Monday, July 10

What I'm Reading - July 10, 2023

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee.

 It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This weekly reading list meme is hosted at Book Date. Join in to see what others are reading and maybe get some ideas of what to read next! Although the Book Date link-up happens weekly, I don't update that often. Usually I do this around the middle of the month, and try to share my monthly bookshelf summary on the last Monday of the month. Here's what I've been working on lately.


I finished reading . . . 

A Perilous Perspective by Anna Lee Huber - Kiera and Gage discover forged artwork at her relative's estate, and when they begin investigating, things turn deadly and they must unravel the clues to unmask a ruthless killer. (Read my review HERE.)



Man of Shadow and Mist by Michelle Griep - Rosa is falling in love with the mysterious Sir James Morgan despite the disturbing rumors swirling about town that he is a vampire, choosing instead to believe that there is an explanation for all of the strange occurrences.  (Read my full review HERE)




A Man With One of Those Faces by Caimh McDonnell (audiobook) - Paul Mulchrone is nearly killed when he is attacked by an elderly man at the hospital, and it leads to a suspenseful and hilarious thriller as Paul and Brigit race the authorities to solve a notorious Irish crime in a very unconventional way. (Read my full review HERE)



Beneath A Peaceful Moon by Debby Lee - Mary and John are tribal members serving in the military during WWII. Both have the opportunity to use their language skills in the effort, but what will it cost them? (Read my review HERE.)



I'm currently reading . . .

Composition As Conversation by Heather M. Hoover - Although this is essentially a guidebook or resource for teaching writing, it is very interesting reading, and I think it will be really valuable if I teach writing at the co-op again next school year.



Reykjavík: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jónasson and Katrín Jakobsdóttir - Thirty years after a young girl disappeared without a trace, a journalist tries to finally solve the mystery, but someone is determined to stop the truth from being discovered.



Rebecca (Daughters of the Lost Colony Book 3) by Shannon McNear - An alternative viewpoint telling of some of the events of the Lost Colony of Roanake. This installment focuses on the story of the daughter of a Powhatan chieftain (we know her as Pocahontas) and her interactions with the colonists.



Next on the stack . . . 

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn
Murder Most Fair by Anna Lee Huber
A Fatal Illusion by Anna Lee Huber
Queen of Exiles by Vanessa Riley

   

   


What I'm Highlighting . . . I've just started hosting a monthly link party specifically for book reviews that you'd like to share for comments. I don't know how it will work out but it's worth a try! Stop by the Book Review Bulletin - July 2023 and link up any of your reviews that you'd like to highlight.



On my blogs recently . . . 

Besides the reviews, here on Just A Second you'll find:



On my main coffee break project, A Fresh Cup of Coffee:



And on my "first cup blog", Homeschool Coffee Break:



What are you reading?


This post will also be linked at What's On Your Bookshelf? #whatsonyourbookshelfchallenge hosted by Deb's World. 

 ©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.



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Friday, July 7

Friday Fun - The Friday 56 and First Lines for July 7, 2023

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 


The Book Review Bulletin, a monthly link-up for review posts, is open and I'd like to invite you to stop by and share a review or two. Find it here: Book Review Bulletin for July 



And now for some First Lines:

Here's another review book that arrived this week, and I'll be starting today. I've read the second book in the trilogy but not the first, so I'm looking forward to seeing how this one fits in.

***************
England, 1606

"And above all, take care not to offend the Naturals."
Naturals. What absurdity, to call them such a thing. A mere kindness, Smith was sure.

~From Chapter One of Rebecca (Daughters of the Lost Colony Book 3) by Shannon McNear


The Lost Colony of Roanoke: discover an alternate view of their fate alongside the life of Pocahontas.

Born the daughter of a Powhatan chieftain and a woman of unknown origins, Mato'aka enjoys a carefree life. When strange men from across the eastern waters appear near her home, she regards them at first as a mere curiosity. Soon, though, she finds herself torn between fascination for one of their leaders and the opinions and ways of her people―then becomes a pawn in their delicate and dangerous game of politics. Drawn to a young Englishman, John Rolfe, who has lost a wife and baby daughter, she shares his griefs . . . and perhaps something more.

Could she have a future among the English of Jamestown, accepting their ways and even changing her name? Could her destiny be a part of the lasting legacy of the Lost Colony of Roanoke?

Author Shannon McNear portrays history with vivid authenticity.



Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader.

*It's Book Beginnings on Fridays! Time to gather with our fellow book lovers and share the opening sentence (or so) of the books we are reading this week. Or share from a book that is on your mind right now -- whatever catches your fancy.

***************
RimSP button

First Line Fridays is hosted at Reading is My SuperPower

*Share the first line or two of the book closest to you, then visit other FLF participants.
*Please keep posts family friendly or clean reads.
*Link back to Reading is My SuperPower within your post or grab a button.

***************

There, upon the riverbank where the kanoe was drawn up and the cooking fire yet burned, lay Robinson, slain, with some twenty or thirty arrows bristling across his body. Gracious God in heaven! But Smith schooled himself to no outward reaction.

~from page 56 of Rebecca by Shannon McNear




The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your e-reader.
*Find a snippet, short and sweet.
*Post it, and share in the Linky.

***************

©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.



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Thursday, July 6

Recent Reads - A Perilous Perspective

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 


A Perilous Perspective by Anna Lee Huber - This installment in the series opens with Kiera and Gage relaxing with friends and family at a great-uncle's estate as they all prepare for a wedding. Kiera's friend Charlotte and her cousin Rye are soon to be wed in a private ceremony, and all seems to be going perfectly, despite some minor tensions between guests and servants. Then Kiera takes the opportunity to view their host's extensive art collection and is dismayed to realize that one of his most priceless paintings is actually a forgery. When she and Gage bring this to the attention of the Marquess of Barbreck, he reacts with rage and inexplicably blames the lady of a neighboring estate.

Kiera is asked to examine the rest of the collection and try to trace what happened to the originals and when the switches were made. Several other paintings turn out to be forgeries as well, and tensions run high with the accusations Barbreck has made against the Campbell ladies.Then things take an even more sinister turn when a maid from the Campbell estate is found dead―apparently poisoned―in Barbreck's gallery. Now Kiera and Gage are charged with solving a murder as well, and catching a very clever and ruthless killer before he or she strikes again.

This story has it all―interpersonal tensions between friends and family, an intriguing art mystery, new details about Kiera's family, a suspenseful murder mystery with an unknown villain, and bits of romance at all ages and stages of life. The danger Kiera and the others face, not having any real clues to the killer's identity, is complicated when they can't initially identify what kind of poison was used. It's hard to read clues when one has little idea what to start looking for! The revelation of the killer's identity is an unexpected twist to the plot, but this time I suspected that character quite early. And this is one time when the killer's motive wasn't as convincing as I would have liked. 


From the publisher:

Argyll, Scotland. July 1832. After a trying few months in Edinburgh, Kiera and her husband and investigative partner, Sebastian Gage, are eager to escape to the Highlands with their three-month-old child. Kiera is overjoyed for her cousin Rye and her detractor-turned-friend Charlotte who are being wed in a private ceremony at the estate of Rye's great-uncle, the Marquess of Barbreck, in what seems to be the perfect wedding party.

But when Kiera is invited to peruse Barbreck's extensive art collection, she is disturbed to discover that one of his most priceless paintings seems to be a forgery. The marquess's furious reaction when she dares to mention it leaves her shaken and the entire house shocked. For it turns out that this is not the first time the word forgery has been uttered in connection with the Barbreck household.

Matters turn more ominous when a maid from a neighboring estate is found murdered where the forged painting hangs. Is her death conneccted to the forgeries, perhaps a grisly warning of what awaits those who dare to probe deeper? With unknown entities aligned against them, Kiera and Gage are forced to confront the fact that they may have underestimated their opponent. For they are swifly made to realize that Charlotte's and Rye's fututre happiness is not the only issue at stake, and this stealthy game of cat and mouse could prove to have deadly consequences.

By the same author: The Anatomist's Wife, Mortal Arts; A Grave Matter, A Study in Death, A Pressing Engagement, This Side of Murder, As Death Draws Near, A Brush With Shadows, Treacherous Is The Night, An Artless Demise, Secrets in the Mist, Penny for Your Secrets, A Stroke of Malice, A Pretty Deceit, A Wicked Conceit

This is a book featuring the whole family for the Summer Reading Challenge.



This is a book with an alliterative title (#23) for The 52 Book Club's 2023 Reading Challenge
#the52bookclub #the52bookclub2023


©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.


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Friday, June 30

Friday Fun - The Friday 56 and First Lines for June 20, 2023

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 


The Book Review Bulletin, a monthly link-up for review posts, opened on June 28th, and I'd like to invite you to stop by and share a review or two. Find it here: Book Review Bulletin for July 



And now for some First Lines:

I just received this book for review from NetGalley. I'm not sure what to expect, because everything about it is new to me, but it fulfills the Nordic Noir (which I didn't even know was a genre!) prompt for the 52 Books Challenge so here goes!

***************

1956

6 August

The grey hat flew out to sea.
Kristjan had stepped out of the wheelhouse to admire the view over Faxafloi bay and watch the island approaching, low and green against the backdrop of mountains.

~From the beginning of Reykjavík: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jónasson and Katrín Jakobsdóttir


What happened to Lára?

Iceland, 1956. Fourteen-year-old Lára decides to spend the summer working for a couple on the small island of videy, just off the coast of Reykjavík. In early August, the girl disappears without a trace. Time passes, and the mystery becomes Iceland's most infamous unsolved case. What happened to the young girl? Is she still alive? Did she leave the island, or did something happen to her there?

Thirty years later, as the city of Reykjavík celebrates its 200th anniversary, journalist Valur Robertsson begins his own investigation into Lára's case. But as he draws closer to discovering the secret, and with the eyes of Reykjavík upon him, it soon becomes clear that Lára's disappearance is a mystery that someone will stop at nothing to keep unsolved . . .



Book Beginnings on Fridays is hosted by Rose City Reader.

*It's Book Beginnings on Fridays! Time to gather with our fellow book lovers and share the opening sentence (or so) of the books we are reading this week. Or share from a book that is on your mind right now -- whatever catches your fancy.

***************
RimSP button

First Line Fridays is hosted at Reading is My SuperPower

*Share the first line or two of the book closest to you, then visit other FLF participants.
*Please keep posts family friendly or clean reads.
*Link back to Reading is My SuperPower within your post or grab a button.

***************

To Sunna, the moments were precious, the sweet fragrance helping to distract her mind briefly from brooding on her loss, and she regularly bought packets of exotic tea in an attempt to re-create the experience at home. But today she had work to do.

~at 56% of Reykjavík: A Crime Story by Ragnar Jónasson and Katrín Jakobsdóttir




The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to Page 56 or 56% on your e-reader.
*Find a snippet, short and sweet.
*Post it, and share in the Linky.

***************

©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.



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Wednesday, June 28

Book Review Bulletin - July 2023

This post contains affiliate links - using affiliate links from Just A Second helps supply books and coffee. 



Welcome to my first attempt at hosting the Book Review Bulletin link-up! The purpose is to share our individual book reviews and to visit and comment on those review posts. Sometimes it seems that we book bloggers do a lot of sharing and commenting on our reading lists and teasers and book-related posts, but not nearly as much attention is given to the actual reviews. 

So the Bulletin will be a monthly link-up for review posts. Share the individual posts of book reviews on your blog that you'd like to highlight, and make sure to visit, leave comments, and perhaps share some of the other reviews linked up. 

This first Bulletin is going up a few days before the beginning of the month, but from now on look for a new link-up on the first day of each month. You can grab the button below for your blog if you'd like. After leaving your link, please visit one or two (or more!) of the other links and leave a comment.

Any questions? Suggestions? Please let me know!

Just A Second


Reminder: Please include a MATURE tag on any links to reviews with books or covers above a PG rating. This will give readers that prefer clean read a heads-up before they click your link. Thank you for respecting this request!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

©2008-2023 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

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