May Book Challenge

I am part of an awesome book group and we host challenges. I am the lucky bee that got to host it for May! Feel free to join and use the hashtag below. You can find my pictures on Instagram @shelf.loving

First of May, first of May! Outdoor… READING starts today!

Welcome to the second #coolbookbitches reading challenge of 2017 ! This will span the whole month.

There are (4) categories and (4) challenges! Below find the day of the challenge and the category inspired book choice prompt (to read at any point through the month). Each challenge must be done by the end of the day (you can post them earlier, but late submissions won’t count, you can send them directly to me or post on Instagram with our hashtag)!

May 1 – Mother Goose Day

·         A Retelling

·         Challenge: What is your favorite retelling/or favorite children’s book? Take a picture and explain why!

May 8 – Mother’s Day

•   A book that the mom is the driving force/or main character.
•  Challenge: Take a picture of the book that has your favorite or most hated “mom” or “mom-like” character and explain why!

May 11 – Eat What You Want Day

•     A book with food in the title
•     Challenge: Take a picture of a book and food, caption your favorite and least favorite food!

May 30 – Memorial Day

•     A memoir or military themed book
•   Challenge: Post a picture of a book that makes you remember something special whenever you see it!

Image from https://sites.google.com/a/freeholdtwp.k12.nj.us/mrs-murphy-mrs-killian/monthly-news/may 

Change Agent - Daniel Suarez

A Penguin First to Read ARC e-book in exchange for an honest review.

It is 2045 and the world’s economy has shifted to synthetic biology and Singapore is the leading nation while United States has fallen to third world status.

Genetic modifications are growing in the black market. While it is okay to make some modifications to rid ones children and future generations from disease/mutations that handicap it is illegal to change things like height and intelligence. 

Durand is a researcher that is recruited by Interpol to hunt down the illegal labs and find Wyckes, the leader of the most dangerous and fast growing genetic cartel that is exploiting human trafficking to grow his list of genetic alterations. Before Durand is able to act he is injected with something while standing in a crowd and wakes from a coma weeks later. Durand doesn’t wake up as himself though, but as a physical doppelganger of Wyckes, the most wanted man in the world. 
This book sucked me in, but then again I’m a sucker for “innocent men on the run trying to right the wrongs done to them and get back to their family” plots. 

It is an interesting future that the author creates. Can you imagine that your couch was grown? That the meat you consume is deathless? That almost everything is biologically created? That bio-terrorism is built so specifically that a poison can be engineered to exploit your personal DNA weaknesses?

How far will science take us? Or more importantly, where will greed and exploitation take us?

This book is scheduled to publish today! I definitely would recommend it for those that love fast paced thrillers. 

Prussian Blue (Bernie Gunther #12)- Philip Kerr

A Penguin First to Read ARC e-book in exchange for an honest review.

“I like to encourage a man’s vices. Especially yours.”

Prussian Blue is book 12 in the series. I felt like, yes you could read it as a standalone but, there was a lot of information that seemed to be missing when it came to character development and the various relationships. I gave this book 3 stars.

This story bounces from present day 1956 to the past, 1939. Though the story is split into two parts the two events end up intertwining. The story line in 1939 is surrounding a murder that happened on Hitler’s estate that he retreats to every year on/around his birthday and dominates most of the novel. This was great for me since I think the 1939 plot is the better part. 

A week before Hitler’s 50th birthday in 1939 a man is shot and killed within the compound retreat. We get a look into the Nazi parties political struggle and how there is no shortage in supply of power hungry men that rule a small town. Also, we get a glimpse of the buildup before WWII was WWII and how methamphetamine played a role in the German community and how hatred and greed affected the leaders which was interesting. 

I liked 1939 story line and felt constantly interrupted by present day Gunther being on the run in year 1956. I have not read the other books in the series though so maybe I am just missing something?

Prussian Blue publishing date is today! 04/04/2017