Saturday, December 31, 2016

#Giveaway @JohnGrisham Witness to a Trail & The Whistler #MMBBR



Witness to a Trial: A Short Story Prequel to The Whistler (Kindle Single) by [Grisham, John]

A startling and original courtroom drama from New York Times #1 Bestseller John Grisham that is the prequel to his newest legal thriller, THE WHISTLER

A judge’s first murder trial.

A defense attorney in over his head.

A prosecutor out for blood and glory.

The accused, who is possibly innocent.

And the killer, who may have just committed the perfect crime.


GIVEAWAY:


Enter here the giveaway below: 

About the book:  The Whistler 

From John Grisham, America’s #1 bestselling author, comes the most electrifying novel of the year, a high-stakes thrill ride through the darkest corners of the Sunshine State.

We expect our judges to be honest and wise. Their integrity and impartiality are the bedrock of the entire judicial system. We trust them to ensure fair trials, to protect the rights of all litigants, to punish those who do wrong, and to oversee the orderly and efficient flow of justice.
     But what happens when a judge bends the law or takes a bribe? It’s rare, but it happens.
     Lacy Stoltz is an investigator for the Florida Board on Judicial Conduct. She is a lawyer, not a cop, and it is her job to respond to complaints dealing with judicial misconduct. After nine years with the Board, she knows that most problems are caused by incompetence, not corruption. 
     But a corruption case eventually crosses her desk. A previously disbarred lawyer is back in business with a new identity. He now goes by the name Greg Myers, and he claims to know of a Florida judge who has stolen more money than all other crooked judges combined. And not just crooked judges in Florida. All judges, from all states, and throughout U.S. history.
     What’s the source of the ill-gotten gains? It seems the judge was secretly involved with the construction of a large casino on Native American land. The Coast Mafia financed the casino and is now helping itself to a sizable skim of each month’s cash. The judge is getting a cut and looking the other way. It’s a sweet deal: Everyone is making money.
     But now Greg wants to put a stop to it. His only client is a person who knows the truth and wants to blow the whistle and collect millions under Florida law. Greg files a complaint with the Board on Judicial Conduct, and the case is assigned to Lacy Stoltz, who immediately suspects that this one could be dangerous.
     Dangerous is one thing. Deadly is something else.


Watch the trailer here:  https://vimeo.com/189823538


John Grisham

Long before his name became synonymous with the modern legal thriller, John Grisham was working 60-70 hours a week at a small Southaven, Mississippi law practice, squeezing in time before going to the office and during courtroom recesses to work on his hobby--writing his first novel. 

Born on February 8, 1955 in Jonesboro, Arkansas, to a construction worker and a homemaker, John Grisham as a child dreamed of being a professional baseball player. Realizing he didn't have the right stuff for a pro career, he shifted gears and majored in accounting at Mississippi State University. After graduating from law school at Ole Miss in 1981, he went on to practice law for nearly a decade in Southaven, specializing in criminal defense and personal injury litigation. 

One day at the DeSoto County courthouse, Grisham overheard the harrowing testimony of a twelve-year-old rape victim and was inspired to start a novel exploring what would have happened if the girl's father had murdered her assailants. Getting up at 5 a.m. every day to get in several hours of writing time before heading off to work, Grisham spent three years on A Time to Kill and finished it in 1987. Initially rejected by many publishers, it was eventually bought by Wynwood Press, who gave it a modest 5,000 copy printing and published it in June 1988.

That might have put an end to Grishams hobby. However, he had already begun his next book, and it would quickly turn that hobby into a new full-time career. When he sold the film rights to The Firm to Paramount Pictures for $600,000, Grisham suddenly became a hot property among publishers, and book rights were bought by Doubleday. Spending 47 weeks on The New York Times bestseller list, The Firm became the bestselling novel of 1991.

The successes of The Pelican Brief, which hit number one on the New York Times bestseller list, and The Client, which debuted at number one, confirmed Grisham's reputation as the master of the legal thriller. Grisham's success even renewed interest in A Time to Kill, which was republished in hardcover by Doubleday and then in paperback by Dell. This time around, it was a bestseller. 

Since first publishing A Time to Kill in 1988, Grisham has written one book a year. His other books are The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, The Chamber, The Rainmaker, The Runaway Jury, The Partner, The Street Lawyer, The Testament, The Brethren, A Painted House, Skipping Christmas, The Summons, The King of Torts, Bleachers, The Last Juror, The Broker, Playing for Pizza,The Appeal, The Associate, Ford County, The Confession, The Litigators, Calico Joe, The Racketeer, Sycamore Row, Gray Mountain, and Rogue Lawyer. All of them have become international bestsellers. In addition he has written six novels for Young Adult readers: Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer, Theodore Boone: The Abduction, Theodore Boone: The Accused, Theodore Boone: The Activist, Theodore Boone: The Fugitive, and Theodore Boone: The Scandal (2016). There are currently over 300 million John Grisham books in print worldwide, which have been translated into 29 languages. The Innocent Man (October 2006) marked his first foray into non-fiction, and Ford County (November 2009) was his first short story collection. Partners (March 2016) was his first original digital short story. Nine of his novels have been turned into films (The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, A Time to Kill, The Rainmaker, The Chamber, A Painted House, The Runaway Jury, and Skipping Christmas), as was an original screenplay, The Gingerbread Man.

Grisham took time off from writing for several months in 1996 to return, after a five-year hiatus, to the courtroom. He was honoring a commitment made before he had retired from the law to become a full-time writer: representing the family of a railroad brakeman killed when he was pinned between two cars. Preparing his case with the same passion and dedication as his books’ protagonists, Grisham successfully argued his clients’ case, earning them a jury award of $683,500—the biggest verdict of his career.

When he’s not writing, Grisham devotes time to charitable causes, including most recently his Rebuild The Coast Fund, which raised 8.8 million dollars for Gulf Coast relief in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He also keeps up with his greatest passion: baseball. The man who dreamed of being a professional baseball player now serves as the local Little League commissioner. The six ballfields he built on his property have played host to over 350 kids on 26 Little League teams.

Friday, December 30, 2016

#MMBBR #Review A Trip Through Your Wires #SarahLayden #audiobook @audible

Trip Through Your Wires Audiobook

Trip Through Your Wires
  • Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins 
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Release Date:08-23-16
  • Publisher: Author's Republic
  • Whispersync for Voice-ready

    Publisher's Summary

    A clue to her boyfriend's murder during a study abroad program in Mexico draws Carey back into the mystery that led to his death, forcing her to re-examine her own culpability and the self-delusion that blinded her to the dangers of his world. Ben's missing passport resurfaces, and Carey, now in her late twenties and living with her parents in Indianapolis, learns that her Mexican restaurant co-workers know more than they've said. Past and present collide, bringing the truth into sharp focus.
    ©2015 Sarah Layden (P)2016 Sarah Layden


    This book is a mystery that will leave you guessing until the very end.  The narration and story were both very compelling.  It is a perfect blend of past and present, mixed with the stirring emotions of Carey's own role in the events.  It is hard to figure out who knows what and how it will all come together, but it does in a most satisfying way,  A great listen for the long days of winter.  
    Grab it on Audible

    Thursday, December 29, 2016

    #MMBBR #Review How WIll I Know You? by Jessica Treadway

    29775861

    A page-turner about the murder of a teenage girl, from the author of Lacy Eye.

    On a cold December day in northern upstate New York, the body of high school senior Joy Enright is discovered in the woods at the edge of a pond. She had been presumed drowned, but an autopsy shows that she was, in fact, strangled. As the investigation unfolds, four characters tell the story from widely divergent perspectives: Susanne, Joy's mother and a professor at the local art college; Martin, a black graduate student suspected of the murder; Harper, Joy's best friend and a potential eyewitness; and Tom, a rescue diver and son-in-law of the town's police chief. As a web of small-town secrets comes to light, a dramatic conclusion reveals the truth about Joy's death.

    Jessica Treadway

    Jessica Treadway's novel LACY EYE was published by Grand Central/Hachette in March 2015. Her collection of stories PLEASE COME BACK TO ME received the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction and was published by the University of Georgia Press in 2010. Her previous books are the novel AND GIVE YOU PEACE and ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE AND OTHER STORIES. She is a professor in the Department of Writing, Literature and Publishing at Emerson College in Boston. 


    Wow, this book was wonderful...it was so suspenseful.  I loved that the story was unraveled slowly leaving you buzzing through the pages.  There were several points of views that allowed you to find little pieces at a time, which made the story so very compelling.  So well developed and written, that made the book a true (and scary) delight!!!  

    #MMBBR #Review No Man's Land (John Puller #4) by @davidbaldacci #GrandCentralPublishing


     29467945
    Special Agent John Puller, combat veteran and the army's most tenacious investigator, is back in this action-packed thriller from worldwide #1 bestselling author David Baldacci.
    NO MAN'S LAND
    Two men. Thirty years.
    John Puller's mother, Jackie, vanished thirty years ago from Fort Monroe, Virginia, when Puller was just a boy. Paul Rogers has been in prison for ten years. But twenty years before that, he was at Fort Monroe. One night three decades ago, Puller's and Rogers' worlds collided with devastating results, and the truth has been buried ever since.
    Until now.
    Military investigators, armed with a letter from a friend of Jackie's, arrive in the hospital room of Puller's father--a legendary three-star now sinking into dementia--and reveal that Puller Sr. has been accused of murdering Jackie.
    Aided by his brother Robert Puller, an Air Force major, and Veronica Knox, who works for a shadowy U.S. intelligence organization, Puller begins a journey that will take him into his own past, to find the truth about his mother.
    Paul Rogers' time is running out. With the clock ticking, he begins his own journey, one that will take him across the country to the place where all his troubles began: a mysterious building on the grounds of Fort Monroe. There, thirty years ago, the man Rogers had once been vanished too, and was replaced with a monster. And now the monster wants revenge. And the only person standing in his way is John Puller.
    David BaldacciDavid Baldacci writes because he can't imagine not writing. He published his first novel, Absolute Power, in 1996; one year later, it was adapted for film, with Clint Eastwood as its director and star. In total, David has published 30 novels for adults; all have been national and international bestsellers, and several have been adapted for film and television. His novels have been translated into more than 45 languages and sold in more than 80 countries; over 110 million copies are in print worldwide. David has also published five novels for children. We don't know when he sleeps. 
    A lifelong Virginian, David graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia School of Law, after which he practiced law in Washington, D.C.

    David and his wife, Michelle, are the co-founders of the Wish You Well Foundation®, which supports family and adult literacy in the United States. In 2008 the Foundation partnered with Feeding America to launch Feeding Body & Mind, a program to address the connection between literacy, poverty and hunger. Through Feeding Body & Mind, more than 1 million new and used books have been collected and distributed through food banks to families in need.

    David and his family live in Virginia.



    I have not read the other books in this series and that did not affect the readability of this book.  It was a great military crime novel.  It has a great pace, is intense, realistic and hard to put down.  It is a thrilling read and so well plotted.  I am going to have to read more by this very talented writer.  It is a book that I am still thinking about because it was so fun to get lost in.

    #MMBBR #Review The Taste of Air by @gcleare



    31439514

    A simple phone call disrupts Nell Williams’s well-ordered life. Her mother, Mary, is in a hospital in Vermont. But her mother is supposed to be safely tucked away in an assisted-living facility in Massachusetts, so Nell can’t fathom why she would be so far from home.

    After notifying her sister, Bridget, Nell hops on a plane and rushes to her mother’s side. There, she discovers that her mother has been living a second life. Mary has another home and a set of complex relationships with people her daughters have never met.

    When Nell and Bridget delve deeper into their mother’s lakeside hideaway, they uncover a vault of family secrets and the gateway to change for all three women.

    Gail Cleare

    Gail Cleare lives on an 18th century farm in Massachusetts with her family and dogs, cats, chickens, black bears, blue herons, rushing streams and wide, windy skies. In addition to writing fiction and poetry, she's into organic gardening and nature photography, and can often be found stalking wild creatures with a 300 mm lens.


    A wonderful story that would make anyone want to move into a cottage.  With woman who are both real and readable we are taken into their life and the mystery that surrounds them all.  This book was a very satisfying read because there were several stories within the story and each character was fleshed out well.  You were able to get a depth of a story because of the beauty of the writing and the well plotted story.  
    A great read for winter...

    Saturday, December 24, 2016

    #MMBBR The Christmas Dress, a Christmas short film #Review

    Merry Christmas to all.  The Christmas Dress is a wonderful Christmas short film.  It is heartwarming and perfect to watch to bring back to focus the true meaning of Christmas.  The story is one of hope and miracles with a dash of love and family.  A must watch Christmas movie, that could become a new Christmas tradition.   A delight!!!

    The Christmas Dress

    Watch the trailer here:  https://vimeo.com/192160253

    Movie Length: 
    27 minutes


    Description: 
    It’s Christmas Eve, and Leland Jeppson’s hope is gone. Struggling to get by in their rustic homestead, he had at least wanted to give his family a special Christmas. But with a blizzard blowing in and the train bearing their gifts nowhere in sight, it seems Christmas is just one more thing they’ll have to do without. But as dusk falls, the Jeppsons’ packages unexpectedly arrive at the post office in the not-so-nearby town. Half-blind Postman George Schow is hesitant to brave the storm, but his son, Sidney, will stop at nothing to bring Christmas to the Jeppsons—and ask their daughter, Ellen, to the New Year’s Eve dance. Now it’s up to father and son to battle fierce elements in an attempt to deliver a Christmas miracle. Don’t miss this heartwarming reminder that while God helps those who help themselves, sometimes He does so through others.

    Friday, December 23, 2016

    #FRC2016 #Reviews @BookSparks @emilybrettbooks @gingermckchav @kristykryszczak #MMBBR


    I have been snuggled up reading some more of the fantastic #FRC2016 picks...The courses have been AMAZING!!  There is still time to buy Christmas gifts and books make very awesome gifts, hint, hint, hint, hint...

    Here are some of my thoughts:

    November 15, 2016 – Found: A Novel by Emily Brett
    Course Title: International Nursing
    Department: Medical Adventure
    Description: Twenty-seven-year-old ICU nurse Natalie Ulster has a desire to see the world. In each country, however, she finds herself confronted with near-death accidents. Too many coincidences force her to ask herself a frightening question: Is someone trying to kill her?
    MY THOUGHTS: This book was quite engaging.  It is about so much more than nursing...it is about living one's life and finding a way to be fully present in your life.  It takes you across the world and leave you reflecting on your own life.  I felt that I felt the struggles of Natalie and the struggles of patient care.  It was a well rounded book that kept me engaged throughout.
    November 22, 2016 – In the Heart of Texas: A Novel by Ginger McKnight-Chavers
    Course Title: Pop Culture Conversations
    Department: Women’s Fiction Studies
    Description: In the Heart of Texas is a wry, humorous commentary on the complexities of race, class, relationships, politics, popular culture, and celebrity in our current society. Jo Randolph, the “poor man’s Halle Berry,” has successfully avoided waiting tables since leaving Midland, Texas, but 24 hours of poor decisions in Hollywood send her back home to lay low and reconnect with her roots.
    MY THOUGHTS:  A great book about self discovery with some laugh out loud moments.  The interactions that were in the book made me smile ear to ear.  There is so much heart in this book and will make the reader feel connected to the characters.  It is a great read for a book club or to share with a friend.

    November 8, 2016 – Unexpected Love by Kristy Kryszczak
    Course Title: Sex and the City 101
    Department: Women’s Fiction Studies
    Description: Ready for a SJP-replay? Settle in with this debut novel about Inez, a freelance beauty writer living in NYC who’s navigating life in her thirties and the complicated romances she gets pulled into along the way.
    MY THOUGHTS: I got sucked into this book.  It was such fun.  Love is quite complicated and Kryszczak captured the struggles and triumphs so well.  It was not a super long book, so I was able to read it quickly which kept me connected to the characters and their story.  It was well plotted and proved to be quite a strong debut novel.

    BUY THE BOOKS:

    Monday, December 19, 2016

    #MMBBR #Review #Lego #LEGOAnimationBook by @Paganomation @nostarch

    Have you ever wondered what your LEGO creations would look like on the big screen? The LEGO Animation Book will show you how to bring your models to life with stop-motion animation--no experience required! Follow step-by-step instructions to make your first animation, and then explore the entire filmmaking process, from storyboards to post-production.
    Along the way, you'll learn how to:
    • Create special effects like explosions and flying minifigures
    • Convey action and emotion with your minifigure actors
    • Design sets for animation--make three buildings look like an entire city!
    • Light, frame, and capture consistent photos
    • Add detail and scope to your films by building in different scales
    • Build camera dollies and rigs out of LEGO bricks
    • Choose cameras, software, and other essential animation tools
    Dive into the world of animation and discover a whole new way to play!
    For ages 10+


    This book is SO cool.  It has inspired my son to attempt making his own Lego movies.  He is addicted to Lego and has been reading and creating.  This boo is full of so many cool designs to make as well.  This is a MUST have for any LEgo lover you may know.   It is the all encompassing book for creating, making movies and a new spin on Lego building!!!  We are in LOVE with this book and cannot wait to finish out first big Lego movie!!!  


    #MMBBR #Review The Santa Corner by Jakie Rodriguez


    If Santa asked for your help, would you help him? Santa is afraid he will not have enough presents to deliver to all the boys and girls so he is asking for help. He is sending out letters asking children to collect toys they no longer play with. Gracie and Meghyn are ready to help, are you?


    I think this is a GREAT holiday story.  What better way to teach giving and altruism then through giving your toys to kids that need them more than you.  I love the concept of Santa's Corner.   You place toys in the corner that you no longer need or play with and Santa's elves come and get them and they get fixed up and given to other kids that will love them all over again.  I am definitely going to do that with my kids!  A delight to show sharing and giving during this time of year.  It is more about giving then receiving.

    BUY THE BOOK:

    #MMBBR #Review Ernie's Wish Trail by Maia Orion


    In every interaction Ernie has, up pops a new wish to be someone else - an enchantment with their natural gifts. Ernie's wish trail ends in rediscovering simple pleasures and the joys of being himself. This simple story for toddlers and pre-kindergarten kids, illustrated beautifully, can be enjoyed with & without the Augmented Reality app. The app serves to provide an immersive experience by enabling interaction with the story using 3D and sound.


    This book is a delight.  I love it so much.  Everyone wants to be something they are not from time to time, but we must learn how to embrace all the wonderful things we are.  Ernie discovers this after he spends some time with other animals he admires.   This book is also an interactive app.  Such a fun interactive reading experience.


    Saturday, December 17, 2016

    #MMBBR #Reviews #Highlight #Children #books #Christmas #Gifts #RoundUp







    MY REVIEW:
    An adorable story about making sure you embrace others, face fears and be open to change.  There is also friendships found in the most unexpected places and teaches some important lessons.  There is an abundance of heart and characters that are so very sweet.   I also love how it was written, such imagination and creativity.


     MY REVIEW:
    A really cute book that makes its way through the alphabet in a fun and zany way.  The pictures are very colorful and fun and I think early readers will really enjoy this fun story!







    BUY THE BOOKS:






    Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...