Where I've Been and Direction of the Blog

Wow, it had been awhile before I published the review earlier today.  There are multiple reasons for my absence.  One I haven't been reading as much.  Two, life has been really busy this summer.  And finally three, I think I'm just burned out with blogging. 

So what's next?  I plan on keeping the blog and will do tours/books I really, really want to read but for awhile I am going to read what I want to read and get back to the spirit of my blog when I started it.  I think most reviewers go through this and I may be back in less than a month reviewing books like crazy but for now, it will just be the books I read. 

I have stacks of books now where I couldn't get to half of what was sent to me.  I have my own bookshelves that are full, a Kindle that is full and I have a wonderful library full of books that I want to read and can never get to anymore.  So it's time to read for me, catch up on some old reviews, do a few select reviews and just find the joy in reading again.  I'm sure some of you have felt the same way.

And summer may pass and time at our beloved Cape will come to a close and cool nights will ensue and I am sure I will be voraciously reading again.  But for now I'm trying to refeed my passion with Goblet of Fire and finish working my way through the Harry Potter books.  As I started the book last night I remembered why I love this series and I was sad I didn't have time to finish it.  Now I will.  And hopefully that will rekindle the love and I'll be back full-time.

If you have comments on how you have gotten out of a reading/blogging slump, please feel free to leave them.  I would love to hear from you as I always do.

I may also pick up some memes again just to get the blogging mojo going again so don't count me out yet.  As I am writing this I am feeling some of the mojo returning.  I have loved this blog for four years and hope to continue it more.

Have a great week everyone!

Book Review: Lie Still by Julia Heaberlin

Lie Still by Julia Heaberlin
Publisher: Bantam
Publish Date: July 2, 2013
Paperback, 384 pages
ISBN:  9780345527042





My Review:

I really enjoyed this book to a certain extent. It was exciting, it had interesting characters in the way of Desperate Housewives and it had a good suspense plot going for it. But one thing let me down, the ending. So let me explain.

I liked Emily and I cared about her and her husband. The book jumps right into her association with Caroline and the members of her group and the small southern town dynamic. Full of disfunctional women, the book was amusing in a dark way. And then bam there is the mystery, which I enjoyed. Enter pregnant Emily trying to get to the bottom of things when she herself is being harassed. Is it the same person perpetrating the crime of the book or is it someone else. Ms. Heaberlin does an excellent job of weaving the plot together, going back and forth in time some to fill in the blanks. Emily feels like an unreliable narrator, as do any of the women she is involved with, but is she? That was the fun of the book, getting to know Emily and trying to figure out truth from lies. I love books like this.

And then came the ending, and maybe not the ending, but the last few pages of the book. Things tied up nicely, I was surprised as I hoped I would be but then the last few pages left me feeling like "what the heck?" I honestly think I missed something or need to go back and read it again. It's not a major thing because like I said everything was tied up well. I was just a little lost with what I believe was the Epilogue.

But overall I thoroughly enjoyed this book and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to people who like southern novels where all is not what it seems. It's very enjoyable, moves at a fast pace and has characters that were interesting and had me continually turning the page. So give it a try and if you figure out the ending please message me. :)

My  Rating: 4.0/5.0

About the Book:
 In the tradition of Lisa Unger’s Beautiful Lies and Nancy Pickard’s The Scent of Rain and Lightning comes a twisting, riveting novel of shifting trust and shattered lives. Lie Still delves deep into the heart of an opulent Southern town, where gossip is currency and secrets kill.

When Emily Page and her husband move from Manhattan to the wealthy enclave of Clairmont, Texas, she hopes she can finally escape her haunted past—and outrun the nameless stalker who has been taunting her for years. Pregnant with her first child, Emily just wants to start over. But as she is drawn into a nest of secretive Texas women—and into the unnerving company of their queen, Caroline Warwick—Emily finds that acceptance is a very dangerous game.

It isn’t long before Caroline mysteriously disappears and Emily is facing a rash of anonymous threats. Are they linked to the missing Caroline? Or to Emily’s terrifying encounter in college, years earlier? As the dark truth about Caroline emerges, Emily realizes that some secrets are impossible to hide—and that whoever came for Caroline is now coming for her.

***I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.  I was not compensated in any other way except receiving the book for free.  ***