Early Reader Review: Snug by Catana Chetwynd

Source: From Netgalley and Andrew McMeel Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Snug by Catana Chetwynd
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date:  February 4, 2020

 

Format: Ebook

Rating:






Goodreads Synopsis: 

Why bother getting out of bed when you could stay bundled up with that special someone and a book of cozy, cute comics. From the author of the bestselling Little Moments of Love comes Snug, a collection of comics that perfectly captures the honest, playful, and relatable snapshots of romantic life.
Chetwynd’s second book has the same charming and inviting style as her first and includes 50 percent new, never-before-shared comics. Snug is a celebration of the quirks and peculiarities of every one of us—and the magic that happens when we find our matching puzzle piece.

Review: 
I absolutely adore and recommend this collection! Snug is a collection of comics about dating your best friend and all of the fun things you share together. These comics are so real, you can really resonate with them. The comics themselves are simplistic and easy to read and follow and the scenes are all moments in time that you can tell are true and full of love. I was cracking up with laughter reading some of these and my husband would hover behind me to see what I was laughing at, more than once I got an "oh that's us"

This would be a great gift/ collection for Valentine's Day or an anniversary. It is a cute, funny, feel-good, joyful read.

Blog Blast w/ Giveaway! Angel Bred by Heather Burch

Blast Schedule

About the Book

Series: Halflings (Book 2)
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: HezLand Publishing (January 13, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1734449829
ISBN-13: 978-1734449822

Praise for HALFLINGS

'Packed with action, Halflings is stocked with a feisty, likable cast and a fantastically impossible love-triangle that made my heart flutter, race and sigh. This hard-to-put-down novel kept me up late into the night and burrowed itself into my imagination.' ―
Serena Chase, USA Today 

To stop evil, would you resort to murder?

Her home has been destroyed. Her parents are dead. And Nikki may be next.
Forced to flee with a group of Halflings, Nikki struggles to find her place among the tight family of angelic beings.
Living in close proximity with Mace and Raven forces her to confront her growing feelings for each of them.

But there's no time for love when piece by piece, the plot to destroy Nikki—and in doing so set about the end of the world—is unveiled.

Tensions mount and everyone's loyalties are tested. Nikki may be important to the Halflings mission, but she refuses to be anyone's babysitting assignment. She's tired of standing on the sidelines and letting others fight her battles. Nikki will take matters into her own hands.

But when confronted with abject evil, does she have what it takes to commit murder?

Grab your copy now, and spread your wings. It's time to fly. This is the second installment in the award-winning Halflings series. It was originally published as Guardian.

You can purchase Angel Bred at the following Retailers:

Photo Content from Heather Burch

Find the Author

Heather Burch is a #1 bestselling author of contemporary fiction. She lives in Southern Florida with her husband, John. Her title, One Lavender Ribbon was in the top 100 bestselling books for the year on Amazon. In 2014, she became one of the most quoted authors by Kindle readers. Her deeply emotional stories explore family, love, hope and the challenges of life. Her books have garnered praise from USA Today, Booklist Magazine, Romantic Times and Publisher’s Weekly. Heather lives to tell unforgettable stories of love and loss—stories that make your heart sigh.

        

Giveaway is open to International. | Must be 13+ to Enter

- Winner will receive the Angel Bred Swag (Signed Copy and Door Hanger) by Heather Burch.

- Winner will receive a $25 Dollar Amazon Gift Card.

*JBN is not responsible for Lost or Damaged Books in your Nerdy Mail Box*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Blog Blast w/ Giveaway! Angel Born by Heather Burch

About the Book
Series: Halflings (Book 1)
Paperback: 310 pages
Publisher: HezLand Publishing (December 31, 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1734449810
ISBN-13: 978-1734449815

Praise for HALFLINGS

'Packed with action, Halflings is stocked with a feisty, likable cast and a fantastically impossible love-triangle that made my heart flutter, race and sigh. This hard-to-put-down novel kept me up late into the night and burrowed itself into my imagination.' ―Serena Chase, USA Today 

Synopsis
Life was normal for Nikki until otherworldly wolves chased her through the woods near her high school. Now she’s a target for a myriad of supernatural beings.

Three half-human, half-angels are sworn to protect her. Complicating life further, Mace, Raven, and Vine--the Halflings--are the swoon-worthy new guys at her school.

For the Halflings, safeguarding Nikki isn't just an assignment. All of humanity hangs in the balance.

Together, they outsmart the demons hunting her, but when Nikki's name is connected to a research laboratory bent on world domination, the stakes rise.

This is the Author’s Cut edition and was previously published as Halflings.

Dive into this first book in the critically acclaimed Halflings series where angels aren’t always perfect and teen girls are more than what they seem.

You can purchase Angel Born at the following Retailers:

 

About the Author

Heather Burch is a #1 bestselling author of contemporary fiction. She lives in Southern Florida with
her husband, John. Her title, One Lavender Ribbon was in the top 100 bestselling books for the year on Amazon. In 2014, she became one of the most quoted authors by Kindle readers. Her deeply emotional stories explore family, love, hope and the challenges of life. Her books have garnered praise from USA Today, Booklist Magazine, Romantic Times and Publisher’s Weekly. Heather lives to tell unforgettable stories of love and loss—stories that make your heart sigh.

Find the Author

WEBSITE / TWITTER / GOODREADS / FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM

*JBN is not responsible for Lost or Damaged Books in your Nerdy Mail Box*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Recent Reads: Camp Red Moon by R.L. Stine

Camp Red Moon by R. L. Stine
Publisher:  Audible Audio
Publication Date:  October 3, 2019

 

Format: Audible Audiobook
Source: October Audible Subscriber Freebie

Rating:






Goodreads Synopsis: 

Creepy fun for ages 9-12!
Camp nights or camp frights?
Every sleepaway camp promises memories that last a lifetime. But the memories from Camp Red Moon might give you nightmares!
The campfire appears to dim when the moon turns blood red and strange creatures prowl the forest.Do you find a total lookalike at camp? Is it coincidence or is he a shapeshifter trying to take over your life?Why don't your competitors at the robotics competition seem exactly...human?And why do campers do anything to avoid Cabin 6?The master of the scary story, R.L. Stine, has handpicked a staff of storytelling counselors - Dan Poblocki, Ellen Oh, and Justin Reynolds - to help him tell the creepy campfire stories that swirl around Camp Red Moon.
No matter how bright the campfire, get ready for some CHILLS!

Review: 
Camp Red Moon was a young adult horror anthology put together by Audible Originals. It was read by a full cast and had 4 stories. The stories, while the title credit goes to R.L. Stine are all by different authors but are based in the same setting, Camp Red Moon. R.L. Stine's story is first and he also provides intros to the divisions of the book. His story was about Werewolves, followed by the stories from other authors, one about a new camper, one about robots, and the last a classic ghost tale. My favorite of the four was the new camper tale.

In the story a new camper arrives and starts acting a lot like the first friend he has made, then he starts slowly taking over his life at camp. The story was simple but had a lot of character development for such a short story and it was very spooky. 

Stine's story was also a lot of fun and I got goosebumps from the ghost story, the only one that I might skip over next round it the robots one, I am not big on sci-fi generally but this story just didn't really do it for me. It was good, don't get me wrong, but I just felt wigged out over the other tales more.

Overall I really enjoyed this listen and think that I will listen to it again this summer as a good campfire read.

Building the Book Pile #316

Welcome to Building the Book Pile!  A Weekly meme inspired by Stacking the Shelves

Hello Readers, Bloggers, and Awesome people! 

Happy Sunday! I hope you are all well. I have been so busy as you can probably tell... from the lack of content and book pile posts. (sorry) I had this week off from school so I have been able to catch up a bit, but am back in it starting tomorrow. I am hoping to get a few more reviews prepared before jumping back into schoolwork.

Other than school, work is in a busy season too - really Sept - Jan are busy (lol), so we will start our slower time now but I get to travel for work too which is great! I am going to NYC, Boston and Chicago on short trips and hopefully New Orleans for a conference. 

The hubs and I actually booked a vacation for FL in a few weeks too! I am SOOOOOO excited for that!

What have you been up to? Any great books I should know about because I am hiding under a pile of schoolwork?

OH! And I am an AUNT! My sister gave birth in December to a beautiful baby boy, he is so fricken cute and I cannot wait to get the time to meet him!

--

If you enjoy the blog and want to share some love and caffeine, you can buy me a coffee via Ko-fi

Share about your week with me in the comments below!

 

No Current Giveaways


Coming up on the Blog

Recent Reads: Camp Red Moon by R.L. Stine (YA, Audio)
Trailer Release - Green Lantern: Legacy 
Early Reader Review: A Little Courage by Taltal Levi (Youth)
Recent Reads: US Destinations That Spark our Fascinations by Gene Lipen (Youth)


Books Received Recently...
For Review

         

The Princess in Black and the Bathtime Battle by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale (MG) - From Librarything Early Reviewers and Candlewick Press for review.

A Little Courage by Taltal Levi (Youth) - From Netgalley and NorthSouth Books for review

Have you missed anything lately?

Here is what has happened in the New Year so far:

Recent Reads: Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come by Jessica Pan (Adult, Audio) - 3 stars
Love you Like no Otter by Rose Rossen (Youth)- 3 stars

Recent Reads: Summer of '69 by Todd Stasser (YA) -2 stars 
Foreverywhere by Steve Burns, Steven Drozd, Gabe Soria (MG, Audio) - 4 stars
A Grown Up Guide to Dinosaurs (Adult, Audio) - 4 stars
Early Reader Review: Diana: Princess of the Amazons by Shannon and Dean Hale (MG, GN) - 5 stars
Recent Reads: Charlie Brown: All Tied Up by Charles M Schulz (GN) - 3 stars
Recent Reads: Outlaws by Jen Calonita (MG) - 4 stars 
Book News! Next Installment of Teen Titans Announced

Comment and leave me a link to your Round-up/ STS/ Weekly...anything, post and I will happily stop by and say hello!

Happy Reading!

Recent Reads: I Love you Like No Otter by Rose Rossner

Source: From Netgalley and Sourcebooks in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

I Love you Like No Otter by Rose Rossner

Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Publication Date:  January 1, 2019

 

Format: Ebook

Rating:







Synopsis: 

Give hedgehugs and kisses to your little squeakheart with this pun-tastic book! Purrfect for anyone you love beary much.
There's no better way to say "I love you" than with a sweet and heartfelt animal pun! I Love You Like No Otter combines a warm message of love with beautifully illustrated animals, making it the perfect gift for Valentine's Day and all year round!

I love you like no otter,You truly are the best.My special little squeakheart,A step above the rest.

We make the purrrfect pair,Together every day.Pawsitively amazing,In every single way.

Review: 
I have feelings about this book... more than I should I think (haha). The book is an adorable rhyming book about love for your little one with cute animals and puns about how they love their babies.

So my feelings - 

1) LOVE THE PUNS! I am a huge fan of puns, think they are hilarious and often get scolded because they are dumb and 'dad-joke-esq', don't care, still LOVE them.

2) really enjoyed all of the images and the very cutesy rhyming scheme that the book used. I think parents and kids will enjoy it too.

But...the reason it did not rank higher is because I am not the biggest fan of books that misspell or use made up words with the intention of being read to smaller children learning to talk and/ or read. I think that it can be confusing and send the wrong messages, that might just be me though, and I know baby-talk is a thing and parents sometimes need something different, but I was a bit turned off by the number of "pawsitively" bad spellings to make the puns.

Regardless of that feeling, this would be a fun read and since Valentine's Day is coming up it would make a great gift.

Recent Reads: Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come by Jessica Pan

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come: One introvert's year of saying yes by Jessica Pan

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date:  May 28, 2019

 

Format: Audible Audiobook
Source: Bought

Rating:







Goodreads Synopsis: 

What would happen if a shy introvert lived like a gregarious extrovert for one year? If she knowingly and willingly put herself in perilous social situations that she’d normally avoid at all costs? Writer Jessica Pan intends to find out. With the help of various extrovert mentors, Jessica sets up a series of personal challenges (talk to strangers, perform stand-up comedy, host a dinner party, travel alone, make friends on the road, and much, much worse) to explore whether living like an extrovert can teach her lessons that might improve the quality of her life. Chronicling the author’s hilarious and painful year of misadventures, this book explores what happens when one introvert fights her natural tendencies, takes the plunge, and tries (and sometimes fails) to be a little bit braver.

Review: 
As a fellow introvert this title was very appealing. Jessica's book is about her year of trying to be more extroverted and being that she is a shintovert or a shy introvert, this made it a little difficult.

I liked that she goes way outside of her comfort zone for a lot of the things she was determined to try, like talking to strangers all the way to improv. She really pushed herself through her year. I really enjoyed hearing about her experiences and how she came to her  decisions but really did not connect with her fully. I found that I am an introvert but that I could do a lot of these things and be perfectly fine so only some of it was relateable. Granted, I will never do stand up comedy or improv and that is ok, I know that I won't like those things, but I can stand in front of a crowd and give a presentation and that is all that I need. 

I think that while I liked her tales of adventure into extroversion there was a lot more in this book that I just couldn't get into. Part of that was her why... I am perfectly fine being an introvert and I know my needs because of it, a lineup of parties, activities, and people time... well I need a week sitting in PJs after work to recoup. I have accepted that and I think my family and friends understand too. 
I think that it is weird that introverts are always so pressured to be extroverts but maybe extroverts need to calm down and have some alone time if we have to go talk to people we don't want to... jus sayin.

I enjoyed the book, I really did. It was a lot of funny moments and the author does a wonderful job telling her story.

Recent Reads: Summer of '69 by Todd Stasser

Source: From Librarything Early Reviewers and Candlewick Press. This in no way alters my opinion or review.

Summer of '69 by Todd Stasser
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication Date:  April , 2019

 

Format: Paperback ARC

Rating:






Goodreads Synopsis: 

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Woodstock and the remarkable summer that led up to it. Featuring Sir Lucas of the Round Table(t). Astonishingly autobiographical. Remarkably personal. Profoundly irresponsible.

Drawing from his teenage years, Todd Strasser's novel revisits a tumultuous era and takes readers on a psychedelically tinged trip of a lifetime.

With his girlfriend, Robin, away in Canada, eighteen-year-old Lucas Baker's only plans for the summer are to mellow out with his friends, smoke weed, drop a tab or two, and head out in his microbus for a three-day happening called the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. But life veers dramatically off track when he suddenly finds himself in danger of being drafted and sent to fight in Vietnam. If that isn't heavy enough, there's also the free-loving (and undeniably alluring) Tinsley, who seems determined to test Lucas's resolve to stay faithful to Robin; a frighteningly bad trip at a Led Zeppelin concert; a run-in with an angry motorcycle gang; parents who appear headed for a divorce; and a friend on the front lines in 'Nam who's in mortal danger of not making it back. As the pressures grow, it's not long before Lucas finds himself knocked so far down, it's starting to look like up to him. When tuning in, turning on, and dropping out is no longer enough, what else is there?

Review: 
Summer of ’69 was an interesting book, it is young adult historical fiction of sorts and it just wasn’t really my style of book.
The book follows Lucas, a teen who is trying to spend his summer like any normal teen, going to shows, hanging with friends, and just relaxing; but it is the summer of ’69 and the threat of being shipped off to fight in a war he does not believe in is getting to him. 

As far as characters go, Lucas goes through a lot in this book. His girlfriend breaks up with him via snail mail letter, not even a phone call, for another guy, he gets his draft letter and his ‘sorry no thank you’ letters from universities, and now he is trying to cope with it all. On top of all that his parents have some weird separation in the same household things going on too and his life is in shambles. The characters were realistic, and their growth was well thought out, but the overall story just fell flat for me.

While there were some climaxes in the plot, they were short and throughout the story, which meant that there wasn’t a big build up anywhere for the readers (me) to look forward to as something to spur reading. I found the story overall interesting but the motivation to keep reading it was lacking and it was not really my jam. 

I think if you like a male point of view and the hippy vibe that this book pulls, this might be one for you, but it is more of a monologue than a plot driven book. 

Audible Audiobook Reviews - Some Earlier Freebies

Foreverywhere by Steve Burns, Steven Drozd, Gabe Soria
Publisher: Audible Originals
Publication Date:  August 1, 2019

  

Format:  Audiobook
Source: August Audible Freebie for Subscribers

Rating:





Goodreads Synopsis: 

Foreverywhere tells the tale of a young unicorn (perhaps the last unicorn in existence?!) and his quest, along with a Giant named Rick, a spider named Betsy and the guitar-shredding Princess Rainbow, to form the best band in the fantastical world of Anyville. But first, they’ll have to contend with the increasingly strange weather that seems to follow Princess Rainbow everywhere, and a rival band determined to bring them down. Will this group of misfits be able to rise above?
Created by Steve Burns (Blue’s Clues, The Moth) and Steven Drozd (Grammy Award-winning multi-instrumentalist for The Flaming Lips), this musical odyssey explores themes of friendship, building self-confidence, and overcoming obstacles to follow your dreams and rock out!

Short Review: 
This was a fun and funny listen. The hubs and I always have a jigsaw puzzle going and the other day while were were puzzling we turned this on and I think he enjoyed it just as much as I did. 

The story is told from the point of view of the last unicorn who has a love for music, but he would love to form a band, so that is what he does. There are readers for all the different characters and the full cast makes this book even more entertaining. It was a very fun story that had enough mystery to keep us listening and wanting to learn more about what was going on. There is music throughout as well and it made for a great listen.

This book is intended for a middle grade audience but we enjoyed it as well. Would be especially great for a car ride!

A Grown Up Guide to Dinosuars
Publisher: Audible Studios
Publication Date:  July 4, 2019

  

Format:  Audiobook
Source: July Audible Freebie for Subscribers

Rating:

Goodreads Synopsis: 

Most children go through a dinosaur phase. Learning all the tongue twisting names, picking favorites based on ferocity, armor, or sheer size. For many kids this love of ‘terrible lizards’ fizzles out at some point between starting and leaving primary school. All those fancy names slowly forgotten, no longer any need for a favorite.

For all those child dino fanatics who didn’t grow up to become paleontologists, dinosaurs seem like something out of mythology. They are dragons, pictures in books, abstract, other, extinct.

They are at the same time familiar and mysterious. And yet we’re in an age of rapid discovery—new dinosaur species and genera are being discovered at an accelerating rate, we’re learning more about what they looked like, how they lived, how they evolved and where they all went.

This series isn’t just a top trumps list of dino facts—we’re interested in the why and the how and like all areas of science there is plenty of controversy and debate. 

Short Review: 
It has been a long time since I listened to this Audible freebie, but I have to say I was impressed. I love learning and learning more about dinosaurs is fun no matter what age you are. 

If you have an interest in dinosaurs but aren't keeping up with all the things that they have learned about them, this would be a great listen for you. It is a great, short, and easy listen to dip your toes back into you love for dinos.