Tag: New Jersey

Books

Book 839: Playing the Palace – Paul Rudnick

Geoff W

Book cover of "Playing the Palace" with Amazon Affiliate linkTwo in a row that I really wanted to like more than I did. After devouring Red, White & Royal Blue last year and reading various other royal MM Romance novels here and there of course I was going to seek this one out when I heard about it.

The story wasn’t bad, it was well written and would adapt to a movie easily, but where I really struggled was the characters and their voices. I’m not surprised to see it on a list with books like Jay’s Gay Agenda and Yes, Daddy, others which I felt were written more to be adapted for screens than as books themselves. (And full disclosure this did not stop me from adding The Sky Blues to my hold list at the library which is on the same list :-D)

Continue reading “Book 839: Playing the Palace – Paul Rudnick” →

Books

Book 747: Camino Island – John Grisham

Geoff W

Book cover of "Camino Island" with amazon affiliate linkI read this after a coworker passed it on because he knew I loved books and this is a book about a book theft from a world class library and then set in a bookstore featuring mostly authors and booksellers. I mean come on that’s like catnip to a book blogger, right?

Unfortunately, this book was 100% forgettable. I’m not sure if it has to do with it not being a legal thriller or if it has to do with the weird split narrative. But whatever it was I just wasn’t feeling it.

Continue reading “Book 747: Camino Island – John Grisham” →

Books

Book 730: Conventionally Yours (True Colors #1) – Annabeth Albert

Geoff W

Book cover of "Conventionally Yours" with Amazon Affiliate linkI’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing I let so much time pass between finishing this and writing this review. If I would’ve written this right after I finished it would’ve been effusive and glowing, but about a week later it’s much more measured (I think).

It’s no secret that I adore Albert’s books—seriously, I created a tag so it’s even easier for you to find them and I’m slowly working my way through her entire back list, but this one hasn’t stayed with me like some of her other series. Don’t be mistaken, I thoroughly enjoyed it and my adoration of Albert has not lessened, I think maybe it’s just matured.

Continue reading “Book 730: Conventionally Yours (True Colors #1) – Annabeth Albert” →

ARC, Books

Book 433: Fool Me Once – Harlan Coben

Geoff W

Coben, Harlan - Fool Me OnceThis is one of those books where you have to wonder where people get their ideas from. I’ve read far creepier books and far more suspenseful books, but Coben’s way with slowly building up to a crescendo and crashing denouement is superb! I know how cliche it is but when I hear someone say they want to read a page turner this is the type of book I think of. I started this at lunch on Wednesday and finished Thursday afternoon, working two full eight-hour days!

As I said in my response to The Stranger, after receiving an advance copy of this from Dutton*, AND hearing my friends Hayley and Kennedy liked Coben, I bumped these up my list and they were totally worth it. I will most definitely be keeping an eye out for any of his other ridiculous number of novels next time I’m at the used book store or local library sale 😀

Continue reading “Book 433: Fool Me Once – Harlan Coben” →

ARC, Books

Book 432: The Stranger – Harlan Coben

Geoff W

Coben, Harlan - The StrangerWHOA. Like really WHOA. It’s books like this that make me think I should give up my list of all the books I want to read and juts read thrillers and mainstream fiction! Who needs literary fiction or classics right? The ONLY downside is authors, like Coben, are SOOOOOO prolific. Even if I wanted to read all of his works, I would feel bad not reading other books. In this book alone he already has 26 other books listed. That’s one more than I’ve already read this year! Too much.

When someone from Dutton* reached out to me about Fool Me Once (Coben’s most recent book released this week) and this novel, I was a bit hesitant at first. I don’t usually read a lot of thrillers unless they come highly recommended by friends and even then they usually languish on my shelf for a long time. The good news is I found out out-of-order that my friends Hayley and Kennedy LOVE Coben! So I bumped these up my list and thoroughly enjoyed my first foray into his world.

Continue reading “Book 432: The Stranger – Harlan Coben” →