Author: John E. Coleman Genre: Non-Fiction, Religion Original publication date: August 2000 Book Description (from GoodReads):  A fascinating, engaging, and unique memoir, this story covers John Coleman’s life after his cover is blown as a CIA agent in Asia in the late 1950s, leading him to embark on a vigorous pursuit of spiritual truth. In his travels through India, Burma, Japan, and Thailand, he encounters luminous teachers such as Krishnamurti, Maharishi, and D.T. Suzuki. Ultimately, his search for peace of mind and liberating insights comes to fruition in Yangon—also known as Rangoon—under the tutelage of the great Vipassana meditation master Sayagyi U Ba Khin. Thoughts: I am going to admit, I was expecting something more thrilling. Maybe not the book's fault but when you begin with a line like a CIA agent whose cover is blown I expect action and danger to be present in the story.  That was not at all what I got. Again this book was picked from Scribd on a whim, it d

Author: Guy Gavriel Kay  Genre: Fantasy Original publication date: 1990 Book Description (from Good Reads):  Tigana is the magical story of a beleaguered land struggling to be free. It is the tale of a people so cursed by the black sorcery of a cruel despotic king that even the name of their once-beautiful homeland cannot be spoken or remembered... But years after the devastation, a handful of courageous men and women embark upon a dangerous crusade to overthrow their conquerors and bring back to the dark world the brilliance of a long-lost name...Tigana. Against the magnificently rendered background of a world both sensuous and barbaric, this sweeping epic of a passionate people pursuing their dream is breathtaking in its vision, changing forever the boundaries of fantasy fiction. Thoughts: So from the way its described it does not give you much, but rest assured getting into it kind of blind is fun. We begin following several people, you are not sure how they relate or what

Author: Hugh Howey Series: Silos #1 Genre: Sci-Fi Original publication date: January 2012 Book description: This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside. Thoughts: This contains the 5 short novellas, not sure what to call them. The first one we begin in the Silo, people have lived there for as long as they know, it is the only way of life, going outside is impossible. It is so far off that religion preaches that God created the Silo and placed people there. The divisions are made simply on where you live, the Silos are divided into thirds and people with specific job titles live in the different sections. e begin with the current

I found this in  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxYNPBeelfY&t=6s This is the TBR Book Tag! Original http://aperfectioncalledbooks.blogspo... Questions How do you keep track of your TBR pile? I keep track in several places, it is a very messy method I keep track in GoodReads, also a notebook where I write down a few books that are on my radar. Is your TBR mostly print or ebook? I am very predictable I prefer print. How do you determine which book from your TBR to read next? I usually have plenty of challenges be it booktube readathons and also personal challenges I have so I generally pick the books necessary to fulfill them. A book that's been on your TBR list the longest One of the books I bought due to recommendation from youtube, and it has been in my TBR for a while without me picking it up. The inexplicable logic of my life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. It is a YA contemporary about self-discovery. A book you recently added to your TBR This book was pi

Another fun book tag I casually came across on youtube, so here's my take on it. Original https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyLDQp4cV9o Prompts: 1. Series I will not continue. I included the series of Dorothy must die by Danielle Paige to complete this year, but I am officially giving up on this story. It is not for me, I disliked the characters and get too annoyed so I will not put myself through that. I read 3 of the main novellas but didn't even attempt the companion short stories. 2. Author, I will not read again. I really have not found an author that I dislike enough to say never again the closest I have come across is Helen Hoang, I read the kiss quotient but I disliked the characters, the romance, and is a contemporary romance novel and those were the parts I disliked about it, this clearly was not for me. And when I decided to read another book from her The bride test, only from the synopsis which sounds the same as the kiss quotient with gender swap and tha

Author: L Frank Baum Series: Oz #2 Original publication date: 1904 Book description: wonderful adventures of the young boy named Tip as he travels throughout the many lands of Oz. Here he meets with our old friends the Scarecrow and Tin Woodman, as well as some new friends like Jack Pumpkinhead, the Wooden Sawhorse, the Highly Magnified Woggle-Bug, and the amazing Gump. How they thwart the wicked plans of the evil witch Mombi and overcome the rebellion of General Jinjur and her army of young women is a tale as exciting and endearing today as it was when first published over eighty years ago. Thoughts: This was interesting, I had not read this at all but I did get spoiled in the big reveal thanks to the series Dorothy must die. We follow Tip as he is first living with a wicked witch, Mombi. While trying to play a joke on the witch Tip sees her ring to life a puppet with a pumpkin head. He takes the puppet, named Jack, manages to turn to life a sawhorse and goes on an adventure.

Author: Josh Malerman Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Horror Original publication date: March 2014 Book description:  Something is out there, something terrifying that must not be seen. One glimpse of it, and a person is driven to deadly violence. No one knows what it is or where it came from. Five years after it began, a handful of scattered survivors remains, including Malorie and her two young children. Living in an abandoned house near the river, she has dreamed of fleeing to a place where they might be safe. Now that the boy and girl are four, it's time to go, but the journey ahead will be terrifying: twenty miles downriver in a rowboat—blindfolded—with nothing to rely on but her wits and the children's trained ears. One wrong choice and they will die. Something is following them all the while, but is it man, animal, or monster? Thoughts: So this is a reread. The first time I read it was last year mainly because of booktube recommendations and the movie was released in N

Author: Robert Kirkman  Genre: Graphic novel, Horror Original publication date: August 2009 Book description: Collects issues #55-60. Out on their own, danger lurking around every corner, our ragged band of survivors tries to live long enough to reach Washington D.C Thoughts: We see the survivors, the tight group Rick initially encountered is falling apart. People are having issues trusting one another, questioning the decisions, and getting used to the nomad lifestyle. That is very vague so let's try to give details and not spoil much. There are several things happening to each of the survivors, everyone has their own things to handle.  Michonne is trying to get Rick to trust in himself and his instincts. He has kept their crew alive, fed and thanks to him many issues were resolved in the past. Rick is not allowing it.  Maggie lost her faith in everything, she's not handling loss well. The added new responsibility for Sophia who insists on caller her mom. The

Author: Brandon Sanderson Series: Mistborn #2 Genre: Fantasy Original publication date:  Book description:  They did the impossible, deposing the godlike being whose brutal rule had lasted a thousand years. Now Vin, the street urchin who has grown into the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of an empire. They have barely begun when three separate armies attack. As the siege tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows. It may just be that killing the Lord Ruler was the easy part. Surviving the aftermath of his fall is going to be the real challenge. Thoughts:  Once more to start off I had a bit of difficulty getting into the story, not because it was not entertaining and I was enjoying my time, but I had issues with the behavior Vin and E

One of my personal challenges this year was to read the runner ups for the GoodReads Choice Awards 2019 for different categories. I choose to read from 16 of the Categories. This choice was mainly because as the preliminary selections came out, I had no time to actually read them before the winners were announced so I didn't even try and just decided to have it as a year-long challenge for 2020. From the options for the 16 categories, I saw some that I will not even try to complete, here I leave a list of them and maybe a reason for my decision.  *Find me, Andre Aciman I am not going to read the first on CAll me by your name so I will not read this one. It seems to be a book trying to make you feel negative feelings therefore I will stay clear of it. *The last widow, Karin Slaughter. This is the 9th book in a series.  The Will Trent series takes place in Atlanta and features GBI special agent Will Trent, his partner Faith Mitchell, and Angie Polaski. For now, I will sk

Author: Agatha Christie  Series: Colonel Race #1 Genre: Mystery/Thriller Original publication date: August 1924 Book description:  Newly-orphaned Anne Beddingfeld is a nice English girl looking for a bit of adventure in London. But she stumbles upon more than she bargained for! Anne is on the platform at Hyde Park Corner tube station when a man falls onto the live track, dying instantly. A doctor examines the man, pronounces him dead, and leaves, dropping a note on his way. Anne picks up the note, which reads "17.1 22 Kilmorden Castle". The next day the newspapers report that a beautiful ballet dancer has been found dead there-- brutally strangled. A fabulous fortune in diamonds has vanished. And now, aboard the luxury liner Kilmorden Castle, mysterious strangers pillage her cabin and try to strangle her. What are they looking for? Why should they want her dead? Lovely Anne is the last person on earth suited to solve this mystery... and the only one who can! Anne's