Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme created by Renee @ It’s Book Talk. This meme lets you share old favorites published over a year ago or books that you just never got to! My list of those is miles long. If you’re interested in participating, too, check out her post this week!
Author: Kaila
My name is Kaila, and I'm a bibliophile with a love of traveling and adventure. When I'm not buried in a book - preferably mysteries, thrillers, and fantasies - you'll find me at work as a software engineer or training as an amateur Muay Thai fighter ... no dull moments here!
Review: As Bright as Heaven
Title: As Bright as Heaven
Author: Susan Meissner
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (5 stars)
In 1918, Philadelphia was a city teeming with promise. Even as its young men went off to fight in the Great War, there were opportunities for a fresh start on its cobblestone streets. Into this bustling town, came Pauline Bright and her husband, filled with hope that they could now give their three daughters–Evelyn, Maggie, and Willa–a chance at a better life.
But just months after they arrive, the Spanish Flu reaches the shores of America. As the pandemic claims more than twelve thousand victims in their adopted city, they find their lives left with a world that looks nothing like the one they knew. But even as they lose loved ones, they take in a baby orphaned by the disease who becomes their single source of hope. Amidst the tragedy and challenges, they learn what they cannot live without–and what they are willing to do about it.
As Bright as Heaven is the compelling story of a mother and her daughters who find themselves in a harsh world, not of their making, which will either crush their resolve to survive or purify it.
Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite Book Quotes
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
I’m excited to be participating! A handful of these are go-to’s of mine, but others are recent ones I’ve fallen in love with. I envy those of you that can pull a Top Ten off the top of your head!
Review: Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2)
Title: Force of Nature
Author: Jane Harper
Series: Aaron Falk, #2
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction
Publication Date: February 6, 2018
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (4 stars)
Five women go on a hike. Only four return. Jane Harper, the New York Times bestselling author of The Dry, asks: How well do you really know the people you work with?
When five colleagues are forced to go on a corporate retreat in the wilderness, they reluctantly pick up their backpacks and start walking down the muddy path.
But one of the women doesn’t come out of the woods. And each of her companions tells a slightly different story about what happened.
Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker. In an investigation that takes him deep into isolated forest, Falk discovers secrets lurking in the mountains, and a tangled web of personal and professional friendship, suspicion, and betrayal among the hikers. But did that lead to murder?
Looking Ahead – This Month’s TBR List
Okay, real talk, how is the start of spring coming up this month? Is anyone else in awe that we’re already 3 months into 2018?
The lovely Tina over at Reading Between the Pages is hosting this fun meme to share your month’s reading goals. To meet some new bloggers and maybe some new titles, go check it out!
Tag: 3 Days, 3 Quotes | Day Three
It’s Friday! Welcome to my final day of the fun 3 Quotes, 3 Days tag that I’ve been participating in thanks to the lovely Jasmine (Jasmine’s Reading Blog). Thanks again for the tag!
Rules
- Thank the person who nominated you
- Post a quote for 3 consecutive days (1 quote for each day)
- Nominate three new bloggers each day
Quote #3
“You can’t tell people what to be, I’m afraid,” said Rosie. “You can only love and support who they already are.”
~ Laurie Frankel
Tag: 3 Quotes, 3 Days | Day Two
Happy Thursday, all!
I was recently tagged by the lovely Jasmine (Jasmine’s Reading Blog) to take a stab at the fun 3 Quotes, 3 Days tag that’s making its rounds. Thanks again for the love!
Rules
- Thank the person who nominated you
- Post a quote for 3 consecutive days (1 quote for each day)
- Nominate three new bloggers each day
Quote #2
But sometimes, unexpectedly, grief pounded over me in waves that left me gasping; and when the waves washed back, I found myself looking out over a brackish wreck which was illumined in a light so lucid, so heartsick and empty, that I could hardly remember that the world had ever been anything but dead.
~ Donna Tartt
Review: The French Girl
Title: The French Girl
Author: Lexie Elliott
Genre: Mystery, Fiction
Publication Date: February 20, 2018
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3 stars)
They were six university students from Oxford–friends and sometimes more than friends–spending an idyllic week together in a French farmhouse. It was supposed to be the perfect summer getaway–until they met Severine, the girl next door.
For Kate Channing, Severine was an unwelcome presence, her inscrutable beauty undermining the close-knit group’s loyalties amid the already simmering tensions. And after a huge altercation on the last night of the holiday, Kate knew nothing would ever be the same. There are some things you can’t forgive, and there are some people you can’t forget, like Severine, who was never seen again.
Now, a decade later, the case is reopened when Severine’s body is found in the well behind the farmhouse. Questioned along with her friends, Kate stands to lose everything she’s worked so hard to achieve as suspicion mounts around her. Desperate to resolve her own shifting memories and fearful she will be forever bound to the woman whose presence still haunts her, Kate finds herself buried under layers of deception with no one to set her free.
Continue reading “Review: The French Girl”
Monthly Wrap-Up: February 2018
As yet another month draws to a close, I’m looking back and reflecting on what I got accomplished. Today marks two weeks that I’ve been blogging, and I’m so grateful for all of you that have come along to join me for this crazy ride!
I’m hoping to get in the habit of doing a monthly wrap-up to summarize the books I read, updates on any challenges I’m participating in, and any other exciting tidbits I can think to provide. So, without further ado …
What I Read
This month, I tackled 12 books and had a lot of fun!
Tag: 3 Quotes, 3 Days | Day One
Happy Wednesday! How is it already the end of February? Can anyone else not believe that?
I was recently tagged by the lovely Jasmine (Jasmine’s Reading Blog) to take a stab at the fun 3 Quotes, 3 Days tag that’s making its rounds. I want to give her a special shout out since I’m just getting started with this blog, and this my first tag 🙂 Thanks for the love, girl!
Rules
- Thank the person who nominated you
- Post a quote for 3 consecutive days (1 quote for each day)
- Nominate three new bloggers each day
Quote #1
The past was a bridge that looked solid and sturdy, but once you were on it, you saw that it extended only far enough to strand you, to suspend you between loss and longing with nowhere to go at all.
~ Bret Anthony Johnston
