Book Review: Lying Game #3 & #4

Hey!
Today because there are so many books I want to read and so little time to read them. I decided to do a combined review for you. Today’s review will include book #3 and book #4 of the Lying Game Series. If you have not read my previous reviews on the Lying Game series you can read them here and here.

A half truth is a whole lie.-Yiddish Proverb

In this the third book of the Lying Game series, we find that Madeline’s brother, Thayer Vega has mysteriously returned and broken into the Mercer house to see Sutton. Thayer is arrested and this strikes an icy divide between Sutton and Laurel. It also comes out that Sutton and Thayer has a secret romance going on, while she was still with Garret. Toward the end of the book, Emma decides to go public with her relationship with Ethan finally and then it comes out that her twin Sutton had been keeping more secrets than she let on including a secret email correspondence with Thayer, while he was away. Emma realizes that living in Sutton’s life and trying to figure out her murderer, Sutton may have kept more secrets from people than she even realized.

Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who find it.-Voltaire

In this fourth book of the series, we once again catch up with Emma just as the Harvest Dance rolls around. It is in this book that she suspects her sister of killing her and pursues that lead while constantly keeping up her guard since Thayer is back in town for good. It is right before her dad’s birthday that Grandma Mercer comes to town to stir the pot even more. She gives Emma even more clues to the mystery behind her parents, which only leads to her with more questions instead of answers. It is at the end of this book that Sutton gets the biggest clue of all in having an encounter with Raven Jannings and finding out that, that is her mother Becky. She also manages to have a conversation with her dad on some of the matter and figures out why he has been keeping Becky a secret from her for so long. Though Emma now knows these secrets it only leads to more questions instead of answers and she can’t rule out her dad as her murderer.

I hope that you enjoyed this 2 for 1 book review. I will be back with more book reviews and more posts soon. Let me know what you have been reading lately or what you thought of the series if you read it?

Tales of the Beedle Bard

12 / 27 / 1612 / 2 / 19

The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Hogwarts Library, #3) by J.K. Rowling, Emma Nicholson, Hermione Granger, Albus Dumbledore
Published by Arthur A. Levine Books on December 4, 2008
Pages: 128
Goodreads
five-stars

The Tales of Beedle the Bard, a Wizarding classic, first came to Muggle readers’ attention in the book known as Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Now, thanks to Hermione Granger’s new translation from the ancient runes, we present this stunning edition with an introduction, notes, and illustrations by J. K. Rowling, and extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore.

Never before have Muggles been privy to these richly imaginative tales: “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,” “The Fountain of Fair Fortune,” “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart,” “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump,” and of course, “The Tale of the Three Brothers.” But not only are they the equal of fairy tales we now know and love, reading them gives new insight into the world of Harry Potter.

Hey!

I am back once again with yet another book review. As of this book I have officially completed my goodreads goal for 2016 even though the widget on the side isn’t updated to reflect that. I’m proud that I completed my goal even if it wasn’t by reading all the books that I wanted to this year, I still managed to read some amazing books.

This year for #HPDec I decided to also include some of the newer Harry Potter books which do not belong with the original series. This book is a companion book that was included alongside the original series. I had not read it before this year, but I had definitely wanted to since there are referenced quite a bit in the Harry Potter books. This book was a fairly quick read since it is mainly wizarding fairy tales with additional commentary by Professor Dumbledore on how they relate to the wizarding world in real life. I love how all the fairy tales seemed to be a bit more on the darker side showing morals and what could happen if magic is misused rather than regular fairy tales which are only fanciful and only offer advice and morals.

I enjoyed this book and was very happy to add this to my Harry Potter collection. I apologize that this review is so short, but it really is a short book that does not need a lot of additional commentary to it. I hope to see you soon in another post!

Book Review:Isla and the Happily Ever After

12 / 26 / 162 / 1 / 20

Isla and the Happily Ever After (Anna and the French Kiss, #3) by Stephanie Perkins
Published by Dutton on August 14, 2014
Pages: 339
Goodreads
four-stars

Love ignites in the City That Never Sleeps, but can it last?
Hopeless romantic Isla has had a crush on introspective cartoonist Josh since their first year at the School of America in Paris. And after a chance encounter in Manhattan over the summer, romance might be closer than Isla imagined. But as they begin their senior year back in France, Isla and Josh are forced to confront the challenges every young couple must face, including family drama, uncertainty about their college futures, and the very real possibility of being apart.
Featuring cameos from fan-favorites Anna, Étienne, Lola, and Cricket, this sweet and sexy story of true love—set against the stunning backdrops of New York City, Paris, and Barcelona—is a swoonworthy conclusion to Stephanie Perkins’s beloved series.

Hey!

I’m back again with yet another book review. I apologize for once again for the plethora of book reviews in such a short period of time. I have fallen in love with reading again and I want to share all the books I read with you. Hopefully very soon I will be putting together a post on my resolutions and goals for the coming year.

For now though here is a lovely book review. If you have been following me for a while you know that earlier this year I read Lola and the Boy next door. I loved that book and when I found out that it was part of a series I knew that I had to make time to read the rest of the books in the series. I finally finished the last book which is the review that you are reading now. In this book, we travel back to School of America in Paris and encounter Isla. Isla makes a brief appearance in Anna and the French Kiss, but is not heard from again. In this story we meet Isla just as she is about to begin her senior year in high school. While she has loved attending school in Paris she has never really lived in the world outside her books. In a chance meeting over the Summer, she runs into her longtime crush Josh and she begins to see him in a new light. Yes, Josh also makes several appearances in Anna and the French Kiss, but not as a main character. It is during the beginning of the school term that Josh and Isla are finally able to connect and have adventures for a while.

I can’t talk much more about the synopsis without giving the good parts about the book away. I loved this book, but not as much as I loved Lola and the Boy next door. I found the story of Isla and Josh so relatable and so real that probably every girl has been in that situation or something similar. I was super excited in reading this to see that this picks up the same year that Lola and the Boy next door leave off. We are able to once again see Lola, Cricket , and Calliope in their own environment. We are also once again able to catch up with St. Clair and Anna who have the sweetest encounter at their favorite spot in Paris. It is totally swoon worthy and very much them as a couple. I highly recommend that you read this book if you have read any of the books in the series. I’ll be back again soon with another post!

Sunday Currently v 2.31

12 / 25 / 1610 / 14 / 18

Hey..
I know that I’ve been slacking a little this week with the posts, but I’m hoping that I can catch up and work forward, by doing a few of these link-up parties. Today I’m linking up with Lauren from Siddathornton. I’ve read her blog off and on for several years. I don’t even remember how I discovered her blog, but it’s beautiful and you should check it! Below is my currently list for today. Everything here will get better in time and I’m hoping that you will stick with me.

reading Harry Potter, Harry Potter, and more Harry Potter. I’m way behind on #HPDec and I’m a bit sad about it

watching Criminal Minds and vlogmas videos on youtube!

writing at least one more post, I think…I apologize for all the book reviews

eating nothing at the moment, but hopefully dinner soon
listening to the silence and it sounds so good today

thinking that I should probably start editing videos or doing something a bit more productive

wishing for peace and safe holidays! I somehow wish that it would snow in Hawaii

hoping for a bit more time since there is always so much to do!

wearing almost pajamas, but not quite yet
loving that I have been definitely been getting my reading game on and am almost on track to finish pretty good this year. It has also been a good day.

wanting to be more consistent with projects and plans

needing a bit more time since there is so much more I want to do

feeling a bit drained from work this week, but hopefully for all the plans I have for the year to come

anticipating 2017 because there are so many plans that are already in motion
planning work projects and hoping that they turn out ok

looking forward to New Year’s!
creating content and creative things
need to finish at least one more book before the year is out and hopefully finish #HPDec strong
main goal record and post a few more videos this week, be brave and not scared.

The Bookshop on the Corner

12 / 23 / 163 / 25 / 20

The Bookshop on the Corner (Scottish Bookshop #1) by Jenny Colgan
Published by William Morrow Paperbacks on September 20, 2016
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
four-half-stars

Nina Redmond is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion… and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more.
Determined to make a new life for herself, Nina moves to a sleepy village many miles away. There she buys a van and transforms it into a bookmobile—a mobile bookshop that she drives from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling.
From helping her grumpy landlord deliver a lamb, to sharing picnics with a charming train conductor who serenades her with poetry, Nina discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home… a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending.

Hey!
I’m back with yet another book review. Sorry for the plethora of book reviews at the end of the year, but it seems that I have finally found time to read more. Hopefully in the new year I will be more together with my reading goals and have more of a variety of posts for you here.

Now back to what you are really here for a book review. On my recent trip I picked up this book in the airport to read on the plane. I had this on my to be read list for a while, but I had not planned on reading it this year.

Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will never do any harm to the world.-Voltaire

I was enchanted with this book right from the get go.I love how the book begins with not a dedication, but a message from the author. I love how we meet Nina at a cross roads in her life. She knows that you loves books and reading, but doesn’t know what she wants to do since the small bookshop she worked at shut down. She does interview for the corporate bookstore down the street. It is while there with a little help of her friend, Griffin that Nina actually takes the reigns in her life and open her own mobile bookstore.With a chance meeting at a bar in Scotland, Nina picks up her life and decides to start her business in the area. The quick ending of the book is that Nina’s mobile bookstore is successful and she actually gets the resident of the small town and the residing towns to actually read and finds them their perfect literary match.

I’m a bit sorry that I didn’t pick this book up sooner. I loved how fast this book was to read and how Nina’s life revolved around books in more ways than one. I love how all the characters of the town admit that they weren’t readers before she came to town, but they all end up readers after. If you have any love for books, you will fall head over heels in love with this book.

What have you been reading lately?