Xepherus Reads

       Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,    Regarding reading in April, I read many research books, magazines, and articles to help me finish my novel. It has taken me away from reading fiction, but it has been worth the break since I have gained knowledge.   Do I still have reading aspirations? Of course, I do. This is a reading blog.   Here are my picks for reading in May: Murder by the Book by Lauren Elliot Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith by Adam Christopher Written in Bone by Sue Black      Let me know in the comments below what you are reading.   If you wish to donate to my publishing fund at Venmo. All donations are appreciated.         Also please follow me on my  social media platforms  and enjoy shopping with me at eBay and Mercari.      SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS AT LINKTREE     Because there is always time to read,   Xepherus3   All written co...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!  When I think of my reading future, I know that I often let the page count of a novel deter me from picking it up. I know this can be silly at times, but it is a real factor in what I read.    With being said, here are my top five picks for my most intimidating books.  1.      The Count of Monte Christie by Alexandre Dumas - this huge book has crossed paths with my To Be Read list many times over the past couple of decades. The more I pick it up, the more I feel that a book of this size may be too much to handle. My book reading lately has been limited to five hundred pages. 2.    Les Miserables by Victor Hugo -  with over fourteen hundred pages, this monster of a book has been walked to the counter of Barnes and Noble many times. With their special edition binding, I always feel that I can read it. Fast forward a few editions later, and it is still on the shelf at the bookstore....

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,                An Anonymous Girl is written by the author duo of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, and it is published by St. Martins Press. In it, we are introduced to freelance makeup artist, Jessica Farris. She lives in New York City in a whole-in-the-wall studio apartment and does her best to help her parents afford her sister's special needs care. But money is tight and she needs to catch a break. Her job at BeautyBuzz is not entirely safe since she is asked to go to strangers' homes to do their makeup. There has to be another way. Then she meets Taylor, a college student that has been asked to join a study at her university. But Taylor decides to not attend the study, which is offering to pay her five hundred dollars. Jessica, posing as Taylor, enters the study and no one seems the wiser. But the creator of the study, Dr. Lydia Shields,...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,       The Lost Symbol is the third book in the best-selling adventure series by Dan Brown. The edition that I read was published by Double Day Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. In this thriller, we find Professor Robert Langdon has been summoned to Washington D.C. by his old friend and mentor, Peter Solomon. Solomon is holding an event at the U.S. Capitol Building and wishes Robert to address the crowd. But when Robert arrives he discovers in the center of one of the rooms in the Capitol Building is a grisly token taken by Peter's apparent kidnapper. A dangerous man has Solomon and he will kill him unless Robert helps him find a relic of the Masonic Order.    Across town at the Smithsonian Museum Support Center, Katherine Solomon worries about her brother, since he has yet to contact her. In her ...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,       Love You More is written by Lisa Gardner, and it is published by Penguin Random House under their Bantam Books imprint. In this fifth installment Detective D.D. Warren is reunited with her former lover, Bobby Dodge. Dodge requests Warren to join him at the site of a homicide. State Trooper Tessa Leoni has shot and killed her husband, and her daughter, Sophie, is missing. Married to Brian Darby for three years, Tessa and Sophie appeared to be happy with the merchant marine. Although their tough schedules kept them busy, Tessa and Brian seemed to be a happy couple. But Leoni is severely beaten and her husband lies on the kitchen floor with three slugs in his chest.     With no defensive wounds and a story that seems to change with every interview, Tessa Leoni is looking more like a calculated murderer than a battered wife. But what events of Tessa's past have come to roost in her seemingly idyllic life? ...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!         Visions of Sugar Plums is Janet Evanovich's Christmas novel featuring Stephanie Plum. The hardcover edition that I read was published by St. Martin's Press, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers. In this little bundle of joy, readers were introduced to Diesel. A magical individual known as an Unmentionable, Diesel can get into any locked place and appear without warning. And he has the uncanny ability to force his  wicked charms  onto people. With four days to Christmas Stephanie is looking for a fugitive skip who may or may not be Santa Claus. Diesel is on the scene to help Stephanie, whether she likes it or not.   This short novel lasted under two hundred pages and was a lot of fun. Fan favorite Randy Briggs also returns, as does Stephanie's zany family. Unexpected pregnancies. Lost false teeth. Attack elves. And a whole lot of Christmas magic ushers in Christmas in Trenton fo...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,       Lock Every Door is the third thriller by Riley Sager, and is published by Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. In this twisty tale of terror, we are introduced to Jules Larsen. She is pretty, naive, and seems to always be down on her luck and out of a job.  Soon Jules's job hunt leads to an interesting advertisement for an apartment sitter. She calls and arranges a meeting with the building manager.  When Jules arrives at the address, she interviews for the position at the famous Bartholomew Building. After her interview goes well and she is hired, she moves in to begin her three-month stay. With a thousand dollars in cash payment at the end of every week, Jules is set to earn the money she desperately needs.    She is given a few rules, which include not being seen on social media at Bartholomew and refra...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,       The Da Vinci Code is written by Dan Brown and this illustrated edition is published by Doubleday Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. The  Da Vinci  Code catches up with Harvard Professor Robert Langdon one year after the Earth-shattering events of Angels and Demons . Langdon remains in the spotlight after his involvement in the prior year's Vatican City crisis. In France for a well-publicized lecture event, Robert is awoken from sleep by the arrival of police. Bezu Fache, a French police captain, wishes Langdon's presence at the Louvre museum. Robert has a meeting planned with a famous curator at the museum, Jaques Sauniere. But when Langdon and Fache arrive at the Louvre, they discover  Jaques has been murdered. On the floor around his body are sentences that unravel a mysterious message. That message ends with PS: find Robert Langdon.   As Fache continues to question R...

Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,    April is seeing A lot of research and editing for my  debut novel . Of course, this is great news that I am nearing the end of finishing my book. But with all of this nonfiction reading, I have moved away from fiction. Thankfully, I have some books on my reading table that have begun.      Here are my choices for April: Murder by the Book by Lauren Elliot Star Wars: Shadow of the Sith by Adam Christopher Written in Bone by Sue Black    Have fun reading this month. Let me know in the comments below what you are reading. I love hearing about everyone's TBRs.      Let me know in the comments below what you are reading.        Also please follow me on my  social media platforms  and enjoy shopping with me at eBay and Mercari.      SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS AT LINKTREE     Because there is always time to read,   Xepherus3   All wr...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,          Wicked Charms is written by Janet Evanovich and Phoef Sutton, and is distributed by Bantam Books.  In Wicked Charms the Saligia Stone Lizzie and Diesel seek is the Stone of Avarice. But there is one little problem: a billionaire named Martin Ammon believes that he is the vessel for a demon. And he needs the Avarice Stone to open the gates of hell so he can rule the world.     In Salem's Pirate Museum, Lizzy Tucker accidentally discovers a dead body. An investigation begins linking the Avarice Stone to buried Pirate treasure and a mysterious gold coin that was separated into many pieces. Can our magical duo find the Avarice Stone before Martin Ammon? And can they stop the demon Mammon from entering our world?    Janet Evanovich's decision to co-author this book with Phoef Sutton was an excellent choice. While reading this book I did not see any change in the writing, and all chara...

  Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons,              In the Clearing is book three in the Tracy Crosswhite detective series by Robert Dugoni. It is published by Thomas and Mercer, an imprint of Amazon. It brings us to the heart of two mysteries; one in the present day and one begun forty years prior. In 1976 a young Native American girl named Kimi Kanasket disappeared while walking home from her job as a waitress. Officer Buzz Almond worked with a search party to find the girl, whose death was concluded as a suicide. He knew that there was more to her case than a simple suicide.  Forty years later, with his funeral behind her, Buzz's daughter, Jenny, has found the Kanasket file in her father's home office. She is reunited with her old academy friend, Tracy Crosswhite at the funeral, and asks her to look into the disappearance of Kimi Kanasket.  Meanwhile, Tracy's A-Team is looking into the apparent self-defense shooting de...