Book Tour/Review: Brady Needs a Nightlight by Brian Barlics

Brian Barlics of Northern California is a pediatrician who believes not only in the physical health of children but also in the enrichment of their minds and building of their character. He advocates that reading to your child encourages a strong parent-child bond, promotes literacy, and helps them tap into their seemingly endless imaginations. His book, Brady Needs A Nightlight, is now available.

Title: Brady Needs a Nightlight by Brian Barlics

Published April 11, 2013; Black Rose Writing
Genre: children's book for ages 3 and up
Objective rating: 5/5

My comments: I adore the cheerful and colorful little fireflies who appear at the end of the story to give light and comfort to little Brady, the bat who is afraid of the dark. This is a wonderful children's story with charming illustrations that will delight any child, whether or not they are afraid of the dark.

Book description: "Brady is a loveable little bat who oddly has a terrible fear of the dark. This poses quite a dilemma for a creature that sleeps in a dark cave and comes out to play at night. The story opens with an image of Brady, scared to fall asleep inside of his dark cave. He is forced to watch the other bats hang fast asleep as he imagines himself playing outside in the sunshine. As night falls, the other bats are up and ready to play, but poor Brady is too afraid to step out into the darkness. After building up the courage to go, Brady realizes, with the help of some bright and shining fireflies, that the nighttime isn’t so bad after all. New friendships abound and thanks to his new friends, the fireflies Brady learns to overcome his fear!

This book is the first of a series entitled Fundamentales. The series includes books about facing fears, being yourself, sharing, safety, eating right and staying active, doing chores, responsibility, and much more!" (publisher)

Thanks to TLC Book Tours and the publisher for a review copy of this book. Visit TLC for more reviews of this book.

A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint

 First Chapter, First Paragraph is a weekly meme hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea.

First chapter, first paragraph:

The accused, Chelsea Liew, was in court. She sat on a wooden bench in a wooden box, handcuffed to a police woman. 

The prosecutor, a large, shiny Malay man, marking time until his own elevation to the Bench, watched the court official read out the charge in a slow, ponderous voice, “That you, Chelsea Liew, on or about the eighteenth day of July, committed murder by causing the death of Alan Lee.”  

The judge said, “How does the accused plead? Guilty or not guilty?” (Shamini Flint,  A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder ).

Title:  A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder by Shamini Flint
Published January 1, 2009
Genre: murder mystery

Book description: Inspector Singh is in a bad mood. He's been sent from his home in Singapore to Kuala Lumpur to solve a murder that has him stumped. Chelsea Liew - the famous Singaporean model - is on death row for the murder of her ex-husband. She swears she didn't do it, he thinks she didn't do it, but no matter how hard he tries to get to the bottom of things, he still arrives back at the same place - that Chelsea's husband was shot at point blank range, and that Chelsea had the best motivation to pull the trigger: he was taking her kids away from her.

Now Inspector Singh must pull out all the stops to crack a crime that could potentially free a beautiful and innocent woman and reunite a mother with her children. There's just one problem - the Malaysian police refuse to play ball. (publisher)

Based on the opening and the book description, would you keep reading?

Mailbox Monday

Check out Mailbox Monday at it's permanent home. The Story Siren also has an In My Mailbox meme. Let us know what new books you received.

Two books arrived last week, books for review. There is no mail today, of course. There is a level three snow emergency and only essential vehicles are to be on the road. I think that means our mailman stays home.

Thanks to Crown Publishers for an ARC of The Accident, a new political thriller by Chris Pavone. Description: "As dawn approaches in New York, literary agent Isabel Reed is turning the final pages of a mysterious, anonymous manuscript, racing through the explosive revelations about powerful people, as well as long-hidden secrets about her own past....

Over the course of one long, desperate, increasingly perilous day, these lives collide as the book begins its dangerous march toward publication, toward saving or ruining careers and companies, placing everything at risk—and everyone in mortal peril."

Thanks to author Nancy Jill Thames for a win of The Ruby of Siam in a book contest. Description: "When Jillian and Teddy travel to London with her wedding attendants, they find themselves embroiled in a jewel heist with a man left stabbed to death. Can they solve the crimes in the midst of Jillian's wedding plans? An old acquaintance from San Diego offers his help, but will it be enough to solve the mystery? Perhaps the jewel has a curse."

What arrived in your mailbox last week?

Dive Into Poetry Reading Challenge 2014

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Also visit The Sunday Post hosted by The Caffeinated Bookreviewer.

The Dive Into Poetry Reading Challenge 2014  is being held January 1, 2014 through December 31, 2014 by Savvy Verse and Wit.  This will be my first poetry reading challenge.

Rules:
1. Create a post on your blog stating your intention to read poetry in 2014 and sign up in Mr. Linky. If you don’t have a blog, simply leave a comment about reading poetry in 2014.
2. Visit the Challenge sign up page at Savvy Verse and Wit's blog and choose one of the challenge options.

My challenge: I hope to read at least 4-6 books of poetry during the year and leave my review links on Mr. Linky on the challenge page.

Here is my own tally. I will add books and reviews as I go along:

1. Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series by Tyler Knott Gregson
2.
3.
4.
5.
6. 

Book Review: Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber

Murder Strikes a Pose: A Downward Dog Mystery
Author: Tracy Weber
To be released January 8, 2014; Midnight Ink
Genre: cozy mystery

About the book: What does a yoga teacher and a responsible dog owner have in common? They are basically decent people, according to Kate Davidson, who owns Serenity Yoga studio in Seattle. When Kate finds herself in charge of a large, homeless German Shepherd with expensive medical problems, she tries to find an adoptive family for the dog, Bella. Easier said than done. Bella dislikes men with beards and she will also go after any dog that comes too close.

Kate puts up with Bella out of loyalty to the dog's former owner George whom Kate had befriended and come to like. Besides the yoga studio, Kate also has her hands full solving George's murder and dealing with her friend Rene's push to rev up Kate's love life and find her a boyfriend.

My comments:
Yoga, dogs, mystery - I was sure I'd like this novel, and I did! Kate Davidson is a very engaging main character, yogi, and dog person. I learned more from her about negative and positive dog training methods and about yoga for children, pregnant women, and those with health problems. Besides enjoying the murder plot and the suspense of the mystery, I liked Kate's humor and wit and Tracy Weber's excellent writing. I am looking forward to her next in this new cozy mystery series.

My objective rating: 4/5/5. Thanks to the author/publisher for sending a copy of this book for review.

2014 Books Read/Reviewed: 100+ Book Reading Challenges 2014

I'm excited to join 100+ Book Challenge 2014,  a new challenge by Freda's Voice. Read at least 100 books, any genre, from January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2014. Click on the link for information and to sign up.

I am also joining 100 Books in a Year 2014 hosted again by Book Chick City.
These two challenges are a great way to keep track of books you read in a given year, as you can enter books on your list as you finish reading them. And if you don't reach 100 books, so...who's counting?

Here is my list with my own categories:

Mystery/Thriller
1. Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber
2. Zero Degree Murder by M.L. Rowland
3. Cat Sitter on a Hot Tin Roof by Blaize Clement
4. Paws for Murder by Annie Knox
5. After I'm Gone by Laura Lippman
6. Savage Girl by Jean Zimmerman, also historical fiction
7.The Girl With a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson
8. The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches by Alan Bradley
9. Sweet Tea Revenge by Laura Childs
10. The Sound of Broken Glass by Deborah Crombie
11. Death of a Policeman by M.C. Beaton
12. The Accident by Chris Pavone
13. Murder in Pigalle by Cara Black
14. Keeping Mum by Alyse Carlson
15. The Deepest Secret by Carla Buckley
16. The Riot by Laura Wilson
17. Nursing a Grudge by Diana Orgain
18. Deadly Sanctuary by Sylvia Nobel
19.Telegraph Hill by John F. Nardizzi
20. Widow's Tears by Susan Wittig Albert
21. The Purity of Vengeance by Jussi Adler-Olsen
22. Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates
23. Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear
24. Destroyer Angel by Nevada Barr
25. Death Money by Henry Chang
26. The Axe Factor by Colin Cotterill
27. Murder on Bamboo Lane by Naomi Hirahara
28. A Tiger's Tale by Laura Morrigan
29. Night of the Living Thread by Janet Bolin
30. A Spider in the Cup by Barbara Cleverly
31. You Cannoli Die Once by Shelley Costa
32. Death on Eat Street by J. J. Cook
33. Summer Garden Murder by Ann Ripley
34. The Lady of Sorrows by Anne Zouroudi
35. Fleur de Lies by Maddy Hunter
36. Rogue Warrior by Richard Marcinko
37. A Dangerous Fiction by Barbara Rogan
38. The Hidden Girl by Louise Millar
39. Tailing a Tabby by Laurie Cass
40. The Witchdoctor's Bones by Lisa de Nicolits
41. Claws of the Cat by Susan Spann
42. Billionaire Blend by Cleo Coyle
43. W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton
44. Scene of the Climb by Kate E. Dyer-Seeley
45. Tahoe Ghost Boat by Todd Borg
46. Clam Wake by Mary Daheim
47. Maxwell Street Blues by Marc Krulewitch
48. Blade of the Samurai by Susan Spann
49. Paw and Order by Spencer Quinn
50. Remains of Innocence by J.A. Jance
51. Dark Spies by Matthew Dunn
52. Nightmares Can Be Murder by Mary Kennedy
53. Dog Beach by John Fusco
54. This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash
55. The Blood of an Englishman by M.C. Beaton
56. The Wolfe Widow by Victoria Abbott
57. Ghost Month by Ed Lin
58. The Wedding Soup Murder by Rosie Genova
59. The Marco Effect by Jussi Adler-Olsen
60. A Possibility of Violence by D. A. Mishani
61. Aunty Lee's Deadly Specials by Ovidia Yu
62. For the Dead by Timothy Hallinan
63. Gossamer Ghost by Laura Childs
64. Gilt Trip by Laura Childs
65. Bless Her Dead Little Heart by Miranda James
66. Sons of Sparta by Jeffrey Siger
67. Desert Rage by Betty Webb
68. The Red Room by Ridley Pearson
69. The Long Way Home by Louise Penny
70. Her by Harriet Lane
71. Tahoe Deathfall by Todd Borg
72. The Pocket Wife by Susan H. Crawford
73. Aground on St Thomas by Rebecca M. Hale
74. Meow If It's Murder by T.C. LoTempio
75. Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz
76. The Iris Fan by Laura Joh Rowland
77. Sweet and Deadly by Charlaine Harris
78. Cane and Abe by James Grippando
79. Doctor Death by by Lene Kaaberbol



General/literary fiction
1. Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope
2. While We Were Watching Downton Abbey by Wendy Wax
3. A Land More Kind Than Home by Wiley Cash
4. This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash
5. Clever Girl by Tessa Hadley
6. The Korean Word for Butterfly by James Zerndt
7. Gemini by Carol Cassella
8. When the Cypress Whispers by Yvette Manessis Corporon
9. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
10. Bee Summers by Melanie Dugan
11. The Idea of Him by Holly Peterson
12. The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell
13. Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok
14. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
15. The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar
16. The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo
17. Us: A Novel by David Nicholls
18. A Man Called Ove  by Fredrick Backman
19. A Hero for the People by Arthur Powers
20. I Take You by Eliza Kennedy
21. The Demon Who Peddled Longing by Khanh Ha
22. One Step Too Far by Tina Seskis
24. Fog Island Mountains by Michelle Bailat-Jones
25. Butterflies in November by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir, Brian FitzGibbon (Translation)
26. Secrets of a Thousand Beauties by Mingmei Yip

 Historical fiction
1. Lantern in the Mist by Liliana Shelbrook
2. A Different Sun by Elaine Neil Orr
3. Last Train to Paris by Michele Zackheim
4. I Am Abraham: A Novel of Lincoln and the Civil War by Jerome Charyn
5. The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh
6. The Collector of Dying Breaths by M.J. Rose
7. The Medici Boy by John L'Heureux
8. The Gondola Maker by Laura Morelli
9.The Sea Garden by Deborah Lawrenson
10. The Beautiful American by Jeanne Mackin
11. Becoming Josephine by Heather Webber
12. Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth
13. Stillwater by Nicole Helget
14. Dark Aemilia by Sally O'Reilly
15. The Moonlight Palace by Liz Rosenberg
16. The Spoils of Avalon by Mary F. Burns, historical mystery
17. The Visitors by Sally Beauman



Nonfiction/Memoir/Poetry 
1. Short Leash by Janice Gary, memoir
2. My Mother's Funeral by Adriana Paramo, memoir
3. Think Like a Freak by Levitt and Dubner
4. Chasers of the Light: Poems from the Typewriter Series by Tyler Knott Gregson
5. Lust by Diana Raab, poetry

Children's fiction
1. OMG...Am I a Witch? by Talia Aikens-Nunee
2. The Poodle Tales: The Modeling Poo by Toni Tuso Faber
3. Whiny Whiny Rhino by McBoop

First Book of the Year 2014

Sheila at Book Journey has a new meme, First Book of the Year 2014, where we show the book we will be reading today, the first day of the new year. Click on her link to join in!

I will be reading

Murder Strikes a Pose, a new cozy mystery series by Tracy Weber. Tracy is a yoga instructor as well as a writer and I'm anxious to get into the book, as I know how to do a few yoga poses!

I will also be finishing a book I started last year, The Fishing Fleet: Husband-Hunting in the Raj by Anne De Courcy.

What will you be reading today?