Month in Review.

Welcome in, do join me by sharing your link to your look back at this month. I'm looking forward to visiting and seeing what everyone has been up to.  The link will be open for you to share your post whenever you post over the next few days.  Do visit each others' posts.

Oh no! The end of 2015 at our door. Loved my year of reading and very excited to read some of the new books of 2016. 

Not sure how many will do a December review, we seem to be more focused on ending 2015 and starting 2016 - but anyway here goes!

Total books read this month: 17

Audio Books Read:

The Seafront Tearooms   Vanessa Greene  

A Little Love    Amanda Prowse
Playing the Odds Nora Roberts

Ebooks Read

Some Kind of Wonderful   Sarah Morgan Puffin Island #2

Anything For You  Kristan Higgins
The Gamble  Kristen Ashley
Northern Heat   Helene Young
Ransom Canyon   Jodi Thomas
Burn For Me     Ilona Andrews

Paperbacks Read
Where Azaleas  Bloom  Sherryl Woods
Queen of the Road   Tricia Stringer
West of Pecos  Zane Grey
Innocent in Death  J. D. Robb
A Beautiful Lie   Diane Chamberlain
Creation in Death   J D Robb
It's You   Jane Porter
A Perfect Proposal   Katie Fforde


New to me authors.

Amanda Prowse
Kate Fforde
Ilona Andrews

Top Book for December

Incoming Books.

Paperback Books Purchased: 
Between Sisters   Cathy Kelly
Tamar                  Deborah Challinor  (NZ author)
White Feathers    Deborah Challinor
Blue Smoke         Deborah Challinor


E Books Purchased:
None

Books from Hachette NZ
The Raging Light   Estelle Laure
Gift From Helen @ Hachette NZ
Strangers in Death    J D Robb

Books coming from NetGalley or Edelweiss
A Drop in the Ocean   Jenni Ogden   Debut novel - NZ author.
Missing Pieces            Heather Gudenkauf
Dear Thing                  Julie Cohen
Three Promises           Lily Everett
Hearth Song                Lois Greiman

Another Love   Amanda Prowse
What We Find           Robyn Carr    

Audio Books 
Bought 4 extra audio books in their December sale
The MacGregors: Nora Roberts.
Playing the Odds #1
Tempting Fate  #2
All the Possibilities #3
(Will be nostalgic listen, have read some of these so want to go through series in order!
The Perfect Son Barbara Claypole White
Okay I've read this one, was one of my favourites for 2015, but at $3.88 in the sale, I had to have it!

Used a Credit for:
Falling Home    Karen White

Pre-Ordered

None.

Book Spending 
About $78 N.Z. which would be about $54 U.S. Doesn't include those on sale audiobooks so a little more than that actually. So more like $100 N.Z. now that I think about it!

So how did your reading month pan out?

Reflecting on 2015 Books

Well 2015 has been a great reading year for me and in a way its difficult to pick out books read this year that were my favourites - so many. Giving honourable mention to the ones below, but they in no way exhaust the list! About 208 books read altogether.

Five Top Books:

Five Top Audio Books:

Five  Debut Novels I Enjoyed:

Five New to me Authors I Enjoyed:

Ten Authors I Continue to Delight in and loved in 2015:

Such a great year of reading and I haven't mentioned even some of my other favourites by squeezing them in somewhere!

Thank you to all the reading bloggers that have expanded my list of authors I enjoy and want to read more from. Anticipating all the good books that 2016 will bring.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog   and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join them!

Hope you all had a great Christmas. We had a wonderful family day, mid 20's C weather which was perfect. Many of us were outside in the evening until Mr 2 year old worked out how to aim his water gun and we were chased inside by 8pm! 

I see many of you had a warm Christmas, not the snow around that is there usually. One of my sisters was in England with her English hubby for Christmas but her hope of a white Christmas was dashed. A nephew and his wife who went to Norway for it were the only ones who got that.

I managed my fitreaders walking goal - just, for the week. Christmas Day I did walk, but you know Boxing Day... I was a bit weary! Read a book instead.

                                                         

What I read last week:

It's You by Jane Porter 4.5 stars. I really liked It's You and it was interesting to read the story of Germany in the war from a similar viewpoint to a couple of other books I have read this year.

I often just stopped to reflect and think as I read. Short sentences that just called out to be pondered. I liked the journey of Ali from a place of deep grief to a place where she could choose to live, to hope. to love and embrace a future that holds promise.
I liked the community and friendship she found in Napa and the small update about Meg from The Good Woman in Jane Porter's Brennan Sisters series.

A Perfect Proposal by Kate Fforde was a light romantic book that was the perfect foil as I read it straight after The Things We Keep which had kinda gutted me!

Playing the Odds - an audiobook for nostalgic purposes. Love NR older romances about families.

What I am reading at present:

Up next:

Possible Burn For Me by Ilona Andrews 

and then...

1st Book of 2016.

Posts From Last Week:

Northern Heat   Helene Young
Some Kind of Wonderful       Sarah Morgan

Northern Heat. Helene Young

Northern Heat
Helene Young
Published: Penguin Australia
Date: May 2015
Format: Kindle
Pages: 368
Genre: Romantic suspense
Source: Own book

In steamy northern Queensland, Conor is living under an assumed name and rebuilding his shattered life. Working at Cooktown's youth centre has given him the chance to make a difference again, and a chance to flirt with Dr Kristy Dark.

After tragedy tore her family apart, Kristy fled to Cooktown with her feisty teenage daughter, Abby. She hoped being part of the small community would help them both heal, but Abby's sports coach is turning out to be a compelling distraction.

When a severe cyclone menaces the coast, threatening to destroy everything in its path, tensions come to a head – and the weather is not the only danger in Cooktown. Cut off from the world and with her life on the line, Kristy will have to summon her courage and place her trust in Conor, or they'll both lose someone they love.

Northern Heat is a fantastic romantic suspense novel set in the eastern coast of Australia above Cairns. Having read Safe Harbour, a previous book by Helene Young I guessed it was going to be action packed. I also surmised that characters could die, because Helene Young doesn't seem to hold back when it comes to the seamier side of life.

I enjoyed this novel very much. Kristy is a local doctor and has a daughter Abby who is in early adolescence and has those problems that go along with that age. Was a little surprised to see Kristy just let one issue ride, but perhaps wiser than  I know!

Conor we met in Safe Harbour so it was great to carry on his story, if you haven't read that one it doesn't matter too much as Helene Young does give you enough to either help you take up this book, or in my case just gives that jog to memory that helps a reader remember. Loved Conor and his part in this story, if he is trying to atone for previous mistakes he has paid in full to my way of thinking.

Action packed and yes there are baddies, most likely you could give that a capital B! Does anyone die you'll have to read the book for yourself to check that out. One of the baddies has a wife who is also friendly with Kristy and there is a daughter who is a good friend of Abby.    There is a domestic violence situation in this family that is echoed in Kristy's life in the past. It is partly what draws Kristy and Freya together. Tension! Tension!

The description of the local setting and the weather in a cyclone is detailed and really adds authenticity and drama to the story. All in all it is  fast paced, has fully fledged characters and issues that just pull you in. Loved the action of the cavalry in one of those last showdown moments. A fitting end to someone!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.  It's a great post to organise yourself. It's an opportunity to visit and comment, and er... add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome in everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog   and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

Jen Vincent, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee of Unleashing Readers decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join them!

So have you thought yet of the first book of the year that you are going to read? This week I made my choice - led of course by my heart and intuition on which was the right one. Actually it surprised me!

So if you'd like to join in head on over to Sheila at Book Journey to let her know. The badge below will take you off to Book Journey if you click on it.

My reading has slowed a bit for December. I have only had a couple of review books to read and mostly I have been reading my own. And not very fast. However review books are filling up for the first quarter of next year. To say nothing of my overflowing bookcase waiting to be read.

May you all enjoy your Christmas break with family and friends as I intend to do.                                                         

What I read last week:

What I am reading at present:

Still listening to:

Enjoying it - a little mystery, a little drama, a little romance - set in England - heroine in her sixties and narrated extremely well. Amanda Prowse is a new author to me but just seen one by her on NetGalley so I requested it.

This is one on my Kindle that I won earlier in the year from The Eclectic Reader, so as the year winds down and no review books staring me in the face - its time has arrived!

Up next:

It's You by Jane Porter.

Posts from the last week:

The Ones We Trust by Kimberley Belle
Fitreaders
And various challenges! Just about done now, except for one I want to look at when and if it happens.