Review: Murder Interrupted - Book #1 Discovery's Murder is Forever Series -  James Patterson - January 2018 You know how sometimes a book finds you twice? That's exactly what happened with Murder Interrupted by James Patterson and I'm so glad it did. One of my reading goals for 2026 is to tackle at least one non-fiction book a month, which sounds straightforward enough until you're standing in front of your shelves (or your TBR list) completely paralysed by choice. In the end, I handed the decision over to my partner, and honestly? Best thing I could have done. He pointed me straight to this one a copy I'd nabbed at the Rotary secondhand book sale here in Tauranga back in March and off I went. Here's the funny thing though. A quick peek at Goodreads reminded me I'd actually attempted this very book back in February 2018 when it first came out. Apparently past-me wasn't feeling it, because I gave it 2 Ps which, for those who know my rating system, is a ...

Review: Tamar : Rediscovering the God who Redeems Me - Shadia Hrichi - October 2021 There’s something incredibly special about returning to the familiar and discovering something entirely new and that’s exactly what I experienced with Tamar by Shadia Hrichi. One of my reading goals for 2026 was to intentionally weave more non-fiction into my bookish life, aiming for at least one each month. I’m happy to say I’m right on track, and March’s selection turned out to be more than just a tick on a checklist , it became a deeply personal and thought-provoking journey. Like many who grew up in the church, my understanding of Genesis has always revolved around the “well-known” stories -the ones that are retold time and time again. Tamar’s story , however, often sits quietly in the background, easily overlooked. Yet through this six-week Bible study, her story came alive in such a powerful and moving way that I found myself seeing Scripture through fresh eyes. Tamar’s life was anything but ...

Review: Divine Dicks and Mortal Pricks - Walburga Appleseed - January 2024 You know those cozy evenings when you're curled up with a cuppa, and you want something that's both clever and entertaining? Well, I found exactly that in Walburga Appleseed's delightfully irreverent romp through Greek mythology. This isn't your dusty school textbook version of these ancient tales. Appleseed has taken the familiar stories we all half-remember – you know, the ones where Zeus couldn't keep it in his toga and everyone seemed to be related to everyone else – and flipped them on their head. Finally, someone's asking the questions that should have been asked millennia ago: Was Achilles really that heroic? And why on earth did the Trojan War start over what was essentially a cosmic temper tantrum? What I absolutely loved about this book is how it centers the women who've been lurking in the margins of these stories for ages. The goddesses dealing with their philandering hu...

Review: A Slayer Comes to Town - Scott Westerfeld - October 2012 Before the world was saturated with vampire TV shows and movies like Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, and True Blood. There was one show that ruled the 90s and early 2000s for Vampires and it even inspired a spin-off called Angel. That TV show which was also made into a movie was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Scott Westerfeld famous for his Uglies series and science fiction novels, brings a quick read essay from Smart Pop Kernels called A Slayer Comes to Town which is his impression and the impacts of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Scott Westerfeld talks about the differences between alternate worlds vs trespass worlds and how they relate to the hit TV show. An alternate reality is like this reality but things are different, it can be imaginative and fantasy-based. A trespass world though which I hadn't heard this specific term before but does make sense. A trespass world is when you have a world that is the present reality l...

  Join us for this tour from Jan 10 to Jan 23 , 2023 ! Book Details: Book Title :   Leave Your Sh*T Here: Write, Release and Destroy by Jackie Wallace & Elizabeth Reed Category :  Adult Non-Fiction (18+),  64 pages Genre : Self-Help Publisher :   Yorkshire Publishing Release date:   January  2023 Content Rating :  PG Book Description: Leave Your Sh*T Here  received a glowing, 5-star review from  Readers’ Favorite !  Leave Your Sh*T Here  is a workbook that helps people to understand that it's normal to face adversity in life and that in the end, everything will be just fine. The workbook also provides a safe space to release those feelings in confidence and dispose of them in a manner the reader chooses, releasing all emotions privately into the universe, ridding them of all toxic thoughts and feelings. Besides being a book with facts and best practices with highlighted topics,  Leave Your Sh*...

Review: ER Nurses - James Patterson and Matt Eversmann- October 2021 ER Nurses are often the backbones of the medical staff as they are the ones who put themselves on the frontline for our trauma patients and the ones who have seen the dark, dirty side of hospitals and the damage people can do to others as well as the side of sickness and some of the crazy things as well. ER Nurses is a collection of short stories from different ER Nurses from around the USA talking about their different experiences and patients that they have had. Also, a few stories explain the reasons behind why they do what they do as well. This book did take me a bit longer to read than my normal fictional books but as I read each story, I felt like I was right there with them in the hospital rooms, out in the fields, and experiencing what they were feeling. This style of the book was different from James Patterson's normal route of crime books but still a very powerful and inspirational read. It also remin...