It's Monday, What are you Reading?

What a hard week!  Coming back from a really good vacation and at the end of January is my HUGE corporate event with 450 employees heading to Atlanta, so there were many late nights and I didn't read a page from Monday-Thursday, thank goodness for a quiet weekend, that is where my entire reading happened this weekend.  AND the rest of the month doesn't look good!

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

The Past by Tessa Hadley
Stars Over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner

Currently Reading:

The Restaurant Critic's Wife by Elizabeth LaBan

Next on the TBR pile:

The Inn at Ocean's Edge by Colleen Coble

Review: The View From Prince Street by Mary Ellen Taylor

The View From Prince Street

by Mary Ellen Taylor

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 352

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Rae McDonald was fifteen when a car accident took her sister’s life and threw her own into reckless turmoil. When she got pregnant a year later, she found a loving couple to adopt the child. Since then, she’s buried her grief and guilt under a heart of stone.

Lisa Smyth survived the fateful crash, but never told the truth about what happened. And when a family obligation draws her back to Alexandria, the weight of Lisa’s guilt grows heavier by the day.


As both women confront a past refusing to be forgotten, long-buried artifacts are discovered by the Shire Architectural Salvage Company that point to a shared history between families.  Now, Rae and Lisa must finally ask themselves if denying the past is worth sacrificing the future.


Kritters Thoughts:  The fourth in this series and maybe the best so far!  This book ventures down the street from the previous three to a salvage company that hopes to bring life to old objects in a new way.  Lisa and Rae have been connected since their teenage years, but both went separate ways after some tragic events, they are both back in town and must confront the past so they can live in the present.

This series just keeps getting better and better.  I love how it stays in the Old Town Alexandria neighborhood, but has now ventured to other businesses.  I also love that the characters from the past books don't disappear, but are still nicely embedded in the story and the reader gets updates on the characters while still feeling true to the original story.  

I don't know if there are more books in this series, but I could read this one for many books to come.  I still recommend starting at book one and although this is book four, don't worry these books just read so quickly and easily - start at the beginning and you won't regret it!

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Berkley NAL.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: At the Corner of King Street by Mary Ellen Taylor

At the Corner of King Street

by Mary Ellen Taylor

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 368

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Adele “Addie” Morgan grew up in a house filled with pain and loss. Determined to live life on her own terms, Addie moves to the country and finds a job at a vineyard where she discovers stability, happiness, and—best of all—love with the kind owner, Scott.
 
But an unexpected call abruptly pulls Addie out of her new and improved life. Her sister has just given birth and Addie’s Aunt Grace wants her to return home to help the family—even if it means confronting things she’s tried so hard to forget.

When Addie arrives, she quickly realizes that she hasn’t truly let go of her former life, at least not completely. After making a surprising connection with her sister’s baby—and her sister’s ex-husband, Zeb—Addie must choose between her picture-perfect future with Scott and the family roots she thought she’d left behind for good…


Kritters Thoughts:  The third in the series and this book takes a turn away from the bakery and instead focuses on an aunt and her two nieces who grew up in Alexandria, but have taken separate paths, but something brings them home and they have to make big decisions.

I absolutely adored this book in the series even though I wasn't prepared for a change in venue.  A salvage company that salvages things from old homes and although these girls don't have their parents, their aunt took them into their home and they helped her with the business.  Something happened for both girls to run and I loved reading what brought them back to Alexandria and how they were going to react to it.  

All of the books in this series have a big family drama element and this one was right there with it.  

I love that they have all felt like very contemporary books, but they have a little bit of historical fiction woven through the whole story.  The history wove throughout the book in separate chapters, but it really did weave into this story and the character's lives.  

I still say even though this book changes venue, start at book one as the characters from the first two are players in this one.  These books read swiftly so don't hesitate to start at book one and I will review book four tomorrow!


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Old Town Alexandria!

As I am in the middle of reading and reviewing a series in Old Town Alexandria, I share a photo from our engagement shoot where we took some photos in Old Town.  This sign is no long there, but it has special meaning to me and my family!

Review: Sweet Expectations by Mary Ellen Taylor

Sweet Expectations

by Mary Ellen Taylor

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 345

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Daisy McCrae knows that change can be sudden—and devastating. And while it doesn’t have to be a bad thing, change has the power to turn your whole world upside down....

Running the family bakery and living in the store’s attic might not be Daisy’s dream life, but she’s beginning to understand what being content feels like. And then she gets some unexpected news. In one moment, Daisy’s calm existence turns into chaos. Now she’s struggling to keep it together, especially with renovations at the bakery spiraling out of control.

But when a box of recipes and mementos is found hidden behind a wall in the bakery, Daisy suddenly has something to cling to—a mystery that echoes her own troubles and gives her the opportunity to figure out what she really wants out of life....


Kritters Thoughts:  The second in a series that takes place just moments from my house in Alexandria, VA.  The reader returns to the bakery to continue the story with the three sisters, Margaret, Rachel and Daisy.  It continues the story right where it left off, so don't miss the first one to set the foundation for the stories to come.

As I am so glad that the synopsis didn't completely bust the twist that does happen at the beginning, but is really enjoyable when you experience it in the story and not on the cover!  So this review may be short, but I just can't spoil the goodness in it!

My favorite part about this particular book in the series was how they incorporated the historical digging into Alexandria.  There is so much history in this small city and I loved whether it is true or not, the history they dig up in the small city and I feel like there is truth behind it as in these small cities families are freakishly connected!

There are already four books in this series and Thursday and Friday I will review the final two in this series that are already here.


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel 

Bout of Books 15 TBR

Bout of Books starts on Monday, January 4th and goes through Sunday, January 10th. 

My goal for the Bout of Books 15.0 TBR pile is to read 250 pages per day, which amounts to 1,750 pages for the whole week.  
 

I always love doing the Bout of Books in January as it hopefully sets the new year in a good reading pace, but this January is very different - I have a HUGE corporate event the last weekend of January, so I know that once I get back to work it will be crazy, so crossing fingers that I can meet my goals.

Let's see how this goes!

1. The Past by Tessa Hadley (362 pages)
2. Stars Over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner (400 pages)
3. The Restaurant Critic's Wife by Elizabeth LaBan  (306 pages)
4. The Inn at Ocean's Edge by Colleen Coble (336 pages)
5. Mermaid Moon by Colleen Coble  (352 pages)


For those that don't know what Bout of Books is... here you go:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 5th and runs through Sunday, January 11th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional.For all Bout of Books 12 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team

Review: The Union Street Bakery by Mary Ellen Taylor

The Union Street Bakery

by Mary Ellen Taylor

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 352

Format: book

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Life can turn on a dime. It’s a common cliché, and I’d heard it often enough. People die or move away. Investments go south. Affairs end. Loved ones betray us...Stuff happens. 

Daisy McCrae’s life is in tatters. She’s lost her job, broken up with her boyfriend, and has been reduced to living in the attic above her family’s store, the Union Street Bakery, while learning the business. Unfortunately, the bakery is in serious hardship. Making things worse is the constant feeling of not being a “real” McCrae since she was adopted as a child and has a less-than-perfect relationship with her two sisters. 

Then a long-standing elderly customer passes away, and for some reason bequeaths Daisy a journal dating back to the 1850s, written by a slave girl named Susie. As she reads, Daisy learns more about her family—and her own heritage—than she ever dreamed. Haunted by dreams of the young Susie, who beckons Daisy to “find her,” she is compelled to look further into the past of the town and her family. 

What she finds are the answers she has longed for her entire life, and a chance to begin again with the courage and desire she thought she lost for good.


Kritters Thoughts:  The first in a series that takes place just moments from my house in Old Town Alexandria, VA in a small family owned bakery that has been in existence for generations.  The youngest McCrae returns to Alexandria as she lost her job in DC and needs a place to retreat to to put her pieces back together.  She is adopted and doesn't always feel a part of the clan, but retreating to help put the bakery together really brings her into the fold.

First, I am biased because this book takes place in one of my favorite places - Old Town and I could picture each and every moment of this book and it made me fall in love with it.  I also loved the family, the three daughters - two biological and one adopted and how this affects each in the family and where they feel they fit in the equation.  

I don't know much about bakeries, I enjoyed reading the ins and outs and didn't feel too out of the loop without too much knowledge.  I liked hearing the difference between this job and Daisy's previous career path in finance in the corporate world.

Start at book one on this series, it reads simply and effortlessly.  

I will be reviewing the rest of the books in this series (there are three more) the rest of this first week of the year!


Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

It's Monday, What are you Reading?

With a holiday week that ends December and starts January, it ended the year and started the new year on good notes!  

A meme hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. 

Finished this past week:

How to Grow an Addict by JA Wright
The Union Street Bakery by Mary Ellen Taylor
Sweet Expectations by Mary Ellen Taylor
Binge by Tyler Oakley
The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank
At the Corner of King Street by Mary Ellen Taylor
The View From Prince Street by Mary Ellen Taylor

Currently Reading:

The Past by Tessa Hadley

Next on the TBR pile:

Stars Over Sunset Boulevard by Susan Meissner

Review: How to Grow an Addict by JA Wright

How to Grow an Addict

by JA Wright

Publisher: She Writes Press

Pages: 300

Format: ebook

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Randall Grange has been tricked into admitting herself into a treatment center and she doesn’t know why. She’s not a party hound like the others in her therapy group—but then again, she knows she can’t live without pills or booze. Raised by an abusive father, a detached mother, and a loving aunt and uncle, Randall both loves and hates her life. She’s awkward and a misfit. Her parents introduced her to alcohol and tranquilizers at a young age, ensuring that her teenage years would be full of bad choices, and by the time she’s twenty-three years old, she’s a full-blown drug addict, well acquainted with the miraculous power chemicals have to cure just about any problem she could possibly have—and she’s in more trouble than she’s ever known was possible. 


Kritters Thoughts:  For some reason this synopsis pulled me in when I was pitched the book and I thought this book would be an interesting read about a woman who becomes an addict and how it happened.  What I read was a long winded excuse of a woman's life that she uses as an excuse as to why she becomes an addict. 

This fiction read like memoir and it didn't work for me.  The parents frustrated me and there were too many moments when I wanted them to get it together and be actual parents.  I think what made me the most frustrated was there was not one redeeming character in the book that I could put my hope on.

If you enjoy the soap opera shows then you could enjoy this one more than me.


Rating: not such a good read

Ebook 2015 Challenge:  54 out of 100

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from BookSparks PR.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

2016 Reading Challenges

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As we enter a new year, the spreadsheets are nice and new and the goals are set.  

Looking at my reading challenges that I participated in last year, here are the reading challenges I have put as my goal for reading in 2016.

1.  I want to read a minimum of 216 books in 2016.

2.  I want to read at least 50 ebooks in 2016.

3.  I want to listen to at least 6 audiobooks in 2016.


And the challenge that I love to do (partly because it is easy) is:

Where Are You Reading?
In this challenge, I keep a Google Map (link to my google map for 2016) and place a pinpoint at each spot where a book takes place.  The link to my google map will also be in the sidebar all year round, so anyone can check out where I have been reading!

If you would like to participate - check out Book Journey.  She hosted this challenge in the past, not sure if she is hosting again, but as this is my favorite thing to do, I am continuing!

2015 Reading and Challenges Wrap Up

Just like last year, I wanted to take one post and just do a recap of 2015!  I did this exact post last year and the year before and loved seeing it throughout the year.  This year I will compare 2015 to 2014, let's go!

Total number of books I read in 2015: 237
Total number of books I read in 2014: 234

Total number of pages I flipped, clicked, and so on in 2015: 77,778
Total number of pages I flipped, clicked, and so on in 2014: 77,370

To recap, I read more in 2015 (not by much, but still counts!) and can't wait to see what 2016 will look like!

I have been keeping track of WHERE my books were taking place all year.  Below is the outcome.  There are 11 states that I didn't "visit," which is one more better than last year!  But there are 16 countries other than the US that I spent some time in, which is 3 better than last year! With both of these increasing it makes me happy to see that I am reading more diversely at least geographically.




States that didn't make the list:
Alaska                Utah            Georgia
North Dakota      Nebraska      Mississippi
South Dakota      Kansas         Vermont
Wyoming            Kentucky       


Countries accounted for:
Australia       Ireland        Brazil        Canada
France          Italy             Spain        Czech Republic
Mexico          Greece        Africa        Azerbaijan
Scotland        Russia          Sweden
England (London and other cities)

As far as the Ebook Challenge is concerned, I challenged myself to 100 ebooks and finished the year at 53.  Not dismal, but not complete, but fun to keep track!

First Book of the Year! 2016

Sheila at Book Journey has been a blogger that I have followed for years.  She was one of the first that I followed and is part of my inspiration to start blogging.  She announced her first book of the year initiative and I wanted to join this year!  

My first book of 2016 is The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank.  This is the book I have had on my shelves the longest, since May 2010, so it will be my first read of this year.  

The reason I am doing this is symbolic, I want to start the year this way because I want to do more of this this year - reading off my shelf that has gotten a little ridiculous!

So as much as I love to read the latest and greatest, I want to read what has been sitting on my shelves and what I know I have been wanting to read for years!

December - the end of 2015

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Another busy month with some work functions and all of the usual holiday plans and preparations and then actually celebrating the holidays!  Thankfully like in years past I took the week between Christmas and New Years to have a quiet week to rejuvenate and read!  January will be another busy month with my big corporate event, so I am thinking the reading of 2016 will not start out on a high note!

1.  The Seafront Tearoom by Vanessa Greene
2.  The Christmas Bridge by Elyse Douglas
3.  Ask Him Why by Catherine Ryan Hyde
4.  Medicis Daughter by Sophie Perinot
5.  What She Knew by Gilly Macmillan
6.  The Last Dreamer by Barbara Solomon Josselsohn
7.  Quicksand by Steve Toltz
8.  Winter Stroll by Elin Hilderbrand
9.  Anything For You by Kristan Higgins
10.  Wildflower by Drew Barrymore
11. The Violinist of Venice by Alyssa Palombo
12. Novelista Girl by Meredith Schorr
13. How to Grow an Addict by JA Wright
14. The Union Street Bakery by Mary Ellen Taylor
15. Sweet Expectations by Mary Ellen Taylor
16. Binge by Tyler Oakley

Total pages read, clicked, and flipped: 5,464

Where Have I Been Reading?:
Scarborough, UK

New York City, NY (2)
California
France
Bristol, England
New York
Australia
Nantucket
New York
Venice, Italy
Huntington Beach, CA
Alexandria, VA (2)

Review: Anything For You by Kristan Higgins

Anything For You

by Kristan Higgins

Publisher: HQN Books

Pages: 384

Format: ARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Before you get down on bended knee… 

…you should be pretty darn sure the answer will be yes. For ten years, Connor O'Rourke has been waiting for Jessica Dunn to take their on-again, off-again relationship public, and he thinks the time has come. His restaurant is thriving, she's got her dream job at Blue Heron Vineyard—it's the perfect time to get married. 

When he pops the question, however, her answer is a fond but firm no. If it ain't broke, why fix it? Jess has her hands full with her younger brother, who's now living with her full-time, and a great career after years of waitressing. What she and Connor have is perfect: friends with an excellent benefits package. Besides, with her difficult past (and reputation), she's positive married life isn't for her. 

But this time, Connor says it's all or nothing. If she doesn't want to marry him, he'll find someone who does. Easier said than done, given that he's never loved anyone but her. And maybe Jessica isn't quite as sure as she thinks…


Kritters Thoughts:  Another Kristan Higgins home run!  Set in the same town as the Blue Heron vineyards book, but this one is different and it made me like that it came at this point in the series.  The fifth in the series, this book takes a break from the family the Holland family and instead someone who has lived in town her whole life and the reasons why she never left and what is keeping her trapped in the life she is in.  

As all romance novels, the ending can be predicted from the beginning, but for some reason this book felt a little more up and down than usual.  I didn't mind it, but it was definitely a roller coaster!

I definitely recommend reading this series starting at the beginning as the main characters featured in the previous books make appearances and you may miss out on an inside joke or even a small character movement without knowing what came before.  Even though this is book five, I say start at the beginning, these read fast and are great not too sexy times!


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Little Bird Publicity.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Review: Wildflower by Drew Barrymore

Wildflower

by Drew Barrymore

Publisher: Dutton

Pages: 288

Format: audiobook

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Wildflower is a portrait of Drew's life in stories as she looks back on the adventures, challenges, and incredible experiences of her earlier years. It includes tales of living on her own at 14 (and how laundry may have saved her life), getting stuck in a gas station overhang on a cross country road trip, saying goodbye to her father in a way only he could have understood, and many more adventures and lessons that have led her to the successful, happy, and healthy place she is today. It is the first book Drew has written about her life since the age of 14.


Kritters Thoughts:  Read via audiobook and my new Scribd membership, I loved experiencing this book via audio!  As a side note, I have only listened to a handful of books, but all have been in the celebrity memoir genre and I have loved them all!

This was no exception.  It was less memoir and more a collection of short stories, but I loved it.  It did not go in chronological order, which may have bugged me a few times, but I can get over it.  I thought I knew most of Drew Barrymore's story as her personal life has hit the news throughout the years, but I loved "reading" through her eyes and her telling the stories that matter to her.

I absolutely recommend listening as Drew narrates it herself and she puts her own unique touch on certain moments.  She yells, she laughs and I even feel like I heard some teary moments, it was perfectly emotional and I would love to hear her read something else.


Rating: definitely a good read, but can't read two in a row