Mind the Book

Stacking the Shelves is a weekly meme hosted by Marlene of Reading Reality. It’s all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in a physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, books for review from authors, Netgalley, Edelweiss or publishers, as well as gifts or books you won.

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Hosted by: Carole’s Random Life in Books

Books from the Backlog is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread. If you are anything like me, you might be surprised by some of the unread books hiding in your stacks.

This week’s neglected book

The Operator by Gretchen Berg
Published by: March 10, 2020 by William Morrow
Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery
Summary: In a small town, everyone knows everyone else’s business . . .Nobody knows the people of Wooster, Ohio, better than switchboard operator Vivian Dalton. She calls it intuition. Her teenage daughter, Charlotte, calls it eavesdropping.

Vivian and the other women who work at Bell on East Liberty Street connect lines and lives. They aren’t supposed to listen in on conversations, but they do, and they all have opinions on what they hear―especially Vivian.

Then, one cold December night, Vivian listens in on a call between that snob Betty Miller and someone whose voice she can’t quite place and hears something shocking. Betty Miller’s mystery friend has news that, if true, will shatter Vivian’s tidy life in Wooster, humiliating her and making her the laughingstock of the town.

Vivian may be mortified, but she isn’t going to take this lying down. She’s going to get to the bottom of that rumor—get into it, get under it, poke around in the corners. Find every last bit. Vivian wants the truth, no matter how painful it may be.

But as Vivian is about to be reminded, in a small town like Wooster, one secret usually leads to another....


Why did I add The Operator to my bookshelf?

Is there ever a book you own but can't remember where you purchased it? I am that person. While I reorganized my library, I found this book, and now I have no idea how I got it. I ask my sister if she remembers if I bought this book? Even my sister doesn't know how I got it. My curiosity is piqued about this book.



What are your thoughts? Have you read this book?  Would you recommend it?

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Sharlene from Real Life Reading that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.


What books did I pick this week?

It's been a hot second since I visited the library. This year's library reading challenge theme has been released. This year's Reading Challenge theme is Unearth a Story. Hence my dinosaur banner.



I usually check out more books, but I decide to limit myself this time. I notice every time I check out a lot of books, half of them won't be read. To make sure I read all the books I borrow, I'm going to limit myself. This is until I can create a reading schedule and set aside specific times each day for reading.



I checked out these books:

• Grave Empire by Richard Swan


• You Can't Live All on Your Own!, Vol. 1 by Mizoko Tsuno


• The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow


• The Selection by Kiera Cass


• As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti


• Unearthly by Cynthia Hand


• Strange Angels by Lili St. Crow , Lilith Saintcrow


• A Cup of Friendship by Deborah Rodriguez


• As Old As Time by Liz Braswell

What did you pick up this week? Have you started your Library Reading Challenge yet?

BY: : Kelley Armstrong
SERIES: Darkest Powers (#1)
RELEASES: November 9, 2021 by VIZ Media LLC
GENRE: Paranormal, Horror, Paranormal Romance, Urban Fantasy
AGE RANGE: Teen
RATING: 2 out 5
SYNOPSIS: Chloe Saunders used to have a relatively normal life.

But now she finds herself in the middle of some really strange situations because:
~She suddenly starts seeing dead people.
~She gets locked up in a group home for unstable teens.
~The group home isn't what it seems.

My name is Chloe Saunders and my life will never be the same again.

All I wanted was to make friends, meet boys, and keep on being ordinary. I don't even know what that means anymore. It all started on the day that I saw my first ghost—and the ghost saw me.

Now there are ghosts everywhere and they won't leave me alone. To top it all off, I somehow got myself locked up in Lyle House, a "special home" for troubled teens. Yet the home isn't what it seems. Don't tell anyone, but I think there might be more to my housemates than meets the eye. The question is, whose side are they on? It's up to me to figure out the dangerous secrets behind Lyle House... before its skeletons come back to haunt me.
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The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted here caffeinatedreviewer. It’s a chance to share news — a post to recap the past week on your blog and showcase books and things we have received. Share news about what is coming up on your blog for the week ahead. Join weekly, biweekly, or for a monthly wrap-up.



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BY: Carolyn Brown
SERIES: Honky Tonk Cowboys (#1)
RELEASES:January 1, 2010 by Sourcebooks Casablanca
GENRE: Contemporary, Western, Romance
AGE RANGE: Adult
RATING: 1 out 5
SYNOPSIS: Daisy O’Dell doesn’t need anything but her bar. She has her hands full with hotheads and thirsty ranchers, and she’s determined to run the Honky Tonk until they drag her cold dead body through the swinging doors. But when a damn fine cowboy walks in one day, her whole life is thrown into turmoil.

Jarod McBroy was looking for a cold drink and a moment’s peace. Instead he found one red hot woman. She’s just what Jarod needs to deal with his ornery Uncle Rural, who won’t listen to a damn thing he says until he brings home a good woman. Now if only he can convince her to come out from behind that bar, and come on home with him…

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BY: Judith Krantz
RELEASES:October 27, 1998 by Crown
GENRE: Contemporary Fiction
AGE RANGE: Adult
RATING: 2 out 5
SYNOPSIS:For the first time Judith Krantz has chosen to tell a story rooted in the shattering emotions of a mother-daughter relationship gone desperately wrong. The story unfolds on a classic Krantz background, a magic carpet of gorgeous entertainment and sumptuous events. Yet, at its core, The Jewels of Tessa Kent is an engrossing, deeply moving, and ultimately inspiring tale of two women bound by blood yet torn apart by their deepest emotions.


Tessa Kent, an exquisite and precocious fourteen, gives birth to an illegitimate daughter. Her parents, devout Catholics, raise the infant, Maggie, as their own child. At sixteen Tessa is discovered by Hollywood; by nineteen she's an international movie star. Maggie lives for her glorious "sister's" infrequent whirlwind visits. Maggie is a captivating, independent eighteen when she accidentally learns the truth. Mortally wounded, she breaks all ties with Tessa and starts to work at the famed Manhattan auction house of Scott & Scott.


Five years later, a life-altering crisis makes Tessa passionately determined to end this estrangement. An auction is the only way she can find to reach her daughter, an auction of the immensely valuable collection of famed jewels that represent all the love lavished on her by her late husband. Tessa promises Scott & Scott the auction on the condition that Maggie and she work closely together on the sale. For Tessa, her entire future now hangs on the hope of an almost impossible reconciliation.


The Jewels of Tessa Kent deals with the fascinating workings of an auction house; it's a revealing look at the inside of Hollywood stardom; but more than anything else, it's a story of feelings and family, of loss, mistakes, joy and redemption.

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Hello and welcome to my book review blog!

I’ve been getting back into reading this year. I want to keep going, so I decided to start this blog. It will help me remember the books I've read and share my reviews and recommendations along the way!



I enjoy reading a wide variety of books, but I tend to finish sci-fi and fantasy books at a faster pace than others. I think it’s because the exciting worlds and quick plots in these genres keep me interested. I also enjoy literary fiction and nonfiction. They offer depth and insight, even if they take longer to understand. This variety lets me see things in new ways and keeps me motivated to read regularly.




The purpose of this blog is for me to share my love of books with others and to connect with other book lovers around the world. This blog will be messy, but I'll do my best to keep it organized.

Here is a brief overview of what my blog has to offer.

Book reviews: Here you can find my ratings & opinions on books I have read. These are divided into fiction and non-fiction. I will put a link to my book review on my sidebar.

Manga reviews Here you can find my ratings & opinions on manga I have read. These are divided into age category (shojo, shonen, etc.)

Articles: Here you will find non-review posts on all things books. My current categories are:

• Monthly spotlight – These articles highlight books coming out in the current month that I am excited about.


• It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? - is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week.


• Teaser Tuesday - is a weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR! You can also just share what you are currently reading.


• WWW Wednesday - is a weekly event where you share (1) What you’re currently reading, (2) What you recently finished reading, and (3) What you think you’ll read next.


• Library Loot - is a weekly event that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.


• Books From the Backlog - is a fun way to feature some of those neglected books sitting on your bookshelf unread.


• Stacking the Shelves - is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual.


• The Sunday Post - a post to recap the past week, showcase books and things. we have received and share news about what is coming up for the week on our blog.


• Monthly Wrap-Up - a wrap-up summarizes of what I read for that month.