crime Thriller series and I talk about it all the time! I can’t remember when I first started the series, it’s been over a decade, lefts start there. 🤔 I found The Killing Game (Book 2) and The Search (Book 3) at a garage sale. The books themselves do not call out that they are a series or what order they come in, so I assumed they were just stand alone books. After I started on the second one, I quickly realized these were related and looked up the rest to see where they fell in the series. I was very thankful that they were just # 2 and 3. I have to say that I absolutely hate starting a series unknowingly somewhere in the middle or god forbid the end. 😩 I will be honest, have a slight control problem 😏. I quickly figured out the series order and book 1 and got back on track, been reading them ever since and loving it! I will be reading Eve (Book 12) this year as part of my 50 Books 50 States Challenge.

I love everything forensics, and I am so intrigued by the forensic sculpting. To be able to reconstruct the face of the person just from the skull is amazing to me! Aside from the great plot and twists these books have, I think that it is the mix of science and art with forensic sculpting that has me captivated the most in these.

Book Blurb:

The number-one blockbuster bestselling author returns with a thriller that pits Eve Duncan against the one man who can put her darkest horror to rest – or make her relive it over and over again….

“Do you still miss your little Bonnie?”

This one sentence, spoken by a madman in an anonymous phone call, is all it takes to drag Eve Duncan right back to that horrifying day years ago when her only daughter vanished without a trace. Since that day, her life has become an obsession to find Bonnie’s remains and put the pain of her death to rest. However, one man wants nothing more than to prevent that from happening. He is every woman’s waking nightmare: a brilliant, ruthless killer whose hunting ground stretches from coast to coast. But taunting Eve Duncan might be his first and last mistake….

For Eve is armed with more than just her talent as a forensic sculptor and her fierce protective nature. She brings with her former Navy SEAL Joe Quinn, an Atlanta detective who will do whatever it takes to bring Eve some kind of peace, even if he has to lie to do it.

Eve’s only salvation may be through the mysterious skills of another woman whose chilling talent leaves her as tormented as Eve – and as driven to bring this monster to justice. But when lives are in danger, every step could be a trap, and every inch of solid ground seems to be shifting under their feet. And this killer wants nothing more than to lure Eve further and further into his swamp of madness….

With relentless pace and gut-wrenching intensity, Quicksandis Iris Johansen at her best.

Q is for Quarry by Sue Grafton

Published: 10/14/2002

Book 17 in the Kinsey Millhone series, or the Alphabet series as most like to call it.

I have not yet got to this one yet, I am only up to C is for Corpse (book 3), which I will be reading this year as part of my 2021 Popsugar Reading Challenge. If you have not heard of Popsugar or their yearly reading challenges, you need to go check them out! So much fun and a great way to expand your horizons while also smashing through your TBR’s. The 2021 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge Is Here — Ready, Set, Read! You can also join their Goodreads Group, Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge.

I was introduced to this series just a few years ago by a great friend who also gave me all the books up to this one. 💕 As a huge fan of Private Investigator books, I love these! Even with only the first two books completed I can tell already why this series is so popular and loved around the world. I can’t believe that I had never heard about them before.

I love that this particular book in the series is based on a true crime and that the author is trying to help identify the victim and bring her peace.

Book Blurb:

She was a “Jane Doe,” an unidentified white female whose decomposed body was discovered near a quarry off California’s Highway 1. The case fell to the Santa Teresa County Sheriff’s Department, but the detectives had little to go on. The woman was young, her hands were bound with a length of wire, there were multiple stab wounds, and her throat had been slashed. After months of investigation, the murder remained unsolved.

That was eighteen years ago. Now the two men who found the body, both nearing the end of long careers in law enforcement, want one last shot at the case. Old and ill, they need someone to help with their legwork and they turn to Kinsey Millhone. They will, they tell her, find closure if they can just identify the victim. Kinsey is intrigued and agrees to the job.

But revisiting the past can be a dangerous business, and what begins with the pursuit of Jane Doe’s real identity ends in a high-risk hunt for her killer.

“Q” is for Quarry is based on an unsolved homicide that occurred in 1969, and Grafton’s interest in the case has generated renewed police efforts. During the past year, the body was exhumed and a nationally known forensic artist did the facial reconstruction that appears in the closing pages of “Q” is for Quarry. Both Grafton and the dedicated members of the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department are hoping the photograph will trigger memories that may lead to a positive identification.

On the day Jane Doe was reburied, many officers were at the gravesite. “It’s eerie,” Grafton writes, “to think about the power this woman still has. Here we are, thirty-three years later, and she still wants to go home.”

signature

⚜ Weekly eBook Mail ⚜

I received some great ebooks this week.  I am so thankful to these publishers and authors for gifting them to me!  This is an awesome mix of genres!

The Hands that Held Me – Non-fiction Memoir – Published 2/26/20
The personal journey through the childhood trauma of Lisa Jo Symonds. Abuse, child trafficking, addiction, overdose. This is her powerful story of overcoming the physical, emotional, and sexual abuse she endured and using those experiences to help improve the lives of others.

The Pearlmakers Trilogy – Sunken Treasure Hunt Fiction – Published 7/1/20
Teddy Dollarhide and his team of salvagers, The Pearlmakers, are in search of a sunken Spanish galleon in order to save his beloved historic estate from greedy developers.

Endings – Thriller – Publication date 4/6/21
Woman loses everyone she loves and reinvents herself into a killer for hire. When a serial killer enters the picture she vows to kill him.

False Light – Thriller – Published 2/23/21
Old school journalist let go from his job, seeks vengeance of a sort by helping a friend’s daughter get revenge on her prominent media star boss who sexually assaulted her.

Unknowns – Dystopian Science Fiction – Published 6/1/20
The world has been destroyed by nuclear war. Bands of survivors are left in this broken world, violent bandits, raiders, and tribesmen.
James ockwell

signature

Book Review – Catch-22

Catch-22

Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Classic, Satire, Historical Fiction

Set in Italy during WWII, bombardier Yossarian is upset that his command keeps increasing the number of missions he must complete before being sent home.

“Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he’s assigned, he’ll be in violation of Catch-22, a hilariously sinister bureaucratic rule: a man is considered insane if he willingly continues to fly dangerous combat missions, but if he makes a formal request to be removed from duty, he is proven sane and therefore ineligible to be relieved.”

This one was not for me. I understand that this is considered comedy to a lot however I did not find funny at all. It actually took me probably half the book before I realized that this was a comedy, I had been thinking that it was just a horrible plot until then. It made it a little easier to listen to after that but not much.
Took me a very long time to finish with many stops and starts. It seems it is either a love it or hate kind of book.




View all my reviews

signature

Book Review – Accidental Activist

Accidental Activist: Justice for the Groveland Four

Accidental Activist: Justice for the Groveland Four by Josh Venkataraman

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Non-Fiction, Memoir

“Chase down your passion like it’s the last bus of the night.” – Terri Guillemets

“It takes but one person, one moment, one conviction, to start a ripple of change.” – Donna Brazile

Josh is a college student at the University of Florida, as part of his American History class they are assigned to read Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America by Gilbert King, learning of the gross injustice done to the Groveland Four. A year later, as he was driving, he passed a sign for Groveland. That moment sparked a conviction to do everything he could to right this wrong.

Continue reading Book Review – Accidental Activistsignature

February Wrap Up

February Recap:
4 Books
724 pages
Average Rating 4.0

Because of Jenny 🌟🌟🌟🌟
Three to Get Deadly 🌟🌟🌟🌟
To Be Young and In Love 🌟🌟🌟
Accidental Activist: Justice for the Groveland Four 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I can’t believe that February is over already! 😲 Although I am so ready for winter to be over. We haven’t even had that bad of a winter this year, but I am just so over it. The cold, staying inside all day, the dark and gloomy sky, so depressing.
But we did have some great reads this month!! Winner for sure is Accidental Activist. I am still working on the review, so stay tuned for that. Because Of Jenny coming in a close second! Both were so good!

Accidental Activist- (Memoir) Young college student becomes committed to getting a posthumous pardon and exoneration for the Groveland Four 66 years after they were falsely accused. This is his story of the four years of dedication and hard work it took to right this aggregious wrong. So inspiring and infuriating at the same time.

Because Of Jenny – (Literary Fiction)
Eric is an 18 year old with severe depression. After a failed suicide attempt, but before he tries again he meets Jenny.
Jenny is a heroine addict, who is ready to become clean. She has friends in California, and a doctor has agreed to provide her with Suboxone, a drug that will help her fight her cravings so she can get finally get clean. Eric offers to drive her across the county to achieve this. Brutally honest book about societal views on suicide and addiction.

See full Review here – Book Review – Because Of Jenny

signature

Bloglovin, Facebook, and Twitter here I come!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Follow my page on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

Hi all! Hope everyone has been having a wonderful Sunday! Are you doing anything fun or reading anything new?

Well I have been very busy working on expanding my social media. I am gonna be totally honest, I had to Google how to do some of this stuff! 😆 But I am so exciting to really start to get serious on my blog and reach as many people as possible. So come join me, it will be fun!

signature

Book 31: New Mexico

I am very excited to read a new horror author I have never read before. Any book that King says scared the hell out him is worth a read to me!

Thank you to Gallery Books for this gifted copy!

Blurb:
An all-new epic tale of terror and redemption set in the hinterlands of midcentury New Mexico from the acclaimed author of “The Troop” which Stephen King raved scared the hell out of me and I couldn t put it down…old-school horror at its best.
From electrifying horror author Nick Cutter comes a haunting new novel, reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s “Blood Meridian” and Stephen King s “It,” in which a trio of mismatched mercenaries is hired by a young woman for a deceptively simple task: check in on her nephew, who may have been taken against his will to a remote New Mexico backwoods settlement called Little Heaven. Shortly after they arrive, things begin to turn ominous. Stirrings in the woods and over the treetops the brooding shape of a monolith known as the Black Rock casts its terrible pall. Paranoia and distrust grips the settlement. The escape routes are gradually cut off as events spiral towards madness. Hell or the closest thing to it invades Little Heaven. The remaining occupants are forced to take a stand and fight back, but whatever has cast its dark eye on Little Heaven is now marshaling its powers…and it wants them all.”

signature

Book Review – To Be Young and in Love

To be young and in love

To be young and in love by Kuo Kenih

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Poetry

Give yourself
Love and see how
It spreads.

You were not
Born for him
You were born
For the world.

She did not let
Her past define her present
Nor the future


A short book of poetry directed toward girls between ages of 16 and 25. Very simple haikus about broken hearts, moving on, and healing. For myself as an adult woman, they were just okay. The language is very basic and lacking substance. A few I really liked and connected with. For me, the ones about loving yourself were my favorite. As a whole though, I could see a younger girl really identifying with them and maybe even finding solace in them.



View all my reviews

signature

Book Review – Three to Get Deadly

Three to Get Deadly (Stephanie Plum, #3)

Three to Get Deadly by Janet Evanovich

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Crime Thriller, Comedy Thriller

“I wasn’t sure why I was still working for Vinnie. I suspected it had something to do with the title. Bounty Hunter. It held a certain cat he. Even better, the job didn’t require panty hose.”

Stephanie Plum is at it again and this time the bodies are really piling up.

“Christ, Stephanie, this makes four! Four dead bodies. Eight if you count the ones in the cellar.” “It’s not my fault!” I stuffed my fists onto my hips. “You think I want to keep finding dead bodies? This is no picnic for either, you know.”

Continue reading Book Review – Three to Get Deadlysignature

Don’t Get Stuck in a Genre Rut

When I was younger I used to only read Stephen King, R.L. Stein, Dean Koontz, you get my drift, pretty much thriller and horror only.  When I was in High School, I stared my first job as a barista and found my co-worker’s copy of Nora Robert’s novel Lawless.  That was my intro into great Romance novels.  I very rarely left that comfort zone of those authors though. I had no idea the books I was missing out on. 

The past several years I have made changes in the way I choose what books to read and I have been picking up ones that I normally wouldn’t.  I join reading challenges that prompt me to choose books outside my comfort zone.  We are two months into the year so far and my genre resume has already been so vast, Literary Women’s Fiction, Contemporary Realistic Fiction, New Adult Romance, Literary Fiction, Crime and Comedy Thriller, Poetry, and Non-fiction Memoir.

Here are a few that I have thoroughly enjoyed recently:

I hope that this will give you the push to expand your reading beyond your comfort zone as well.  There is a whole world out there to explore.  Don’t be afraid to check them out.

signature