June 2015 Wrap Up

This month started out with me thinking I was going to finish one in May, but I didn't manage to. I got to within 3 hours (haha love Kindle's timer thing), but then don't read on Sunday mornings.

For the month of June, I read 4 books. Yeah this month was apparently not a good reading month. I got distracted with other things and just not sticking to my own reading procedures that I set out for myself. Way to not stick with something me....oh well.

Book #1: Odin's Child by Bruce MacBain

An old grudge erupts into violence as Odd Tangle-Hair refuses to back down from the men he believes shamed his father and betrayed their heritage by turning away from the old gods in favor of the White Christ. But when the violence escalates and Odd's family bears the brunt of it, he must leave his beloved Iceland behind and find his own way in the world.The golden age of Viking conquest is fading when he takes to the seas, buthis journey is full of adventures, and he meets priests and politicians as well as many unscrupulous men all too eager to take advantage of a young man abroad for the first time.Beautifully written, impeccably researched, and deeply rooted within the oral tradition of story telling, Bruce Macbain has woven an evocative saga that will sweep readers into the past and plant them firmly in Odd's rapidly changing world.

Got this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review. Odd Tangle-Hair is a young man who falls into a great deal of misfortune. He uses his wits to get himself and his friends out of the trouble they find themselves in.

Throughout the book he loses friends nearly as fast as he gains them. He doe0D1514sn't seem to mind much as he, much like his father before him, has sworn off actually having friends at all.

Book #2: The House Guest by Rosa Sophia

An envelope addressed to Katherine Maslin stood out among the pile of bills. It is her notice from an attorney… the rights to her grandparents’ farmhouse and adjacent property. She believes that a change will rid her of the strange dreams she’s been having, wherein an oddly familiar woman visits her, begging for her help. But when Kat realizes that the woman in her dream is her dead grandmother, she begins to have doubts about moving to the farm. Rumors and nightmarish tales fill her mind, stories of the five men who lost their lives in the late 1950s to a heartless murderer. A man had been convicted, but was he the one the police had been looking for, or had he been framed? Kat is thrown backwards through time on a journey to discover a terrible truth. The ghost of her grandmother is always one step ahead of her, leading the way. But will she find the killer before he finds her? 

This book was originally published in 2010 as Taking 1960. I received a copy from Ms. Sophia in return for an honest review, which I posted, so I'm not going to go into detail here what it was about. It was a great read that I would suggest to anybody and everybody!

Book #3: Bender by M. Stratton

Since high school everyone thought Jake Bender would end up behind bars; after all, he comes from a long line of bad boys. He spent years away from the place he called home. When he finally comes back, everyone thinks he's just a punk kid all grown up who’s now running a dive bar called The Night Club. What they don't know is he heads up a special task force, which cleans up neighborhoods and makes them safe again. Stormy Ryan has always felt more comfortable with her books than with people. She loves to spend her days within the pages of her books. When her second-hand bookstore is robbed for the third time in as many months, her employees quit leaving her to run the shop on her own. With the pressure of having to deal with her shop and people, not to mention the declining neighborhood, she is at the end of her rope. 

I got this book as part of a Facebook group I'm in. Every three weeks or so they have a poll to choose a book to read then 25 lucky winners will get a copy of that book to read and talk about in the group. I was one of the winners for the first book. Bender has always been the tough guy, the guy no one expected would live. I almost cheered (in a very public place) when some stuff happened. I rated this book a 5/5 stars because it was awesome!!

Book #4: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

I tried. Really I did. I finished it, but as fast as I got information in....information slid right back out of my head. Apparently I just cannot listen to audio books. I found it on YouTube and thought it was a great idea. So I can work on other things and still get my books in for the day. I don't think I could tell you the plot of this if I wanted. I will have to re-read a real book copy.