Rainy Days With Amanda

 When another Tui Snider book came up on the docket for the Lone Star Literary Life bloggers group, I signed up to review almost immediately. Since reading and reviewing her book 6 Feet Under Texas for the first time in 2020, I've been a Tui Snider fan. Her historic and niche books are something different and more than just another coffee table book. Here's my book talk of  Buried Dallas–Fort Worth: A Photographic Journey through North Texas Cemeteries   by Tui Snider. About the Author  Tui Snider is an author, speaker, photographer, YouTuber, podcast host, and musician who researches historic cemeteries and symbolism, offbeat Texas travel, overlooked history, and haunted lore. As she puts it, “I used to write fiction–but then I moved to Texas!”  Snider’s best-selling books include Understanding Cemetery Symbols , 100 Things to Do in Dallas-Fort Worth Before You Die , Paranormal Texas , and many more. Snider has several books in progress and enjoys connec...

THE FREQUENCY By Randall D. St. Claire Mystery/ Speculative Thriller/ Thriller/ Suspense/ History   Publisher: Atmosphere Press Publication Date: July 21, 2026 SYNOPSIS ════════════════════════════════════ ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　 ︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶︶⊹ He didn’t expect his life to change in a single moment. He didn’t expect it to ask anything in return. Bronx Rousselle built his small life on purpose: a pawnshop in northern Minnesota, a few familiar faces, no debts he couldn’t count, no relationship anchors. Friendship, i n his experience, always came with a cost—and Bronx never owed much to anyone. Humor helped. If he laughed hard enough at trouble, it often lost interest. Then something finds its way into his hands. Old. Hidden. Mystical at first glance. Powerful enough to draw attention from people who don’t ask—they take. Curiosity bleeds into pursuit, and luck demands a toll. As it stretches from the American Midwest to the froze...

Hey Ya'll! I'm back with another Stephanie Plum novel. It's been almost a year since I read my last one. So many books, so little time. But I had an itch for my favorite bounty-hunter, so I grabbed the next book on the list and dove right back into the world of Stephanie and her bounty hunter life in Trenton, New Jersey.   *Side Note:  I'm also excited to go to Jersey next year and I will be checking to see if there is a Plum tour of sorts!    About the Author Janet Evanovich  is an American writer. She began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall , but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a former lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey, who becomes a bounty hunter to make ends meet after losing her job. The novels in this series have been on The New York Times , USA Today , Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestseller lists. Evanovich has had her last seventeen Plums debu...

 The Golden Girls has to be one of my all-time favorite shows/sitcoms. I've been a viewer, probably since the womb and my little family and I are current;y watching it all the way through once a week-ish. It's a show that has, for the most-part, aged well with punchlines still hitting and the more serious subjects still ringing true today. My daughter has a few Golden Girls books on her bookshelf and now I can say the same for me. Here's my review of Murder by Cheesecake: A Golden Girls Cozy Mystery. About the Author  Rachel Ekstrom Courage is the New York Times, USA Today, and American Booksellers Association bestselling author of Murder By Cheesecake: A Golden Girls Cozy Mystery (Hyperion Avenue/Disney) and the Young Adult thriller Nothing Bad Happens Here (PRH/Delacorte). She lives in Pittsburgh, PA with her husband (the children’s book author Nick Courage) and their family. By day she’s the founder of Courage Literary, advocating for books and authors that make the worl...

Every year for Christmas, my husband finds me a unique or interesting book as part of my gift. This year, he chose Mona's Eyes. It's a book I've seen displayed at Barnes & Nobles as their book of the year for 2025. I always make the books he gets me on the top of the list of my TBR and what I found was a love letter. Here are my thoughts on Mona's Eyes by Thomas Schlesser.   About the Author Thomas Schlesser is the director of the Hartung-Bergman Foundation in Antibes, France. He teaches Art History at the École Polytechnique in Paris and is the author of several works of nonfiction about art, artists, and the relationship between art and politics in the 20th century. He is the grandson of André Schlesser, known as Dadé, a singer and cabaret performer who founded the Cabaret L ’Écluse. Mona’s Eyes is Schlesser’s second novel and his American debut. It has been translated into thirty-eight languages, including Braille. Schlesser was awarded 2025’s Author of ...

   About the Author Susan P. Baker, a native of Galveston, Texas, is the author of 13 mystery/suspense novels, two nonfiction titles, and a collection of short pieces. A retired Texas judge, Susan presided over cases ranging from murder to divorce for 12 years in Galveston, later serving as a visiting judge across Texas for another 12 years. Before her judicial career, she practiced law for nine years and worked as a probation officer for two years. Her extensive experience in the justice system and Texas courts significantly influences her writing, bringing authenticity and depth to her fictional works.   About the Book  Aurora’s life seems close to perfect. She has a devoted husband, a recent move back to her hometown, and the chance to fix up the house she inherited. She has a close circle of new and old friends and finds fulfillment in her volunteer work at the local animal shelter, loving on the animals in her care. But one night, a strange sound aw...

I was completely infatuated with the first book, A Court of Thorns , so I didn't want to wait too long to read the next book. I was hoping for a good sequel, well, some people will say ask and you will receive. This rang true for this sequel, A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Mass. SPOILERS AHEAD!     A Little Bit About the Author Sarah J. Maas is the prolific, #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Throne of Glass , A Court of Thorns and Roses and Crescent City series , which have sold more than 70 million copies in English worldwide and are published in thirty-eight languages. Maas is one of the most successful authors of the modern era, generating a far-reaching and ever-growing fanbase of readers, as well as a TikTok phenomenon, with the hashtag for her A Court of Thorns and Roses series having several billion views. A Little Bit About the Story Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court–but at a steep cost. Though she n...

Ever since coming back from my first European trip to Italy, I have been an avid Rick Steves listener. Besides listening to his podcast, I also consumed his TV specials (more so during the pandemic), but I had never read his books. I'm not one to read guidebooks, but when he started advertising for this book, I knew I wanted to pick it up myself, so down to the library I went. Here are my thoughts on On The Hippie Trail by Rick Steves .    About the Author  Rick Steves, America's most respected authority on European travel, empowers Americans to have European trips that are fun, affordable, and culturally broadening. In 1976, he started his business, Rick Steves' Europe, headquartered in Edmonds, Washington, near Seattle. There, he produces a best-selling guidebook series, a popular public television show, a weekly public radio show, a syndicated travel column, and free travel information available through his travel center and ricksteves.com. Rick Steves' Europ...

 So many people recommended this series to me, and I refused to listen. Why? Because I am not one to read something super popular. I mean, I did read Twilight, but I read it well before it became popular let alone a movie. Anyway, I just didn't want to be disappointed with the hype. But alas, I was wrong.  Here is my book talk on A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas . A Little Bit About the Author 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 ︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶︶⊹︶︶୨୧︶︶⊹︶︶⊹ Sarah J. Maas is the prolific, #1 New York Times and internationally bestselling author of the Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses and Crescent City series, which have sold more than 70 million copies in English worldwide and are published in thirty-eight languages. Maas is one of the most successful authors of the modern era, generating a far-reaching and ever-growing fanbase of readers, as well as a TikTok phenomenon, with the hashtag for her A Court of Thorns and Roses series having several b...

 I picked up this little book while I was out on a Barnes & Noble run. It's size, it's funny title, and it's description made me put it in my tote bag and check out with it. Since it's a small book, it was the perfect size to read with one hand while my daughter contact napped on me. Here's a little book talk on An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good by Helene Tursten. About the Author Helene Tursten (born in Gothenburg in 1954) is a Swedish writer of crime fiction. The main character in her stories is Detective Inspector Irene Huss (who does make an appearance in this book). Before becoming an author, Tursten worked as a nurse and then a dentist, but was forced to leave due to illness. During her illness she worked as a translator of medical articles. About the Story Maud is an irascible 88-year-old Swedish woman with no family, no friends, and…no qualms about a little murder. This funny, irreverent story collection by Helene Tursten, author of the Irene Hus...

 I was sitting at the cafè inside of Barnes & Nobles, working on my laptop and minding my own business when I looked over and saw a pretty display of a very bold cover that I had seen plenty of times. I've seen he cover of Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow plenty of times, but for some reason, I didn't think that I would like it. This very particular time at Barnes & Nobles, I felt really compelled to give it a chance, and this was a B&N exclusive copy with the blue edged pages. So I picked it up and saved it for a day when I didn't have anything else to read. Just so happened, this was this was that time. Read on to find out more about Gabrielle Zevin's Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow .  About the Author Gabrielle Zevin is a  New York Times  best-selling novelist whose books have been translated into forty languages. Her tenth novel,  Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow,  was a  New York Times  Best Seller, a  Sunday Tim...

In case you don't know me or are new to my blog, Liane Moriarty is one of my favorite authors. I really enjoy her way of giving the reader suspense with little twists and turns here and there. The plot lines are always interesting and there's never a huge ending surprise in the sense that you will have these outlandish ideas, only for it to be the last thing you would have thought about but makes the most sense (did that even make sense?). Anyway, Here One Moment came out on September 10th, 2024 in the U.S. and best believe I was there at Barnes & Nobles on the day of (and receiving 30% off. Thanks B&N!). So here are my thoughts and feelings on Here One Moment by Liane Moriarty.  About the Author Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of eight internationally best-selling novels: Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist’s Love Story, Nine Perfect Strangers and the number one New York Times bestsellers: The Husband's Secret, Big Little ...