R9: Team TENacious. (10)

[Cait S]

So we don't roll this week then?

[Elena]

I'm sorry to hear that, hope everyone is ok. Thank you for letting us know, Plethora.

[Elena]

Cait S wrote: "So we don't roll this week then?"

I'm going to ask in the How to play thread, will see what Ezi says.

[Ezi, Factory Superintendent]

You guys have a FREE pass that you can use.

[Ezi, Factory Superintendent]

You guys have a FREE pass that you can use since one of your teammates won't be able to get the review in.

Carmen,
I hope everything is okay. Take care of real life and your teammates can just use their free pass

[Elena]

Thank you, Ezi!

[Elena]

Week 4
Roll: 7
Old Spot: 13
New Spot: 20

Standalone
Book 0 in series
Book 2 in series
Book 20 in series
Alternate - Cover Item: Food

[Elena]

Team TENacious Week 3 Book Report

Roll: 4, New Spot: 13 - standalone, book 1, 3 or13 in series/ alt. - Aliens

✔ Elena - On the Edge (The Edge, #1) | Ilona Andrews - Review
✔ Joyce - C is for Corpse (Kinsey Milhone, #3) | Sue Grafton - Review
✔ Cait S - Panic (Panic, #1) | Lauren Oliver - Review
☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ - N/A
✔ Plethora - Nothing to Croak About (Silver Hollow, #3) | Leighann Dobbs - Review
✔ Linda C - Rebel Charm (Carolina Magnolia, #3) | Patricia Rice - Review

[Ezi, Factory Superintendent]

When you post in the "Post your spot" Thread, mention that you used your FREE PASS

Bootyshaker, I will keep you in my prayers!

[Linda C]

I am going to use the 0 - stand alone book for
My Name Is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout

[Joyce]

I am going to use the 0 stand along book as well
I'm going to read Zero-G do we get extra point for having the number in the title? LOL

[Cait S]

Week: 4
Spot: 20
Book: More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera
Qualification: Standalone
Finished: 6/26/2017
Pages: 304
Rating: ★★★★★
Review:
This book is truly and honestly something special. And not just because I've never read another YA like it (although I haven;t). There's just something so incredibly genuine and authentic here. It's so very beautiful and equally as heartbreaking. When I thought I had it all figured out, I was wrong and then wrong again.

Definitely one of those instances where you always hold the character in your heart and never stop wondering what comes next.

And now I will read every word Adam Silvera ever writes. He is as legit as it comes in a world that often doesn't take this genre and it's readers or authors seriously.

[Joyce]

Week: 4
Spot: 20
Stand alone book

book: The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
Finished 6/28/2017
Pages: 368
Rating: 5 stars
Review:
This was an excellent book. I listened to it on audio and cannot recommend that enough because the names to get proper pronunciation. The author reads it and does such a good job at doing all the different characters. The story pulled me very quickly and took a turn about a quarter of the way in that I did not expect. (view spoiler)[ it becomes a ghost story with the main character going through the different levels of ghost planes. Then having to get back to her body just to find out that it is being used by someone else. (hide spoiler)] I need to find out if this is the author's first book because it doesn't not seem like it. It is so well fleshed out that I can see the world Li Lan is a part of.

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎]

Ezi thanks so much for being such a great friend. Its rough but I need to my mind working again and help these lovelies get a move on. Thanks again ((hugs))

Hi team. So what are we working on? I feel like I've lost so much time and book boyfriends ;)

[Cait S]

Hey Carmen! Good to see you <3 I hope you're hanging in there okay with whatever has been going on.

We're up to spot 20 now! You haven't missed much here :)

[Plethora]

Completion Post

Week #4
Spot # 20
Book: Dead Men Don't Crochet by Betty Hechtman
Finished: 06/29/17
Pages: 292
Rating: 3 stars
Fits: Series #2 book
Review: Cozy mystery, I've been reading a ton of these lately since my reading time had been snipped. Does this sound familiar? "...I was feeling a little guilty about the yarn I'd just bought. Even though I was new to crocheting, I couldn't seem to leave a yarn store empty handed. What was I to do this time? The recycled silk was beautiful, in limited quantity and at a special price." .... ha ha sounds like a book store to me. Or the craft store, especially fabric. This yarn group even meets in a bookstore...it might just be the end of food money if I belonged to this group. Otherwise this is a standard cozy mystery.

[Elena]

Completion Post

Week 4
Spot: 20
Book: Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews
Qualification: The Edge, #2
Finished: 06/29/17
Pages: 480
Rating: 4 stars

Review: Book two of The Edge series focuses on William, the wolf changeling from book one, who's tasked with tracking a man with whom he also has a personal score to settle. While on his mission he crosses paths and joins forces with Cerise and her family.

I liked this one even better than the first. The book has all the usual ingredients one expects to find in Ilona Andrews's work - an intricate world with an interesting system of magic, complex, strong but flawed characters, fascinating creatures. And this degree of familiarity takes absolutely nothing from how much I enjoy their work! Swamp setting adds to the atmosphere and great writing makes it very easy to get absorbed in this very imaginative world. I really liked William and Cerise and her incredible family and looks like book 3 will feature some of them, can't wait!

[Elena]

Cait and Joyce, your books look really interesting, added them both :)

Carmen, so good to hear from you! Hope everything is ok with you and family.

Plethora, that quote sounds too familiar!! And I would be like that as well in either a book or a craft store! :)
Also, can you fix your book's page count, please? :)

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎]

Completion Post:
Week 4
Spot: 20
Alternate - Cover Item: Food

Book: Tapas, Carrot Cake and a Corpse
Qualifies: food on the cover.
Read: 6/29/17
Pages 194
Rated 3 stars
Review: This was an enjoyable quick cozy mystery book. Funny at times.

[Plethora]

Elena wrote: "Plethora, that quote sounds too familiar!! And I would be like that as well in either a book or a craft store! :)
Also, can you fix your book's page count, please? : ..."

OOPS.... that would be quite the page count: 292172

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎]

Hi ladies. Glad to be back. We had a death in the family :(

[Linda C]

Completion Post

Week 4
Spot: 20
Book: My Name Is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout
Qualification: 0 = stand alone
Finished: 06/29/17
Pages: 209
Rating: 4 stars

Review: Mary Barton develops an infection after surgery and has to spend 9 weeks in the hospital. The story is mostly reminiscences of that time, particularly around her estranged mother's visit. The chapters are vignettes of her early life, her split from her family, her family situation at the time of her hospitalization and events since then. Some sections reveal the travesty of her childhood and how she has dealt with it. Despite the way she has come to terms with her life, I felt a deep sense of aloneness in this woman. A quiet but powerful book.

[Elena]

Carmen, I'm sorry. My condolences to you and your family.

Linda, I felt in a similar way about Olive Kitteridge by the same author.

[Elena]

Week 5
Roll: 8
Old Spot: 20
New Spot: 28

Book 2 in series
Book 8 in series
Book 28 in series
Alternate - Female Author

[Cait S]

Nice roll! I'm going to read A Bone to Pick, #2 in the Aurora Teagarden series.

[Elena]

Team TENacious Week 4 Book Report

Roll: 7, Spot: 20 - standalone, book 0, 2 or 20 in series/ alt. - Cover Item: Food

✔ Elena - Bayou Moon (The Edge, #2) | Ilona Andrews - Review
✔ Joyce - The Ghost Bride (standalone) | Yangsze Choo - Review
✔ Cait S - More Happy Than Not (standalone) | Adam Silvera - Review
✔☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ - Tapas, Carrot Cake and a Corpse (alternate) | Sherri Bryan - Review
✔ Plethora - Dead Men Don't Crochet (Crochet Mystery, #2) | Betty Hechtman - Review
✔ Linda C - My Name Is Lucy Barton (standalone) | Elizabeth Strout - Review

[Linda C]

I will read Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (Agatha Raisin #8) by M.C. Beaton

[Elena]

I'll be reading The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny. It's eighth in Armand Gamache series and I've been saving it up for number 8!

[Joyce]

Completion Post
Week 5
spot: 28
Alternate - female author

Book: Lean Mean Thirteen vs Janet Evanovich
How it fits: Author is female.
Pages: 310
Finished 7/1/2017
Rating: 4 of 5
Review:
Stephen has a public fight with her ex-husband and then he disappears. Stephanie and Ranger try to find out what happened to him and clear Stephanie. We slowly find out more about Ranger with each book. I so want him and Stephanie to end up together. He just seems to care a lot more about her than Morrelli. I love these books. I listen to them on audiobook and just love the narrator.

[Plethora]

Completion Post

Week #5
Spot # 28
Book: Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee
Finished: 07/05/17
Pages: 398
Rating: 4 stars
Fits: Alternate: Female author
Review: Enjoyed this book, still felt it could have stretched a bit farther to be better. It seemed to start a little slow before reaching the turning point and after that blazed through to the end. A young Chinese American girl trying to make her dreams come true and break the social norms surrounding Chinese and woman.

[Linda C]

Completion Post

Week #5
Spot # 28
Book: Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham - M. C. Beaton
Finished: 07/06/17
Pages: 196
Rating: 3 stars
Fits: #8 in Agatha Raisin series
Review: Agatha is at loose ends with James Lacey off to unknown parts, when she realizes her grey hair is becoming obvious. She goes to highly recommended Mr. John and not only gets a new look and color but a new younger beau. But every woman who she mentions him too seems frightened or skeptical at the mention of his name. As she begins to investigate what he may be up to with her friend Sir Charles, he suddenly collapses from poisoning and her investigation goes into full swing. Agatha is alternatively depressed or inquisitive. She can't stand to be by herself or not have male attention. I often get perturbed by her attitude, but the mysteries are interesting.

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎]

Completion Post
Week 5
spot: 28
Alternate - female author

Book: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
How it fits: Author is female.
Pages: 244
Finished 7/5/2017
Rating: 4 of 5
Review: It was a lot to listen to in this book. Its a scary thing to have a mental illness. I couldn't imagine having that ailment. It was a good book and happy to know that the character had someone who was around and got her the help she needed.

[Cait S]

Week: 5
Spot: 28
Book: Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman
Qualification: female author
Finished: 7/6/2017
Pages: 304
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
This was definitely a page turner! The main character had a great voice, helped by some solid writing, and a mystery I didn't figure out until the end.

I did struggle with believability in a few places where it just seemed far fetched, but otherwise an interesting and engaging start to the series.

[Elena]

Week: 5
Spot: 28
Book: The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny
Qualification: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #8
Finished: 7/6/2017
Pages: 400
Rating: ★★★★
Review:

Armand Gamache series is one of my favorite ever and this book was a treat just like others before it. In this one Penny takes us out of Three Pines and into an isolated monastery in Quebec wilderness, and though I missed having all the "usual suspects" present at first, I was pulled into this mystery pretty quickly thanks to the riveting story and Penny's superb writing (as always).
In addition to the book's main mystery there's a pretty startling development in the story arc involving Gamache and his department which, despite being a tad dramatic, left me pretty wrecked but oh so eager to find out how the situation gets resolved.

[Elena]

Great work, team!!

Team TENacious Week 5 Book Report

Roll: 8, Spot: 28 - book 2, 8 or 28 in series/ alt. - Female Author

✔ Elena - The Beautiful Mystery (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #8) | Louise Penny - Review
✔ Joyce - Lean Mean Thirteen (alternate) | Janet Evanovich - Review
✔ Cait S - Rage Against the Dying (alternate) | Becky Masterman - Review
✔ ☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ - The Bell Jar (alternate) | Sylvia Plath - Review
✔ Plethora - Outrun the Moon (alternate) | Stacey Lee - Review
✔ Linda C - Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham (Agatha Raisin, #8) | M.C. Beaton - Review

[Elena]

And we're back to crappy rolls :)

Week 6
Roll: 5
Old Spot: 28
New Spot: 33

Book 3 in series
Book 33 in series
Alternate - Cover Item: Building(s)

[Cait S]

That's not too bad!...as long as you've got a #3 lol

I'm going to do the alternate again this week and read The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Or at least I'm going to try to, it seems like I never make it through my first book attempt.

[Plethora]

Isn't that what makes it a challenge. 😜

[Linda C]

I will read Charms and Chocolate Chips - Bailey Cates
Magical Bakery Mysteries, #3

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎]

I actually was going to start Silence which is the 3rd book in the series so it works out good for me

[Elena]

Cait S wrote: "That's not too bad!...as long as you've got a #3 lol"

We got two of them! lol It's like Twix commercial - do you prefer the right one or the left one? :D


I'm reading Fate's Edge, #3 in The Edge series for this one.

[☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎]

Completion Post
Week 6
Spot: 33
Qualification: Book 3 in series

Book: Silence by Becca Fitzpatrick
Finished: 07/08/2017
Pages: 448
Rating: ★★★★
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It explained so much of each the characters and who they really are and what part they took in the war between everyone in the story but I really need to see what happens because it looks like something is about to start again and it's going to cause another issue when there was an agreement to keep the peace. Well I shall see.

[Linda C]

Completion Post
Week 6
Spot: 33
Qualification: # 3 in Magical Bakery Mystery series
- Bailey Cates
Pages: 336
Rating: 3 stars
Review: Katie Lightfoot, arrives at her volunteering post with Georgia Wild to find another volunteer dead. She is soon embroiled in the investigation, finding herself a target as well. She finds her magical powers have additional uses herbs and baking. Friend, Steve Dawes is tied into the mystery through his father and boyfriend Declan experiences Katie's magical powers in new ways. I have a tolerable interest in the magic, but the mysteries are fun.

[Elena]

Week: 6
Spot: 33
Book: Fate's Edge
Qualification: The Edge, #3
Finished: 7/11/2017
Pages: 372
Rating: ★★★★
Review:
This was another fun and enjoyable Edge installment. Structurally it's very similar to books one and too which felt a little repetitive especially when reading them back to back, but as always with Andrews's books one can expect great characters, interesting setting and witty dialogue. Was glad to see Jack and George from book 1 play very prominent roles here. There is a loose story arc going on throughout the series and it appears it's about to reach its culmination in book four. Looking forward to it!

[Cait S]

Week: 6
Spot: 33
Book: The Fixer by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Qualification: Buildings on the cover
Finished: 7/13/2017
Pages: 372
Rating: ★★★
Review:
I adore Jennifer Lynn Barnes. She is one of the few authors in the YA genre that is constantly doing something different. All her books have different themes, tones, ideas... It's always changing but it's always good. I can't remember off hand ever having been disappointed by something she's published and this is no different.

The plot is unique and keeps you engaged all the way through, although it does slow a bit in parts. Character voices are age appropriate (nothing drives me crazier than YA with teenagers who either talk like they're seven or like they're thirty seven) and relatable. Just an easy, enjoyable read.

[Joyce]

Week 6
Spot: 33
Book: Tombs of Endearment by Casey Daniels
Qualification: 3rd book ih series.
Pages: 320
Rating: 4 stars
Finished 7/13/2017
Review: This is such an enjoyable series. Chick lit with a paranormal twist. Pepper Martin sees ghosts and helps them get closure. Sometimes this involves Pepper to get shot at or attacked. This ghost is Damon Curtis a heartthrob from the 70's who died too soon. His band went on though with Vinnie Pal channeling Damon's ghost to help write songs. But then things get even stranger. Pepper thinks she just to get Vinnie to stop doing that to Damon but it goes deeper than that and now the band is all in danger as well as Pepper.

[Plethora]

Yikes.. Have to get back here and post my completion. Trying to finish a hem on a dress my daughter needs in the morning..... Will take care of GR business in a bit.

[Plethora]

Completion Post

Week #6
Spot # 33
Book: The Summer Before the War by Helen Simonson
Finished: 07/13/17
Pages: 497
Rating: 3.5 stars
Fits: Buildings on Cover
Review: Historical fiction taking place just prior to WWI. I had hope to enjoy this more, it had its moments. The problem isn't the book, but my taste as dare I say I"m not the Jane Austen type getting swept into P&P land.

[Elena]

Team TENacious Week 6 Book Report

Roll: 5, Spot: 33 - book 3 or 33 in series/ alt. - Cover Item: Building(s)

✔ Elena - Fate's Edge (The Edge, #3) | Ilona Andrews - Review
✔ Joyce - Tombs of Endearment (Pepper Martin, #3) | Casey Daniels - Review
✔ Cait S - The Fixer (alt.) | Jennifer Lynn Barnes - Review
✔ ☼♎ Carmen the Bootyshaker Temptress ☼♎ - Silence (Hush, Hush, #3) | Becca Fitzpatrick - Review
✔ Plethora - The Summer Before the War (alt.) | Helen Simonson - Review
✔ Linda C - Charms and Chocolate Chips (A Magical Bakery Mystery, #3) | Bailey Cates - Review

[Elena]

One of these days we'll roll double digits lol

Week 7
Roll: 7
Old Spot: 33
New Spot: 40

Standalone
Book 0 in series
Book 4 in series
Book 40 in series
Alternate - Title E