Well, I don’t know what happened. I was doing so good, I submitted six reviews this week and felt like maybe, just maybe my percentage would go up and then I was approved for a few……….okay maybe more than a few……….đđ
Here are my approvals for this week!
They are spread out over the next few months so I have timeâŠâŠ.
Have a great weekend and thank you for reading!
Avicii, the Grammy-nominated electronic dance DJ who performed sold-out concerts for feverish fans around the world and also had massive success on U.S. pop radio, died Friday. He was 28.
Publicist Diana Baron said in a statement that the Swedish performer, born Tim Bergling, was found dead in Muscat, Oman.
“It is with profound sorrow that we announce the loss of Tim Bergling, also known as Avicii,” the statement read. “The family is devastated and we ask everyone to please respect their need for privacy in this difficult time. No further statements will be given.”
No more details about the death were provided. Oman police and state media had no immediate report late Friday night on the artist’s death.
Avicii was an international pop star, performing his well-known electronic dance songs around the world for feverish fans, sometimes hundreds of thousands at the music festivals, where he was the headline act. His popular sound even sent him to the top of the charts and landed onto U.S. radio: His most recognized song, “Wake Me Up,” was a multi-platinum success and peaked at No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart. On the dance charts, he had seven Top 10 hits. His biggest hit was “Le7els.”
He was part of the wave of DJ-producers, like David Guetta, Calvin Harris and Swedish House Mafia, who broke out on the scene as lead performers in their own right, earning international hits, fame, awards and more like typical pop stars.
Avicii even collaborated with high-profile acts, producing Madonna’s “Devil Pray” and the Coldplay hits “A Sky Full of Stars” and “Hymn for the Weekend.”
Avicii was nominated for two Grammy Awards, two MTV Europe Music Awards and one Billboard Music Award.
His death comes just days after he was nominated for a 2018 Billboard Music Award for top dance/electronic album for his EP Avicii (01). He was nominated alongside his peers, who have taken EDM mainstream of late â The Chainsmokers, Calvin Harris and Kygo.
He is the subject of the 2017 Levan Tsikurishvil documentary Avicii: True Stories.
Avicii had in the past suffered acute pancreatitis, in part due to excessive drinking. After having his gallbladder and appendix removed in 2014, he canceled a series of shows in attempt to recover. He quit touring in 2016 but continued making music in the studio.
“It’s been a very crazy journey. I started producing when I was 16. I started touring when I was 18. From that point on, I just jumped into 100 percent,” Avicii told The Hollywood Reporter in 2016.
“When I look back on my life, I think: whoa, did I do that? It was the best time of my life in a sense. It came with a price – a lot of stress a lot of anxiety for me – but it was the best journey of my life.”
Last year, he posted this message on his website, promising to keep creating: “The next stage will be all about my love of making music to you guys. It is the beginning of something new.”
Muscat, where Avicii died, is the capital of the sultanate on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, is a popular vacation destination on the Arabian Sea.
Welcome to First Line Fridays, hosted by Hoarding Books!!!
Today, my first line comes from a book I will be reading very soon!
Jennie Sue Baker could almost hear the rumors buzzing around the small town of Bloom, Texas, when she stepped off the Greyhound bus in front of the Main Street Café that Monday at noon. On a slow day, gossip hung over the town like smoke in an old western honky-tonk.
FROM GOODREADS:
From New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown comes a funny heartache of a novel about overcoming the past, confronting the future, and defying all expectations.
Everyone is talking about Jennie Sue Baker and the mess she made of her life in New York. The former high school queen beeâand wealthy darling of Bloom, Texasâhas returned home after all these years, riding on a common bus and bearing two bounced alimony checks. In a town that thrives on gossip, Jennieâs fall from grace has shamed her mother, set the town buzzing, and caused old, jealous enemies to whisper in delight. They say sheâs taken a job as a housekeeper, gotten a garage apartment, and might be crushing on Rick Lawson, a simple farmer with modest dreams.
As romance starts to bud, Jennie relishes what it means to follow her heart, find real new friends, and finally be herselfâregardless of all the lying town chatter. But fate has another twist in store. Rumor has it that Jennie now stands to lose what matters mostâŠunless she can convince Rick of one true thingâand thatâs love.
NOW IT IS YOUR TURN! GRAB THE BOOK YOU ARE CURRENTLY READING, OPEN TO CHAPTER ONE, AND POST THE FIRST SENTENCE (OR SECOND SENTENCE) IN THE COMMENTS BELOW.
Itâs spring, 1970. The Vietnam War has been raging for years with no end in sight. Janey Martin, a California college student and aspiring journalist is tired of writing puff pieces about her university menâs sports teams. She wants to be taken seriously as a journalist and as a woman. With riots at their doorstep, her wealthy father sends Janey to the Sorbonne in Paris to finish her college education away from the chaos.
Janey is reluctant to leave the Big Story that is Vietnam, but vows to prove herself. Much to her dismay, her first assignment is to interview the hotshot star forward of a local soccer team. Janey is sure Adrien Rousseau is going to be like every other playboy jock sheâs ever dealt with, but quickly learns there is much more to Adrien than meets the eye.
The mysterious, sexy footballer just might be the biggest story of Janeyâs life.
I reached over and pushed âstopâ on Janeyâs tape recorder and turned to her. âSaturday then?â
She coughed in surprise. âWhat happens Saturday?â
âWe conclude the interview. You need to see a football match firsthand or your article is going to sound like a bunch of amateurish gibberish. You want to be taken seriously?â
She pressed her lips together for a moment. âYes.â
âSo do I. Saturday at noon at Stade Jean-Marc. Weâll finish the interview after.â
âAntoine wants the article in two days,â she said.
âTell Antoine I said to wait.â
She took another long pull from the lemonade, her pride not letting her say yes to me so quickly.
âSaturday then,â she said. âFor the article.â
âRight,â I said, holding her gaze. âFor the article.â
She finished off the lemonade and set the glass down. âThank you very much, Sophie. It was just what I needed.â She gathered her belongings and turned to me. âSee you.â
âYou have a drop of lemonade on your chin,â I said.
âWhere?â Her hand flew to her mouth. âNo, I donâtâŠâ
I held out the cocktail napkin with my sketch of her, my brow raised.
Janey dropped her hand from her dry chin, fuming. I expected her to flounce away. But she snatched the napkin out of my hand, dropped it into her bag, and coolly walked away.
I wasnât in love with her, but in that moment, I knew someday I would be.
Emma Scott is a bestselling author of emotional, character-driven romances in which art and love intertwine to heal, and in which love always wins. If you enjoy thoughtful, realistic stories with diverse characters and kind-hearted heroes, you will enjoy my novels.
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Throwback Thursday meme is hosted by Renee@Itâs Book Talk and is a way to share some of your old favorites as well as sharing books that youâre FINALLY getting around to reading that were published over a year ago. You know, the ones waiting patiently on your TBR list while you continue to pile more titles on top of them 
! These older books are usually much easier than new releases to get a hold of at libraries and elsewhere. If you have your own Throwback Thursday recommendation feel free to jump on board, youâre welcome to use Reneeâs pic as well. If youâd just link back to her @ Itâs Book Talksheâd so appreciate it.
This week Iâm picking a book I read a few years ago and loved!
MY REVIEW:
THE ONE I LEFT BEHIND by Jennifer McMahon begins in 1985 in a small town called Brighton Falls, CT. It is the story of Regina Dufrane. She is 13 years old and that summer a serial killer named Neptune is kidnapping women. He leaves their right hand on the door steps of the Brighton Police Department, as if he is mocking them. After five days, he leaves their bodies somewhere in town on display. The last victim is Reggie’s mother, Vera. Her hand is left on the steps, but her body is never found.
Fast forward 25 years and Reggie’s Mom is found alive. All of a sudden her past comes back to smack Reggie right in the face. Reggie must return to Brighton Falls to bring her mom back to her sister Lorraine’s home. Reggie left all of that behind, sort of, when she left at the age of 17. She has a boyfriend who comes with no strings attached. He wants more but Reggie is afraid to commit because of her past. He doesn’t even know about any of it and she refuses to tell him. With the return of Vera, also comes the return of Neptune. He takes a new victim, one of Reggie’s best friends when she was young. Now the only one who can save this friend is Reggie. Reggie learns a lot about her past and what happened twenty five years earlier.
THE ONE I LEFT BEHIND really kept me guessing. I had no idea who Neptune was until the end. I was so caught up in Reggie’s life; my heart broke for her and her mother. I was frantically turning the pages during the second half of the book…so many twists and turns. I just had to find it how it was going to end.
This was my first book by Jennifer McMahon and it will NOT be my last. You will be sucked in right from the beginning and it will not let you go until the very last page. The chapters go back and forth between 1985 and the present so you have to pay attention to the dates so you won’t be confused.
More Throwback Thursday Picks Around the BlogosphereâŠ
Deanna at DeesRadReads and Reviews
Amanda at Literary Weaponry
Cathy at What Cathy Read Next
Lynne at Fictionophile
Annie at The Misstery
Mischenko at Read Rant Rock and Roll
Laurie at Cozy Nook Books
Diana at A Haven for Book Lovers
Kaila at The Traveling Inkwell
WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. The purpose is to share what Iâve been reading lately. The three Wâs stand for:
What did you recently finish reading?
What are you currently reading?
What do you think youâll read next?
I have always loved this amazing meme and decided to finally do it. Wonât you join me if you donât do this one already?
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?
WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUâLL READ NEXT?
WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING? LET ME KNOW IN THE COMMENTS DOWN BELOW.
I have no words……
I jumped on twitter this afternoon to take a break from a stressful day. I stumbled upon something and didnât want to believe it. The sister of Steph, from the blog Teacher of YA , posted to let her followers know that Steph has passed away unexpectedly. My heart is breaking. There are no details as to what happened. All I know is that she was too young and too sweet. She was one of the first people I met when I joined the book community and I cherished our many conversations. She was always so positive and happy, looking forward to so much within the book world. I even noticed that her blog had received an award! As it should have!! Her writing was fantastic, and she worked so hard to be a part of all the things. This is just so utterly heart breaking. My thoughts are with theâŠ
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The Good Luck Sister
Jill Shalvis
Received from Edelweiss
THE GOOD LUCK SISTER is book 1.5 in the Wildstone series. It is a novella, short and sweet, but it packed a punch that went straight to my heart. Tilly and Dylan are from the first book, The Lost and Found Sisters and it was great reconnecting with them as adults. Tilly went to school to further her art talent and always thought she would become a famous artist while living the rest of her life with her true love, Dylan. Neither of those things happened. Dylan took off eight years ago and never looked back. Of course, Tilly’s heart was shattered. Dylan was the only boy she ever loved and was hurt badly when he walked away without a word to Tilly.
Well, it’s eight years later and Tilly is nowhere near famous. On her first day of her new job as an art teacher at the local community college, who is sitting in her class? Yup, Dylan! Hang on tight readers, it’s going to be one crazy and fun ride! THE GOOD LUCK SISTER had my emotions all over the place, so badly that I wanted to run to Wildstone and slap the hell out of Dylan. I get the reasons why he left, but why couldn’t he have explained it all to Tilly before he ran? Why did he open his helicopter business in Wildstone of all places? How did he go eight years without so much as a phone call or postcard to Tilly? All she did was love him and care for him all those years ago. What did she do to make him run away?
THE GOOD LUCK SISTER is about Dylan coming home and trying to explain why he left to Tilly. I loved him in the first book and even though he broke my heart when he left I was praying that Tilly would forgive him. As secrets are uncovered I was holding my breath, praying everything would work out in the end for Tilly and Dylan. Flashbacks to when Dylan and Tilly were teenagers give the reader a taste of what they were like back then and what they were going through. Brilliant Jill Shalvis, just brilliant! She made me sad, then the next moment I was smiling and giggling out loud and swooning for Dylan! I’m so excited to continue with the Wildstone series. You can never go wrong with a Jill Shalvis story and if you are in a reading slump, her books pull you right out!
The Elizas
Sara Shepard
Received from Atria Books
Eliza is rescued from the bottom of a hotel pool. Her family believes it’s another failed suicide attempt, but Eliza feels certain she was pushed. Of course, no one believes her and she is determined to find the person who tried to kill her and find out why. THE ELIZAS is such a thrilling creepy ride so hang on tight. This story was a little confusing to me at first but once I settled down, I was totally invested in Eliza’s story and was hoping she could figure out what really happened.
Eliza tracks down the only witness, the man who rescued her from the bottom of the pool. After talking with him she is even more confused than ever but is determined to figure out what happened and who did this to her. Why would someone want her dead? At the same time, she is getting ready to publish her first novel and soon it feels like her life becomes the story she wrote. THE ELIZAS has everyone, including Eliza herself, wondering if she is finally losing her mind for good. Sara Shepard really plays with the reader’s mind and will have them questioning what is truth and what is fiction.
THE ELIZAS jumps back and forth between the present and Eliza’s novel. Pay attention, be patient and read on. Sara Shepard continues to throw the reader curve balls and keeps them guessing right up until the end of the story. Will Eliza ever be able to untangle the web of lies to finally figure out who tried to kill her? How does her upcoming novel, The Dots, a story she wrote after she had surgery for a brain tumor, fit in to what has happened at the pool that night, or does it? Just when the reader has it all figured out, the twists and turns take them into a different direction and leaves them scratching their heads. That is exactly what happened to me. I’ve never read Sara Shepard before, but after reading THE ELIZAS I think I’m going to read her Little Liars series soon.
