Blog Tour: The Afterlife of Walter Augustus by Hannah M. Lynn

July 31, 2018August 27, 2018 Saturday Nite Reader22 Comments

This is my first blog tour and what a fun book to kick off the first of hopefully many more.

3.5 disco balls

Published: July 12, 2018 by Amazon Digital Services
Category: Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal

Normally fantasy and paranormal are not my reading jam, but there was something about the synopsis to The Afterlife of Walter Augustus that piqued my interest right from the start. I had this feeling that Walter Augustus was going to be like Ove (from A Man Called Ove) and I needed to see if I was right. I mean, who doesn’t just love Ove?

Walter Augustus is dead. He is living in the interim until no one remembers him anymore; then he can clear over to the other side and be with the rest of his family. Walter is very close to crossing that threshold when Letty will ruin everything. Letty is alive. Letty is about to be haunted: is she going crazy or are there really such things as ghosts?Read More »

Audiobook Review: Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala

July 29, 2018August 28, 2018 Saturday Nite Reader10 Comments

5 disco balls

Published: March 6, 2018 by HarperAudio
Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi & Julia Whelan
Length: 6 hours 21 minutes
Category: Literary Fiction, LGBT

I have been on an audiobook roll lately and hope to keep up the momentum. I am one who prefers to read an actual book, but likes to listen to audiobooks during my drives (or to make doing chores more bearable). There have been a few times where I felt that I had a better experience listening rather than reading and this here is one of them!

Narrator Prentice Onayemi starts the first part of this book and he was absolute perfection. I felt as though I was listening to Prentice – as Niru – tell me his story; as if I was grabbing coffee with him and we were engaged in a conversation. He made Niru real, lent a voice to his story and his family. My goodness was this story beautifully written: there is no doubt that author Iweala is extremely talented.
Read More »

Book Review: Silent Hearts by Gwen Florio

July 24, 2018August 28, 2018 Saturday Nite Reader14 Comments

4.5 disco balls

Publish Date: July 24, 2018 by Atria Books
Category: Contemporary Fiction, Cultural

I came across Silent Hearts during one of my many NetGalley searches and was lured in by the message that it would appeal to fans of Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns; my most recommended book. There is no doubt that Gwen Florio is an extremely talented writer. Her words created a setting in which I could easily visualize the scenes themselves (which is usually hard for me, I am more of a dialogue fan than description for that reason). Her years as a journalist – and experience covering conflict zones – aided in her crafting the unlikely friendship between Liv and Farida, our two protagonists in Silent Hearts.Read More »

Saturday Spotlight: Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

July 21, 2018August 28, 2018 Saturday Nite Reader15 Comments

Introducing Saturday Nite Reader’s weekly meme: Saturday Spotlight! Each Saturday I will spotlight a book I have read or am currently reading; and, of course what I think is special about it. I invite you to participate as well! Just link back to my weekly post and don’t forget to add your spotlight link in the comment section for all to see. Happy Sharing! XO, Nikki

This Week:
Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

Published: October 12, 1958 by Random House
Category: Novella, Classics, Short-Stories

I hate to admit it, but I have never read this book! As an Audrey Hepburn fan, I love the movie – its one of my go-tos on rainy days. I recently bought my own copy and aim to read it before the end of 2018. I didn’t even realize it was actually a novella.

First published in 1958, they would go on to release the movie in 1961: Holly Golightly being one of Hepburn’s most iconic roles.

I have dressed up as Golightly twice for costume parties: the first being for what she was most remembered by: black dress, black hat, pearls and cigarette holder; the second as the wardrobe from the end scene with “cat” even making an appearance. The funny thing is, I hate Halloween and dressing up but any excuse to be Audrey Hepburn for the day and I am in.

My best friend is also a book lover. In this picture our costume theme was “literary characters.” She went as Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice.

Breakfast at Tiffany’s quotes:
“What I’ve found does the most good is just to get into a taxi and go to Tiffany’s. It calms me down right away, the quietness and the proud look of it; nothing very bad could happen to you there.”

“Never love a wild thing…If you let yourself love a wild thing. You’ll end up looking at the sky.”

“I don’t mean I’d mind being rich and famous. That’s very much on my schedule and someday I’ll try to get around to it.”

Book Review: On Beauty by Zadie Smith

July 18, 2018August 28, 2018 Saturday Nite Reader20 Comments

3.5 disco balls

Published: June 4, 2005 by Penguin Books
Category: Contemporary Fiction

On Beauty by Zadie Smith is 442 pages. A very, very slow 442 pages in which you need to be fully engaged and present while reading. This is not a book you can breeze through, as the book would mention of certain characters: it is intellectual. There is no doubt that Smith is a talented writer, I just struggled a bit in establishing a reading pace with this one.

On Beauty follows the Belsey family: an interracial couple, Howard and Kiki, married thirty years living in an upper middle class town with their three children, Jerome, Zora and Levi.

Howard is an art history professor at a local liberal arts college who is hard to like; he always has an opinion (its most always negative) and he’s always right (or so he thinks)
Kiki used to be a beautiful spitfire but has gained a significant amount of weight; still a spitfire but that magnetic confidence doesn’t exude from her like it used to (I blame Howard)
Jerome is a young man trying to find himself in religion and grapples with adulthood and his relationship with his family; he is the rational one of the bunch
Zora is Howard 2.0 with the spunk of Kiki; she yearns to be accepted but her approach in getting what she yearns for is more alienating than endearing
Levi is sixteen and going through an identity crisis; he is passionate and loyal and trying to find something worth fighting for (his family doesn’t understand him – as any teenager would say)Read More »

Saturday Spotlight: She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb

July 14, 2018August 28, 2018 Saturday Nite Reader22 Comments

This Week:
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb

Published: August 24, 1992 by Pocket
Category: Fiction, Contemporary, Coming of Age

Ever read a book and remember you had strong feelings for it and would go on to say that it was one of your top reads of all time…and then time goes by (a lot of time) and you forget the story but know it was good (or at least you felt moved when you read it)? BTW – how long did I make that sentence, holy heck. Well that is me and She’s Come Undone.

I read this book in high school, and remember being so in tuned with the story; a relation not felt due to similarity of situation, but knowing what the main character, Dolores, may have been feeling on an emotional level. Man, do I need to reread this book again. I am hoping it will bring back memories from when I first experienced it.

I always thought I would not reread books: why would I want to waste time reading something I already experienced when there are so many good books out there? But, I was wrong. I read this book almost 20 years ago – and hundreds of books since – that how can I possibly remember the full, detailed story? I will be rereading this one very soon.

Book Review: Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage

July 10, 2018August 28, 2018 Saturday Nite Reader20 Comments

3 disco balls

Publish Date: July 17, 2018 by St. Martin’s Press
Category: Thriller, Psychological Suspense, and what I consider Horror

Anyone remember this 90s movie? You have no idea how fitting this reference is, but if you read Baby Teeth you will soon find out.

Long story short: Suzette thinks her 7 year-old daughter, Hanna, is straight up trying to kill her. Only thing is her husband, Alex, has a hard time believing her. Hanna is only her creepy, demonic self when with her mother – or strangers – but never Daddy. Suzette isn’t Mother Teresa – you will wonder about her a bit – but no one can hold a candle to Hanna. Read More »

Book Review: Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

July 4, 2018November 9, 2018 Saturday Nite Reader36 Comments

4.5 disco balls

Published: June 11, 2013 by Doubleday
Category: Fiction, Contemporary

This was a super fun read. It was like I was reading a soap opera versus watching one; with a plethora of characters who were just what the book described: crazy! Overbearing, meddling and judgy moms whose circles run the same.

My goodness the things some of these characters do just because of what everyone thinks, not what they want. You kind of feel bad for them, but at the same time lack empathy for them – as they are super rich – and would trade places with them any day (you think).Read More »

Saturday Spotlight: The Rainmaker by John Grisham

June 30, 2018August 28, 2018 Saturday Nite Reader20 Comments

This Week:
The Rainmaker by John Grisham

Published: April 28, 1995 by Doubleday
Category: Fiction, Legal Thriller
New York Times Best Selling Author

I read The Rainmaker in HS for fun – this was not a normal activity. I could barely read my required English assignments, but for some reason I would visit my school library and select books that I thought were more worth my time. That is another story for another day, as I had quite the reading preference (i.e. Girl, Interrupted; She’s Come Undone, a Janis Joplin biography = teen angst down pat). I picked up The Rainmaker after reading A Time to Kill. I thought I wanted to be a lawyer: the kind of lawyer in both Grisham novels that would fight for the underdog – the less powerful – and obviously prevail in defeating “the big bad man” in the end every single time.Read More »

Book Review: Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton

June 29, 2018August 28, 2018 Saturday Nite Reader24 Comments

4 disco balls

Published: June 5, 2018 by Doubleday
Category: Fiction, Thriller, Mystery

You know how most thrillers keep you on edge a bit throughout the book and typically towards the end there is that “hold your breath” moment. Well, for me this happened at the halfway point of this book and my heart and chest hurt right until the very end.

It wasn’t an overwhelming, constant pulse – but more a slow and growing build up of “how the heck is this going to play out?!” I was on the edge of my seat most of this book, not waiting for a twist: waiting for the ball to drop.Read More »

Book Review: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

June 18, 2018November 15, 2018 Saturday Nite Reader17 Comments

5 disco balls

Published: June 5, 2018 by Berkley
Category: Romance, Contemporary, Fiction

The bookstagram community wouldn’t stop raving about this one that when it was a Book of the Month June selection it was a no-brainer to choose. The synopsis sold a love story for Eleanor Oliphant fans so I couldn’t wait to dive in.