Rox Reads: Slaughter, Bratt, Moriarty, and Burton
- At May 25, 2018
- By Roxanne Snopek
- In Rox Reads, Roxanne Writes On
- 0
Rox reads, oh yes: Karin Slaughter, Kay Bratt, Liane Moriarty, and Mary Burton
Here’s what I’ve been reading lately… what I’ve loved at some point… what might be on sale… take a look.
This is what kept me up late last night. I’m not finished it yet but it’s incredibly engrossing. I like it for the estranged-sisters-reunited theme, as well as the husband-isn’t-who-everyone-thought-he-was trope. It’s also a women-in-jeopardy story that deals the investigation of girls who were kidnapped, raped and murdered, so if that’s not your thing, don’t choose this one. With crimes this bad, the payoff is seeing how the bad guys get punished, so I’m hoping this villain gets his testicles eaten by piranhas.
Currently $2.99 at Amazon.com: Pretty Girls: A Novel
I’m listening to this one in bits and pieces, while walking, as I fall asleep, etc., so my experience is a little disjointed BUT I’m really enjoying it. I bought the e-book and audio-book at the same time, so I’ll likely read it through properly after I finish listening. It’s got a destitute young woman running from her old life (and a beloved twin sister! I love me some sister stories!) toward something as yet undetermined. Along the way she finds a stray dog who joins her journey. That’s pretty much all I need. I’m looking forward to hearing this one unfold.
Currently $4.99 on Amazon.com:Wish Me Home
Okay peeps, I LOVED this story! Now, I’ve loved everything I’ve read by Liane Moriarty so far, so this wasn’t a surprise. Also, I’m fascinated by hypnosis. (I was also watching ALIAS GRACE at the time, and had gotten to the hypnosis part in that series, so it seemed like synchronicity.) It’s a really interesting love story between a widower, his young son, the ex-girlfriend who can’t let him go, and his new fiancée. Funny, poignant and insightful. Now I want to read it again.
Currently $2.99 at Amazon.com:The Hypnotist’s Love Story
I’m been on a thriller/crime kick right lately. This one is pretty good, probably great if you know anything about poker. (I really don’t. I’m the kind of poker player who needs that list of which hands are worth what in front of me while I play.) It’s another women-in-jeopardy story, with a cold case and revenge twist. I bought it on audio also and wasn’t crazy about how the narrator did the male voices.
Currently $1.99 at Amazon.com: The Shark (Forgotten Files Book 1)
That’s it for this week. Happy reading!
-roxanne
The Cure for Shoulder/Neck Pain?
- At May 24, 2018
- By Roxanne Snopek
- In Roxanne Writes On
- 0
Isn’t everyone looking for the cure for shoulder/neck pain?
It’s an occupational hazard for pretty much everyone these days. At some point or another, we all find ourselves at a screen, on a keyboard, looking at a monitor, usually with questionable posture. For writers, it’s especially bad. For writers on deadline, it’s the worst.
I’ve had a lot of deadlines this year. That, followed by some overenthusiastic gardening, has culminated in a nasty, immobilizing pain in my shoulder. Can’t lift my left arm, can’t sleep on my left side, (can’t shut up about it, according to some) all of which makes working at my computer rather dicey. According to the physiotherapist, I’ve got tendon and nerve impingement due to the joint being locked down. Imagine, he said, a vacuum cleaner nozzle sucked up against a wall. Nothing moves until you break the seal. That’s my arm. The good news is, with some easy exercises to open up the joint and get it healing, it’s already feeling better. So that’s this week’s task. Next week, we will rebuild… better… stronger… faster…
But, in the meantime, I’m finally taking action to change up how I work. Over the years, I’ve looked at standing desks of all sorts but none of them seem quite right for my situation, because the bulk of my writing work is done on a laptop. Then today, in a moment of serendipity in Starbucks, my husband and I saw a guy working on this nifty device.
It’s called a Roost Laptop Stand – Adjustable and Portable Laptop Stand – PC and MacBook Stand, Made in USA. The Starbucks guy said it’s changed everything about the way he works, and as he explained, I could see it. Correct neck angle. Correct elbow angle. No spilling coffee on the laptop. 🙂 I came home and ordered one immediately. (The keyboard and trackpad are sold separately so that’s next on my list.)
Has anyone used a system like this? I’d love to hear your experience.
Rox Reads: Parrish, Davis, Mofina, and Small
Rox reads, oh yes! Today she’s discussing books by P.J. Parrish, Justine Davis, Rick Mofina, and Deborah Small
Happy Friday! As you know, I read a lot. A LOT. Here are a few of my latest favorite reads.
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She’s Not There by P.J. Parrish. I enjoyed this one so much, I’m listening to it on audio for a second time now.
They say it’s better to battle the devil you know. But what if you don’t recognize him before it’s too late?
She knows her name is Amelia, but after waking up in a hospital battered and bruised with just the clothes on her back, it’s all she knows. Unable to piece together her shattered memory, she’s haunted by a vision: menacing faces and voices implying her nightmare is far from over.
Relying only on her wits and her will to live, Amelia becomes a fugitive from a mysterious man, and a life she can’t even remember. But the past she’s fleeing has no intention of letting her go.
Whiskey River Rescue by Justine Davis was a delightful treat! It reminded me a bit of an old L.M. Montgomery story called The Blue Castle. Highly recommended!
Still reeling from the unexpected sale of the land she and her horses live on, horse rescuer Kelsey Blaine is frantic when she comes home to find her possessions already boxed up and her house being bulldozed without any notice. Normally calm and kind, Kelsey becomes furious and impulsively cuts a privacy fence to confront the culprit–her mysterious neighbor, Joe.
Joe Kilcoyne is in a desperate place. He guards his secrets and hides from the world for a reason. He’s the hottest topic of speculation around Whiskey River, but no one has ever dared to get close to him. That is, until fiery Kelsey comes barging straight into his life.
The last thing Joe needs is for Kelsey to breach his defenses and make him confront his past. But when her sunny, open, and determined personality collide with a haunted man with no idea how to reconnect with the world, the sparks that ignite shock them both.
Snowfall at Willow Lake (The Lakeshore Chronicles) by Susan Wiggs. This is a wonderful story, with motherhood issues and animals (both my catnip). Loved it!
International lawyer Sophie Bellamy has dedicated her life to helping people in war-torn countries. But when she survives a hostage situation, she remembers what matters most—the children she loves back home. Haunted by regrets, she returns to the idyllic Catskills village of Avalon on the shores of Willow Lake, determined to repair the bonds with her family.
There Sophie discovers the surprising rewards of small-town life—including an unexpected passion for Noah Shepherd, the local veterinarian. Noah has a healing touch for anything with four legs, but he’s never had any luck with women—until Sophie. But Sophie’s heart needs healing…and both she and Noah need a chance at happiness.
Be Mine by Rick Mofina, one of my favorite crime writers. I always stay up too late with Rick’s books!
A personal message written in human blood is left for crime reporter Molly Wilson at the murder scene of her boyfriend, San Francisco Homicide Inspector, Cliff Hooper.
The horrific death of a revered cop shocks the San Francisco Police Department’s Homicide Detail. Shaken to the core, his grieving fellow detectives go flat out to find his killer under the glare of the city’s news media.
And the book I’m currently reading: My Dear One: A Novel by Deborah Small. I started this one last night and I can see I’m going to lose a lot of sleep with it!
Disgraced, and fleeing an arranged marriage, Dianna Marshall sails on the Titanic with a childless couple who offer her sanctuary in exchange for her unborn child. But when the Titanic sinks, taking her benefactor and his fortune with it, Dianna lands on foreign shores, destitute, and facing desperate choices…
Texas rancher Jake Douglas knows heartache. He lost his wife and son and childbirth. So, when his cousin’s widow washes up in New York in the company of an expectant runaway, he does the only thing his conscience will allow…
From a lush green British estate, to the windswept Texas panhandle and gritty streets of turn-of-the-20th-century New York, Dianna and Jake battle fate, family, and a society that continues to deny women independence. They also find love, love tested when Dianna is forced to choose between the life she’s been raised to lead, the child she’s come to love, and the man her heart desires…
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Happy Friday – and happy reading!