Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Another new feature...giveaways

Today I am starting a new feature on Kathy Loves 2 Read...giveaways.

Want to win an ebook copy of BlackBuried Pie?  Go to this link and follow me on Twitter.

Good luck!

Thanks for reading

6/2/16 - More Amazon Giveaways to come.

Monday, May 30, 2016

Some really good books I've read recently

As you can imagine, I've been reading a lot. Between the books I read at night and the audiobooks I listen to while driving to and from work, I am more than halfway through my goal of 80 books for the year.  Maybe I'll hit 100!  Here

My mother, Patrica Angus, told me about a writer I had never heard of before, Diney Costeloe.  I chose The Sisters of St. Croix, a book set in Nazi-occupied France at the beginning of WWII.  The main character, Adelaide, finds out that the man she thought was her father is not.  She heads to Our Lady of Mercy convent in France to find out more about her birth father, who died in WWI, from his sister, the Reverend Mother. Adelaide and the nuns are caught up in the German occupation and have to deal with how it affects their beliefs and their lives.  They become involved in the resistance and sheltering Jewish orphans from the Germans.  It was a heartwarming, frightening, and well-written book.

The Sisters of St. Croix

After reading The Sisters of St. Croix, I had The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah on my to read pile. I usually don't like to read historical fiction back to back.  In this case, I ended up reading historical fiction set at the same time in the same place - back to back.  The stories had many similarities including strong women secretly fighting their own war against the German occupation.  The fact that the things that occurred in both of these books actually happened is heart wrenching.  I recommend that you read both books.

The Nightingale

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick was a delight to listen to.  I absolutely love listening to someone with a British accent read.  The story was very enjoyable. Arthur Pepper is a widower who decides he is finally able to go through his late wife's belongings a year after her passing.  While going through her closet, he finds a gold charm bracelet hidden in a boot. He has no memory of ever seeing this bracelet.  What do the different charms - an elephant, a tiger, a paint pallet, a book, a ring, and a heart- represent?  While looking at the elephant charm, Arthur notices a phone number engraved on it and calls the number.  This phone call starts Arthur on a quest to find out about the rest of the charms. This quest uncovers some happy and some painful things about his wife's life.  A thoroughly enjoyable read.

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper

What have you been reading or listening to?

Thanks for reading.





Saturday, May 28, 2016

My foray into "guy" books


Yesterday was my father, Richard’s 79th birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!  I have childhood memories of him reading Louis L’Amour and Zane Grey book all the time.  In my mind, these books were “boy books”, so I never wanted to read them.  I figured they would be filled with saloon girls, shooting, and cussing, so I never had any desire to read them. This is the reason I chose a Louis L’Amour book for my May “authors I’ve avoided” book.  Let’s just say that I was pleasantly surprised.
 

The book that I chose to read was Tucker.  I have to admit that I went to the paperback shelf at the Punta Gorda Public Library, where I work, and chose the smallest book out of our Louis L’Amour paperback collection.  I just didn’t think I’d make it through a long, boring western and I didn’t want to fail to read another of my chosen authors (see previous post about trying to read Diana Gabaldon).

Shell Tucker and his father were just finished selling some cattle from their ranch as well as some for their neighbors.  While heading back home, Shell and his father had a disagreement parted ways a short while.  When he cooled down and went back to meet up with his father, Shell found him with a broken leg from falling off his spooked horse.  His horse had been stolen, along with the money that they were bringing back to the neighbors.  It seems that two of Shell’s “friends” Doc Sites and Kid Reese, whom his father did not approve of, had hooked up with an outlaw and stole the horse and money.  When Shell’s father succumbed to his injuries, he decided that he had to follow the outlaws and get that money back, saving his father’s reputation as well as the ranch. 

Shell follows Doc, Kid and Bob Heseltine through the South West, trying to get the money back.  He puts so much pressure on the outlaws that they can’t even enjoy the money.  Several times, Heseltine and his girl, Ruby, try to have Shell eliminated without success.  Finally, Heseltine says he gives up and hands the money over to Shell and says to leave him alone.  It looks like the worst is over, but Heseltine comes back and tries to kill Shell again, but he isn’t as fast as Shell.  Finally, Shell has the money and can head back home. 

I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book and will be slipping a Louis L’Amour book into my reading schedule once in a while.  It wasn’t overtly “guy”-ish.  It was just a good story with well written characters.  I’ve become a Louis L’Amour lover and I’m proud of it!
I hope you give a different author or genre a chance.
Thanks for reading!

Friday, May 20, 2016

New feature - video book reviews



I have decided to add a video component to Kathy Loves 2 Read. Here is the video announcement. 







Retiring this blog

I am retiring my Blogger blogs.  Starting today, June 16, 2018 my blog posts will be found at  https://thislife225879410.wordpress.com