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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

May 19, 2022  
Check out my blog, and read some excerpts from the true crime biography WASHED IN THE BLOOD by Shelton L. Williams. If you like what you read, enter the giveaway to win an autographed paperback, an Audible copy, or an eBook copy of the book - three winners total!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2022/05/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-washed-in.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
The true story behind the Kiss and Kill murder in Texas in 1961. Author Larry King says: Washed in the Blood is a page-turning read about the time--early 1960s--and place--Odessa, Texas--during its rowdy oil boom days when violence often rode the range. It is at once an examination of local mores and foibles, piety and hypocrisy and an inside-look at the famed 'Kiss and Kill' murder of a 17-year-old would-be actress, Betty Jean Williams, whose ghost is said to haunt the Odessa High School campus to this very day.
     
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
2013 | Action, Sci-Fi
The second of the four films based on Suzanne Collins 'Hunger Games', which picks up not that long from the end of the previous movie and sees Jennifer Lawrence's Katnissn Everdeen suffering from PTSD as a result of her victory in the 74th annual 'Hunger Games', in which she and the other tributes had to fight to the death for the amusement of the Capitol.

Sent on an anniversary tour by President Snow, she and co-winner Peeta witness revolution brewing in the District's, before they are forced back into the arena once more for a 'quarter quell', where the tributes are all picked from previous winners of the Games.

As the middle part of a trilogy, this is a little bit on the slower side, more concerned with building the world and in linking the start and the finale together. Basically, an Act 2 of 3.

Less shaky cam this time around, though, replaced with wider sweeping shots!
  
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Mar 10, 2022  
Do you know a child that's into STEM? Come read my book review for the children's science picture book SECRETS OF THE SNOW GLOBE by Catherine Stier - Author and read up about her other book in the SCIENCE MAKES IT WORK series, THE WONDER OF COLOR. Enter the fun giveaway for a chance to win autographed copies of both books in the Science Makes It Work series, a pin (for adults), snow globe socks, and a snow globe making kit!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2022/03/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-science.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS FOR SECRETS OF THE SNOW GLOBE**
After starting to collect snow globes with the help of her grandmother, Lily has questions. She wants to know who invented them, what the snow is made of, and how the tiny scenes look so magical when she peers inside. As she researches and experiments, Lily learns about light waves, magnification, and density—all while gathering ingredients to make her own snow globe.
     
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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Nov 6, 2022  
Author Julia Brewer Daily shares an excerpt and a beautiful scrapbook page from her contemporary Western women's fiction novel THE FIFTH DAUGHTER OF THORN RANCH. There's also a giveaway for a chance to win a $100 Amazon or Bookshop gift card!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2022/11/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-fifth.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
Emma Rosales is the heiress of the largest ranch in Texas—The Thorn. All the responsibilities of managing a million acres now fall into her fifth-generation hands. A task Emma could handle with her eyes closed…if The Thorn were any ordinary property.

The Thorn is home to many things. Clear, cloudless skies. Miles of desert scrub and craggy mountains. A quiet disrupted only by whispers of the wind. And an ancient web of secrets won’t let Emma out alive without a fight.

The Fifth Daughter of Thorn Ranch is a family saga as large as the state of Texas.
     
TD
Tempting Death
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I fully admit I signed up for the blog tour because of the way the synopsis is written – it speaks to me! Of course I'm excited! Except there's a big problem: what if I don't like it? What if I hate it, or, or, want to throw it out the window because it was just that terrible?

Hint: I didn't throw it out the window. Holloway's debut novel is one you don't want to bypass simply. A girl nearly gets killed, gets saved and offered a job yet has 48 hours to choose. Add the fact a best friend is marked for murder and time is tick tocking (certainly not slowly) – what more could you ask for? The idea oozes awesomeness all around.

BUT... there's just a few things. I feel that Holloway focused more on the plot and the action rather than the character building. I completely get that the fast pace might be an emphasis for how fast time is running out for Libbi. And as much as I just love Libbi Piper as a character and her personality, I don't feel as though I know her. Libbi and I are still strangers – there's hardly anything about her past aside from a life of taking care of her brother when her mom is working in a hospital. Her dad just upped and left once upon a time. Well, at least until she was supposedly killed. But I'm quite sure Libbi has a much more interesting life than always taking care of her little brother – even I have one (and my life is quite similar to Libbi's. Just lots of family drama.)!

Aside from all of that, there's barely anything else about Libbi, and she's the main character. You would expect more than a life of taking care of her brother and having a couple of besties since childhood – I feel like I know Grimmy Aaron more now. I'm quite disappointed.

Second, the love triangle. It was extremely obvious the romance isn't going to go well (please, don't tell me the best friend never wins. I know that. That's beside the point.). If there's one thing that's obvious from day one, it's the fact Libbi is going to be no doubt jumping between two corners of the triangle so said corners wouldn't murder each other. LITERALLY.

(I personally predict that will be the near future of the Lux series.)

Despite the couple of problems, I loved Call Me Grim – the building of the Grim Reaper world, Libbi's humor and making light of the entire situation even though it was likely she wouldn't get out of the situation "alive". Elizabeth Holloway is an author you'll want to watch out for in this particular genre.
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Advanced copy provided by Month9Books for the blog tour
Original Review posted at <a href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/2014/09/blog-tour-call-me-grim-by-elizabeth-holloway-arc-review-and-giveaway.html">Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
<a href="http://bookwyrming-thoughts.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cG5gfBqJVzk/VA5BIojjZ9I/AAAAAAAAD1g/7srLUfpAGEU/s1600/banner.png"; /></a>
  
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The Postmistress
The Postmistress
Sarah Blake | 2010 | History & Politics
2
3.3 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
Genre: Fiction
Rating: DNF


(No Summary.)

The thing about reading is that you need to pick up the book, and be wrapped up in it. It needs to flow well. It must be readable. It must be understandable. Words create sentences and sentences create paragraphs, etc.

When I started reading The Postmistress, I felt like I’d jumped into the middle of a book, in the middle of a series, with no idea who was who or what was happening or even who the narrator was. The sentences didn’t make any sense. It was like reading sentences backwards. Have you ever tried that? Do it. Ok now that you’ve tried it, you know how I felt. It felt like a bunch of jumbled words.

The style was strange, there was weird punctuation that made what little clear sentences there were choppy and difficult to read. I kept reading the same phrase over and over and eventually giving up.

The point of view isn’t first person, nor is it third. And whatever person it was, it kept switching mid-chapter so I couldn't keep up. The dialogue felt out of place, like people from that time period shouldn’t be speaking like that (Or maybe I’m just not educated on WWII culture, which is more likely than not. I’ll give the author the benefit of the doubt).

And by page 15 I still had no clue who was who or what was going on. I felt no desire to continue reading, and trying to decipher the paragraphs felt like a chore.

And honestly, reading should not be a chore. I won’t finish a book if I could be reading better things.

I’m sorry to be so negative, I hate writing negative reviews. But I could not read this book. I couldn’t tell you what the plot was or what the characters were like if I tried.

As always, please remember that this is my personal opinion. Never decide to read or not to read a book based on one person’s views.

This was the second stop for Katrina’s Borrow My ARC Tour at Bloody Bad. Check the other tour stops here for other reviews, or see Amazon.com reviews.