# Books Recommended by our Members (April 2012)



## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

For the list of recommendations in March 2012, look here:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,105624.0.html

If you are an author or publisher, please do not 'recommend' your own books. Instead you may start a discussion/promotion thread in the Book Bazaar.

Generally, this thread is for quick recommendations. You know, you're sitting with a friend at dinner and you say, "Hey, I just finished this book and I think you would love it!" That kind of thing.

If you've got a book review or other site and would like to regularly share reviews with us, we invite you to start a thread in the Book Bazaar for your site and periodically post links to reviews, subject to our posting rules for authors and bloggers.

Also, please use generic links, or, even better, the Link-Maker to make KindleBoards affiliate links. But please do not link through another site.

Please see Forum Decorum for guidelines.


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## djgross (May 24, 2011)

A riveting suspense from a debut author 

Kate Moore has kept a big secret from her husband and kids - she is a former CIA assassin turned analyst. When her husband is offered a lucrative job with a bank in Luxembourg, she resigns from the agency and reinvents herself as an expat housewife. After a new American couple joins their circle of friends, Kate becomes suspicious that these people are not who they say they are. Terrified that her past is catching up with her, Kate begins to dig - uncovering layers of deception surrounding her. The plot twists kept coming


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

This looks like a pretty good desk reference for authors or anyone who writes: Wommack's Vocabulary+ Buffet: Vocabulary, Word Usage, Pronunciation, Foreign Phrases, Confusing Words, Quotations, Poems, Nursery Rhymes, Great Artists, Architects, Architecture, Classic Books.


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## Flowers4you (Apr 3, 2012)

I'm probably disclosing my age lol but a great read is:

Sarah of the Moon by Randy Mixter. It takes place in L.A. and really depicts the hippie era down to a tee.


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## Vukovina (Mar 30, 2012)

If you want to re-discover someone, try Leonard Merrick-and especially _Conard in Quest of His Youth_. It's a beautiful and beautifully-written 1903 novel about love, theatre and the sin of always looking back.


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## Flowers4you (Apr 3, 2012)

Eve Lopez wrote an amazing coming of age novel that I fell in love with. The book read like a diary even though it was fiction. I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't real. The main character named Lucy will stay in my heart forever. You can do the look inside feature on Amazon to see what I mean. It's called Sex, Drugs, and Psychiatric wards. It's the best coming of age book I've ever read. It's honest, it's raw, and very real.

http://www.amazon.com/Sex-Drugs-Psychiatric-Wards-ebook/dp/B007IJO98K/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1333500372&sr=8-2


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## JETaylor (Jan 25, 2011)

I read this last year and at first I thought it was another submission to the e-zine I work for - and I was so bummed to realize it was already published. Great twists and turns in this fantasy.


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

Better Off Without Him, by Dee Ernst.



I don't normally read chick lit, but this one was different; you could also call it a romantic comedy. What I liked was that Ms. Ernst obviously has lived in NJ for quite awhile and made a number of mentions that had me nodding my head ("I know that place!"); that the protag isn't the usual 20-something of most chick lit, but is a 40 year old who could give a fig about her shoes or anything else fashionable (unless she's going to a nice restaurant ); that she's married (gasp!) with three daughter (double gasp!). To be honest, I usually don't read chick lit, but this one was recommended by so many people and it takes place in my home state, so how could I pass that up.

I didn't. This is one absolutely hilarious story that almost anyone could get into.


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

I have a couple actually that I recently read by indie authors that I really enjoyed, a little of something for everyone. 

The first one if Legacy of the Highlands by Harriet Schultz. It is a little bit of a Mystery/Contemporary Romance. It is very well written and will keep you turning the pages.



The next is an Urban Fantasy by M. Terry Green, also really well written. It is part of a series and when I finished the first book, I had to immediately start the second. I loved them!



And last a YA Paranormal story by Jennifer Krey. I also really enjoyed this one and it too was very well written and just a fun read.


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## D.A. Boulter (Jun 11, 2010)

Two Fantasy books I've just finished reading.



A great tongue-in-cheek Fantasy. It has humour, but it is no parody. It's still fantasy, but with a twist or two. Great fun and a good read.



Another great read, aimed at the YA market, but which I enjoyed anyway.

Both these books cost me sleep as well as the $0.99 I paid for them. In both cases I didn't mind the cost--they were well worth more money and, hey, I can sleep in some other morning.


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## ericbenson81 (Mar 29, 2012)

djgross said:


> A riveting suspense from a debut author
> 
> Kate Moore has kept a big secret from her husband and kids - she is a former CIA assassin turned analyst. When her husband is offered a lucrative job with a bank in Luxembourg, she resigns from the agency and reinvents herself as an expat housewife. After a new American couple joins their circle of friends, Kate becomes suspicious that these people are not who they say they are. Terrified that her past is catching up with her, Kate begins to dig - uncovering layers of deception surrounding her. The plot twists kept coming


I just read this. I really enjoyed it. It took me one afternoon to finish it.


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## Suz Ferrell (Jan 29, 2012)

Just finished *Savage Awakening* by JD Tyler. It's the second full length book in her paranormal romance sereies, The Alpha Pack. Lots of interesting characters in the Pack, not to mention a growing "end of the world as we know it" over reaching arc! Tyler writes sexy men better than anyone I know and the heroine in SA keeps the hero Aric Savage on his toes!


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## intinst (Dec 23, 2008)

Savage Awakening by JD Tyler


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## nigel p bird (Feb 4, 2011)

Senseless by Stona Fitch.  

Existential. Kafkaesque. Great read.  I'll be thinking about this for years to come.

Wow.


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## nigel p bird (Feb 4, 2011)

Murder Mile - by Tony 'The New' Black http://www.amazon.com/Murder-Mile-Rob-Brennan-ebook/dp/B007Q27X4G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334227454&sr=8-1

Short version - the second book about DI Rob Brennan, a great new addition to the world of the Scottish Police Prodedural.

Long one?

Last year I had the pleasure of being introduced to DI Rob Brennan, the new kid on the block for Scottish police fiction. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him and was left looking forward to the next time we'd meet.
I bumped into Rob again earlier this week in the new book Murder Mile.
He looked well, at least in the circumstances. Tough, dogged, passionate about the job and not about to suck up to anybody for any reason is how I found him - no change there.
He's working another case. That of a psychopath in Edinburgh. A real nutter who delights in mutilation of young women.
Kicked out of the house by his wife, missing his daughter and having had to break the news of a new death to a young woman's parents might be things he takes in his stride, but I think I know him well enough to see him buckling under the pressure no matter how philosophical he tries to be.
And hell, I don't envy the office politics in his place; I thought my school was bad, but it has nothing on the police station, not even close. Seems the economic crisis is hitting the boys in blue as much as everyone else. So I told him, get the best you can to do the job, the bean-counters can go and play with their chick peas while you set about solving the case.
Now I happen to know that there's a pimping ex-con with only the one prostitute in his team, and she's past her sell-by-date even though she's only a young-un. Drugs, you see. They'll do that to some people. Anyway, this guy has some information on the killer and is thinking about earning a little money to pay off a loan-shark - which means he has to be pretty desperate if you ask me.
I'd tell the DI, but I know he likes to work these things out for himself.
All in all, it was a whirlwind of a meeting.
Brennan's nothing but stoical. He's doing the usual thorough search and he's not going to let it go. Dog with a bone that guy, with sharp teeth to go with it.
I'm really glad that I caught up with him again. 
I reckon you'd like to meet him too. Will it matter that you didn't get to know him on his last case? I don't think so. I know him better now, but I would have loved him while he works the Murder Mile even if I'd never set eyes on him before. When he tells you stories, they stand alone with a lot of strength, so don't worry on that score. 
If you've already been there, then you're in for a similar treat. There might be a little of the 'deja vu', but that's only because you're like old friends already.
I'm hoping we'll get together again next year. Hard to guess whether he'll have been thrown out of the force by then, or got sick of that politics or whether he'll be on the way back from another 'break'. Who knows? Only time will tell.
Till then, DI, good luck with catching that lunatic. Make sure our kids our safe on the streets. Bless you for that, sir. Bless you.


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## TerryS (Mar 29, 2011)

I'm Reading 

Well written and interesting twists.


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## Jedidiah (Mar 7, 2012)

I just finished Island Shifters (An Oath of the Blood) by Zambito and I really enjoyed it. If you want a great fantasy novel then you will not be dissapointed. I thought it was great.


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## Michael Drysdale (Feb 21, 2012)

I've just finished Before I Go To Sleep, by SJ Watson.

The story is about Christine who suffers from such an extreme amnesia that she has no memories of her past every time she wakes up. The terrifying nature of this illness is well described, for example waking up with a stranger in your bed, whom you only later find out is your husband. The tension is increased further when, by means of a daily journal that Christine secretly keeps, she finds she cannot trust her husband. The tension is eased a bit when she finds out there is a reasonable explanation for her husband’s behaviour. But then she discovers something new which again causes her to mistrust her husband again, only to later find another explanation.  Much of the book describes these swings between suspicion and trust.

Although I found out a bit more about Christine’s past life every time she woke up, I did find the middle part of the book a little slow and a bit repetitive as Christine’s feelings on waking up are described.  

Up to about four fifths of the book I would have described it as good but not very good. But in the last fifth of the book events take a different turn and the tension really ratchets up and it gets quite scary. The ending is very good and takes the book from four to five star standard.


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## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS by Vanessa Diffenbaugh is gorgeous and compelling and heartbreaking -- everything I love in a book. I couldn't believe how much was woven into it. The foster care system, the Victorian language of flowers, San Francisco, winemaking... *swoon* Definitely one of my favorite reads of the year.


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## Deatri King-Bey (Mar 7, 2012)

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the boards, so if I do this incorrectly, I apologize.

Last week I attended a great conference and met a few new authors (to me). One was Laura Castoro. I downloaded her book A New Lu and absolutelly love this book. It's funny. In it 49 year old Lu finds herself knocked up (yep pregnant) by her ex-husband. That one last time for old time's sakes really bites her in the patootie. Anywhooo, her life takes some crazy turns from there. It's very good.

Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/A-New-Lu-ebook/dp/B005C6CJRE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1335068978&sr=8-2


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## StephenEngland (Nov 2, 2011)

Just finished Nine-Tenths, by Meira Pentermann. A terrific dystopian novel, set in the near-future. Very good, probably among the top five independent novels I've read.


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

The Night Sky by Jolene Perry was a fabulous read. It is more realistic fiction and the main POV is male. It is YA.



I also just read the Masque of the Red Death by Bethany Griffin and I loved it. Very dark and goth and Edgar Allan Poe-ish.

It comes out this Tuesday.


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## JimC1946 (Aug 6, 2009)

An interesting book of poetry that the author/poet submitted to me for a review: My Great Inspirational Poetry Picture Book by Joshua Idemudia-Silva. It's worth a look if you read poetry.


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## Jedidiah (Mar 7, 2012)

After reading Island Shifters (An Oath of the Blood) I was quick to pick up the sequal (An Oath of the Mage) 
I really enjoyed both of these books. Zambito is quite talented.


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## Amanda Green (Apr 26, 2012)

Hi, I'm a big thriller fan and I just finish reading The Bloody Chapter and it was a fantastic book.I recommend thriller readers to read this book.smile.


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## JEV (Jan 7, 2012)

Midway through a road trip, really enjoying the audio version of The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach.


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## nigel p bird (Feb 4, 2011)

Hi.

The short version is that Hit And Run http://www.amazon.com/Hit-and-Run-ebook/dp/B006K6MVNM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1335605522&sr=8-3 is a superb thriller that had me on edge from pillar to post.

The longer version, should you have time:

Billy's driving home, a gut full of beetroot vodka and of the pills his brother nicks from the hospital. Course he shouldn't be doing it. No wonder then, that when he knocks over a pedestrian in the early hours of the morning he feels responsible. A lump rises on his head and the guilt rises just about everywhere else.

They move the body, go home, take more pills and sleep it off.

Next day, Billy is called to the scene of a suspicious death, a possible jumper from Edinburgh's Crags. It's not a jumper though, it's the victim of Billy's driving who managed to get to the bottom of the cliff before his body gave up on him.

Billy's there in his role as a newspaper's novice crime reporter. His mentor, a seen-it-all-before kind of woman called Rose, finds out the name of the dead man; it's one Frank Whitehouse, Edinburgh's big, bad wolf.
From this point on the story is simply thrilling.

Johnstone writes with a fairly spare style, yet manages to explore a range of issues to the full.

It's a very visceral book.

I was reminded many times as I read of the pleasures of being young and of alcohol and drugs, and I'd like to thank the author for some of the flashbacks he induced.

All the experiences are through the mind and body of Billy, the man who earns the nickname `Scoop' from his older hack partner due to his success in getting incredibly close to the case. There are shades of pain I don't think 
I've even contemplated before. The smells and sights of the city bring the scenes to life. It's so well written that at times I felt I was inside Billy's skin, and inside Billy's skin was rarely a good place to be.

This book is fast-paced, yet thoughtful. Everything happens in a short space of time within a small area of the city. The world outside is full of pressure and, on the inside, the pressure inside Billy's head builds to a crescendo.

I came out of the end of the ride fully satisfied. 
I'd suggest it's a kind of Hard-Boiled `Crime And Punishment' for the post-ecstasy generation, the love-child of a Dostoevsky/James M Cain/ Allan Guthrie triangle.

The characters are brilliantly drawn and explored. What I like about the way they are brought to life is that it's not because of the wedging in of detail that we come to know them, rather it's through their interactions. The ways they bounce off each other. Boss and underling; boyfriend and girlfriend; two brothers; one man and his dog; lovers; feuding gangsters; dead and living; car and driver...

In particular, I think Billy and Rose are a brilliant pairing. Either of them would make ideal characters for future books and I'd certainly rush to read any story Doug writes where they're present (if sequels aren't your bag, how about a short story or a novella, sir?). In fact, this is such a great pleasure of a read that I'll be rushing to read anything Doug Johnstone put out.

Superb.


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## Cathy21 (Mar 28, 2012)

I read Time & Again by Nick Gilbert during April. I thought it was beautifully written and a poignant love story.


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## Becca Mills (Apr 27, 2012)

Hi, all. I want to recommend a short-story collection I read a few weeks ago: _Thoroughly Modern Monsters_, by Jennifer Rainey.

It's a short collection (novella-length) and blends genres, to some degree -- the subject matter makes it contemporary/urban fantasy, but the writing style and the kinds of questions being examined feel more like literary fiction to me. I think it's terrific, but it's the kind of thing that might fall through the cracks, since it doesn't fit easily into one category or another. Posting a review of it is on my to-do list.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

For Books Recommended by our Members (May 2012), go here:

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,112867.0.html

Betsy


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