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Wednesday 5 April 2017

Book Dilemmas

While updating my books on  Goodreads a couple of weeks ago, I came across a blog post about Book-lover Problems. This prompted me to think about my own book dilemmas, and I came up with list of 12 things.

My list is in no particular order. Some of them are the same as ones in the Goodreads list, although I can honestly say I have never had the problem of trying to keep a book dry in the bath because I have never read in the bath.

So, here is my list:

  • Not enough shelf space.
  • Books announced but never published (especially when they are part of a series).
  • Book shops telling you the book is available, but when you order it, the book is out of print.
  • Books that are only available as e-books.
  • When and American author writes a book set in Australia, but still uses American terms to describe things, not Australian terms (e.g. Ranch vs. Station; field vs. paddock; forest vs bush).
  • When a series ends with a baby on the way but you never find out if it is a boy or girl.
  • Books ending without conflicts fully resolved (okay, so this is what life is like, but many of us read to escape life for a while).
  • When authors don't have consistency in characters between books (e.g. A character gets married and has children in one book in the series, but in a later book in the series it says they never married and no children).
  • Knowing a book is released in the USA, but it will take 3 months or more before it arrives in Australia (if ever).
  • Having a friend borrow a book and then not return is for ages even though you know they have finished with it.
  • Wanting to rearrange your bookshelves but not knowing how much space to leave for books loaned to friends.
I'm sure I could come up with more.
What are your book dilemmas?

Monday 3 April 2017

ACRBA Tour - Activate by Adele Jones


3 - 7 April 2017


is Introducing 
(By the Rhiza Press, 1 November 2016)

By Adele Jones



About the Book:
Josh Hammond’s not who he says he is. To stay alive, he must guard his identity, existing isolated from his former life and those he loves. The one enemy he can’t outrun is his failing health, and time is short. Desperate for a solution, Josh leaves the protection of his safe house unapproved. Instead of a cure, he’s left powerless against a cunning adversary. Determined to reclaim his life, he grasps an opportunity for escape, but things go drastically wrong. Can he find a way to expose the lies of a criminal mastermind, or will he be silenced? Forever.

About the Author:
Adele Jones lives in Queensland, Australia. Her writing is inspired by a passion for family, faith, friends, music and science – and her broad ranging imagination.

A strong believer in embracing life's journey, Adele delights in sharing that adventure with others, be that through the pages of a story or engaging in a social or professional context. Through her broad personal and professional interests, she has welcomed diverse engagement opportunities, including science based student experience sessions, conference presentations, literary readings and musical exploits.

With a long standing interest in historical fiction, Adele based her Master's dissertation on this topic and is currently anticipating release of her first novel in this genre, A Devil's Ransom (www.roseandcrownbooks.com). She has also had a variety of poems, short stories, inspirational meditations, devotions and magazine articles published. Her first YA novel Integrate was awarded the 2013 Caleb Prize for unpublished manuscript, and is due to for release in September 2014. Replicate is the second book in this series and was released in October 2015.   

More information:
Adele Jones: www.adelejonesauthor.com

My Thoughts

I haven't read the first two books in this series, so I felt like I jumped into the middle of something and struggled to pull all the threads together. There were a lot of plot elements that I think came through from the previous books, so I always felt I was missing some information.

There were also a few words included in the book that were unnecessary - close to swearing, but certainly ones that I didn't want in my head.

The suspense kept going through the entire book, so it was hard to put down. While it isn't one that I plan to read again, it might appeal to some.