Month: May 2017

Big Little Lies on BTT and Thursday Quotables

Greetings! Iv’e been a bit lazy with the weekly features the past couple of weeks. But at least I can honestly say I’ve spend that time reading. Mostly. Okay, about half of that time. Let’s make it a third and call it quits.  Seeing that it’s a freebie day on Book Traveling Thursdays, I can wallow in my laziness and just combine this week’s BTT with Thursday Quotables hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies. I haven’t binge read in ages, so last week Saturday was like going for coffee with a near and dear friend who you haven’t spend time with in some time. And I am so glad to report that I’ve spend some real quality time with these lovely friends: Know these ladies? By now – who doesn’t? It’s just me who came a bit late to the party. Or in this case, the trivia night.   Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty was first published in July 2014. This was the original cover: I actually have no idea what was the cover that first appeared in South Africa, but I do know that the following one is currently easily available in all major and minor bookstores in SA: Yup, it’s my coffee friends once […]

Posted May 25, 2017
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How We Found You by J.T. Lawrence

Title: How We Found YouAuthor: J.T. LawrenceSeries: When tomorrow calls (Book 2)Publication date: 18 May 2017 (Today!!! Launch day is TODAY!!)Read: May 11 – 18, 2015Genre: Thriller; Science Fiction (Futuristic)Mareli’s rating: 4 StarsRecommend to: Have you read Why you were taken? Description: There’s something different about Kate’s four-year-old son. He wasn’t created the old fashioned way. Now a violent cult wants him dead and Kate will do anything to protect him – until they take her daughter. In tomorrow’s world, Kate is haunted by a brutal past. Struggling to navigate a life that seems like an experiment in virtual reality, her paranoia threatens to consume her. But when someone tries to kidnap Mally, she realizes she was absolutely right to be afraid. With only hours to go before the cult’s prophecy is to be fulfilled, Kate and Seth face more danger than they’ve ever imagined, desperate to keep him safe. However, the charismatic leader of the cult has other ideas, which puts Kate in an impossible position. Who will she choose to live, and who will she have to sacrifice? Amazon Browsing through my Goodreads Read Shelf, I came to realize that I haven’t read a series back to back in years. Oh what bliss, what a thrill – how […]

Posted May 18, 2017
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TTT: "Bring me her heart!" said every Stepmom in history

Ever since The Evil Queen uttered those damning words, we have all been terrified of Stepmoms. I for one, was much more afraid of The Evil Queen than I was of the Devil in the Children’s Bible. No jokes. I didn’t get to celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday. But I do have a number of wonderful friends who all got to spend the day with their children. Some of those friends are stepmoms or a stepmom-to-be real soon. When I saw today’s theme for Top Ten Tuesday (Mother’s Day Related), I immediately thought of my dearest stepmom friends. Are they all evil? I honestly don’t think so.  But yes, I do believe their only request is: “Bring me her/his heart!”. Maybe just not literally all the time. Sometimes they really just want to capture their stepchildren’s hearts.Thankfully Literature, the wisest of all, agrees with me. Let’s have a look at a few notable Stepmoms in literature:   1. Jess Thomas in the The One Plus One. Jess is one of my favorite characters in literature and if if wasn’t for Louisa Clark, she might have been my favorite Jojo Moyes character. Imagine you marry a guy with a kid and after a few years that bastard […]

Posted May 16, 2017
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Friday Meets – 12 May 2017

My goodness – it’s Friday again. Time sure flies lately, but are we having fun? As long as there’s a book lying on your bedside table and a kindle in your bag, of course we are! Meet me on Friday @ Friday 56 for a bit of Book Blogger Hop to kick-start the weekend with Book Beginnings. Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice. For this date, you will need the following: Grab a book (Yes, any book. But it might get you to your other Friday activities a bit quicker if you just grab the book you are currently reading) Turn to page 56 or 56% on your e-reader Find a sentence or two (your other Friday activities might determine this) Post it! Remember to post your link on Freda’s Voice and to visit the other guys in the linky. And don’t forget to list the title of the book and the author as well. A couple of weeks ago, I featured a South African book, Why you were taken by J.T. Lawrence. Man, you need to read that book. One word. Awesome. And the best part of all is that the second book in the series, How we found you, will be released next week!  56%: “All of those in agreement that the accused, […]

Posted May 12, 2017
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Misverstand deur Marita van der Vyver

Titel: MisverstandSkrywer: Marita van der VyverUitgewer: Penguin Random House SAPublikasie datum: Maart 2017Bladsye: 270 (sagteband)My gradering: 2 SterreBeveel aan vir lesers van: Marita van der Vyver (dis nie ‘n genre nie, ek weet, maar dit is ‘n onmisbare stem). As jy worstel met die vraag, Wroeg jy met jou middelmatigheid? Kort opsomming: Willem Prins bewandel die strate van Parys. Eens was hy op koers om ’n gerekende skrywer in Suid-Afrika te word, maar na jare se probeer wink die koue water van die Seine – miskien sal sy verdrinking sy boekverkope bietjie opstoot, dink ’n swartgallige Willem.Tot sy skaamte is dit die erotika wat hy onder ’n skuilnaam skryf wat hom na Frankryk gebring het. Terug na die stad waar een van sy drie eksvroue saam met sy oudste seun woon, ’n jong man wat sy pa skaars ken.Vir Willem is Parys nie juis die stad van liefde nie, maar dit is hier waar hy vir Jackie ontmoet, ’n jong Suid-Afrikaner wat as au pair werk. Dit is ook sy wat saam met hom is dié Vrydagaand die dertiende toe terreur in Parys losbars.Misverstand is die dertiende roman van een van Suid-Afrika se gewildste skrywers. ’n Roman oor die ontnugtering van die middeljare, die lewe se onweerswolke wat dikwels dreig, en oor bande tussen […]

Posted May 11, 2017
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Why you were taken by J.T. Lawrence

Title: Why You Were TakenAuthor: J.T. LawrencePublished by: Pulp BooksPublication date: 29 March 2015Read: April 25 – April 30, 2015Genre: Thriller; Science Fiction (Futuristic)Pages: 358ISBN:  9780620655583Mareli’s rating: 3.5 starsRecommend to: Sci-fi junkies who love the thrill of something “different”. J.T. Lawrence’s fan-club (this woman can write!)Description: In tomorrow’s world prowls a creative and ruthlessly efficient assassin who won’t stop until Kirsten is killed. A troubled woman approaches Kirsten with a warning and a key and is later found dead. Was the woman just another victim of the Suicide Contagion or is there something more sinister at play? The key leads Kirsten to the Doomsday Vault and a hit list of seven people – and her barcode is on it. Edgy and original, Why You Were Taken is a dark cinematic thriller that will keep you guessing till the last page. Goodreads  Nah, that blurb just doesn’t do enough justice to this book. Let’s try this one: Jo’burg city is shimmering with a bitterbright tension, the perfect playground for a scarred, creative, and extremely efficient assassin. Kirsten is a roaming, restless synaesthete: an awarded photographer with bad habits and a fertility problem. Her life has been defined by what she calls her ‘Black Hole’: a painful hollow feeling where her heart […]

Posted May 7, 2017
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Library Card May 2017

Greetings! Another month has passed and it’s been a rather hectic time at the new house. Renovations and alterations and gardening and all those housy thingies that keep you from reading and blogging. So when the looong weekend in SA finally arrived on Thursday, I was all excited to just relax and take it easy.  I actually had a number of posts planned and all the books from April’s Library Card lined up for completion. Alas…. Maybe this house is haunted. It keeps beckoning to me. It keeps pulling me away from the books…..   Nah. Or at least I don’t think so. I love my new house. Nothing weird here. Or scary.  I’m just making excuses for not completing my Library List. But let’s have a quick look at what I did finish in April:     Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye Review Don’t tell anyone by Eleanor Gray Review Why you were taken by J.T. Lawrence – Review to follow *Afrikaans* Misverstand deur Marita van der Vyver – Resensie volg Stacking the Shelves in April:  I’ve had my eye on the weekly feature, Stacking the shelves, hosted by Tynga’s Reviews for quite some time. I’ve decided to incorporate it with my Library Card.Because that is exactly […]

Posted May 1, 2017
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