Cackle

As Halloween approaches every year, besides the traditional tricks, treats, and crazy hyped up children buzzing around faster than Leatherface’s chainsaw goes, you can count on a few spooky, creepy, nightmarish gems to pop out of my personal favorite genre – the scarefest terrorland of horror. And what cackling lady of broomstick flights and child eating delights lives there? Why witches of course! While not a “horror” story per se – this witch tale did not disappoint.

These characters are relatable and ones you will find yourself rooting or cheering for. You have a taste of that age old love story- girl meets boy, girl falls in love with boy, girl and boy move in together- now girl becomes super clingy and boy secretly convinces and persuades girl to take a job in a new town, far away, by herself… cause he needs time … so away she goes, eyes down turned, no self confidence, knowing no one – as boy is secretly cheering, hitting the bars and conveniently dodging her calls … how romantic!!

We’ve all been told be careful who you talk to. So what happens when you accidentally friend the town witch – and you had no idea the town even HAD a witch?! Being new in town is rough enough, but what about all those side glares as you’re bopping around with your new bestie? I mean, yeah… maybe a few people in town told you she might be dangerous …

But she’s your friend isn’t she ? She cares about you doesn’t she? I mean, what’s a creepy ghost or two…or more… between friends. She wouldn’t hurt YOU would she? And all the spiders!! Full disclosure – as I have a true arachnophobia, the appearance of the spiders all over her new apartment that she kindly talked to and put outside ??? Yeah… I’d have burned that new apartment to the ground. The spider parts were my horror story! Except Ralph, now he was a super cute spider! Yet, I digress … trapped in the spider webs …

What happens when you may not be ready to call it quit quits with the ex boyfriend, but in not dumping him from your thoughts and worse… your cell phone … , you inadvertently make that witch killer mad … yikes!!

This sets your path for a truly fun read. This is one that I will pull out again and again at Halloween, and recommend to everyone! The fun story (even with the horrific spiders …eeekkkk) and the great writing made this a 4 out of 5 star read for me.

This was such a fun read!! I love horror!

If I were you I would pre-order and add this treasure to your TBR now! It’s set for publishing Oct. 5, 2021.

Thank you so much to #NetGalley, #BerkleyPublishing, and the author Rachel Harrison for providing me with an electronic ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I hope you have a spooktacular time with this one! Let me know what you think. What are you reading? I hope you will follow along with my book reviews and book art thoughts and rambles. Thank you so much for reading and don’t be shy to leave a comment! Happy reading my friends!

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The Neighbors Secret

This novel sounded like it was going to be spot on. You have a person going around vandalizing things in the neighborhood… there’s Jen who thinks she may just be raising a sociopath, her son Abe, who may just be terrorizing the neighborhood, and you have Lena and Annie… two women drawn together by a strange and tortured past, a dead husband in the mix … oh my goodness… I’m ready for the popcorn and the snuggly blankets, and all my attention has been deftly tuned to the plight of this crazy neighborhood and the women in this book club …

So this is a S-L-O-O-O-O-O-W-W-W burn 🔥 story. I mean slow as in if each letter of the word slow were separated 1000 pages apart and you had to turn and “read” each page between the letters, before finally finding out 4000 pages later that EVERYTHING you read previously could have been summed up so much cleaner and faster… you wouldn’t have turned old and your drink dried up, causing dehydration and your poor eyeballs are blinking dust going what the heck?? I devoted all this time and energy and brain power and have been waiting on the tension and thriller and … this is it??? What the heck???

For me, I never really found myself drawn to any of the characters, I thought they were all equally sneaky, dishonest, trouble causing, rumor starting … okay reigning that back in … 😂 which the humdrum pace and interactions caused me to find myself skimming the paragraphs and having to go back thinking – wait!? Did I miss something? Did something happen as I was drifting off thinking about laundry and house cleaning … and and …

It’s only in the last few pages are the questions answered (as in most thrillers) but this one just felt fluffed. Over fluffed. Suffocating fluffed. Great story premise. I found myself stubborn enough to not want to not finish and see what the twist or hook was. It was a good answer … as I refuse to give spoilers… but I just found myself let down… this was just not the ”thriller” for me.

Who knows? Maybe I missed something. This is one that I could have just skipped … but let me know what you think!

I would rate this a 2 out of 5 stars – great premise – just dragged out overkill in my humble opinion.

I do hope you’ll join along with all my book blog and book art adventures, as what better way to connect with people… the sharing of thoughts, ideas, gifts and by the book recommendations we give, and even better … we receive. Happy reading my friends! May your next read be phenomenal!

Book Art Candles

I can’t believe that the season is already upon us! Time for fall evenings, football, fire pits, holiday planning and candles … tons of candles.

Book Art Candles are the way to go!

When you take those gently used, unloved, fixing to be trashed, or (goodness forbid) burned (yikes!) books, and apply just a little extra love, you now have a book that’s been given a new purpose and new life.

Book Art Candles and Vase sculptures are the best displays all year long.

These can be customized and displayed all year long. What a gift you are giving yourself or someone you love, and what a gift you are giving these books with a second chance.

Book Art Candles are good as wall, table and shelf displays.

Each book art candle, and all book flowers, are handmade with hundreds of folds carefully placed, artfully crafted, and with attention to detail present in every creation. These truly can be made as a compliment to your home decor, a reflection of your personality, or a thoughtful, unique gift for family and friends.

You can’t imagine how stunning these are in person – photos do them no justice!

While just adding a few examples to my Etsy shop, the sky is absolutely the limit on color creations and endless beauty!

Tea lights really make these candles pop!

Drop by my Etsy shop and check out some of my book art creations. Can’t find what you’re looking for? Ask me! I love to help create and plan!

Books are truly works of art.

I hope you’ll come visit me at http://www.etsy.com/FallingInPaints to check out these book art candles and see more of my book art creations.

Candles are so beautiful when displayed.

Candles are always in style and it’s definitely that time when they just add that special touch. Thank you so much for checking out my Book Art Candles, and I look forward to creating one just for you!

I just love making paper flowers for recycled book art candles!

http://www.etsy.com/FallingInPaints

China Room

This is definitely an emotionally charged and heartbreaking novel that reads so fast, you’ll be sad that it’s over. I can see why Sunjeev Sahota is on the Booker Prize List for 2021.

Having a dual timeline in 1929 and 1999, Sahota weaves a tale he’s pulled from his family history masterfully, and blended it into this novel where one can’t tell what’s family history and what’s just story.

I could not get enough of 15 year old Mehar and all of her headstrong exploits to figure out which of 3 brothers she is married to. After all, when you have 3 brides and 3 grooms all in the same place, and the 3 grooms happen to be brothers, and as a female you are made to wear a veil to cover your face from strange men, and then your newly acquired mother in law is arranging when marital relations happen by keeping brides in one room, her sons in their rooms, and marital relations assigned by Mai, the mother in law, in the dark kept China Room… I can see where confusion could occur quite quickly!

I also loved the parallels between the modern story- where Mehar’s great-grandson has come from England to Punjab to recover in seclusion on the family farm, only to find that he is sleeping in the same room (prison more like) that his great-grandmother was kept in- and the historical one.

Both great-grandmother and great grandson seem plagued by the same ties of being secluded, being in love, and all the youthful mistakes one makes when those things occur. They also both are affected by changing political climate with the Free India Movement gaining momentum in the 1929 story and with the blaming of immigrants for the economic troubles happening in the UK.

Farmers Protest

This novel is boiled in heartbreak and steeped with tension. It’s a tale of family, deceptions, choice and consequence, as well as the unique ability humans have to break free of imposed imprisonments of both the body and mind. It’s a love story. It’s a cautionary tale. It’s a glimpse of the treatment of women in cultures outside your own. This has it all.

I highly recommend this well written novel. A 4 out of 5 star read, and one not to miss.

As always, thank you for reading my review, and happy reading my friends! I hope your next read is phenomenal! I’d love to have you join along in all my book review as well as book art fun!

Happy reading my friends! May your next read be phenomenal!

Rock, Paper, Scissors

This was a whirlwind… up all night reading experience … as I’ve closed the cover of the book I am once again in awe of Alice Feeney’s storytelling abilities. This was such a fast and fun read … unreliable narrators… red herrings … and a twisted ending that only Feeney could ROCK…

I truly was afraid the PAPER was going to catch fire 🔥 as I was reading so quickly to see where this tale of marital love, lies, and murder… was headed …

I will gladly hold, pass, or cut with the SCISSORS Fenney will be using to cut the ribbon on the award announcement as one of the best mystery/ thriller books this year. Oh the twisted way she incorporates marriage, being a writer, being a reviewer, and so many other facets of life she delicately injects throughout this novel will have you identifying and cringing as you bob and weave through this compulsive wild mouse ride of a read. Watch you neck … whiplash may occur …

Definitely was a 4.5 star read for me upgraded to a 5 star read for the way she pulled me in by adding so many things I could relate to while writing this twisted tale. You will not go wrong reading this one! I definitely recommend this for any mystery/thriller, fast paced, unreliable narrator, red herring filled with surprise ending reader. You don’t even have to play a game of rock, paper, scissors to decide whether you should read this or not …

Thanks for reading my review, which I try to always tailor toward whether you should buy it, wait for the library, or skip it, because what are friends for, right? What did you think?? Did this grab you too?? Could you have set out like that? Just you and your kids and no “place” to even go to?! So many things and talking/ discussing points arose from this book for me. What did it make you think about? I hope you decide to follow along with my book blog and book art journey!

As always, happy reading my friends! It’s a great day to curl up with a good book!

The Haunting of Leigh Harker

If we are all honest with ourselves, who isn’t afraid of the dark? That tap, tap, tap that you hear… just the house settling, or is that the slow tap of shoe meeting flooring? The weight of the tap unfamiliar to any you’ve heard before. Reaching slowly for the light switch… the soft click sounding like thunder in your ears… but no light to save you. And what’s that change in the shadow shape? Is that someone standing there waiting for your attention to wander?

Yes, from the opening sentence author Darcy Coates had me hooked… line and sinker … reeling me along through this well woven horror house … letting go only after I had finished reading and was breathless. Coates managed to go into this novel at break neck speed, and maintain as well as twist, turn, and continue to apply the pressure, as well as even ramp it up even more than I thought was possible. There are passages so vivid, I’m sure I will see them in my nightmares. I spent the entire read not knowing whether to bob, or weave… BO-EAVE maybe?!?!… while also caring deeply for Leigh, the main character, as well as for Sarah, the 85 year old champion. I refuse to give spoilers, so I will just say this one was never what I thought, or had pegged out in my reading mind. This is a pure treat! Amazing writing, likable characters, and creepy setting with an ever evolving story line ,.. yes please! Sign me up! Oh wait … I was just there !

Now serving … your turn!!

This is one to have marked and saved, or pre-ordered for its Sept. 7, 2021 release date. This is a true 4.5 star out of 5 star book, perfect to get you in the feel of those spooky Halloween nights around the corner.

And who doesn’t love a good Halloween fling!

I saw this as a wish for book on NetGalley. To be honest, I hadn’t had one I wished for come true – until this one did! Maybe all those extra prayers helped!

I have never been more thrilled to get an ARC!

So, thank you so much to #NetGalley, the amazing author Darcy Coates, and the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press for granting my wish and sending me an electronic ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Thank you for spending time reading my thoughts and reviews. I do hope you take a minute and let me know what you think. What are you reading right now? Any books you recommend? I’d love to know and I’d love to have you follow along with my reading (and book art) journey!

Happy reading my friends!

How Dreams Speak

We all have those dreams that trouble us, linger around, and make us think “what in the world was that all about?” We may share our dream with family or friends in a soft quest to obtaining clarity, or hold it close and simmer with it.

This is a great book full of information about the symbolism of your dreams and what may have sparked that particular dream train to pull in to your dreaming station. There are ideas and suggestions given for things to do to help steer or change how you’re dreaming. The information presented, I feel, is a perfect introduction for anyone starting their journey into dream analysis and for getting in touch with the subconscious side of yourself through dreams. The information is presented in clear and precise manner, not overly technical or “garbled.” I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking to find, through symbolism, what their dreams are saying to them.

My dream filled thank you to NetGalley, Workman Publishing Company, and the author Nicole Chilton for an ARC of this fascinating novel in exchange for my honest review and opinions.

What are you reading? I’d love to hear your thoughts… what do you think about dreams and their meanings? Is it something you’ve ever thought about? I appreciate you taking the time to read my thoughts and do hope you’ll take a minute and follow along with my reading (and book art) journey!

Happy reading my friends!

The Good Lie

Do you have a taste for a story that will twist and turn you, fool and bend you, and eventually will just blow you out of the water? Well, you are in luck with this twisted thriller right here!

Oh yeah you did!

First you learn of the Bloody Heart Killer, and all of the gorgeous, male victims he has kidnapped, tortured and killed, while also learning that the seventh victim of the killer has escaped and made it back home. Whew!! Right?! Only…

You meet Dr. Gwen Moore who’s a talented psychiatrist, specialist in the field of serial killers and violent offenders. (Whoa, what a creepy, scary, what are you thinking kind of job is that, right?!) Seeing her interactions with patients (one in particular) – which starts a crazy descent into madness that you will not be expecting!

Let the killing …therapy??… begin!!

Hot defense attorney voluntarily representing the man caught and accused of being the killer, but he’s the father of the sixth victim … whaaaaaattttttt?????? And how is he connected to the lovely doctor? Oh my people!

A. R. Torre is one of my favorite authors and she does not disappoint in this newest novel of mind bending thrills and … kills… This is definitely a fun, fast read that you should not miss partaking of this summer!

Thank you so much to #NetGalley, the publisher and the killer author A. R. Torre for the electronic ARC in exchange for my unbiased opinions. This was a 4.5 out of 5 star read and one I am definitely recommending to anyone liking suspense, thrill, mystery, fast paced, compulsively readable novels! Happy reading my friends!

I’d love to hear what you think! What are you reading??

Shiner

I don’t know about you, but I absolutely LOVE a novel that the opening pages have been so well written, are so captivating, that you are instantly transported to those late summer nights, sitting around a bonfire, wrapped in a soft blanket and silky words, told by your grandma that instantly transport you another time and place. THIS is one of those stories.

From Amy Jo Burns opening chapter “The Truth,” I knew I had just entered a tale that wasn’t going to allow me to simply close the cover and walk away.

Her description of life deep in the West Virginia mountains was so familiar to me, and head on acknowledged and challenged the stereotypical views of the mountain people before opening into a story so complex and believable, I was invested.

Wren, the daughter of a backwoods preacher (that has been deemed a “miracle,” and is the leader of what feels like a cult like existence in a faith that still takes up snake handling and strychnine drinking) has the feeling that maybe there is more out there for her than what she is allowed to know, events and past secrets tip a domino chain that could burn them all off the mountain. The mountain is all she’s ever known, but could there be more out there?

The friendship (sister-ship) portrayed between Wrens mother Ruby and best friend from childhood Ivy, is both empowering and heart breaking. The want to be something more, but stuck where they are resonated through the novel. All the choices, good and bad, leading to so many lives changed.

Burns did such a good job writing this novel from Wrens perspective, the going back to her father Briar’s, (White Eye to the mountain people), and his best friends perspective, then circling back to Ruby and Ivy’s perspective, and finishing with how legends are born (or changed), will keep you speed reading through this novel at break neck speed.

The writing in this novel is so strong- and her messages of female struggle with equality, strong female characters, as well as the feeling of being stuck, (yet fearing the thought of change), as well as the horrible cost of the choices we make, and the secrets we keep, made this a definite 4 to 4.5 out of 5 star read for me. The story and images remain haunting even after closing the book and bidding farewell to the characters I met within (now old that remain waiting while I forge on to new adventures… once again leaving them stuck in the pages that now contain them.)

I’ve been lucky to be on such a great novel reading spree. This is one I definitely recommend you check out both for the story, and the incredibly powerful writing and storytelling contained within.

I would love to hear your feedback or your opinion if you’ve read this one. How did it impact you? Were you as blown away by the awesome story telling ability by Burns as I was?

I hope you give this a go. Thank you so much for reading my review, I hope you’re having a great day wherever you are! Stay safe and happy reading my friends!

DO YOU WANT TO PLAY A GAME??

Do you happen to notice patterns in seemingly unrelated things?

Keep waking up from your sleep feeling breathless, and like something almost had it’s smoky, evil, soul crushing hands around your neck?

Do you believe in the possibility of existing in a multiverse?

And how do you know what reality is?

Let me start by saying that I was so excited to receive this title.

Ohhhh yeahhhhh thank you #Ballantine #RandomHousePublishing #NetGalley!!

The creepy atmosphere and hearing a horror movie line “would you like to play a game…” in my head I was all in. Rabbits, the game, is a game played in the real world by noticing patterns and following clues. There’s not a lot that I can tell you – as secrecy is part of the game – plus the more I divulge, the experience will change for you, much like in the game in Terry Miles’ book.

While I didn’t love the book, I liked it quite a bit. There were creepy tense scenes that made you want to look over your shoulder, and the actual story for the game is a fun read. Admittedly, I am not into multiverse and radial tangents and theories and there is quite a bit of that (along with very in depth descriptions of all of the scientific background and theory for each thing) in this novel that, for me, was a bit tiresome to go through. The saving part is the story itself and the hunt for what’s happening and how to stop the end of the world.

I think this is a perfect read for lovers of sci-fi, puzzles, conspiracy theories, and out of this world adventures! I will definitely be recommending it a bunch this summer as a fun get away. It’s a strong 3 and a half star book for me!

Thank you so much to #NetGalley, #RandomHousePublishing, #Ballantine, and the author Terry Miles for an electronic ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

I’d love to hear what you’re reading! What’s caught your attention this summer? I’d love to have you follow along with my reading journey – with my book art journey – with the love of books period… subscribe and let’s enjoy this adventure together!

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