Weekly Reading Wrap Up

   Welcome to my brand new reading wrap up, now on Fridays.  I have decided to move my reading wrap up from Mondays to make room for Mystery Monday and also because it is easier for me to wrap up the week while I am still in the office instead of trying to post it first thing Monday morning. 

Reviews Posted Last Week:

Links will take you to my review

Tailing a Tabby by Laurie Cass (Mystery Monday)

Hunter's Choice by Trent Reedy (Middle Grade March)

The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown (Middle Grade March)

 Books Finished Last Week:

Reviews will be posted at a later date

Siege and Storm

Stella

Ground Zero

My Big Fat Zombie Goldfish

Walking with Miss Millie

Currently Reading:

Return to Shanhasson by Joely Sue Burkhart - Print- on page 78 of 380

Pages Read/ Time Listened
235:05 Hours Listened This Year(19:00 listened this week)
6,626 Pages Read This Year (512 Read this week)

Books Added to Shelves Recently: TBR

The Dating Plan (BOTM)

Death Bee Comes Her (Jan. Pre-Order)

Stormbreak (Feb. Pre-Order)

Lovebug (Feb. Pre-Order) - READ

A Court of Silver Flames (Feb. Pre-Order)
In a Book Club Far Away (BOTM)

Sunset on Moonlight Beach (ARC)

Confessions from a Red Herring (Bday Spree)

Wild Cowboy Country (Bday Spree)

Hitting the Books (Bday Spree) - READ

Crazy Stupid Bromance (Bday Spree) - READ

Simmer Down (Bday Spree)

Blood of Zeus (Bday Spree)

Heart of Fire (Bday Spree)

Dead Drop (Bday Spree)

A Time of Dread (Bday Spree)

A Time of Blood (Bday Spree)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Bday Gift)

The Four Winds (Bday Gift)

The Shadow of the Gods (Giveaway Prize)

Namesake (March Pre-order)

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So last week was my birthday and so I may have gone on a bit of a shopping spree, I took every gift card I have been saving up and headed to Barnes & Noble and went a bit crazy.  I have been doing a pretty good job of reading the books already on my TBR but this definitely added a bunch more, all of them I am pretty excited to read though.  Hopefully I can get to some of them soon because I have no idea what time I will have once I start my new job in April.  I didn't get quite as much reading done as I had planned over the weekend as Hubby & Munchkin planned a couple surprise friend gatherings for me and it was so nice to see some friends again.  I also have had very little time to read at the office with the chaos of trying to get everything in order for when I leave. I know most employees would slack off the last couple weeks of their employment but I honestly love the people I work with and don't want to leave them or whoever replaces me with a mess. So I have been busting my butt to get all the big projects and little things that have been hanging around done, hopefully leaving a fresh slate when I go.

Anyway, I hope to have a bit of reading time this weekend since we don't really have any plans and I am caught up on a lot of the things at the house as well.  I have some new books that are absolutely screaming for me to read them (Namesake & Shadow of the Gods)! 

What book is calling your name right now?

Review The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown

 

Read for: TBR/ Middle Grade March/ Audio Book

Previous Book in Series:

The Wild Robot

Synopsis: "Shipwrecked on a remote, wild island, Robot Roz learned from the unwelcoming animal inhabitants and adapted to her surroundings--but can she survive the challenges of the civilized world and find her way home to Brightbill and the island?"

My Review: Munchkin and I really loved The Wild Robot a couple of years ago and have just been waiting for a good time for us to read this one together. This was a great follow up book, but still pretty different from the first book as Roz is now in the realm of humans and other robots. I preferred the first book where we got to see her learn and adapt to the island and inhabitants, where as this book Roz already has the skills she needs but she does have to problem solve how to escape. Munchkin however preferred this one, he liked the way Roz was able to escape again and again. He also liked seeing the other robots. This was a very satisfying conclusion but we would definitely read more books about Roz or set in this world!

My Rating: We absolutely loved this series, and this was a great conclusion to the series. We both really enjoyed Roz and all the characters she came in contact with and of course the adventures she embarks on.  We give it a rating of Four Paws!

Review of Hunter's Choice by Trent Reedy

 

Read for: Requested Review/ Netgalley/ Middle Grade March

Synopsis: "Twelve-year-old Hunter Higgins has been dreaming about his first hunting trip for as long as he can remember. He’s taken the classes, earned his license, and become one of the best marksmen in his family. Now he’s old enough to join his father, grandfather, and uncle at their cabin for the first weekend of hunting season.

There’s only one problem: Hunter isn’t sure he can kill an animal. To make things more complicated, when they arrive at the cabin, his cousin Yumi is there with her friend Annette, who Hunter secretly has a crush on. Anxious about the hunt and the humiliation of possibly failing, Hunter grapples with what it means to have the power of life and death in his hands, and must decide what role he wishes to play in his relationship to nature and to wildlife."

My Review:  I am always on the hunt for books with male protagonists that I can add to my son's library, this one captured my attention as Munchkin has recently started getting into shooting sports. I really enjoyed this book, the family and tradition aspect of it really brought me home, my family hunted for the meat and it was a whole family endeavor. I also really appreciated the aspect of taking a life and how it was handled throughout the story. The inclusion of not only the male family members was also great. I really enjoyed this story and even with being a shorter book and written for younger readers, I was completely drawn in and felt like I was there. It had me laughing, tearing up and my heart racing. I can't wait for Munchkin to read this book, we will definitely be adding it to our shelves!

My Rating: I really enjoyed this book and was so drawn into the story, I know a lot of young readers who will also really enjoy this book and be able to relate to it.  I give it a rating of Four Paws!

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley, the above is my honest review and opinion.

You can find out more about Trent Reedy and his books on his Goodreads Page or Website.

Hunter's Choice was just released on March 2nd so you can obtain your own copy in print or digital format from Amazon or Barnes & Noble or request it at your local bookstore or library.

Top Ten Tuesday: Spring TBR

 

  

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.  It is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl, and you can find the list of topics on her page HERE.

I usually spread out how often I participate in Top Ten Tuesday but I couldn't resist this week's topic of books on my Spring TBR! I honestly can't even believe it is spring already, I still have winter books I planned on reading.  Oh well, time to start looking ahead, the good thing is that the days are getting longer and warmer.   So here are some of the books I plan to read this spring  . . .

The Dating Plan has been on my TBR shelf since January, but it really struck me as a spring book, so now it is time to pick it up!

I have been dying for Namesake since I finished Fable and my copy just arrived. I may just have to drop everything to pick it up!

Tell me the cover for The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World doesn't scream spring.  I have an eARC for this one and am a little behind on picking it up but it is definitely going to be a priority.

I have been highly anticipating Heart on a Leash since I discovered it in the fall, and now it is almost here!!!

The Shadow of the Gods is one of my most anticipated books of this year and I just found out I won a giveaway for an early ebook copy, so there will be no delay in picking this one up!

Death Bee Comes Her has been sitting on my TBR shelf since release day but it definitely gives more spring/summer vibes so I am looking forward to picking it up on a nice sunny spring day!

A Curse for Spring is by one of my favorite fantasy romance authors and has been sitting on my kindle waiting to be read for well over a year now. I better pick it up now because Spring is in the title!

I have been able to avoid spoilers for A Court of Silver Flames so far but it is getting harder and harder when scrolling social media, so I guess I better pick it up soon.

Booked for Death is the first book in a new to me series, and the second book comes out early summer, so I figured I better get on this one. Plus it is giving me warm weather vibes that will be a nice transition from spring to summer.

Speaking of books that give me a spring to summer transition vibe, Simmer Down is also in that category. I just recently picked this book up in a birthday book shopping spree and I am looking forward to picking it up!

So there are some of the top books in my Spring TBR, I am really loving the variety and the lighter feel to most of them. I think this will be a great selection of books to get me geared up for the summer reading days! 

What books are you planning on picking up in the spring? Do you have a certain genre or trope you lean more towards in the warmer weather?

Mystery Monday: Tailing a Tabby by Laurie Cass

  Welcome to a brand new feature series here on Eastern Sunset Reads!

In the mess that was 2020, one exciting thing that came about is my discovery of Cozy Mysteries.  Yes, I knew they existed before but I never had a desire to pick one up but last year I ended up reading 17 of them! Clearly they have become a regular thing for me to pick up and it is such a vast genre that I can't wait to dive into more of them.  So Mystery Monday has become a thing and will be a (at least somewhat) regular thing here.  So stop by on Mondays to see my reviews of new books I have picked up, new releases, chat about sub-genres and lots more.

Read for: Borrowed Books/ Audio Books & Enjoying the series

Previous Books in Series:

Lending a Paw

Synopsis: "In the bookmobile, librarian Minnie Hamilton and her rescue cat, Eddie, roll out great summer reads to folks all over the lake town of Chilson, Michigan. And when real-life drama turns deadly, Minnie makes sure justice is never overdue.

 

The bookmobile is making its usual rounds when Minnie and Eddie are flagged down by a woman in distress. The woman’s husband, a famous artist, needs emergency medical care. After getting him into the bookmobile, Minnie races the man to the hospital in time…but his bad luck has only just begun.

After disappearing from the hospital, the artist is discovered slumped over the body of a murdered woman. Minnie knows that her new friend didn’t commit the crime, but the evidence paints an unflattering picture. Now this librarian and her furry friend have to put the investigation in high gear and catch the real killer before someone else checks out."

My Review: The first book in this series was what began my interest in Cozy Mysteries but I think I took too long to get back to this book. It took me a while to place all the characters again. I also found that it took quite a while to build up to the mystery part and it didn't feel like much time was spent on it. I would possibly read this series just for the book mobile and small town personality contemporary type book but the mystery part just felt disjointed for me. As I said it may have been because I took too long between books, so I am going to give it another shot and try to get then next book from the library in the very near future.

My Rating: I really struggled with this one. It felt like the mystery part of this book was more of a side plot instead of being the main reason for reading the book. I do love the idea of the bookmobile and of course anything with a cat I am all for, so I will be giving the next book in the series another chance.  For now I give this one a rating of Two Paws.