A little late posting here but just wanted to share that Smashwords is having a Read an Ebook Week where you can download an ebook from their site for a discount or for free. There are tons to choose from including Aeva: The Last Hope. This book is currently free but only until March 11th.
Aeva: The Last Hope is a story about an ex-pilot named Rowen Teschner who just wants to move on with his life after being discharged from his prominent position. On top of that, his newly wedded wife was taken from him by an alien general named, Krane Altontaur. Teschner wants nothing to do with the general or his ex-wife, but the more he fights it, the more he’s pushed to return to face his enemy.
NOTE: This is a space opera sci-fi with military action and a touch of real-life romance that both men and women will enjoy. It’s rated 18+ with mature content.
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano is about Edward. He is the youngest of a family of four who survived a plane crash. The story touches on a few of the passengers on the plan who died in the crash. At first it may not seem important but at the end, the relatives and friends of these people come forward to share their stories with him with a few asking for his help.
Edward befriends a neighbor girl and they grow together with the girl helping him through tough times.
This was a happy ending story. Napolitano said it’s based on facts from a real-life situation. I’m glad that the story turned out to be a happy one.
Note: I read this book for the Barnes and Noble Book Club in February 2020, just before COVID hit. I don’t know why I didn’t post it here, but wanted to share it because a T.V. show has been made about this story. It will air on February 3rd on Apple TV+. I don’t have Apple TV+ so I won’t be able to watch it, but it does look like it’d be a good show. Here’s the trailer.
I’m not ready for 2022 to end yet, but it is coming to an end, and it’s time to share my list of books read and favorite books of the year. I didn’t do this last year or the year before but figured I should start doing this just as a way to keep track of what I’ve read as well as to share with you in hopes that you might find something that interests you.
You can read all my reviews on Goodreads by going here.
My all-time favorite was Anthem by Ayn Rand. It wasn’t a very long read yet was able to tell a well-rounded dystopian story about power struggle and self-identity. My least favorite read was probably Tender is the Flesh by Augustina Bazterrica. I’ve reviewed it on Goodreads but didn’t get a chance to post it here. I hope to post all the books I read this year here within the first part of 2023.
This book was recommended to me by my 15-year-old daughter. She knows I enjoy dystopian stories and knew I would like this one, and she was right.
This book was published in 1938 and takes place in a far future after a war that destroyed everything. In this world, everyone is part of the collective doing their part to maintain a steady life, not growth, just life. The story is about a character named Equality 7-2521 who’s brighter than the average person and very curious about the world he was brough up in. His curiosity leads him to find electricity, which he thinks will give him praise when he introduces it to the Leaders and Scholars. That isn’t what happens though. Instead, he’s tortured, and eventually leaves the collective society and finds truth.
This is one amazing book. It’s a very short read but I got so much more out of it than a lot of the extremely long books out there. No time was wasted on info dumps and unnecessary back stories. It’s very straightforward and to-the-point. I loved Equality 7-2521’s determination and excitement. I was heartbroken when he was tortured for simply introducing electricity. Had the leaders told him from the get-go that electricity once existed and that they didn’t want to use it, and explained why, he wouldn’t have been so excited about it. How would he have known that they already knew if they never told him they knew? That’s really not the main point of the book though. That’s one situation that stood out to me. It’s about being a part of the collective and not having the ability to be an individual. This book is written in first person plural (we) and eventually becomes first person singular (I). It was so incredibly well done that you could feel the power of “I” in the last few pages. Who knew a single word, a single letter, could be so powerful?
My favorite line from the book was when the girl said:
“We are one…alone…and only…and we love you who are one…alone…and only.”
Since individualism didn’t exist in that society, there was no way to say “I” or “me,” and that was the only way she was able to say she loved him.
Who should read this book: Anyone into post-apocalyptic, dystopian, and totalitarian sci-fi such as 1984, Brave New World, A Clockwork Orange, The Handmaid’s Tale, The Hunger Games, Divergent, etc.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I don’t always celebrate this day but once in awhile I’m reminded that I should. I’ve only gone to one St. Patrick’s Day parade and that was almost two decades ago. Today’s a snowy, cold day so we’re staying warm inside.
A few months back, I suddenly had this urge for the color green. Green has never been a big color favorite of mine, but now it is. It’s so strange how our thoughts and feelings can change like a switch. Above are a few of my favorite green colors. The only green I’m not a fan of at the moment is the muddy brownish green, but one day I might change my mind.
These are all my green notebooks and notebook covers. Clockwise from top left: Archer and Olive Blank A5 Notebook, Archer and Olive Dotted Lines B5 Notebook, Hobonichi A5 Cover from Etsy, Chic Sparrow B6 Glas Express Folio Leather Notebook Cover, 5×5 Watercolor Notebook from Etsy, and Chic Sparrow A5 Artist Gastaldi Leather Notebook.
I don’t have a lot of green-colored book covers, but here are the ones that were mostly green:
It’s been awhile since I posted a book review. I’ve been reading and reviewing on Amazon, just not on my blog and Goodreads. Those reviews were only requested on Amazon. I am extremely backed up so I won’t be able to take anymore request at this time.
This book I just finished, “Terror on the Deseret Trail,” was a shocking read, but it was written so well that I couldn’t resist sharing the review. Let me know what you think if you get the chance to read it. Be warned though. It’s over-the-top gruesome, gory, and just foul.
Title: Terror on the Deseret Trail Author: Jack Hazen Genre: Historical Fiction, Adventure Thriller Year Published: March 13, 2021
Wasn’t sure exactly what to expect but what a wild ride! This story is about a bunch of people. The main ones being Reuben Taz and a paleontologist named Hannah Monroe, and her group. At first, you’d think this was your average wild west story, but the further you get into it, the more you realize it’s one really crazy grown-up story with a bunch of strange and unique characters. Everyone has somewhere to go, and out in the west there’s a lot of land and a lot of bad things going on. It’s wise to travel in a group or at least with someone who knows how to shoot a gun or use a knife.
Reuben Taz is the most interesting character in the story. He has an agenda, and it’s to find and kill his father’s killer. However, he’s not anything you’d think him to be. He enjoys eating a good set of dainty toes. Aside from traveling with a whore named Rhonda for some time, a Mark Twain joins them and then a couple of other men later on. The group with the paleontologist consists of assistants, a handicap named Tiny Tim, an Arapaho princess named Sweet Water, and a few others. There were dinosaur bones out there in Utah and Paleontologist Hanna wanted to find them first. Helen James, a Pinkerton detective and a trans, later joins Hannah’s group. The detective was on a case about a kidnapped Mormon daughter and was set to find her. With all the chaos in the Utah and Nevada lands in the late 1800’s it was a very scary time to be traveling, but somehow these people were brave enough to do it.
I loved everything about this story. It was dirty, gruesome, disgusting, there was satire, dark humor, etc., and I enjoyed it all. I wanted so bad to give it five stars but there were so many missing open/closed speech quotes that I struggled somewhat as to when someone was speaking and done speaking. There were also a few misspells but not enough to distract from the story (definitely should get it edited though, it’s such an extraordinary story that I’d love to see it turn into a movie!). Definitely give this book a read if you enjoy settings in the wild west and deep dark themes and conflicts.
Who should read this book: If you’re into super crazy books with no limits, go for this one. Once in a blue moon, I simply just dig this stuff. This kind of book is meant to be taken lightly because it pokes fun at humanity.
This was the book I asked for as a subscriber to author Mark Lages’s newsletter. If you are interested in getting a free book of your choice by Mr. Lages, drop by his website and sign up. You can read my post >>here<< for more information. In the meantime, enjoy my unboxing video of the book.
If you enjoy literary fiction with strong moral themes and a bit of satire and dark humor, Mark Lages is the guy for you. He also writes science fiction, so if you’re like me, you’ll probably be tempted to choose Mr. Booker’s Summer Vacation. I received this book for free as a subscriber to his newsletter. If you’d like to receive a free book from Lages, sign up for his newsletter and he’ll ship one out to you—of your choice. And he’s got quite a list! The images are only of those books that I have. He’s not paying me to share this information. I just think he’s a great writer with beautiful pros and thought provoking messages. You can drop by his website at https://marklages.com/ to subscribe. His offer ends October 15, 2021. Let me know how you like his stories. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.
I finished reading Gold Spun by Brandie June and am getting ready to post the review. In the meantime, I decided to do an unboxing of the book and created a new YouTube channel to share my book unboxing. I don’t get a lot of physical books to review so I’ll probably add reviews (?) or other things related to books on this channel. I hope you’ll subscribe!
Okay, I’m super excited because I’ve finished recording the unboxing of these packages and currently editing, but I wanted to share my excitement. Unfortunately, my camera’s audio isn’t great so I have do the voice overs during editing but if you were able to hear me you’d know I was super giddy with excitement when I first opened the packages. Two of the packages were books and the other two were notebooks from Le Stallion. I normally only review books but I couldn’t pass up these notebooks and I’m so glad I didn’t. They took my breath away.
I’m hyped about the books too. I know one is a fantasy but I wasn’t sure about the other one. It sounds like fantasy, but we’ll see. Either way, I’m very happy and excited to share my reviews with you all.
So, keep your eyes out. I’m working quickly at getting the videos and photos up.
From My Corner of the Universe 