Monday's Minutes

Happy Monday!  Yes, Monday's can be happy days, it's all in how you make them. I'm going to start off the week with new theme days and today's theme, as you can see is called

"Monday's Minutes" where I will talk about the upcoming week. 

This week will be pretty busy with reviews, I have a few books that I've read with publication days for tomorrow, so you will see some great books this week.   My nephew has a lot of hockey this week so I'll be spending a bit of time (read that as, quite a bit of time!) travelling to and from the rink and sitting waiting for games to start but I'll be armed with my trusty Kindle to fit some reading in ;)  I've been contacted by a few authors directly to read and review their books and I'm pretty excited about it! I've got a few other things in the works, along with continuing to tweak the blog, I'm still not sold on the format yet.  

I'm hoping to get at least 5 books read this week. Let's see if I can keep to that goal, and still have some time for other things!  

Make Monday your Fun Day! 

Review: Shtum by Jem Lester

Today, April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day. 

In honour of this day, I'd decided to wait until today to post my review of the novel Shtum by Jem Lester 

Expected Publication Date: April 7, 2016

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I rated this book as 5 star... I just wish there were more stars available.  This book is seriously off the charts! I would have read this book all in one sitting, had I not actually had to take a break and get some sleep. I seriously can not remember any book that has left such a lasting mark on me. 

Shtum is about a family with a young boy who has Autism.  10 year old Jonah is on the severe end of the spectrum, and his parents Ben and Emma are seriously struggling.  In order to try to further Jonah's case in the upcoming tribunal, Emma suggests they fake a separation, and Ben reluctantly goes along with the plan. Ben and Jonah move in with Ben's elderly father, Georg, and they are ready to do whatever it takes to help Jonah get the treatment he so desperately needs. 

This story completely tore at my heartstrings. It is full of emotions; I laughed and I cried, felt anger and disgust, happiness and everything in between.  I became emotionally involved with the story and with what everyone was going through.  There was a point in the book where Ben is reading a letter to the Tribune on behalf of Jonah, describing his day. It made me look at things from Jonah's point of view, and from the point of view of all children dealing with Autism. It completely touched me. I feel like I had a clear view into the window of their world. 

I highly recommend this book. I think that you will enjoy it no matter what your reading preference is.  It is thought provoking and let's you peek into the world of Autism, of how emotionally and financially draining it can be, how frustrating dealing with social services, doctors and specialists can be, but also how loving and rewarding it is, doing everything you can to do what is best for your children. 

I would like to thank NetGalley and TBC (THE Book Club) on Facebook for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Put this book on your 'to read' list for 2016.  You will not be sorry! 

Review: All Murders Final! by Sarah Winston

**Updated... Now Available!!** 

Publication Date: April 26, 2016

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Wow what a fantastic read! Firstly, thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. I am so glad that I was approved for this one!! It's been a while since I've put down a cozy mystery and just went, wow!  

All Murders Final! is the 3rd installment of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery Series.  Sarah, with her love of garage sales, has decided to start up an online 'virtual garage sale' site.  She sells her own items, assists her clients with sales for a commission, and allows others to post their items and business promotions as well.  What she didn't bargain on, was the online drama and craziness that sometimes accompanies such ventures! Or murder! 

After arranging to meet someone to purchase one of their sale items, Sarah finds the woman dead in her driveway. And it's not just any woman, she's Margaret More, pillar in the community! When she's sent a picture of herself standing in front of the dead woman in her car on the photo sharing app, PopIt, she realizes... she's not alone, there's someone else here! 

Sherry Harris grabs you from the very first line in the book. And right then and there you're hooked and drawn into the story.  The characters are very well developed, and there is no shortage of suspects. This book has it all... murder, possible stalker, online threats, drama of online sales sites, a love triangle (just enough, not so much that you're beat over the head with it) even a smattering of the mob and lots of twists and turns! Even when I thought I had it figured out.... wrong! Another twist to throw me for a loop. I love when I can't guess the 'whodunnit' until the very end.  Definitely a must read for all you cozy mystery lovers! 

Friday Funday! What Are You Reading This Weekend?

Good morning fellow bookaholics! 

Happy Friday!

I only wish I had the whole weekend to read! I will be spending some of my free time reading though, of course. That's what bookaholics do, am I right?

I plan on finishing up an ARC of another cozy mystery that I have and then writing up some reviews for some books coming out this week.  I've been lucky enough to receive some really great books to review through NetGalley (thank you NetGalley for feeding my book addiction!!)  And just recently I've been asked by some authors to read and review some books, which for me is pretty exciting!

So, what are you planning on reading this weekend? I'd love to hear, so make sure you put them in the comments! Hope you all have a great weekend!

Review: Shards Of Murder by Cheryl Hollon

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Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book in return for an unbiased and fair review.  Shards of Murder by Cheryl Hollon is Book 2 in A Webb's Glass Shop Mystery series.  

Savannah Webb has taken over her father's Glass Shop after his passing. She's been appointed to fill in for her late father as a judge at the Spinnaker Arts Festival. Megan, the winner of the Arts Festival doesn't show up to claim her $25,000 prize and her dead body is discovered by none other than Savannah! Unfortunately, this leads to her being the prime suspect of the police investigation. Savannah and her friends must work together to clear her name, and find the real murderer. 

This was a good mystery, though I have to admit it did take me a bit to get into.  I'm glad that I didn't give up on it! I've never read a mystery that had glass shops or glass making and it was very interesting reading about the process.  The mystery was a little easier to solve (for me anyway) but it was still a great story, with some great characters.