nomadreader

Hello, everyone! I hope you're enjoying your day of reading. I'm having a great time at the Empire State Book Festival, but I'm looking forward to reading soon too! Welcome to this hour's mini-challenge! I loved Trish's mini-challenge at the last read-a-thon showing where we all were actually reading, and it gave me the idea to make a map challenge showing where the book(s) we're reading today take place. To enter this mini-challenge, you'll need to do two things: 1. Go to this map .  (You must be signed into a Google account to post on Google maps. You can create a Google account if you don't have one.) Zoom until you find the location you want to click Click edit, which will give you the ability to add a pin mark.  Enter the book(s) you're reading or have read today. Include the title and author. If you're reading in the past or future, feel free to include the year too! If you want to include your blog address (if you have one), ple...

It's no secret that paranormal is somewhat hit or miss for me. It's not a genre I seek out, but I often enjoy paranormal books. I do seem to enjoy paranormal books that veer more towards the normal side. Part of the intrigue and joy of paranormal is questioning where exactly the line between reality and fantasy is, and Deception  straddles that line beautifully. Deception begins with Emma's parents leaving on a business trip. She's a normal high school girl with normal annoyances. There's mystery from the beginning, as Emma refers to secrets in her past. As the book moves forward, Emma's thoughts open up to the reader more, as though she were really getting to know you as you get to know her. I won't spoil the plot of this book because part of the joy is figuring out what normal, what's real, who is honest and how much anyone knows. It works as much as a mystery as a paranormal novel, but it will appeal to readers who aren't terribly keen on p...

I don't often abandon books or movies. There are certainly times I start skimming pages or skipping sections of books, but I usually care enough to at least know what happens. I usually watch a movie all the way through, even if I start doing something else and leave it on in the background. This week, I encountered a book I could not get into at all. A Golden Web by Babara Quick comes out today, and I received an ARC through Traveling ARC Tours .  Here's the publisher's description: "Alessandra is desperate to escape. Desperate to escape her stepmother, who's locked her away for a year; to escape the cloister that awaits her and the marriage plans that have been made for her; to escape the expectations that limit her and every other girl in fourteenth-century Italy. There's no tolerance in her quiet village for Alessandra and her keen intelligence and unconventional ideas. In defiant pursuit of her dreams, Alessandra undertakes an audacious quest, he...

After almost two years of living in Albany, my Midwestern self is finally realizing how many things are nearby. Yes, Boston and New York City are less than three hours away, but so are many other places. Faced with three days off in a row, I pulled out an old issue of Bon Appetit (my favorite food magazine) with a list of the ten best farm to table restaurants . I was hoping for one in New England to help me decide where to spend a few days. Thankfully, Bon Appetit told me about Gracie's in Providence, Rhode Island. I love a good road trip, and I love to explore the Northeast, so I set off with The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris on audio and avoided interstates. The drive took four hours instead of three, but I saw small towns along the way and had fun. I got a great deal on a hotel, and the view from my room was pretty spectacular. The food . Gracie's offers an a la carte menu, but the better deal is the three-course meal, which starts at $30. Unlike most prix fixe menus, ...

Publisher's Description: When Adrianne comes face-to-face with the mermaid of Windwaithe Island, of whom she has heard terrible stories all her life, she is convinced the mermaid means to take her younger sister. Adrianne, fierce-willed and courageous, is determined to protect her sister from the mermaid, and her family from starvation. However, the mermaid continues to haunt Adrianne in her dreams and with her song. Yet, when the islanders find out about Adrianne's encounters with the mermaid she is scorned, for this small and superstitious community believes the mermaid will bring devastation to the island if Adrianne does not give herself to the sea. A powerful and lyrical story of one girl who must choose between having everything and having those she loves. My take: While I appreciate Ms. Nielson's intention to write a mermaid book, it just didn't work for me. I had a really hard time getting into this book. I could not connect with the writing s...

Beth Kephart has been on my authors I want to read list for years. Even though I this book was the first of hers I've read, I'm often intrigued authors who write in multiple genres. The Heart is Not a Size is a novel told in two parts. The first half of the novel tells the story of Georgia and her best friend Riley. Georgia sees a flyer promoting a mission trip to Juarez, Mexico, and she convinces Riley to go with her. The second half of the book explores their time in Mexico. Kephart infuses Georgia with observations and realizations of a somewhat omniscient narrator, but this duality actually works. Kephart's writing is deceptively simple. She writes beautifully, and action occurs in between words and sentences as well as in them. Kephart's writing will enchant readers of all ages. Technically it's young adult fiction, but really it's a novel narrated by a teenage girl. This novel deals with some serious subject matter, but it doesn't dwell on ...

Welcome to my Monday morning recap of my fabulous Friday night date with myself. I was looking forward to seeing Chloe , even though I didn't know much about it, because I adore Julianne Moore, really like Liam Neeson and have somewhat recently become a fan of Amanda Seyfried. I'm also a big fan of the director, Atom Egoyan. Here's Chloe  in a nutshell: if you know nothing going in, it's a gripping, intriguing psychological and sexual thriller. Apparently if you watched the trailer, you know the film's climax, and I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it. The joy of this film was its twisted journey. The journey isn't amazing enough to shine through spoilers. Here are the barebones details that won't spoil the film's fun for you: Liam Neeson, a music professor, and Julianne Moore, a gynecologist, are somewhat happily married, but she suspects him of cheating. She hires Amanda Seyfriend (Chloe) to seduce Liam Neeson to see if he would fall for it. ...