BEA'S BOOK NOOK "I can't imagine a man really enjoying a book and reading it only once." C. S. Lewis “If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” ― Oscar Wilde

Showing posts with label Steph. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steph. Show all posts

Friday, December 18, 2015

Giveaway & Review: Sock Monster by Stacey R. Campbell, Illustrated by Elizabeth Thieme



Publisher: Green Darner Press
Source: the author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 15, 2015 
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe*/OmniLit* | Smashwords*  | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

When Billy refuses to pick up his clothes the sock monster comes to teach him a lesson.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Steph & Liam Review Blue Whale Blues by Peter Carnavas

Review, Blue Whale Blues by Peter Carnavas, children's book, Bea's Book Nook
Publisher: Kane Miller, A division of EDC Publishing 
Source: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 2015
Buying Links: USBorne Books & More


Blurb from goodreads:

"I've got the Blue Whale Blues, I've got the Blue Whale, BLUE WHALE BLUES"

When Penguin hears Whale singing the blues, he tries to help. But how do you stop a blue whale feeling blue?

A delightful story about a whale with bike trouble and the happy-go-lucky penguin who cheers him up.

Friday, December 4, 2015

Steph Reviews The Plain Choice: A True Story of Choosing to Live an Amish Life by Sherry Gore

Steph, Review, The Plain Choice, Sherry Gore, Bea's Book Nook
Publisher: Zondervan
Source: Purchased
Release Date: August 25, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe*/OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Raised in a broken family and emotionally overlooked, Sherry Gore grew up without a solid foundation, a prisoner of her own poor choices, and at times without hope. A series of terrible mistakes left her feeling wrecked and alone and a sudden tragedy threw Sherry into an emotional tailspin too powerful to escape.

Sherry hangs by a thread, unable to see how she can go on living, until it happens: on a morning of no particular significance, she walks into a church and BAM the truth of Jesus’ forgiving love shatters her world and cleaves her life in two: She goes to bed stunned; she wakes up a Christian.

Unwilling to return to the darkness of her former life, Sherry attacks her faith head on. Soon the life Sherry Gore remakes for herself and her children as she seeks to follow the teachings of the Bible features head coverings, simple dress, and a focus on Jesus Christ. Only then does she realize, in a fit of excitement, that there are others like her. They are called Amish and Mennonite, and she realizes she has found her people.

The plain choice that Sherry makes is not easy – and life still brings unexpected pain and heartache - but it changes everything for her, as she becomes one of the few people on earth to have successfully joined the Amish from the outside.

She has found her place. And her story proves that one can return from the darkest depths to the purest light with the power of God.

Saturday, November 28, 2015

Steph and Liam Review The Pea Patch Jig by Thatcher Hurd

Steph, Liam, Review, The Pea Patch Jig by Thatcher Hurd, Bea's Book Nook
Publisher: Creston Books
Format Read: Hardcover
Source: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 15, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

“Where the pole beans climb, where the tomatoes grow fat, where the onions smell sweet and the corn is yellow as the summer sun, that’s the garden of Clem — Farmer Clem.” So begins this story about Baby Mouse, a tiny mouse who loves to go exploring in the garden. But watch out! You never know what might happen when Baby climbs into a head of lettuce, or up a tomato plant, or when there’s a fox on the prowl.

These are some of the ingredients of The Pea Patch Jig — a book as refreshing as a summer evening in Vermont.

Inspired by the traditional song "The Pea Patch Jig," which was unearthed by the great songwriter singer John Hartford.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

Bea & Steph Review #BabyLove: My Social Life by Corine Dehghanpisheh

Publisher: My Art to Inspire
Source: the author in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: July 9, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

A humorous look at raising a baby in the social age.

"Click." "Tap." Tag and post.

An adored baby tells a modern tale about life in today's digital world. #BabyLove: My Social Life highlights the social phenomena of sharing daily activities using technology and social networks.

Thursday, November 19, 2015

Steph Reviews Wait for Signs by Craig Johnson


Steph, Review, Wait for Signs by Craig Johnson, Bea's Book Nook
Publisher: Penguin Books
Series: Walt Longmire 
Source: publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 27, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Ten years ago, Craig Johnson wrote his first short story, the Hillerman Award–winning “Old Indian Trick.” This was one of the earliest appearances of the sheriff who would go on to star in Johnson’s bestselling, award-winning novels and the hit television series Longmire, now streaming on NetFlix. Each Christmas Eve thereafter, fans rejoiced when Johnson sent out a new short story featuring an episode in Walt’s life that doesn’t appear in the novels; over the years, many have asked why they can’t buy the stories in book form.

Wait for Signs gives Longmire fans a chance to own these beloved stories—and one that was published for the first time in the Viking edition—in a single volume. With glimpses of Walt’s past from the incident in “Ministerial Aide,” when the sheriff is mistaken for a deity, to the hilarious “Messenger,” where the majority of the action takes place in a Porta-Potty, Wait for Signs is a necessary addition to any Longmire fan’s shelf and a wonderful way to introduce new readers to the fictional world of Absaroka County, Wyoming

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Steph & Liam Review The Not Very Merry Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen Pictures by Dan Hanna

Publisher:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Series: Pout-Pout Fish
Source: pr firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 8, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

"A gift should be big,
And a gift should be bright.
And a gift should be perfect-
Guaranteed to bring delight.
And a gift should have meaning
Plus a bit of bling-zing,
So I'll shop till I drop
For each just-right thing!"

Will Mr. Fish find perfect gifts for everyone on his list? Will he finish his shopping in time?

Swim along with Mr. Fish on his holiday shopping quest. He might just discover that the best gifts of all come straight from the heart.

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Steph Reviews The Vampire Combat Field Guide by Roger Ma

Publisher: Berkley Books
Format Read: Coloring book
Source: From the pr firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 6, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

In The Vampire Combat Manual, Roger Ma, the nation’s preeminent expert in undead warfare, prepared the average citizen to defend against a brutal vampire attack. But without appropriate training, even the most adept slayer of bloodsuckers can be left vulnerable.

Therefore, the Institute for Undead Combat Studies has once again created an essential practice handbook for anyone seeking to avoid serious injury, infection, or death at the hands of a vampire. This comprehensive guide includes:

*Detailed illustrations to aid in identifying various types of the undead and their vulnerabilities, as well as anatomical drawings you can color to promote knowledge retention

*Interactive mental and physical exercises that will teach invaluable fighting techniques and prepare you for battle

*Work pages to hone weapon selection, defensive and offensive techniques, and precise staking strategies

*and much more!

With the proper preparation, no one need fear death by exsanguination or an eternity spent in darkness. Learn to ward off these bloodthirsty creatures while you can—or say good-bye to your days in the sun…

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Steph & Liam Review The Fox Forest Band by Lisa E. Lindman

Lisa E Lindman, review, childrens book, Steph
Publisher: Hugo House Publishers
Format Read: Hardcover
Source: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: March 20, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

How do you fight an evil wizard when your only weapon is your smarts?

A happy group of forest animals are stopped cold by a wizard’s enchanted fog that whispers their greatest fears. The animals think they have to run away but a brave fox gives them a better idea. He shows them how to stand up for themselves and how to handle the problem at its source.

Join the fox and his friends as they figure out how to defeat a bully wizard—and have fun in the process!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Steph Reviews Doctor Who: City of Death by Douglas Adams and James Goss

Publisher: ACE
Series: Doctor Who
Format Read: ARC paperback
Source: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 6, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble | iTunes* |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

The Doctor takes Romana for a holiday in Paris – a city which, like a fine wine, has a bouquet all its own. Especially if you visit during one of the vintage years. But the TARDIS takes them to 1979, a table-wine year, a year whose vintage is soured by cracks – not in their wine glasses but in the very fabric of time itself.

Soon the Time Lords are embroiled in an audacious alien scheme which encompasses home-made time machines, the theft of the Mona Lisa, the resurrection of the much-feared Jagaroth race, and the beginning (and quite possibly the end) of all life on Earth.

Aided by British private detective Duggan, whose speciality is thumping people, the Doctor and Romana must thwart the machinations of the suave, mysterious Count Scarlioni – all twelve of him – if the human race has any chance of survival.

But then, the Doctor’s holidays tend to turn out a bit like this.

Featuring the Fourth Doctor as played by Tom Baker, City of Death is a novel by James Goss based on the 1979 Doctor Who story written by Douglas Adams under the pen-name David Agnew. City of Death is one of the best-loved serials in the show’s 50-year history and was watched by over 16 million viewers when first broadcast.

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Steph Reviews Uneasy in New Orleans By Carol Carson

Publisher: Carol Carson
Series: A Big Easy Mystery #1
Format Read: E-book
Source: From the pr firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: September 1, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Smashwords*  | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

FINNIGAN JONES HAS A PASSION FOR COOKING AND A PENCHANT FOR TROUBLE
Dead bodies aren't on Finn's New Orleans walking tour of cemeteries and haunted houses. Ditto disappearing bodies. Now she has to explain to Detective Jack Boyle how her missing corpse has turned up in the Mississippi putting her smack-dab in the middle of a murder investigation. Unfortunately, another of Finn's odd jobs is taking questionable photos for Jack's PI brother, Tommy. After she snaps shots of a dubious pair of lovebirds, they stalk her, then kidnap her. Now Finn's dealing with two lunatics intent on killing her. Or driving her crazy. She's not sure which.

Because lunatics and smokin'-hot brothers aren't enough trouble, she's gossiping, yes gossiping, with a chef ghost at culinary school, cat-sitting her aunt's six felines and attempting to corral her wayward teenage sister. All Finn wants is to survive school and become the best chef in the world but... FINN'S LIFE IS ABOUT TO GET EVEN MORE COMPLICATED

Friday, August 21, 2015

Steph Reviews Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell

Publisher: William Morrow
Series: Kay Scarpetta #22
Format Read: Paperback
Source: From the pr firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: June 30, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit*| iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Dr. Kay Scarpetta is about to head to Miami for a vacation when she notices seven pennies on a wall behind their home. Is this a kids' game? If so, why are all of the coins dated 1981 and so shiny they could be newly minted? Then she learns there's been a homicide five minutes away. A high school teacher was shot with uncanny precision as he unloaded groceries from his car.

Yet no one heard or saw a thing.

Soon more victims surface. The shots seem impossible to achieve, yet they are so perfect they cause death in an instant. There is no pattern to indicate where the killer will strike next. First it was New Jersey, then Massachusetts, and then the murky depths off the coast. There she comes face to face with shocking news that implicates her niece, Lucy—Scarpetta's own flesh and blood.

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Steph's Review of The Network Series by Katie Cross


Publisher: Antebellum Publishing
Series: Network Series #1
Format Read: E-Book
Source: From the pr firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: March 21, 2014
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Smashwords*  | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Never underestimate the power of a determined witch.

Letum Wood is a forest of fog and deadfall, home to the quietly famous Miss Mabel’s School for Girls, a place where young witches learn the art of magic.

Sixteen-year-old Bianca Monroe has inherited a deadly curse. Determined to break free before it kills her, she enrolls in the respected school to confront the cunning witch who cast the curse: Miss Mabel.

Bianca finds herself faced with dark magic she didn’t expect, with lessons more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. Will Bianca have the courage to save herself from the curse, or will Miss Mabel’s sinister plan be too powerful?

Miss Mabel’s School for Girls is the first novel in The Network Series, an exciting new fantasy collection. A gripping tale about the struggle to survive, it will take you to a new place and time, one you’ll never want to leave

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Steph Reviews The Harvest Man by Alex Grecian

Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Son
Series: The Murder Squad #4
Format Read: Hardcover
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 19, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | iTunes | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

In The Devil’s Workshop, London discovered that Jack the Ripper was back, sending the city—and Scotland Yard’s Murder Squad—into chaos. But now it is even worse. Not only is the Ripper still at large, but so is another killer just as bad.

For Inspector Walter Day, it has been a difficult time. His wife has given birth to twins, his hostile in-laws have come to stay, and a leg injury has kept him at his desk. But when the Harvest Man begins killing, carving people’s faces off their skulls, the Yard knows they need Day in the field.

Not so Sergeant Nevil Hammersmith. Rash actions have cost him his job, but that doesn’t stop his obsessive hunt for the Ripper. When the mutilated bodies of prostitutes start turning up again, Hammersmith enlists the help of a criminal network to stop Saucy Jack, his methods carrying him further and further from the ideals of the Yard, so far in fact that he may never be able to find his way back.

Of course, the Ripper’s been playing a game with him—with Walter Day, as well. He is pushing both of them to their limits, and what happens when they get there . . . no one can say.

Friday, July 31, 2015

Steph Reviews Commanded By Stacey Kennedy

Publisher: Loveswept
Series: Club Sin #6
Format Read: E-book
Source: From Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: July 7, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | OmniLit* | iTunes* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

A dedicated cop, Sawyer Quinn blows off steam by immersing himself in his role as a Master at the hottest club in Las Vegas. But when Sawyer goes after the perp who brutally beat his sister, he teams up with Chloe Nash, a sexy private investigator who awakens a sweet new need: to keep her to himself, away from the dungeon of Club Sin. Chloe is beautiful, smart, and too innocent for the BDSM lifestyle. Sawyer’s never wanted a woman like this before. Is her love worth swearing off the one thing that keeps him sane?

There’s something different about Sawyer: a commanding strength that pulls Chloe into a vortex of heady desire. But when she learns about his double life as a Dom, she’s shocked—and afraid she could never complete him. Then he saves her life, and just like that, Chloe knows she will be able to give him anything he desires. She is his—wherever and however he wants to take her

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Review & Excerpt: Ben's School Daze: A Story of Being Overwhelmed in a Sensory World By Robyn Sims & Joanne Larcom


Publisher: Peence & Rogue Designs Pty Ltd
Format Read: E-book
Source: pr firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 4, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from blog tour:

This is a story about Ben, a lively and active boy, who finds the sensory experiences within his day to be overwhelming.

Loud noises vibrate through his body and “shoes and sock bother him.. they never feel just right”.

This can make it hard for Ben to be a good student. But don’t worry, his teacher and mum know what to do to help him through his day.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Steph Reviews Dry Bones by Craig Johnson & A Giveaway

Publisher: Viking
Series: A Longmire Mystery #11
Format Read: Hardcover
Source: From the publisher for an honest review
Release Date: May 12,2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | ARe*/OmniLit | Barnes & Noble |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Wyoming’s beloved lawman must solve his coldest case yet when a T. Rex skeleton surfaces—along with a dead rancher—in Absaroka County

Longmire, the TV adaptation of Craig Johnson’s New York Times bestselling Walt Longmire Mystery series, has ratcheted up demand for the Wyoming sheriff’s written adventures. Publishing on the heels of the Longmire boxed set, Dry Bones is certain to join Johnson’s four most recent Longmire novels when it moseys on up the New York Times bestseller list.

When the largest, most complete fossil of a Tyrannosaurus Rex is discovered in Absaroka County, it would appear to have nothing to do with Walt. That is, until the Cheyenne rancher who finds her is found face down in a turtle pond. As a number of parties vie for ownership of the priceless remains, including rancher Danny Lone Elk’s family, the Cheyenne tribe, the Deputy Attorney General, and a cadre of FBI men, Walt must recruit undersheriff Victoria Moretti, Henry Standing Bear, and Dog to investigate a sixty-six million year-old cold case that’s starting to heat up fast.


Tuesday, May 26, 2015

REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Run (NOLA Zombie #1) By Gillian Zane


Publisher: Parajunkie Publishing
Series: NOLA Zombie #1
Format Read: E-book
Source: pr firm in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 26, 2015
Buying Links: Amazon* |
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:


Zombies are on the loose in New Orleans and of all the End of the World scenarios, Alexis Winter wasn’t prepared for this one. But, an apocalypse is an apocalypse and she should have this covered. She has been “prepping” for the last three years. The problem is location and timing. She’s stuck downtown and she has to get to her house on the outskirts of the city so she can get her supplies and bug-in (for the “non-preppers” this means hole up and stay safe).

Agreeing to work on a Saturday is now coming back to bite her on the ass big time. Hopefully, it won’t be a literal bite by the walking dead.

Luck favors the prepared, and as luck would have it, it comes in the form of the ridiculously hot Blake Miller. Former military man, current mercenary, Blake Miller, the man with the plan, his goal: steal a boat and trek up the Mississippi until they find safety. Alexis thinks this is a great plan and she decides to team up with Blake. The two team up in unexpected ways as they find they can’t keep their hands off of each other even when the world is falling down around them.

Can Alexis and Blake survive the end of the world, and if they do make it through the night, find a place that is safe and secure? Can their newfound attraction lead them down the road to love or heartbreak?

Zombies, sex, romance and carnage…you can’t get any better than this.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Steph Reviews Escape Through the Wilderness by Gary Rodriguez


Publisher: Tate Publishing
Format Read: Paperback
Source: the author/pr firm/publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: October 7, 2014
Challenges:
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | Barnes & Noble
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:


What was that?" Savi whispered anxiously. "It couldn't be Vexel, could it?" Again, they heard more rustling in the woods, they knew it was getting closer.

Sixteen-year-old Savannah Evans walks with a slight limp thanks to a gymnastics, accident that dashed her Olympic dreams, but didn't stop her from attending an adventure camp in Idaho. At Camp Arrowhead, she quickly befriends Jade Chang and Rico Cruz, but Conner Swift taunts Savi because of her injury.

When the four are teamed together for an overnight white-water river rafting adventure, Savi refuses to get in the same raft with Conner. Unfortunately, the director will not reassign her.

A fun expedition down the river turns into a nightmare when their raft slams into a huge rock and their adult guide disappears down the river.

Without their guide and desperately trying to steer an out-of-control raft, they pass the "last chance" marker and enter the larger rapids. With Jade pinned between the raft and a rock, and Rico clinging to a lifeline, Savi must cut the raft free.

When the four drag themselves out of the river, they're bruised, beaten, lost, and twenty-five miles from camp. Because of late-night campfire tales of Vexel, a vicious animal that roams the nearby woods, Savi and the others are terrified.

Savi becomes the unlikely leader who tries to guide the group back to Camp Arrowhead. Limited supplies, injuries, and the constant threat of Vexel, who Savi fears is stalking them, complicate the harrowing return trip.

Readers will enjoy dramatic survival scenes and the group working together, solving problems, and learning to overcome adversity.

Saturday, May 9, 2015

Dual Review & Giveaway of Daredevil Duck by Charlie Alder

Publisher: Running Press Kids 
Format Read: Hardcover
Source: the publisher in exchange for an honest review
Release Date: May 12,2015
Buying Links: Amazon* | Book Depository* | OmniLit* | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
* affiliate links; the blog receives a small commission from purchases made through these links.

Blurb from goodreads:

Meet Daredevil Duck
He is afraid of everything. But that doesn't stop him from DREAMING of being brave. Then one day he is given the biggest challenge of all . . . Can Daredevil Duck prove that he is the bravest duck in the whole wide world?