October's Month in Review: Book Talk, Reviews, and My Book Bloggers to Follow List

Here's all the cool bookish stuff I did this month. All were great but everyone LOVED the Book Blogger List! Remember to let me know if I need to add anyone to this list. I plan on doing an update at the beginning of the New Year.

Book Talk with R & T featured Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman. Tamara and I had so much fun reading and chatting about a thriller. We were messaging each other every couple pages we read because we were on the edge of our seats. Here are my Book Talk posts, be sure to click on Tamara's name (above) and check out her accompanying posts.

• Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman 
• My review 
• Movie Cast 
• Spoilers 

I read several books in October but I only reviewed 5. The Winter Boy and The Memory Garden were my favorites.

• The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
• The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert
• Small Blessings by Martha Woodruff
• The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan
• The Winter Boy by Sally Wiener Grotta

The biggest response and success this month was my 115 Book Bloggers You Should Be Following

I posted this list on my blog and BlogHer. It made the daily email list the day after I posted it and I've been hearing about it all month. I'm so happy that it is connecting our book blogging community.

What a great month. What were your successes? What are you looking forward to in November? 

The Winter Boy by Sally Wiener Grotta

Title: The Winter Boy
Author: Sally Wiener Grotta
Publisher: Pixel Hall Press 
Publication Date: November 6, 2014
ISBN: 9780988387133
Number of Pages: 508
How I Got It: contacted by publicist
Format: Kindle

NetGalley Description:
Reminiscent of Margaret Atwood, Mary Doria Russell and Ursula K. LeGuin, "The Winter Boy" explores important political and social issues within a dynamic, character-driven otherworld. The Valley of the Alleshi is the center of all civilization, the core and foundation of centuries of peace. A cloistered society of widows, the Alleshi, has forged a peace by mentoring young men who will one day become the leaders of the land. Each boy is paired with a single Allesha for a season of intimacy and learning, using time-honored methods that include storytelling, reason and sex. However, unknown to all but a hidden few, the peace is fracturing from pressures within and beyond, hacking at the very essence of their civilization. Amidst this gathering political maelstrom, Rishana, a young new idealistic Allesha, takes her First Boy, Ryl, for a winter season of training. But Ryl is a “problem boy,” who fights Rishana every step of the way. At the same time, Rishana uncovers secrets and conspiracies that could not only destroy Ryl, but threaten to tear their entire society apart. And a winter that should have been a gentle, quiet season becomes one of conflict, anger and danger.

My Review: 

What a great read! I was excited about this book as soon as I was contacted to review it. I was drawn in as soon as I started reading the story but was worried that 500+ pages would cause me to lose interest somewhere along the way. That was not the case. It is hard to describe this book because I haven't really read anything like it. This is a book that is difficult to fit into a single genre but I will try. The setting is not dystopian nor post-apocolyptic but occurs in a time after The Great Chaos. The village is modern yet rustic, (there is a library and upholstered furniture but no technology.) I got a feeling of "The Lord of the Rings" in that there are other villages, journeys, and deeper lessons in every action, but this novel contained no magic or fantasy creatures. There are sex lessons but this is not erotica. The story is a feminine retelling of warrior training stories. Where other such stories focus on physical strength, brutality, pain, and imminent battle, this story tells of young men being trained to maintain The Peace by being taught to honor other tribes, to read someone by their body language, use their intelligence, and resort to combat as a final option in defense of their villages. I'm pleased to hear that the author is currently working on another book to accompany this one that will tell the story from a handful of other characters' points of view.

Read an excerpt and get more info about The Winter Boy here

** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **

Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris by Jenny Colgan

Title: The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris
Author: Jenny Colgan
Publisher: Sphere 
Publication Date: March 14, 2013
ISBN: 9781405514651
Number of Pages: 416
How I Got It: NetGalley
Format: Kindle

NetGalley Description:
As dawn breaks over the Pont Neuf, and the cobbled alleyways of Paris come to life, Anna Trent is already awake and at work, mixing and stirring the finest, smoothest, richest chocolate; made entirely by hand, it is sold to the grande dames of Paris.
It’s a huge shift from the chocolate factory she worked in at home in the north of England. But when an accident changed everything, Anna was thrown back in touch with her French teacher, Claire, who offered her the chance of a lifetime -- to work in Paris with Claire's former sweetheart, Thierry, a master chocolatier.
With old wounds about to be uncovered and healed, Anna is set to discover more about real chocolate -- and herself -- than she ever dreamed. 

My Review:
What a great foodie fiction read! Chocolate and Paris? Oui and Oui, please. Anna is injured on the job at her chocolate factory. While in the hospital, Anna rooms with her high school French teacher, Claire, and the two strike up a new friendship. Claire recommends an old French acquaintance to Anna, who may be able to assist Anna in working with chocolate again. But, English mass produced chocolate is worlds apart from Parisian artisinal chocolate production. The master chocolatier, Thierry, is appalled at Anna's concept of what is considered acceptable chocolate but he holds a soft spot for her because of Claire. 
The book alternates between Claire's teenage visit to Paris and Anna's current one. This is my idea of a perfect "chick-lit" meets "foodie fiction" read!

** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **

Small Blessings by Martha Woodruff

Title: Small Blessings
Author: Martha Woodruff
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: August 12, 2014
ISBN: 1-250-04052-1
Number of Pages: 320
How I Got It: St. Martin's PR
Format: Hardcover

Description:
Tom Putnam, an English professor at a Virginia women's college, has resigned himself to a quiet and half-fulfilled life. For more than ten years, his wife Marjory has been a shut-in, a fragile and frigid woman whose neuroses have left her fully dependent on Tom and his formidable mother-in-law, Agnes Tattle. Tom considers his unhappy state self-inflicted, since Marjory's condition was exacerbated by her discovery of Tom's brief and misguided affair with a visiting poetess. But when Tom and Marjory meet Rose Callahan, the campus bookstore's charming new hire, and Marjory invites Rose to dinner, her first social interaction in a decade, Tom wonders if it's a sign that change is on the horizon. And when Tom returns home that evening to a letter from the poetess telling him that he'd fathered her son, Henry, and that Henry, now ten, will arrive by train in a few days, it's clear change is coming whether Tom's ready or not.

My Review:
I always think it is strange when Virginia is referred to as the South but this novel is charmingly Southern without being stereotypical. Tom Putnam is a perfectly lovable character. He's accepted that his life will be small. His wife is a recluse and his social circle consists of a few other college professors and his live-in mother-in-law, Agnes. Agnes tends to side with Tom so at least he doesn't have an overbearing woman, who is not his wife, telling him what to do. I was hopeful for Tom and the new bookstore manager, Rose, to strike up something more than a friendship, even knowing he was a married man. But then Tom's world turns on its head and things take a different direction. A boy is arriving on the train who is supposedly Tom's son, but the circumstances are strange to say the least.
I was really trying to figure out who was going to ally with who during each of the mini crises that arose and I didn't anticipate the story's climax when I started reading. I am always a sucker for a collegiate or a bookstore setting and I loved that this book offered both. I read this in a hardback and I'm really excited to pass it along to a friend.



** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **

7 November Novels You Shouldn't Miss

I am trying to get my hands on these 7 November releases and I think should, too. What are you looking forward to reading in November? 

Mermaids in Paradise by Lydia Millet (Satire/ Magic Realism) (Nov 1)

"Mermaids, kidnappers, and mercenaries hijack a tropical vacation in this genre-bending sendup of the American honeymoon.
On the grounds of a Caribbean island resort, newlyweds Deb and Chip—our opinionated, skeptical narrator and her cheerful jock husband who’s friendly to a fault—meet a marine biologist who says she’s sighted mermaids in a coral reef.
As the resort’s “parent company” swoops in to corner the market on mythological creatures, the couple joins forces with other adventurous souls, including an ex–Navy SEAL with a love of explosives and a hipster Tokyo VJ, to save said mermaids from the “Venture of Marvels,” which wants to turn their reef into a theme park. Mermaids in Paradise is Lydia Millet’s funniest book yet, tempering the sharp satire of her early career with the empathy and subtlety of her more recent novels and short stories. This is an unforgettable, mesmerizing tale, darkly comic on the surface and illuminating in its depths."

My Sister’s Grave by Robert Dugoni (Mystery/Detective) (Nov. 1) 

"Tracy Crosswhite has spent twenty years questioning the facts surrounding her sister Sarah’s disappearance and the murder trial that followed. She doesn’t believe that Edmund House—a convicted rapist and the man condemned for Sarah’s murder—is the guilty party. Motivated by the opportunity to obtain real justice, Tracy became a homicide detective with the Seattle PD and dedicated her life to tracking down killers. When Sarah’s remains are finally discovered near their hometown in the northern Cascade mountains of Washington State, Tracy is determined to get the answers she’s been seeking. As she searches for the real killer, she unearths dark, long-kept secrets that will forever change her relationship to her past—and open the door to deadly danger."

The Glass Magician by Charlie M. Holmberg (Fiction/Fantasy) (Nov. 4)

"Three months after returning Magician Emery Thane’s heart to his body, Ceony Twill is well on her way to becoming a Folder. Unfortunately, not all of Ceony’s thoughts have been focused on paper magic. Though she was promised romance by a fortuity box, Ceony still hasn’t broken the teacher-student barrier with Emery, despite their growing closeness.When a magician with a penchant for revenge believes that Ceony possesses a secret, he vows to discover it…even if it tears apart the very fabric of their magical world. After a series of attacks target Ceony and catch those she holds most dear in the crossfire, Ceony knows she must find the true limits of her powers…and keep her knowledge from falling into wayward hands.The delightful sequel to Charlie N. Holmberg’s The Paper Magician, The Glass Magician will charm readers young and old alike."

Blackmail, My Love by Katie Gilmartin (Illustrated Murder/ Mystery/ Queer History)  (Nov 11)

"Josie O'Conner travels to San Francisco in 1951 to locate her gay brother, a private dick investigating a blackmail ring targeting lesbians and gay men. Jimmy's friends claim that just before he disappeared he became a rat, informing the cops on the bar community. Josie adopts Jimmy's trousers and wingtips, battling to clear his name, halt the blackmailers, and exact justice for the many queer corpses. Along the way she rubs shoulders with a sultry chanteuse running a dyke tavern called Pandora's Box, gets intimate with a red-headed madam operating a brothel from the Police Personnel Department, and conspires with the star of Finocchio's, a dive so disreputable it's off limits to servicemen — so every man in uniform pays a visit. Blackmail, My Love is an illustrated murder mystery deeply steeped in San Francisco's queer history. Established academic and first-time novelist Katie Gilmartin's diverse set of characters negotiate the risks of same-sex desire in a tough time for queers. Humor leavens the grave subject matter. Set in such legendary locations as the Black Cat Cafe, the Fillmore, the Beat movement's North Beach, and the sexually complex Tenderloin, Blackmail, My Love is a singular, visually stunning neo-noir experience."

I Belong to You (Inside Out #5)  by Lisa Renee Jones (Erotica/ BDSM) (Nov. 18)

"Master… 

Being that person, that man is how I define myself, how I allow the rest of the world to define me as well. And now, with a terrible loss shredding me inside out and someone trying to destroy my family to punish me, control is more important than ever. It is everything. It is what I need. It is all I need. Or maybe I just need…her."

A Second Bite at the Apple by Dana Bate (Foodie Fiction) (Nov. 25)

"Sydney Strauss is obsessed with food. Not with eating it--though she does that too--but with writing about the wonders of the gastronomic world, from obscure fruit hybrids to organic farming techniques. Since food journalism jobs are more coveted than Cronuts®, Sydney pays her bills working for one of TV's biggest egomaniacs--until she's left scrambling for shifts at a local farmers' market. 
Stacking muffins for the Wild Yeast Bakery isn't going to win her any James Beard awards. But soon Sydney is writing the market's weekly newsletter, and her quirky stories gain attention from a prominent food columnist. After years of putting her love life into deep freeze, she's even dating again. And then Sydney gets a shot at the story, one that could either make her career or burn it to a crisp--along with her relationship and her reputation.."

Sister Eve, Private Eye by Lynne Hinton (Murder/ Mystery/ Religion(?) (Nov. 25)

"Sister Eve knows God moves in mysterious ways. And Eve adores a good mystery. Especially a murder.  Two decades into her calling at a New Mexico monastery, Sister Evangeline Divine breaks her daily routine when a police officer appears, carrying a message from her father. Sister Eve is no stranger to the law, having grown up with a police captain turned private detective. She's seen her fair share of crime--and knows a thing or two about solving mysteries.  But when Captain Jackson Divine needs her to return home and help him recover from surgery, Sister Eve finds herself taking on his latest case.  A Hollywood director has disappeared, and the sultry starlet he's been running around with isn't talking. When the missing man turns up dead, Captain Divine's case escalates into a full-blown murder case, and Sister Eve's crime-solving instincts kick in with an almost God-given grace.  Soon Sister Eve finds herself soul-searching every step of the way: How can she choose between the vocation in her heart and the job in her blood?"

***All Descriptions Provided by GoodReads***

The Memory Garden by Mary Rickert

Title: The Memory Garden
Author: Mary Rickert
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Publication Date: May 6, 2014
ISBN: 9781402297120
Number of Pages: 304
How I Got It: NetGalley
Format: Kindle

Goodreads Description:
Nan keeps her secrets deep, not knowing how the truth would reveal a magic all its own.
Bay Singer has bigger secrets than most. She doesn't know about them, though. Her mother, Nan, has made sure of that. But one phone call from the sheriff makes Nan realize that the past is catching up. Nan decides that she has to make things right, and invites over the two estranged friends who know the truth. Ruthie and Mavis arrive in a whirlwind of painful memories, offering Nan little hope of protecting Bay. But even the most ruined garden is resilient, and their curious reunion has powerful effects that none of them could imagine, least of all Bay.

My Review:
I've pitched this novel as Practical Magic meets Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood with a dash of White Oleander: A house on the outskirts of town, a baby left on a doorstep, a secret from the past, and a reunion of friends. Each chapter begins with a short excerpt on a flower or herb and the powers it holds. Several are noted as abortifacients and there is an underlying theme of abortions (herbal and medical) throughout the novel.

There were so many for a while there, and then, when the law changed, there were less and less until she was no longer needed. There were stragglers, of course; those who didn't want a doctor. 

The run down house and garden setting is very comforting and there is a lot of food to make this novel a really delicious read. I really, really loved this book and thought it was absolutely perfect for October.  If I had to pick something I didn't like, I would say it was a bit frustrating having conversations interrupted constantly. Someone would be trying to say something important and the person they were trying to tell just wouldn't let them spit it out.  

** I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review **

The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

Title: The Shining Girls
Author: Lauren Beukes
Publisher: AudioGo
Publication Date: August 13, 2013
ISBN: 9781478952152
Number of Pages: 375 (in hardcover)
How I Got It: Library
Format: Audio CD

Goodreads Description:
The Time Traveler's Wife meets The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo in this story of a time-traveling serial killer who is impossible to trace—until one of his victims survives.

In Depression-era Chicago, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times. But it comes at a cost. He has to kill the shining girls: bright young women, burning with potential. He stalks them through their lives across different eras until, in 1989, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi, survives and starts hunting him back.

Working with an ex-homicide reporter who is falling for her, Kirby has to unravel an impossible mystery.

The Shining Girls is a masterful twist on the classic serial killer tale: a violent quantum leap featuring a memorable and appealing girl in pursuit of a deadly criminal.(less)

My Review:
I saw this on a lot of reading lists last year and missed it. I saw the eye-catching cover at the library and thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I chose the audio format because I believe I would have given up if I was reading this story. I'm comfortable with multiple characters and story lines, even large spans of time, but this story had those plus time travel. In all fairness, I knew this when I began listening but the problem was that I couldn't understand the chronology of the killer's days. I'm sure this was deliberate disorientation on the part of the author to parallel the unlikely clues and search for the killer, but it was a bit too jumbled. In different hypothetical situations, I've wondered what I would do if I won the lottery, could hold a dinner party with famous people, or could time travel. I think that most people would do somewhat similar things to me but this novel poses the option of someone choosing quite differently than me or you. If I was time traveling back and forth between 1990's Chicago and 1930's Chicago, I would have bought the "magic house" in this novel with the "magic money" so that I'd be sitting pretty on a great real estate investment right now. But Harper Curtis wants to kill women then jump back into his "magic house" to evade police.

I was interested throughout the novel's entirety but I wasn't excited to continue like so many other great audio options.

Book Talk with R & T: SPOILER Day for Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman

I hope everyone is loving this week's feature on Book Talk. Today we are talking *SPOILERS* of Ruin Falls. T & I were DMing on Twitter all the jaw dropping pages and now we want to chat about them a little bit. So if you haven't read this Thrillerlicious novel .... read no further!

*SPOILER ALERT*

Me: "I'm on page 38. Trying to figure this out. Hmmm."

I can usually figure out a plot line pretty quick but I was still not sure where this was going.

Me: "Gah. I can't put this one down. I'm on page 140. This is a very fast read for me."

This was right after I read: "Of the cast of characters back then, the first was missing and the second was dead. Which meant that Liz had better track down the third." I thought this would just be about Liz trying to find her kids but here we started getting some back story of why her husband may have done what he'd done.

Tamara: "Good grief you were right, RF is soo good! I'm on pg 100 & I'm all 'omg' & 'wtf'!

Me: "I know! I'm thinking survivalists. Is he going to take them to some kind of bunker? I'm on 142 & a ton happens between 100-142. Whoa!" Paul is teaching some end of the world shit to his students, poor Madeline Jennings' mother is hijacking her pregnancy, a child falls out of Liz's tree, Marjorie tells Liz about the accident and Coach being in prison, Paul's memorial garden. 

Tamara: "Whoo, idk! That's kind what I'm thinking. I mean even b4 he took the kids he was a bit on nutty side so that makes sense!" What not every dad monitors the carbon footprint of fruit snacks?

Tamara: "168 & PEW is giving me the creeps."

Tamara: "She's just found his chat in PEW."

Me: "What p are u on? I just hit 195 & oh shit!" When the PEW acronym is explained, you knew that shit was going to get crazy. 

Me: "I just got another eye popper on 198!" The man who called himself the Shoemaker spoke up for the first time. De-lurking after the initial flurry of posts. "WELL? LET'S DO IT." (I just got goosebumps typing that now!) My heart was racing when I read this and I was like "WHAT? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?"

Me: "I freaked out: 195 when u find out what PEW means, then 198 when The Shoemaker posts his 1st comment & u make connection between story lines"

Tamara: "Yes! Total freak out moment"

Me: "236!!!!!!!" " I need a Xanex. Lol" That was the best stand-off scene! So intense! I was holding my breath!

Me: "I love Earl" Earl is just reminiscing about making love to his wife in the afternoons and finds himself in a hostage situation. But he keeps his cool and protects those kids! I love Earl!

Tamara: "I'm on pg 288 & am getting nervous/tingly feeling! Shoemaker just attacked Liz cpl pages ago!" Reid has made the kids' second phone call and now Liz is on to where they might be. Finally, a clue!

Me: You know when u watch a movie through your fingers because you do and don't want to watch what happens?  That.    P 307" Now she has all the kids but needs to get away...and the only option is crossing at the falls? Oh no!

Tamara: "It's not going to be Annabelle or The Conjuring scary?!" T & I do NOT like scary movies and we do NOT like the commercials for these two movies either! No dolls and no hand clapping, please!

Me: "No. Not that kind. I keep thinking she can't surprise me anymore....then she does!"

Me: "Ok. Finished. I need wine"

Tamara: "I finished...omg, so good. I was curled up with tension waiting to see how it would end. And the shoemaker?!!  Wow. he was a character. He really was!" Total #LiteraryCreep  When he was in the house with Liz and when he talked to the women on the farm. Never mind that he killed a mother and took a baby from another mother. His parents screwed him up good!

Me: When he revealed he was the coach's cell mate my jaw dropped when my brain was making the connections." That's a lot of time to plan your revenge...only to be taken down by your target's son. Ouch. Karma's a bitch, Shoemaker!

Book Talk with R & T: Movie Cast for Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman

Yesterday Tamara featured a great interview with author Jenny Milchman. Today we are giving our suggestions for who we would choose to have cast in the movie version of "Ruin Falls."

Tamara's suggestions are here.  I didn't read them until I made my own choices. I wonder if we have any similarities?

Liz: 

Liz made choices that were logical and smart during her search for her children. She was focused, not flighty, so an actress would need to be perceived as stable and intelligent. I would suggest:  Michelle Williams.

Paul:

Paul is a self-centered sleaze ball who thinks he knows what is best for his family with no regards to anyone else's opinions. Who better to play this part than Jim Marchese from Real Housewives of New Jersey?!

Jill:

As Liz's best friend she is supportive but has her own problems with her teenage son. There is also an air of suspicion around her in a few parts. I would suggest: Emily Blunt

Tim:

Tim is now the police chief but he dated Liz when they were younger. I would want a strong man with a soft side so I would suggest: Ryan Gosling, duh.

Kurt:

Creepster to the max. You need an actor who is cold and ruthless: I would say Christian Bale.

Did you read Ruin Falls? Who do you think some of the characters should have playing them in a movie? Did Tamara and I have any matches?

Book Talk with R & T: Review of Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman

Day 2 = Reviews

Tamara and and I are chatting all week about Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman. Be sure to enter our Cover of Snow / Ruin Falls giveaway (in my sidebar) and check back all week to see what we are talking about. 

Today we are featuring our reviews. Be sure to check out Tamara's review. Here's a description of the book followed by my review below. 

Title: Ruin Falls

Author: Jenny Milchman

Publisher: Ballantine 

Publication Date: April 22, 2014

ISBN: 9780345549075

Number of Pages: 352

How I Got It: Library

Format: Hardcover

Description: 

In a suspenseful follow-up to her critically acclaimed Cover of Snow, Jenny Milchman ratchets up the tension with this edge-of-your-seat story of a mother determined to find her missing children.
 
Liz Daniels has every reason to be happy about setting off on a rare family vacation, leaving behind her remote home in the Adirondack Mountains for a while. Instead, she feels uneasy. Her children, eight-year-old Reid and six-year-old Ally, have met their paternal grandparents only a handful of times. But Liz’s husband, Paul, has decided that, despite a strained relationship with his mother and father, they should visit the farm in western New York where he spent his childhood.
 
On their way to the farm, the family stops at a hotel for the night. In the morning, when Liz goes to check on her sleeping children, all her anxiety comes roaring back: Ally and Reed are nowhere to be found. Blind panic slides into ice-cold terror as the hours tick by without anyone finding a trace of the kids. Soon, Paul and Liz are being interviewed by police, an Amber Alert is issued, and detectives are called in.
 
Frantic worry and helplessness threaten to overtake Liz’s mind—but in a sudden, gut-wrenching instant she realizes that it was no stranger who slipped into the hotel room that night. Someone she trusted completely has betrayed her. Though she knows that Ally and Reid are safe, Liz will stop at nothing to find them and get them back. From her guarded in-laws’ unwelcoming farmhouse to the deep woods of her own hometown, Liz follows the threads of a terrible secret to uncover a hidden world created from dreams and haunted by nightmares.

My Review:

First of all, I don't usually like reading thrillers. It's just too much. I'm also a big scaredy cat when it comes to horror. But I wanted something edgy to suit the season. After much deliberation, Tamara and I chose this novel as our October Book Talk feature and I have to say: It was perfect! I'll get into specifics in our spoiler posts but, in general it was exactly what a thriller should be: Fast-paced, believable actions by the protagonist, and correctly spaced clues. Rarely, do I find a book that I literally can't put down, but I love it when I do. I believed Liz's reactions and even when she did something I might not have done, her actions were still believable. I hate reading a novel and the protagonist does everything opposite of logical. The same with a horror movie. I'm always like "Don't go further into the house/tunnel/scary space. Get out of the there!" Then the main character hides in the basement thinking "oh, the man with a chainsaw will never find me down here." This book wasn't like that, even when things started getting really strange and creepy. As for clues, Jenny Milchman provided just enough clues for a reader to stay connected and fell they were figuring things out at the same time as Liz. 

I will definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a thriller and right now I couldn't pick a better seasonal read!

Book Talk with R & T: Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman

My book buddy, T, and I both love October! The leaves are changing and cooler temps me snuggling under blankets with hot chocolate and a good book. I don't like a lot of thrillers but I like some at this time of year. So we decided that this edition of Book Talk with R & T should be an edge of your seat read. After much deliberation, we chose Jenny Milchman's Thrillerlicious "Ruin Falls" for our feature. 

I'll be featuring a great giveaway here on Ivory Owl Reviews (in my sidebar) all week and Tamara just posted some great author info on her blog today.

So join us all week as we chat, review, host an interview with Jenny Milchman, and talk spoilers. (Don't worry, we give plenty of notice of spoilers so you won't accidentally read one!) 

This book had my eyeballs popping and I was DMing T on Twitter every 10 pages going "OMG" and "WTF" and *GASP* If you haven't read this book yet, we highly recommend it. It's the perfect October read! 

Be sure to connect with us on Twitter, too! @IvoryOwlReviews and @RockStar1023

Giada: Weekly Digital Magazine from Giada De Laurentiis (with FREE promo code for my readers)

As a Blogging for Books member interested in cookbooks, I was given free access to Giada, the weekly digital magazine from Giada De Laurentiis and Clarkson Potter!

This magazine is colorful and easy to navigate with a simple layout. Recent articles have included drugstore beauty bargains, clothes consigning, and of course recipes!

They've also given me a promo code for my readers for a free one-month subscription to the website: 

Subscribe now and get the first 4 issues for free! Please use promo codeFALL at checkout on www.giadaweekly.com. Offer expires 10/31/14.