Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-thon 2013

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3:00 AM (Philippine Time; Hour 8 of the Read-a-thon)

Eyelids starting to droop. So beat. But no matter. Had fun cheering with the Team Bear ladies though I got majorly distracted on twitter (#teambear). Hehe

So signing off for now. Will be back on hour 16 and beyond. Thanks for keeping me company, you lizard/rat/cat you. :)

P.S.

Did I mention that I won as awesome cheerleader on hour 6? Yup. Got it right. Read it here:

http://24hourreadathon.com/2013/04/27/hour-6-book-party-in-the-world/

Am a happy girl. :D

11:38 PM (Philippine Time; Hour 4 of the Read-a-thon)

Me and the rest of the dynamic Team Bear are cheering for awesome readers who signed up for the 2013 Dewey’s 24-Hour Read-a-thon. To see the complete list of the readers we’re cheering for, visit our team page here.

If you’ve won a prize from me, please comment on this post or send me a tweet @travelingreadr. You’ll get your choice of a book from Book Depository worth $15 or less. Good luck and enjoy! ;)


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Image off the internet. Rights reserved by image owner.

2012 in review

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The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 11,000 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 18 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

And I’m just so happy to be back blogging. Expect a better and more informative Traveling Reader this year! ;)

Mystery Monday #3: Million Dollar Baby

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Million Dollar Baby by Amy Patricia Meade

For any reader, it’s fairly easy to get sucked into a new series just for the sheer joy of enjoying the characters so much that they cease to exist within the confines of a paperback and start leaping all over the page. And in the case of Amy Patricia Meade’s cozy mystery Million Dollar Baby, oddly enough, it wasn’t the main female lead – author Marjorie McClelland – that caught my attention but rather the rich, urbane and somewhat eccentric hero and reluctant sidekick Creighton Richard Ashcroft III. But before I get ahead of myself and spew adulation about the funny British debonair, I’d tell you the rest about the book first.

In post-Depression 1930’s, Marjorie McClelland has just published her new book Death in Denmark when she met Creighton Ashcroft, who moved in to Ridgebury, Connecticut after leaving his multimillion business in New York in pursuit of some other things in life. Marjorie asked Creighton to be her editor as he “doesn’t seem to be occupied much” with the latter agreeing not because he was the altruistic type but rather he finds the blond, green-eyed minx easy on the eyes. When the pair decided to check out Creighton’s new crib, Kensington House, the duo stumbled upon the bony remains of someone who might have been murdered in the mansion grounds (making Marjorie immediately suspicious of the British millionaire). Apparently, the famed abode boasts not only of a (describe place) but rather a sinister history of murder or suicide as well (just take your pick).

MY VERDICT:

One word: fun. Because Creighton made it so. He was charming, witty, and a little bit of maverick that hours spent on staking out potential criminals seem like adventures in themselves. To be honest, he made Marjorie tolerable. Not that she was bad; She was actually a colorful character. She’s smart, inquisitive and tenacious. However, her being kind of silly at times is something I couldn’t really appreciate (it works well in other female leads I’ve read about though; maybe it’s just hard to reconcile that idea with Marjorie McClelland). Plus, I can’t believe how she liked the police officer over Creighton, granting that the former is way handsomer than Creighton. For me, it’s not just about how handsome the guy is (though that will give you a better first impression); it’s much about how he can be fun, smart, kind, and resourceful when necessary. And Creighton’s cute, too, not to mention very witty (haven’t I mentioned that yet?). While reading, I couldn’t help thinking that maybe Marjorie needed prescription glasses in order to see that she and Creighton are more suited to each other (if their easy and at times prickly banter isn’t evidence enough). Sometimes, one can’t help but think that authors devise these “forks in the road” in order to make these female leads “redeem themselves” eventually.

On the other hand, I’d have to commend Amy Patricia Meade’s elegant world-building of the 1930’s Ridgebury community. I am not an expert on nor an enthusiast about the Depression era but the feelings evoked in the book somehow communicate how it was like living in a time when money has become a precious commodity many times over (I’d say it’s pretty much like how America and the rest of the world nowadays is). People were scrambling to find jobs, even taking a part-time just to augment the family income. And the book was spot on about that. The secondary characters which we meet in this series are rather remarkable in their steadfastness despite the economic crisis they were all facing. In fact, they give a distinctive color to the book and ultimately, the series.

As for the mystery, it wasn’t too easy to guess nor was it very hard to infer. I would have loved it to be just a teeny weeny bit complicated but since it has served its purpose then it’s all good. I would love to read more about Marjorie’s and Creighton’s deductive reasoning in the next books of the series though. Nothing like a new mystery to hone an amateur detective’s observation (and probably staking out) skills. :D


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Mystery Monday Logo and Art © The Traveling Reader, 2011. Book cover image © Amy Patricia Meade and Midnight Ink.

You can find out more about this book and the rest of the series on:
Series Info – Marjorie McClelland Mystery Series
Author’s Website – http://amypatriciameade.com
Author’s Blog – http://amypatriciameade.com/homepage-fade-slider/blog/
Twitter – @amypmeade
Goodreads – Amy Patricia Meade on Goodreads

Waiting on Wednesday #17

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Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking The Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we’re eagerly anticipating.

Super excited for these three books I’m going to be sharing to you. Two are fantastical in nature while the other tackles family drama. Hope you include these in your wishlists for 2013 (I know it sounds too far off into the future..hehe) :)

The Art of Wishing
By Lindsay Ribar
Format: Hardcover
No. of Pages: 314
Release Date: March 21st 2013
Publisher: Dial Books For Young Readers

The Art of Wishing by Lindsay Ribar

SUMMARY: Margo McKenna has a plan of attack for everything, from landing the part she wants in her high school musical to dealing with her increasingly absent parents. But when she finds herself in possession of a genie’s ring and the opportunity to make three wishes, she doesn’t know what to do. Especially since Oliver – not blue-skinned, not bottle-dwelling, but a genie nonetheless – can see more than what she’s willing to show him. With one peek into her mind, he can see the wishes that even Margo herself doesn’t know she wants.

But Oliver comes with more than just mind-reading abilities, a flair for magic, and the prettiest eyes Margo’s ever seen. Someone from his past is hunting him – someone bent on killing him, along with all the other genies in the world, for the sake of honor. And as Margo soon discovers, it will take more than three wishes to save him.

A whole lot more.

Genies are like super cool. I miss Aladdin’s gang so this will surely make up for it. Did I mention that I luuuuvvvee that effin’ cool cover? :D

The Nightmare Affair
By Mindee Arnett
Format: Hardcover
No. of Pages: 352
Release Date: March 5th 2013
Publisher: Tor Teen

The Nightmare Affair by Mindee Arnett

SUMMARY: 16-year-old Dusty Everhart breaks into houses late at night, but not because she’s a criminal. No, she’s a Nightmare. Literally. Dusty is a magical being who feeds on human dreams.

Being the only Nightmare at Arkwell Academy, a boarding school for magickind, and living in the shadow of her mother’s infamy is hard enough. But when Dusty sneaks into Eli Booker’s house, things get a whole lot more complicated. He’s hot, which means sitting on his chest and invading his dreams couldn’t get much more embarrassing. But it does. Eli is dreaming of a murder. The setting is Arkwell.

And then it comes true.

Now the Dusty has to follow the clues–both within Eli’s dreams and out of them–to stop the killer before more people turn up dead. And before the killer learns what she’s up to and marks her as the next target.

So can’t wait for this one. The cover + blurb got me when I first saw this on Natalia’s Dazzling Reads blog; and then I knew I would have this on my WoW. Plus, that girl’s just got great taste in books so. :D

The Reece Malcolm List
By Amy Spalding
Format: Paperback
Release Date: February 2013
Publisher: Entangled Teen

The Reece Malcolm List by Amy Spalding

SUMMARY: Things I know about Reece Malcolm:

  1. She graduated from New York University.
  2. She lives in or near Los Angeles.
  3. Since her first novel was released, she’s been on the New York Times bestseller list every week.
  4. She likes strong coffee and bourbon.
  5. She’s my mother.

Devan knows very little about Reece Malcolm, until the day her father dies and she’s shipped off to live with the mother she’s never met. All she has is a list of notebook entries that doesn’t add up to much.

L.A. offers a whole new world to Devan—a performing arts school allows her to pursue her passion for show choir and musicals, a new circle of friends helps to draw her out of her shell, and an intriguing boy opens up possibilities for her first love.

But then the Reece Malcolm list gets a surprising new entry. Now that Devan is so close to having it all, can she handle the possibility of losing everything?

I don’t usually go for drama as I like reading books to escape (hence my penchant for fantasy, adventure, magic, etc.). But I think I’m going to like this one a lot lot lot. :D

Seriously, why did these books have to be published in 2013? Can’t they manage to get these released this year? Agh. Would really love to read these. I mean the world might end anytime now so wouldn’t it be cool to have one last reading extravaganza before that? :D

Oops. Where are my manners? I forgot to ask you what you’re waiting for this Wednesday. Leave me some comments so I can visit your blog. ;)

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For this week, I’m visiting the following blogs:


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Image is a property of the authors and the publisher. All rights reserved.
NOTE: NEW BOOK/S featured means my first time to see/meet/hear of the titles being featured. :)

Mystery Monday #2: The Ghost and Mrs. McClure

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I know it took me a long time to produce a follow-up to my Mystery Monday #1: Secondhand Spirits post and I apologize for that. But here’s post no. 2 and hope you’ll like it as much as you did post. no. 1. :)

The Ghost and Mrs. McClure by Alice Kimberly

The first novel in this “hauntingly good” cozy mystery series by the hubby and wife writing tandem of Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi, under the pen name Alice Kimberly, has introduced us to Penelope “Pen” Thornton-McClure, co-owner of Buy the Book, a quaint bookstore in an even quainter town of Quindicott, Rhode Island. Pen is a single mom eager to make a new life for her and her seven-year old son Spencer back in her hometown after witnessing her husband’s suicide and leaving her publishing job in NYC and her late husband’s elitist family.

But going back to Quindicott is no picnic in the park. The bookstore needed immediate renovations and inventory problems that had to be sorted. Without much hesitation, Pen cashed in her late husband’s life insurance policy to breathe new life into the bookshop that has been in her family for years. Pen also bought and annexed the “cursed” establishment next door making Buy the Book twice as big with enough room for book-related events that could house a sizable crowd.

And it was during the first affair organized by Pen that the mystery started. Timothy Brennan, author of the famed Jack Shield series, chose Buy the Book as the first stop in his Shield of Justice book tour. It was a calculated move as the spot where Buy the Book’s community center is located was the site of the unsolved murder case involving Jack Shepard, the real life hard-boiled detective for whom the Jack Shield books are modeled after. Tim Brennan had known the real Jack back when he was still a reporter and he wanted to cash in on that notoriety. But Jack Shepard the ghost was not happy. Yup. The infamous PI has been trapped in the premises of the bookstore since 1949 when his life was unfortunately snuffed out before he could crack the case he promised his friend he would solve. Quite baffling how only Pen could hear him in her thoughts even though he had played pranks with the construction workers as the bookstore renovations were going on. What started as a getting-to-know-you between our heroine and our ghostly gumshoe quickly became an unlikely partnership in solving the murder case of Tim Brennan’s untimely demise while promoting his latest opus.

MY VERDICT:
I like it. I like how the book was able to make me feel part of that darling Rhode Island community. Alice Kimberly was keen on painting vivid details so it was quite easy to picture myself going around Buy the Book and the other locations. Unlike other cozies when it was the main character who’s responsible for solving the crime, with the Haunted Bookshop Mystery Series, it’s actually a ghost who aids and ultimately solves the mysteries (I’m on to the third book now). So this kind of premise requires a suspension of belief on the reader’s part for him/her to accept certain circumstances like how Jack and Pen are able to communicate telepathically even if Pen acknowledged herself to be a skeptic about things psychical. But I’m rather imaginative so it wasn’t that hard to believe how a ghost could interact with the living in that singularly peculiar manner.

The only stumbling block maybe for me was Jack’s language that hailed all the way from the 1940’s Americana. English is not my native tongue so I consulted the Kindle Touch’s built-in dictionary more than a few times in order to better understand the context. Some of the slang weren’t even decipherable. But other than that, the book was really fun. The relationship between the MC and the secondary characters were hilariously charming. I sure want to feel that camaraderie again in the next books as I’m planning to read them. But what sold me in on the series is my burning curiosity as to what will become of Jack as the story progresses. Will the mystery behind his death be solved? Or will he remain an immaterial entity longing to have a slice of life that was inopportunely snatched from him? Maybe it’s kind of creepy how I think he and Pen could have something going on but I’m a romantic at heart so I’m hoping (and I’m crossing my fingers on this one) the authors would be able to provide something to satiate my wants for a hot romance between the lovable single mom and the supernatural investigator.

P.S. Read my review of the second book in this series – The Ghost and the Dead Deb on BookTrib:

http://mauiehernando.booktrib.com/reviews/the-ghost-and-the-dead-deb/


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Mystery Monday Logo and Art © The Traveling Reader, 2011. Book cover image © Alice Kimberly and Berkley Prime Crime, New York.

Alice Kimberly is the pseudonym employed by the popular writing couple Marc Cerasini and Alice Alfonsi in penning The Haunted Bookshop Mystery Series. They pair also go by Cleo Coyle in writing the very popular Coffehouse Mystery Series.

You can find out more about this book and the rest of the series on:
Series Info – Haunted Bookshop Mystery Series
Author’s Website – http://www.coffeehousemystery.com/cleos_haunted_bookshop.cfm
Author’s Blog (with other mystery authors) – http://www.mysteryloverskitchen.com/
Twitter – @CleoCoyle
Goodreads – Alice Kimberly on Goodreads