April 30, 2017

Series Sunday: American Gods

(American Gods on STARZ) 

Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Read or watch an installment of a series.
  • Share your review/recommendation below.
  • Include the title, author, series name and TV channel.


My Series Sunday pick is American Gods, the first book in the series of same name by Neil Gaiman. It was first published in 2001 and is now an international bestseller. Critics call it the irreverently funny new obsession. I just began reading the TV tie-in book today in prep for the television show premiere on STARZ. I want to be familiar with the basic plot and main characters. Watch the video trailer then join me in live tweeting American Gods tonight at 9 p.m. ET. 

Author: Neil Gaiman
Published: March 2017
Pages: 750
Edition: Thick Ass Paperback

April 28, 2017

First Lines Friday


First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Grab your current read(s).
  • Share the first line(s).
  • Include the title and author.
I found a great haul of reference and fiction books at the 2017 Bookstock, Michigan's biggest and best used book sale. My goal was to find the missing books in my Jack Reacher and Kinsey Millhone series collection. I also found a few reference books; the first lines are featured below.

Local bookhearts, the last day of 2017 Bookstock is Sunday, April 30. Go!!!


"Learning to read and write was just the beginning. After you had mastered that, you had to study how the language worked and, when you started to write your own stories, how to stay focused, develop content, organize material, maintain a consistent voice and style, and use proper grammar." ~ I Used to Know That by Caroline Taggart

"In the late-1500s, the state of English spelling and the invasion of foreign words was so troubling to scholars and teachers that some of them took it upon themselves to harness the language by compiling dictionaries." ~ My Grammar and I...Or Should That Be Me? by Caroline Taggart & J.A. Wines 

"Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November...How many times, perhaps anxiously awaiting payday, have you repeated this saying to yourself?" ~ i before e (except after c) by Judy Parkinson 

"Some of the best screenplays are based on historical events." ~ The Complete Idiot's Guide to Screenwriting by Skip Press 

"If you're like most people, your biggest investment is your house." ~ House Selling for Dummies by Eric Tyson & Ray Brown

"About 2 percent of the population suffers from some form of bipolar disorder." ~ Bipolar Disorder: A Guide for Patients and Families by Francis Mark Mondimore, M.D. 

"This book follows a tradition honored since ancient days. The creators and collectors of wise and witty sayings go back to the biblical times of Solomon about three thousand years ago." ~ 20,000 Quips & Quotes by Evan Esar 



April 16, 2017

Series Sunday: Finding Gideon

(Gideon Serial Novel) 

Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along.
  • Read an installment of a series.
  • Share your review/recommendation below.
  • Include the title, author and series name.

"Innocence meets sensuality." ~ 4%

My Series Sunday pick is Finding Gideon, the serial novel by Eric Jerome Dickey. My favorite gun-for-hire is back! Ah, it's been way too long. In this new novel, a professional job turns personal. Picking up exactly where the previous book left off, we see that neither Gideon nor Buenos Aires has recovered from the violent mayhem. And Gideon is not quite done doing damage. Enlisting the help of friend assassins, Gideon plots revenge on Midnight, the man he believed he'd already killed.

Meanwhile, Midnight is assembling a team of way more than Four Horsemen to take down Gideon and other targets. Lives and family are a stake in this all out international war spanning the globe from Buenos Aires to Uruguay, France, Athens, U.S. city of Atlanta and more. It is a whirlwind when their paths finally cross.

"I know twenty-two ways to end a life. I just didn't know how to save three." ~ 67%

"I know just as many ways to please as I did to kill." ~ 96%

Not many authors can combine adventure, suspense, dark fiction, erotica and thriller into one novel. ONE DAMN NOVEL! Finding Gideon is a prime example of the new genre that Eric Jerome Dickey now writes best: sexy thrillers. Longtime fans of EJD will be quite pleased to find almost all of his characters in this one book. I am trying to avoid spoilers but have to share my pleasure in seeing bits of Arizona, Sierra, Lola Mack, Hawks, Shotgun, The Four Horsemen, Scamz and others. And these characters were not just thrown in; they were all strategically placed in the story. Well done!

Because there are so many side characters, it may be difficult for some readers to follow along if you are unfamiliar with the backstories. I recommend at least reading Resurrecting Midnight first. In the Acknowledgments, EJD wrote it best: There are a lot of Easter eggs.

"Wingtips or high heels, an assassin was an assassin." ~ 50%

The only thing I did not like about Finding Gideon was the book cover art. It is similar to The Blackbirds in that it features a close-up of a woman of color. High cheekbones, full lips, eyes looking off to the side. On another book, I would like it. But Gideon is the main character. This is HIS story. So why is a woman on the cover? Am I missing the point here? *insert shrug emoji here*

If you are looking for a very detailed novel—the kind of book where you miss something if you blink or turn the page too fast—then purchase Finding Gideon when it is published next Tuesday, April 18. Thank me later.

Disclaimer: This book was received directly from the publisher for review purposes only. In no way does it influence my review. The opinions I have expressed are honestly my own and would be the same if I spent my hard-earned coins.

Author: Eric Jerome Dickey
Published: April 2017
Pages: 384
Edition: Galley
Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥