BLOG TOUR: I Am the Light of This World by Michael Parker

 I'm excited to be a part of the Blog Tour for I Am the Light of This World by Michael Parker! I received a free copy for honest review from the publisher. Thanks so much to Algonquin Books and Michael Parker for letting me be a part of the tour!

Title: I Am the Light of This World

Author: Michael Parker

Published by: Algonquin Books

Released: November 15, 2022

Source: Review Copy Provided by Publisher

Goodreads        Amazon

 

Synopsis: Acclaimed author Michael Parker tells the searing  and unforgettable story of one decision that irrevocably changes  the course of a young man’s life.

In  the  early  1970s,  in  Stovall,  Texas,  seventeen-year-old  Earl—a  loner,  dreamer,  lover of music and words—meets Tina, the new girl in town. Tina convinces Earl to drive her to see her mother in Austin, where Earl and Tina are quickly separated. Two  days  later,  Earl  is  being  questioned  by  the  police  about  Tina’s  disappearance  and the blood in the trunk of his car. But Earl can’t remember what happened in Austin,  and  with  little  financial  support  from  his  working-class  family,  he  is  sentenced for a crime he did not commit.

Forty  years  later,  Earl  is  released  into  a  world  he  can  barely  navigate.  Settling  in a small town on the Oregon coast, he attempts to establish a sense of freedom from both bars and razor wire and the emotional toll of incarceration. But just as Earl finds the rhythm he’s always sought, his past returns to endanger the new life he’s built.

Steeped in the music and atmosphere of the 1970s, I Am the Light of This World is a gritty, gripping, and gorgeously written story of loss, redemption, and the power of the imagination, perfect for fans of Ron Rash, Rachel Kushner, and Laird Hunt. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

 

My Thoughts: A really interesting story that I enjoyed reading. The synopsis captured my attention right away. Did he do it? What happened to Tina? Was he put in prison for a crime that he didn't commit?

It's fascinating following Earl's story. He was a really well written character. All the stuff that happened in his life, and then seeing him having to navigate the world after 40 years in prison. It was such a compelling story to read.

I liked it and would definitely recommend giving it a read.

 The author of seven novels and three collections of stories, Michael Parker has been awarded four career-achievement awards: the Hobson Award for Arts and Letters, the North Carolina Award for Literature, the R. Hunt Parker Award, and the 2020 Thomas Wolfe Prize. His short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, Oxford American, Runner’s World, Men's Journal, and others. He is a three-time winner of the O. Henry Prize for his short fiction and his work has appeared in dozens of magazines and several anthologies. He taught for twenty-seven years in the MFA Writing Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and since 2009 he has been on the faculty of the Warren Wilson Program for Writers. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Thanks so much for checking out my Blog Tour Stop for I Am the Light of This World by Michael Parker! Thank you to Algonquin Books and Michael Parker for letting me be a part of the tour! This is definitely one to look out for and add to your TBR pile.

ARC Review: Absynthe by Brendan P. Bellecourt

 

Title: Absynthe

Author: Brendan P. Bellecourt

Published by: DAW Books

Released: December 7, 2021

Source: Electronic Review Copy from Netgalley / Physical Copy from Library

Goodreads        Amazon

Synopsis: In his sci-fi debut, Bellecourt explores an alternate roaring 20s where a shell-shocked soldier must uncover latent telepathic abilities to save himself and the people around him.

Liam Mulcahey, a reclusive, shell-shocked veteran, remembers little of the Great War. Ten years later, when he is caught in a brutal attack on a Chicago speakeasy, Liam is saved by Grace, an alluring heiress who's able to cast illusions. Though the attack appears to have been committed by the hated Uprising, Grace believes it was orchestrated by Leland De Pere--Liam's former commander and the current President of the United States.
Meeting Grace unearths long-buried memories. Liam's former squad, the Devil's Henchmen, was given a serum to allow telepathic communication, transforming them into a unified killing machine. With Grace's help, Liam begins to regain his abilities, but when De Pere learns of it, he orders his militia to eliminate Liam at any cost.
But Liam's abilities are expanding quickly. When Liam turns the tables and digs deeper into De Pere's plans, he discovers a terrible secret. The same experiment that granted Liam's abilities was bent toward darker purposes. Liam must navigate both his enemies and supposed allies to stop the President's nefarious plans before they're unleashed on the world. And Grace is hiding secrets of her own, secrets that could prove every bit as dangerous as the President's. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

My Thoughts: E-arc through Netgalley and Physical Copy read from library. Thanks so much to DAW Books for giving me the chance to read it!

This was an interesting alternate 1920's history story with a little bit of steampunk thrown in. We follow a character called Liam, who was wounded in the war and can't remember much of anything. His adventure starts at a flash train ceremony where he witnesses a break in.

I liked elements of this story. The alternate history aspect was pretty cool, and I enjoyed that 1920's kind of feel. I also enjoyed the slight steampunk vibe that it had.

The story was pretty fast paced, and I was always interested in trying to figure out just what was going on.

I did find this story to be just a little bland. Liam wasn't the most exciting guy to follow. None of the characters really had a lot of excitement to them. I just never had much connection to anyone.

This book did move really fast, but it could almost be too fast. There was a lot to wrap your brain around, and sometimes I got a little confused as to what was happening. They just moved really quickly from one thing to another.

The story also goes back and forth in time, reliving some of Liam's war days, and it didn't always feel the smoothest.

I also wasn't that surprised by a couple of the reveals.

This book had cool ideas, but they weren't presented in a way that made it the most compelling story.

On a positive, the copy I read from was a floppy paperback, it was nice. 

BOOKCITEMENT LEVEL 3.3/5

The potential is there.

BLOG TOUR: Silver in the Mist by Emily Victoria

 I'm excited to be a part of the Blog Tour for Silver In the Mist by Emily Victoria! I received a free electronic copy for honest review from the publisher. Thanks so much to Inkyard Press and Emily Victoria for letting me be a part of the tour!

Title: Silver in the Mist

Author: Emily Victoria

Published by: Inkyard Press

Released: November 1, 2022

Source: Electronic Review Copy Provided by Publisher

Goodreads       Amazon

 

Synopsis: Eight years ago, everything changed for Devlin: Her country was attacked. Her father was killed. And her mother became the Whisperer of Aris, the head of the spies, retreating into her position away from everyone… even her daughter.
 Joining the spy ranks herself, Dev sees her mother only when receiving assignments. She wants more, but she understands the peril their country, Aris, is in. The malevolent magic force of The Mists is swallowing Aris’s edges, their country is vulnerable to another attack from their wealthier neighbor, and the magic casters who protect them from both are burning out.

Dev has known strength and survival her whole life, but with a dangerous new assignment of infiltrating the royal court of their neighbor country Cerena to steal the magic they need, she learns that not all that glitters is weak. And not all stories are true. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

 

My Thoughts: This is a good one. It has so much stuff that I love about YA. The world building and magic were really fun to read about. It was an easy story to get lost in.

I mostly liked our main character of Devlin, but there could be times when she made not smart decisions. YA books are full of characters who don't think before they act.

I enjoyed myself reading Silver in the Mist. If you like YA Fantasy, I'd definitely give it a read. 

Emily Victoria is a Canadian prairie girl who writes young adult science fiction and fantasy. When not wordsmithing, she likes walking her overexcitable dog, drinking far too much tea, and crocheting things she no longer has the space to store. Her librarian degree has allowed her to work at a library and take home far too many books.

Thanks so much for checking out my Blog Tour Stop for Silver in the Mist by Emily Victoria! Thank you to Inkyard Press and Emily Victoria for letting me be a part of the tour. This is an easy add to the TBR pile.

Reading Right Now! (343)

 It has been a week. Work has been a lot of filling in, and I've had family visiting. I haven't gotten as much reading done as I hoped for.

What I'm Reading Right Now! is...

Rapture in Death (In Death #4) by J.D. Robb -- I've been in a mood reading mood this month, and I just decided I wanted to read the next Eve Dallas book. I started the series this year, and I've been enjoying it.

I'm almost finished with this one. The majority of the book has been Eve trying to find out what killed her victims. 

These books tend to have a lot of triggers with child abuse, child sexual assault. This one had a rape like scene, so take that as you well. They involve murders and crimes, so it shouldn't be surprising that they are full of darker things.

The World of Lore: Wicked Mortals  by Aaron Mahnke -- I've been slowly making my way through this one and really enjoying it. This book is stories taken from the podcast. I've never listened to the podcast. This tells of bad people in history. None of the stories can be taken as 100% true, things have been exaggerated and made bigger through the years, but they are all very interesting, and terrifying!

That's what I'm Reading Right Now! What are you reading?

SPOTLIGHT: Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family by Erika Hayasaki

 I'm excited to be a part of the Blog Tour and share a Spotlight for Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family by Erika Hayasaki! I was provided with a free copy for honest review from the publisher. Thanks so much to Algonquin Books and Erika Hayasaki for letting me be a part of the tour!

Title: Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Family

Author: Erika Hayasaki

Published by: Algonquin Books

Released: October 11, 2022

Source: Review Copy Provided by Publisher

Goodreads         Amazon

 

Synopsis: Identical twins Isabella and Hà were born in Vietnam and raised on opposite sides of the world, each knowing little about the other’s existence, until they were reunited as teenagers, against all odds.
 The twins were born in Nha Trang, Vietnam, in 1998, where their mother struggled to care for them. Hà was taken in by their biological aunt, and grew up in a rural village, going to school, and playing outside with the neighbors. They had sporadic electricity and frequent monsoons. Hà’s twin sister, Loan, spent time in an orphanage before a wealthy, white American family adopted her and renamed her Isabella. Isabella grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, with a nonbiological sister, Olivia, also adopted from Vietnam. Isabella and Olivia attended a predominantly white Catholic school, played soccer, and prepared for college.

But when Isabella’s adoptive mother learned of Isabella’s biological twin back in Vietnam, all of their lives changed forever. Award-winning journalist Erika Hayasaki spent years and hundreds of hours interviewing each of the birth and adoptive family members and tells the girls’ incredible story from their perspectives, challenging conceptions about adoption and what it means to give a child a good life. Hayasaki contextualizes the sisters’ experiences with the fascinating and often sinister history of twin studies, the nature versus nurture debate, and intercountry and transracial adoption, as well as the latest scholarship and conversation surrounding adoption today, especially among adoptees.

For readers of All You Can Ever Know and American Baby, Somewhere Sisters is a richly textured, moving story of sisterhood and coming-of-age, told through the remarkable lives of young women who have redefined the meaning of family for themselves. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

 

Erika Hayasaki is a journalist based in Southern California, the author of The Death Class, and a professor in the literary journalism program at the University of California, Irvine. A former Los Angeles Times national correspondent, her writing has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Atlantic, Wired, and other publications. She has been a Knight-Wallace Reporting Fellow and an Alicia Patterson Fellow, and she has received awards and recognition from the Association of Sunday and Feature Editors, the Society for Features Journalism, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, and The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2019. She is the mother of a daughter and twin boys.

Thanks so much for checking out my Spotlight Post for Somewhere Sisters: A Story of Adoption, Identity, and the Meaning of Faith by Erika Hayasaki! Thanks so much to Algonquin Books and Erika Hayasaki for letting me be a part of the tour. This was such an interesting nonfiction story and I'd definitely recommend it.

BLOG TOUR: Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty

I'm excited to be a part of the Blog Tour for Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty! I received a free electronic copy for honest review from the publisher. Thanks so much to Ace and Mur Lafferty for letting me be a part of the tour!

 

 

Title: Station Eternity (The Midsolar Murders #1)

Author: Mur Lafferty

Published by: Ace

Released: October 4, 2022

Source: Electronic Review Copy Provided by Publisher

Goodreads        Amazon

 

Synopsis: From idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve. But outside of a classic mystery novel, being surrounded by death doesn’t make you a charming amateur detective, it makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So when Mallory gets the opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she thinks she has the solution. Surely the murders will stop if her only company is alien beings. At first her new existence is peacefully quiet…and markedly devoid of homicide.

But when the station agrees to allow additional human guests, Mallory knows the break from her peculiar reality is over. After the first Earth shuttle arrives, and aliens and humans alike begin to die, the station is thrown into peril. Stuck smack-dab in the middle of an extraterrestrial whodunit, and wondering how in the world this keeps happening to her anyway, Mallory has to solve the crime—and fast—or the list of victims could grow to include everyone on board…. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

 

My Thoughts: I was really excited to read this one! I love science fiction and murder mysteries are fun. This was a combination of both of those, so I knew I was in for a good time. Mur Lafferty always comes out with books that just sound good to me.

I enjoyed this one. My favorite things about it were the setting and the characters. I love a space story, so I really enjoyed the journey of Mallory making her way to this sentient space station. There were also a lot of fun characters that made this entertaining to read.

I love the idea of a closed room mystery in space. The mystery in this veered all over the place. It could be hard to wrap my head around at times.

I'm intrigued to see how this series continues. I can definitely see myself picking up the next one.

 

Mur Lafferty is an author, podcaster, and editor. She has been nominated for many awards, and even won a few. She lives in Durham, NC with her family.

Thanks so much for checking out my Blog Tour Stop for Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty! Thank you to Ace and Mur Lafferty for letting me be a part of the tour. This is definitely recommended for people who want a murder mystery in space.

BLOG TOUR: If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang

 I'm excited to be a part of the Blog Tour for If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang! I received a free electronic copy for honest review from the publisher. Thanks so much to Inkyard Press and Ann Liang for letting me be a part of the tour!

Title: If You Could See the Sun

Author: Ann Liang

Published by: Inkyard Press

Released: October 11, 2022

Source: Electronic Review Copy Provided by Publisher

Goodreads        Amazon

 

Synopsis: Alice Sun has always felt invisible at her elite Beijing international boarding school, where she’s the only scholarship student among China’s most rich and influential teens. But then she starts uncontrollably turning invisible—actually invisible.
 When her parents drop the news that they can no longer afford her tuition, even with the scholarship, Alice hatches a plan to monetize her strange new power—she’ll discover the scandalous secrets her classmates want to know, for a price.
 But as the tasks escalate from petty scandals to actual crimes, Alice must decide if it’s worth losing her conscience—or even her life.

In this genre-bending YA debut, a Chinese American girl monetizes her strange new invisibility powers by discovering and selling her wealthy classmates’ most scandalous secrets. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

 

My Thoughts: I really was hooked by the idea for this story. I always love a book that has a little bit of magic sprinkled in. I also love the cover for this one. This was a great debut. I can't wait to see what Ann Liang comes out with next.

I really enjoyed how Alice used her power for her own means. She took her skill and used it for blackmail. It was very diabolical and fun. 

I really enjoyed the team up of Alice and Henry. The chemistry was definitely there.

This book was a ton of fun and I had a great time reading it. I think a lot of people will enjoy this one.

Ann Liang is an undergraduate at the University of Melbourne. Born in Beijing, she grew up travelling back and forth between China and Australia, but somehow ended up with an American accent. When she isn’t stressing out over her college assignments or writing, she can be found making over-ambitious to-do lists, binge-watching dramas, and having profound conversations with her pet labradoodle about who’s a good dog. This is her debut novel.

Thanks so much for checking out my Blog Tour Stop for If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang. Thank you to Inkyard Press and Ann Liang for letting me be a part of the tour! This is one you should definitely add to your to be read pile!