Category: book review

March 18, 2016

BookGrabbr Spotlight Tour

BookGrabbr: A great way for readers to discover new books and an innovative marketing tool for authors.

For Readers:

BookGrabbr is a social media-marketing tool that allows authors to share both full books and previews of their books with readers. Readers, you can have access to these books by signing in through Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn and using their ability to share as a form of currency. The “Share” is the payment! Share the book, and it will allow you to read it. Just click the “Grabb this book” button next to the book and our system will prompt you to share in exchange for reading!

BookGrabbr contains books of many genres, so visit today, “grabb” a book that catches your eye and start reading!

For Authors and Publishers:

Through their unique marketing tool and platform, BookGrabbr helps authors connect to readers that they wouldn’t generally be able to connect to through their friends and their friend’s friends. The noise in the marketplace is deafening, and at times can be a bit overwhelming for authors trying to promote their books.

BookGrabbr created a way to generate some more buzz by harnessing the power of each individual author’s social media platform. Once you create your profile on BookGrabbr it allows potential readers to read a preview of your book or the full copy and then directs them to your site of choice to purchase your book in the format that you desire. And since BookGrabbr doesn’t make any money on book sales, you can send them to a retailer, or to your own personal page or wherever you choose! BookGrabbr’s purpose is to help you sell more books, gain momentum and generate exposure.

See how it works:

How does iRead Book Tours help?

For Readers:

We help you discover new authors that have put their profile and books on BookGrabbr through our BookGrabbr Promotion Service.

For Authors and Publishers:

Don’t have time to dedicate to yet another marketing campaign? Let us take care of it for you. Through the BookGrabbr Promotion Service we create your profile, help you share your books on your social media and ours too, of course. In addition, we provide you with ideas and the support on how to best use your BookGrabbr profile. This is a cost-effective, efficient way to publicize your books! Contact us to see how we can help you spread the word about your book through BookGrabbr.

Like the idea? Enter the giveaway below to win a BookGrabbr Promotion Service worth $75 and $100 in cash!

Not an author? You can still win the $100 in cash.

Giveaway starts March 14 and ends April 15, 2016.

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March 14, 2016

And It Was Beautiful Book Review

“I was here. I saw beauty. I embraced it.” -Kara Tippetts.

About And It Was Beautiful

How do you live out extravagant love in the everyday moments? How do you celebrate grace when your life turns out differently than the one you dreamed?

Kara Tippetts discovered how to find joy in the small moments of life. She learned how to hold tight to hope even while battling intense physical and emotional pain. And she lived out the truth that God can redeem any story.

In her final book, Kara offers gentle reflections on living and dying well. She invites us to cultivate soft hearts even when we face great disappointment. Her ideas for living are hard-won, wrestled with in the crucible of family, illness, and faith. And her constant reminder is that whether we are in the midst of dark days or mundane moments Jesus is always there, life is surprisingly beautiful, and God is forever good.

My Thoughts

Kara Tippetts was an amazing Mother, Wife and individual. Her first novel, The Hardest Peace touched my deeply, I cried, I laughed and I learned so much about my own life. I realized those dark moments could always be darker and that even in those moments we can glimpse moments of light.

And It Was Beautiful is a wonderful compilation of her work and her story. She had this honest and open way of writing that makes you laugh, cry and want to reach out to her. She let you into her life without hiding over the ugly moments, instead she celebrates these moments for what they are. She found the light in each of these moments and shared it with us. I feel blessed to have read both of her books, the lessons of love, family and living with grace are precious. She guides you and teaches you by showing her own struggles.

The world has been blessed to have Kara Tippetts walk among us for such a short time. Her words of wisdom, love and grace will live on in her work.

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse Blog Tour Page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Rating:5/5

About the Author

Kara Tippetts was the author of The Hardest Peace and the co-author of Just Show Up. She blogged faithfully at mundanefaithfulness.com. Since her death in March 2015, her husband, Jason, has been parenting their four children and leading the church the couple founded in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 11, 2016

The Hearts We Mend

In The Hearts We Mend, planning and Post-It notes are the epitome of Evie’s life. But when she meets Jack, her life gets more than a little complicated.

About The Hearts We Mend

Thirteen years ago, Evie’s firefighter husband was killed in the line of duty, leaving her to raise their young son, Cody, alone. Now, Cody is marrying the love of his life, and as he packs up his belongings, the house feels as empty as Evie’s heart. But for all her planning and mad organizational skills, Evie could never have anticipated the dramatic shift her life is about to make.

Tattooed, rough-around-the-edges Jack raises quite a few eyebrows in the tight-knit community of Banister Falls. Where Evie’s life is stream-lined, Jack’s approach to living is moment-by-moment. But as Evie gets drawn into Jack’s world—a world that isn’t as safe or predictable as the one she’s worked so hard to create—he challenges her to open her eyes to the problems outside the walls of the church.

Jack doesn’t make Evie feel comfortable, but he definitely makes her feel something. Something she hasn’t felt since Max passed away—or, maybe ever. Because even though Jack isn’t anything like her late husband, he just might be everything she needs.

My Thoughts

This is the second book by author, Kathryn Springer, following Evie and her son Cody. This second book is just as fantastic (if not more!) as the first novel. In this novel, we see Cody marry his highschool sweetheart and pregnant girlfriend,watching this transition from depending on Evie to being his own man. This has a huge array of effects on Evie and she struggles at first with these changes until she meets Jack. Jack challenges her to get out of her comfort zone, to realize her potential and want more. But does she really have the courage to accept his challenge? Can she look beyond tattoos and the outer appearance of Jack to see the person inside? A fantastic novel from start to finish! It leaves you wanting that much more.

You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Kathryn Springer is a USA Today bestselling author. She grew up in northern Wisconsin, where her parents published a weekly newspaper. As a child she spent many hours sitting at her mother’s typewriter, plunking out stories, and credits her parents for instilling in her a love of books — which eventually turned into a desire to tell stories of her own. Kathryn has written nineteen books with close to two million copies sold. She lives with her husband and three children in Marinette, Wisconsin.

March 3, 2016

Learn About the World Around You in the Pocket of Your Hand #DKCanada

Keep facts at your fingertips in this palm sized guide from DK Canada, Pocket Genius Earth.

About Pocket Genius Earth

The prefect sized books for backpacks and school desk, DK Canada’s Pocket Genius series is the ideal source for reference. Featuring essential information, full-color images, glossary, and top ten lists, this series of books are a brand-new type of encyclopedia for young readers.

A visual look at our planet, Pocket Genius Earth delves into Earth’s geology and geography, examining oceans, mountains, deserts, clouds, and more.

My Thoughts

This palm sized book (literally palm sized!), has 150 pages full of images and information all about our home planet, Earth. It is divided into sections based on land, ocean, atmosphere and climate. It is further broken down in each of these sections such as lakes, volcanoes, tundra, grasslands, etc. The pictures in this small book are bright and stunning. You are guided across the pages visually and it feels as those this book is quite larger than the one you are holding. Some of my favourite images come from the Tundra and ocean section.

Both my son and I, learned a lot of new facts from this book, including that after a coral dies, its hard skeleton remains and a new corals grow on it. Neat right? This book is full of facts like this and we had a really great time reading each section. This book will fit perfectly into your child’s backpack and desk, ready to pull out during those geography classes.

You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5The Complete Series

Ancient Egypt
Ancient Rome
Animals
Bugs
Cars
Dinosaurs
Dogs
Horses
Human Body
Inventions
Mammals
Rocks and Minerals
Science
Sharks
Space

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

March 2, 2016

Hidden Chamber of Death

Hidden Chamber of Death is a compelling tale of intrigue, murder, deception and suspense.

About Hidden Chamber of Death

Hidden Chamber of Death is a compelling tale of intrigue, murder, deception and suspense that leads retired Navy SEAL and part-time private investigator Craige Ingram in search of the connection between seemingly random murders and a banking conspiracy.

Working with the local homicide investigator, who just happens to be a former Navy buddy, Craige Ingram’s attempts to protect a lonely widow and solve the case before another person dies are only thwarted by a psychotic killer whose motivation is based on pure depraved pleasure. In this first book of the Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series, the instincts and skills Ingram and his buddy acquired as Navy SEALS are tested to their limits.

My Thoughts

While this novel started off slower than I expected (I found I kept putting it down), by half way through the novel I did not want to put it down! The novel starts off with what appears to be a simple murder and then evolves into this complicated layer of murder and deceit. In between this lies the budding relationship between Craige and widow.

The buildup of the murders and the conspiracy that is tied into it, was mind-blowing and at times definitely not what I was expecting! I was constantly thrown off guard by what I thought would happen next and what really did happen – which is great! I really love that element of surprise in a novel and this one was full of it. Some of the murders were quite gruesome and really showed the inner workings of our criminal’s mind (and trust me I never saw the identity of him coming!).

A stellar book that leaves you in suspense throughout and ready for more.

You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Internationally acclaimed author and public speaker, Hawk MacKinney began writing mysteries for his school newspapers. Following graduation, he served in the US Navy for over 20 years. While serving as a Navy Commander, he also had a career as a full-time faculty member at several major state medical facilities. He earned two postgraduate degrees with studies in languages and history. He has taught postgraduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem, Israel.

In addition to professional articles and texts on fetal and adult anatomy, Hawk has authored several novels that have received national and international recognition.Moccasin Trace, a historical novel, was nominated for the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award. This was followed by the Craige Ingram Mystery Series. In a change of direction, October of 2012 saw the release of Hawk’s first science fiction novel, The Bleikovat Event, in The Cairns of Sainctuarie series. Volume II, The Missing Planets, was released in 2014 with Volume III in the works.

Hawk’s latest project focuses on The Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series. Hidden Chamber of Death is Book 1 in the series.

Interview with Hawk MacKinney

What genre do you write and why?

The Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series

The Cairns of Sainctuarie Series – sci-fi

Historical romance

Why write in these three genres…because the tales being spun involve characters that readers identify with, be it sci-fi, mystery, thrillers. In many ways romance motivating it all. Genre doesn’t exist. It’s a literature gimmick; categories established in ancient Greek literature. romance, historical or contemporary is so ancient it’s modern; tied and tangled among all genres. It’s where my fantasies take the tales with their twists & turns, & stir sci-fi with astounding revelations tumbling at us daily. Ain’t it fun.

How long have you been writing?

Since those evenings my grandmother or mother sat on the porch swing or front stoops; spun tales of stars and wishes while we counted lightenin’ bugs and listened to great greasy steel & iron thunder of railroad freights and passenger trains whistlin’ through the valley.

What advice would you give budding writers?

Don’t give up. A fiction writer is a person who sits in a secluded room by themselves; wastes a lot of paper, and doesn’t know if outside is sunshine or moonlight. Tells nonfiction tales made to sound like fiction and changes the name of the guilty. Is that called payback or fun or what?

Your books are set in many places. Have you ever been there?

Set in South Carolina and Georgia, Colorado, other states of the lower 48, Scotland, England, Israel…vacationed/lived in almost all of them. The historical romance is primarily SC & GA; most of the settings still exist…thereabouts most know nothing of the secrets lurking so close.

Favorite dessert?

Second piece of Southron Fried Chicken, BUT a hot slice KaroNut pie (otherwise known as Pecan Pie) runs a mean mouth-waterin’ second.

The Giveaway!

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Book Trailer

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.