On my TBR list…

I always have a pretty long TBR list- sometimes it’s current books, sometimes older books. Sometimes I wait till the hype dies down about a book before I read it, sometimes the hype gets me excited to read the book. Sometimes books stay on my TBR list for some time because I can’t find them at the library and maybe they cost more than what I want to pay.

This is just a small section of my TBR list- starting in the new year, I’d like to try to read at least 1 book every 2 months that has been on the TBR list for some time. Fingers crossed that I’ll keep that New Year’s resolution.

Looking For Salvation at the Dairy Queen

The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove

Beautiful Ruins

The Kitchen House

Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

And When She Was Good

In Her Shoes

The Night Circus

What’s on your TBR list? Got any suggestions to add to mine?

Looking for Ideas for the Book Lover?

Book lovers love books. With so many types of books, though, it’s sometimes hard to pick out the best book to give. She Reads is feeling the book buyers pain and has so kindly made a list of books that will make great gifts. With an array of topics, genres, and more- finding a book for the book lover in your life may just be a tad bit easier this year!

She Reads Gift Ideas for the Book Lover in your life– read to see what made the list!

If you are a book lover, what book would you love to see when you unwrap a gift? Is every book a goof gift- or are there some that you never would want to see given?

50% Off Murder (Good Buy Girls) by Josie Belle

50% off Murder by Josie Belle (a pen name of Jen McKinlay) is the first book in a new cozy series- and it’s a charmingly funny debut!

The Good Buy Girls are a group of ladies in Saint Stanley, Virginia who love a good bargain. They have meetings to trade coupons, they go shopping together to get the best deals and they hate paying retail price! Maggie, Claire, Ginger and Joanne make up the Good Buy Girls. During a meeting, Claire arrives late; a bit frazzled. Maggie is worried because that is unlike Claire, but puts it out of her mind since Claire seems fine the next day. All is good until Claire finds a body- a body of a man she used to know with her knife in his chest.

The police zero in on Claire for a few reasons- and Maggie and the rest of Good Buy Girls are not happy because they know Claire could not have committed this crime. Maggie is also unhappy since the new sheriff in town is Sam- a boy who used to tease her mercilessly when she was a kid; then broke her heart in later years.

With the police intent on Claire being the #1 suspect- Maggie and the rest of Good Buy Girls have to put their heads together and help uncover more suspects. Will the Good Buy Girls clear Claire? Will Maggie and Sam let bygones be by bygones? Could there still be a spark with Maggie and Sam? Read the book and find out!

A great debut- the Good Buy Girls provide entertainment and a solid storyline. Eager to read the 2nd book in series- A Deal to Die For (release date- December 31, 2012).

Holiday Buzz by Cleo Coyle

The holidays are so much nicer when you have a good book to read- and that’s what Holiday Buzz by Cleo Coyle is- a good holiday book. With talk of Clare’s holiday drinks, the Village Blend all decked out for the holidays, and Secret Santa gifts; Holiday Buzz will give readers a good feeling.

Tis the Season for coffee drinks, delicious desserts and the murder of a baker’s assistant as Clare Cosi discovers Morin Fagan (known as M to her friends). Clare feels partly responsible for M’s death as she saw her leaving for a smoke break and just assumed that she had skipped out on the rest of her shift at the holiday party- instead of something terrible happening to her. The death of M is thought to be part of a serial attacker by the cocky police detective, although Clare suspects from the start that someone else was the perpetrator.

Since the lead detective is not considering other suspects, Clare decides she must help find out what happened to M. Between pulling coffee drinks, serving delicious desserts and missing Mike- Clare (with the help of Madame and Matteo) begin looking for clues- and find clues and suspects that have reason to be questioned.

With a great cast of characters, the main mystery and some subplots inter-weaved in the story- Holiday Buzz is a welcome addition to the Coffeehouse Mystery series and the perfect pick-me-up for the holiday season.

Literary Friday ya’ll….

Friday- oh Friday 🙂 🙂

1. Deep South Mag’s #literaryfriday is up- and this weeks edition has the following: Goodreads’ Best Books of 2012 (Congratulations to Joshily Jackson and Emily Giffin for making the list!), Holiday Crafts to make with Books, and much more.

2. In honor of the holiday season, Deep South Mag is also having 12 Days of Giveaways. Check back daily to see what is being given away, make a comment on the post, and GOOD LUCK!

3. Other giveaway news- Meg Donohue is giving away cupcakes and her book How to Eat A Cupcake-blog, tweet, facebook about the giveaway to be entered for a chance to win. And don’t forget that December 15th is National Cupcake Day!

4. Last Saturday, I met the delightful and charming Peggy Sweeney- McDonald at Lemuria Books in Jackson, MS. Chatted with her about her book (Meanwhile, Back at Cafe Du Monde) and learned several tid-bits. Look for the blog post about meeting Peggy and a review of the book (hopefully next week!) on my blog.

5. With Christmas only being a short time away- some people are in a frenzy of decorating, baking, etc. Have noticed several Christmas trees decorated to the nines and even some made entirely out of books! How fabulous- a Christmas tree made out of books? Someone pinch me! Last year, I made a Christmas tree out of my Janet Evanovich books with a Cupcake topper (because I’m a Team Cupcake girl). Now, it’s not a pretty tree (and nowhere near as elaborate as others I’ve seen pictures of) but here is mine:

6. What is your #fridayreads? Mine is 50% Off Murder by Josie Belle- a pen name Jenn McKinlay uses.

7. Cozy Mystery Week is almost over! Each day, I’ve discussed a different Cozy Author I enjoy- Joanne Fluke,Ellen Byerrum, Cleo Coyle, Jenn McKinlay, and Lucy Burdette. Jenn’s Bookshelves has been celebrating Cozy Mystery Week all week long- check her blog out for more cozy authors. Did Cozy Mystery Week help you discover a new cozy series to read?

Happy Reading and have a great weekend!

Cozy Mystery Week: Cleo Coyle

Cozy Mystery Week is December 1-8. Today’s featured author is Cleo Coyle of the Coffeehouse Mysteries.

The Coffeehouse Mysteries are set in the Village Blend in NYC. The main character is Clare Cosi. Clare is a smart woman, bright and inquisitive. She has a daughter named Joy with her ex-husband and current business partner, Matteo. During the everyday happenings of the Village Blend, Clare usually finds herself in the middle of a mystery and helping the cops solve it. Because of her coffee and her nose for news, Clare has found favor with some of NYC’s finest- especially one man in particular. Her romance with Mike Quinn is the romance of storybooks- a simmering connection with a man who makes her heart melt.

Cleo Coyle has 12 books so far in the Coffeehouse Mystery series- for a fun read, talk of coffee and food, the excitement of NYC (specifically Greenwich Village) and the best coffee shop (Village Blend)- give the Coffeehouse Mysteries a try. Having just read book #12, Holiday Buzz, I can tell you that this series only gets better and I’m already awaiting #13 (Billionaire Blend-to be released in 2013).

Cozy Mystery Week: Jenn McKinlay

This Cozy Mystery Week and Jenn McKinlay is the author of today’s blog post.

Jenn McKinlay is the author of several cozy series (The Cupcake Mystery, Library Lover’s, and Good Buy Girl’s- written as Josie Belle). Over the summer, I discovered the Cupcake Mysteries and really enjoyed the characters of Melanie, Angie and Tate- liked their friendship, the way they talk about movies. The books have an easy-going vibe, fun, light-hearted and Jenn McKinlay writes funny lines for her characters. The Cupcake Mystery books are quite enjoyable. For fans of cupcakes, childhood crushes, and best friends- this is the cozy series to try.

After spending the summer reading the Cupcake Mysteries and enjoying them (but being disappointed that the next Cupcake book was not coming out till April 2013), I found Jenn McKinlay’s Library Lover’s mysteries. Lindsey is a librarian and Beth is her best friend. The town is Briar Creek, a small-ish coastal town. Some of the women in town have Craftafternoon Club (a combination of knitting and discussing books–generally a classic book.) The people in town are friendly, interesting, and one in particular is quite charming. There is a charming connection developing between Lindsey and Sully. For fans of library series, knitting talk, and book clubs- Library Lover’s is the cozy for you.

The Good Buy Girl’s series is a series about women who enjoy being thrifty, getting good deals on things from clothes to food, and enjoy each other’s company- the Good Buy Girl’s are great. Currently still reading the first book in the series- I’m enjoying the series, thus far. The 2nd book will be released on Dec 31, 2012.

Each of the book series Jenn McKinlay writes are funny, interesting, and really great. If you’re a fan of cozy books, give Jenn McKinlay a try.

Giveaway of How to Eat a Cupcake by Meg Donohue

Books & cupcakes? Yes, please! Meg Donohue is giving away a copy of her book How to Eat a Cupcake and is also giving away cupcakes in honor of National Cupcake Day on December 15.

To find out the information on the giveaway, check out Meg Donohue’s website for all the ways to enter this great giveaway. And if you win- don’t be stingy with the cupcakes- share with friends and family. Cupcakes make the world a happy place.

Cupcakes and books- I’ve got nothing else to add to that load of good stuff!

Getting ebooks signed?!

As a lover of books, when I find out an author is nearby I like to go and get my book signed. It’s always nice to meet the author, talk about the book a bit, maybe pick up an extra copy or 2 for friends. When I got a Kindle, I was always hesitant about buying a book on Kindle, then finding out the author will be nearby because then I’d have to buy the book twice- after all, how is a author going to sign an ebook?

However, thanks to an article on She Reads- I found out that there is a solution to this problem (and it’s not buying the Kindle version for convenience and the hardback for signing!)

How To Get Your Ebooks Signed by Your Favorite Author– while some may still prefer to have an actual book signed- for people who prefer ebooks, this is a way to be able to have favorite authors sign books.

Cozy Mystery Week: Ellen Byerrum

In honor of Cozy Mystery Week- a different cozy author will be discussed daily. Today’s is Ellen Byerrum, Crime of Fashion author.

Meet Lacey Smithsonian- a fashion reporter for the Eye Street Observer uses “fashion clues” to help solve crimes in the Washington, DC area. With the help of her friends, Stella and Brooke, Lacey finds herself solving crimes that leave the police scratching their heads.

In Lacey’s first book, Killer Hair, an up and coming hairstylist is found dead with a terrible haircut. The police think it’s suicide- but Lacey knows (because of the fashion clues) that a hairstylist does not kill herself with a hair cut like that. As Lacey probes further- she finds that the answer may be part of the Washington political set.

Each book finds Lacey using fashion clues to solve crimes, her friends Stella and Brooke, and a man named Victor Donovan that makes Lacey’s knees go weak. Another character is Lacey’s aunt’s trunk- filled with fashion designs from the 40’s- a fashion period that Lacey adores. The book also has Lacey’ s fashion columns for the Eye Street Observer- funny commentary on the fashion of Washington, DC and how to survive in a sea of blandness.

Ellen Byerrum has 8 Fashion Crime Mysteries published- her 9th book (Veiled Revenge) will be released February 5th, 2013.

Traveling With T

Bookish Thoughts, Book Reviews & Tales of Small Town Charms

Month: December 2012