It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday everyone! This fun, weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. We discuss books we've read and reviewed during the past week and talk about what we are planning to read in the coming week. 

Books I Finished/Reviewed Last Week:

I finished reading a new book by Doug Richardson called BLOOD MONEY. Its a fast-paced crime novel that has a bit of everything: murder; cops; feds; rich Hollywood types with a sense of entitlement; and a odd pairing of cops with totally different work styles. I'll be posting my review in the coming days.

I posted my review of BLACKBERRY WINTER by Sarah Jio. You can find it here. She is an author I am definitely going to be reading a lot more of this year. I have to catch up on her previous two novels, plus she has one coming out on May 28th called THE LAST CAMELLIA and she's currently working on her fifth novel.  

Books I'll Be Focusing On This Week:

My main focus will be on a debut novel that was released last month by Touchstone called SWIMMING AT NIGHT by Lucy Clarke.  It's a gripping story of two sisters from London. Mia is the younger, breezy sister of Katie Greene, the orderly and very pretty older sister. Shortly after Mia left with her friend, Finn to travel the world, Katie received the devastating news that Mia committed suicide in Bali. The trouble was that Mia wasn't even supposed to be in Bali. According to her itinerary, she was to be in Australia. Katie refuses to believe that her sister has taken her own life and sets out to find the truth behind her sister's death. I've only just begun reading but already I am getting drawn into the story. I think I like where this  one is going.so far.

I didn't spend much time on my audio, SIX YEARS by Harlen Coben, last week, so I'll definitely be working on that as well. I've already chosen my next audio and it will be THE EXPATS by Chris Pavone. As you know, this book got a lot of buzz when it first came out and I've heard the audio version is very good.

Upcoming Reviews:

• THE GOOD HOUSE by Ann Leary (Audio)
• SHINE, SHINE, SHINE by Lydia Netzer (Audio)
• BLOOD MONEY by Doug Richardson

Teaser Tuesday: A Thriller of a Crime Novel

Teaser Tuesday is one of my favorite things. Its a good way to get a quick glimpse inside books that other bloggers are reading. Anyone can participate so stop by Should Be Reading for full details and for additional teasers.

Today my teasers come from a suspenseful book I just started reading called BLOOD MONEY by Doug Richardson . . .

Lucky stuffed the weapon between his belt and the small of his back, slung on an antique high school letterman's jacket, and walked out into the dawn without locking the door behind him.  It would be the last time Lucky ever saw the place. ~ Loc 312 Kindle Edition

I'm rolling through this book pretty quickly and enjoying the ride as I go. Its a fast-paced, hold nothing back crime novel with an array of unique characters. Plus, I LOVE the cover!  To learn more about this accomplished author/Hollywood screenwriter, please visit his website.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Happy Monday everyone! This fun, weekly meme is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. We discuss what books we've read/reviewed in the past week and talk about what we are planning
 to read in the days ahead. 

I recently took a break from my normal life and took a trip to Columbus, Ohio to visit some family and friends. Although I took some books with me, I didn't read a single page while there, so my reading has really suffered. To make it worse, I am completely overwhelmed with review copies at the moment, so now I'm scrambling to get caught up. I did manage to make some progress this past week however. 

Books I Finished and Reviewed Last Week:

I only finished one book last week. It was my book club selection (She Reads Book Club). It's a brand new release by Patti Callahan Henry called AND THEN I FOUND YOU. It's a quick but emotional story about unplanned pregrnancy, adoption and family. This is Callahan-Henry's ninth book, but a first for me. The story was inspired by true events in the author's family, so it had a realness to it that was unmistakable. I posted my review yesterday and you can find it here.  

Books I'm Focusing On This Week:

I'm looking forward to really making a dent in my book pile this week. Lucky for me, all the books I'm scheduled to read are ones I've been anxious to get my hands on! That's always a plus, isn't it? My main focus is going to be on BLOOD MONEY by Doug Richardson from DIE HARD fame. I am only a few chapters in at this point, but it is sure to be an intense thriller. You can learn more about by clicking on the link on my sidebar. 

Another book I'll be reading this week is SWIMMING AT NIGHT by Lucy Clarke. Its a debut novel published by Touchstone about two sisters who have unresolved conflicts between them. But when one sister disappears while traveling abroad, the other sister refuses to believe her sister took her own life and sets out to find the truth. This book grabbed my attention when I first learned about it and I'm very anxious to get started on it. (Click on title link for more info)

I'll also be finishing up the audio I've been listening to the past few days. It's Harlan Coben's stand-alone novel, SIX YEARS. I am a newbie to his work and since this is a stand-alone, I thought it would be the perfect way to get to know his writing. I'm half-way through the book now. Its an intriguing story and I'm enjoying it very much.

Reviews I'll Be Posting This Week:

BLACKBERRY WINTER by Sarah Jio

THE GOOD HOUSE by Ann Leary (Audio Edition)

Here's wishing you a productive, enjoyable week in books! Thanks for stopping by!

Friday Finds: Denial and Crime Fiction

Friday Finds is a great way to share books you've discovered this week whether it be by cruising the blogs, magazines or a book shop. I discovered my Finds while visiting blogs this week. The books couldn't be any more different from each other but they both stood out to me. Here's what I found:

THE GOOD HOUSE by Ann Leary

I saw this book first on Book Fan's blog where she reviewed the audio version on Tuesday.You can read her review here. One of the other reviews that stood out for me was over at Book Mama's blog. You can read her review here. The reason this book has captured my attention is the main character, Hildy Good, a successful real estate broker battling alcoholism. She really stood out to me because of her realness and the believability of her story. I was so taken by this book's description and by Mary's review of the audio that I used one of my monthly credits at Audible.com and purchased it for myself.

BLOOD MONEY by Doug Richardson

I discovered this author/book while visiting Fiction Books' blog yesterday. I also visited Doug Richardson's website and was surprised to see how many books he's published. I am always looking for new crime fiction reads but many times when I read the synopsis I am turned off by over-complicated and confusing storylines and excessive characters. But in her blog post, Yvonne laid the story out beautifully and also included a bit about the Mr. Richardson's impressive career as a screenwriter. Honestly, I don't know how I've missed this author! I'm very anxious to get my hands on BLOOD MONEY, his new release set to come out in the Spring. This story is centers around a small town sheriffs detective's quest to track down the ex-Marine who shot down and killed his brother. This suspect has left a trail of death from Nevada to Los Angeles and the detective looks for help in the form of an LAPD detective who is not thrilled to have to 'babysit' the small town cop. It sounds thrilling and I am very much looking forward to diving in. One last thing I like about this book is the cover. I think it's a great cover that gives just enough hints to what's inside.

There are more Friday Finds over at Should Be Reading, so stop over there and see what other book lovers have discovered this week.