March 2020 ~ Nighttime Reading Center

March 31, 2020

Monthly Wrap up: March 2020

March came like never before. This month was stranger by we find ourselves fighting a war at home with a virus. That is dangerous to all if we catch it but by spreading it. Coronavirus seem to be the talk and what will make us and our country change our way of life. Social and school and healthcare will change our way of life once we have beaten this Coronavirus.

I have been reading as much as I can and still feel sane. I hope all our essential workers out there stay safe and healthy. I want to say Thank you them and those on the front lines of this pandemic. Let try and do our part by staying home unless we really need to get something like food.

I spent most of my month reading and trying to stay sane and not bored.. Trying to do my part by staying home.

I have giveaways going on my blog. Check my sidebar on my blog under "Giveaways".

Books Read in March:

A Reason For Living by Julian Jingles (Book Tour 3/20/20)
The Quiet/Crazy Easter Day by Jill Roman Lord
The Crow's Call by Wanda E. Brunstetter
Little Words Matter Jumbo Coloring Book by B&H Kids
The Sleepwalking Vampire by Alba Arango
The Mysterious Music Box by Alba Arango
The Miner's Gold by Alba Arango

My books really fell in 3 different genres for this month. They are in 2 different media categories I believe as well. They will be shown below.

Books by Genre:

Children - 2 Books
Mystery - 4 Book
Historical Fiction - 1 Book

Books by Media Categories:

Paperback - 6 Books
Hard Cover - 1 Books

I have read a total of 1,687 Pages, for the month of March. I finally am back to reading around what I think I can for a month. The total for 2020 is 3,655 Pages and 00 Hours of Listening.

Books by Pages Total:

A Reason For Living - 372 Pages
The Quiet/Crazy Easter Day - 24 Pages
The Crow's Call - 320 Pages
Little Words Matter Jumbo Coloring Book - 385 Pages
The Sleepwalking Vampire - 190 Pages
The Mysterious Music Box - 188 Pages
The Miner's Gold - 208 Pages

Total Pages by Month:

January - 1,004 Pages
February - 964 Pages
March - 1,687 Pages

Total books by Month:

January - 6 Books
February - 5 Books
March - 7 Books

Favorite Book of the Month:

My Review for A Quiet/Crazy Easter Day

You might think of the first Easter as a quiet, peaceful morning. But with all creation celebrating the risen Lord of Lords, it may not have been so quiet! The Quiet Crazy Easter Day imagines the crazy celebration that might have occurred when Jesus arose . . . a festive day filled with chirps and croaks, shouts and coos and loop-de-doos. Join the rejoicing as we follow along with the Easter story and learn how we too can shout and sing and spread the news that Jesus is alive.

Want to buy: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Lifeway Website |

Book Haul of the Month:

View this post on Instagram

My book mail. One is coloring book. Hopefully I can get a pic of my cousin coloring in it. If not iij might have to review it before giving it. To them by checking it out. A children book. Thanks to all. @alyssamiracle a bedtime story. @lifeway @bhpub #childrensbooks #bibliophile #bookish #childrensbooks #coloringbook #bookmail #marchhaul

A post shared by Lindsay Rae Hickey (@hickeylindsay) on Mar 17, 2020 at 6:17am PDT

Book Challenges:
- Goodreads Reading Challenge 18/30 Books
- Fiction Addiction's Monthly Wrap up
- Backlog of Reviews (0 Reviews) 2011 though 2018
Bloggers Commenting Back
Follow me and I follow back

Giveaways:
A Reason for Living

Upcoming Reads / Releases

Isaiah's Legacy (Released 2/18/20) - TBR	A Curse OF Mayhem - TBR
The Blue Cloak (Releases 3/1/20) - TBR	North! or Be Eaten (Releases 3/10/20) - TBR

Here is everything that been posted for the year. Some things have been will be posted later then when I read the book or reviewed it. Most cases this is when a book is on tour with me. The Book review may be posted later or a month or so done the line. I will gladly mark these when I read the book so you know.

My Wrap Ups for the Year:

What are your Reading? How you coping with the Coronavirus? Are you stuck at home with an Stay at home order by your Governor?

March 29, 2020

9:35 PM By Lindz No comments Edit This

Book Review: The Mysterious Music Box

Book Title: The Mysterious Music Box
Author: Alba Arango
Series: The Decoders #4
Publisher: Sapphire Books
Publisher Date: November 12, 2018 (188 Pages, Paperback)
Genres: Children, Fiction, Mystery, Young adult, Middle Grade

Steve, Matt, and Jenny thought their new case would be a cinch. They were wrong.

What starts out as a search for a stolen music box quickly turns into a dangerous hunt when the three detectives discover the dark and mysterious history of the music box and a secret that could lead them to a fortune of long-lost gold from World War II.

As the trio delves deeper into the mystery, they encounter two nefarious thieves, both willing to do anything to get their hands on the missing gold, including eliminating the competition. Racing against time, the trio must figure out the meaning of a clue left behind by a dying man in order to keep the music box, and the gold, out of the hands of the deadly treasure hunters.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the author for an honest review. My options are my own.
Want to Buy: Amazon
Add To: Goodreads

The mysterious Music box is a well-hidden game of lost and find. Though it not all easy to find the music box. There seems to be a reason for two other people trying to find this music box that belongs to a friend from school.

Though why would someone want to break in and take a music box that has nothing in it. There seem to be quite a bit of people wanting Rosa music box. Could there be something inside the box that can solve a mystery of some treasures that came from world war II Germany?

There seem to be two other people that are trying to find this music box. What could be so special about it? If you enjoy riddles and puzzles, then this book and series are for you. If you are looking for a good series or book for your children of middle-grade schoolers this is it. These books are good for them and they will learn a little bit as they read.

7:43 PM By Lindz No comments Edit This

Book Review: The Sleepwalking Vampire

Book Title: The Sleepwalking Vampire
Author: Alba Arango
Series: The Decoders #3
Publisher: Sapphire Books
Publisher Date: September 27, 2018 (190 Pages, Paperback)
Genres: Children, Fiction, Mystery, Young adult, Middle Grade

Twelve-year-old detectives Steve, Matt, and Jenny agree to help their friend Tyrone with a unique problem –his niece thinks she’s a vampire. Believing the girl simply has an over-active imagination, the trio spends the night at her home, determined to ease her worried mind.

But when the young girl vanishes and a bat turns up in her place, the three friends find themselves facing something they never thought possible –a real vampire.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the author for an honest review. My options are my own.
Want to Buy: Amazon
Add To: Goodreads

The Sleepwalking Vampire is a unique story. This book got some original to it. Though this one was more entertaining and interesting read. I am not into vampires much at all. The way this book is focused on a friend's family member and her problem. It different in a way as the child think she is a vampire.

They think she a real one or at least one of them does. This mystery seems funnier. The way this one goes makes it believable. These detectives not own need to solve one mystery but two. They find out that jewelry is going missing.

This book and whole series is a good one for middle-grade children. If you enjoy solving puzzles and riddles and trying to figure out who done it? This book and series are good for your child or children. I do recommend it and each book has its mysteries to solve. This is a good Halloween story or book.

6:57 PM By Lindz No comments Edit This

Book Review: The Miner's Gold

Book Title: The Miner's Gold

Author: Alba Arango
Series: The Decoders #6
Publisher: Sapphire Books
Publisher Date: February 1, 2019 (208 Pages, Paperback)
Genres: Children, Fiction, Mystery, Young adult, Middle Grade

Steve, Matt, and Jenny are invited to hunt for a hidden treasure left behind by a mysterious forty-niner over a hundred and fifty years ago. As they begin to unravel the miner’s cryptic note, they realize they are not alone in the hunt for the gold.

Determined to beat the competition to the treasure, the three detectives up their game only to come face-to-face with their main competitor—the ghost of the miner himself!

Disclaimer: I received a free copy from the author for an honest review. My options are my own.

Want to Buy: Amazon
Add To: Goodreads

The miner's gold is a good mystery for young children. Though that enjoys solving puzzles and riddles this book is good for them. It gears towards Middle-Grade children. This one is about a Miner's Note and a bit about the Gold rush.

This series is written well. It seems that each book or some of the books reference a piece of the case from an earlier book. This one does mention Case #1 and Case #4. Which to me are Book 1 and Book 4? Each book as its mystery. There are some similarities with something with cases or Mysteries.

This one has the three detectives to invited to find the hidden treasure. What an adventure they go on. But they also have to help out on a movie set. Find out what they have to do. What adventures they get themselves into.

March 20, 2020

12:30 AM By Lindz No comments Edit This

Book Tour: A Reason for Living

Book Title: A Reason for Living
Author: Julian Jingles
Category: Adult Fiction (18 +), 372 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction, Jamaica
Publisher: URLink Print & Media
Release date: November, 2019 (372 Pages, Paperback)
Tour dates: Mar 9, 2020 to Mar 20, 2020
Content Rating: R: There are explicit sex scenes, violence, bad language.

It is the mid-1960s in Kingston, Jamaica, and the country is steeped in social, political, and economic inequities. Howard Baxter, the heir to a real estate empire, has no interest in seeking or managing wealth. Painting and deflowering Jamaican maidens are his passions. As he combs the streets looking for greater meaning in his pathetic life, it soon becomes apparent that Howard’s journey will not be easy. Bernaldo Lloyd, a member of the Baxter clan, is a medical student who is sensitive to the hopelessness of the Jamaican masses. Inspired by his close friend and Howard’s cousin, Ras Robin Pone, and their ties with the Rastafari movement that calls for social and economic equity, Bernaldo is determined to overthrow the corrupt government. As Howard, Bernaldo and Robin become influenced by The American Black Power and Civil Rights movements demanding equal rights for African Americans, the women in their lives both love and criticize them. But when revolution breaks out, Howard finally discovers a purpose for his twisted life that leads him in a direction he never anticipated. In this tale of love, passion, and self-discovery, three Jamaican men become caught up in a 1960s revolution that reveals injustices, oppression, and a purpose for one of them.

Discliamer: I received this book free though IReadBookTours and for an honest review. My opinions on this book are my own.
Buy the Book: Amazon.com ~ Barnes and Noble ~ FiWi Productions
Add to Goodreads

A Reason for Living is an okay book to me. I like the history of Jamaica part of this book. Though the other part was not my kind of thing. The writing in this book was done well. Though It seems the plot was about really one person though it says, three men. A reason for Living seems only like it is centered on one man named Howard. Though it shows this in three parts rather than three books.

If the author is trying to show it through three different views of people then I may get it a bit more. Though to me reading it seems like it was one story and centered on one person's emotions. What does this person want? Howard seems stuck. Everyone seems to want him, He seems stuck in the past. Does he know how to cope with what he loses? It seems that no one helps him understand this or what his plan for life. Except maybe towards the end of the book.

This book is set on sexuality throughout the book. I would not allow anyone under the age of eighteen to read this book. It has a lot of sexuality and talks about raping though out the book. This I did pick up on when reading the book. It always shows the time in Jamaica's history in this book and throughout.

Prize: Win 1 print (USA only) or 1 ebook (epub) of A REASON FOR LIVING, or a $15 Amazon Gift Card (INTERNATIIONAL) (3 winners) - (ends Mar 27)

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Raymond Arthur Julian Reynolds aka Julian Jingles, is a writer, filmmaker, and entrepreneur and operates in New York, USA, and Jamaica, W.I. He began his writing career in 1966 at 16 years old, writing A Reason For Living about a family caught up in a revolution in Jamaica in the mid-1960s. It was written in three drafts and completed in 1968.

He pursued a career in journalism at the Gleaner Company in Kingston, Jamaica writing extensively on the Jamaican music industry, cultural, and social issues. At age 22 he was a columnist writing Merry Go Round, and In the Saddle for the Gleaner, and Record Shop for the Star. He has published several articles, short stories, and essays in Swing, and Cooyah, magazines, the Abeng, and Public Opinion newspapers, in Jamaica.

He immigrated to the United States in 1972 to write two screenplays, “Half Breed,” and “One Way Out.” In New York he has written for the New York Amsterdam News, the Jamaica Weekly Gleaner (NA), Everybody’s magazine, JET, the Daily Challenge, the New York Daily News, the Carib News, and as a foreign correspondent for the Gleaner in Jamaica. He developed an interest in film and television production, and received training in script writing, film, theater, and television directing and production, with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, and wrote and produced three documentary films, “Jamaican Gun Court” (1974), “It All Started With The Drums” (1987), and “Jammin' In Jamaica--With The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari” (1996), and directed the latter two. He has also worked as production manager on several music videos with performers such as Kool & the Gang, the Manhattans, and Steel Pulse.

Between 1998 to 2018 he contributed frequently to the In Focus section of the Jamaica Sunday Gleaner, writing on socio-economic and cultural issues. He has been an entrepreneur as he pursues his literary career, involved in business consultancy with the National Minority Business Council in New York, and the importing, exporting and distribution of agro-products between Jamaica and the United States, and have produced several music concerts, and stage plays in New York, and Kingston.

He was married in 1972 to Charmaine Jasmine, who is deceased. He has three children, 11 grandchildren, and one great grand, and continues living in New York, and Jamaica.

Connect with the Author: website

Tour Schedule:

Mar 9 – Working Mommy Journal – book review / giveaway
Mar 10 – Over Coffee Conversations – book review / guest post / giveaway
Mar 11 – Olio by Marilyn – book spotlight / giveaway
Mar 12 – Locks, Hooks and Books – book review / guest post / giveaway
Mar 13 – Leels Loves Books - book review / giveaway
Mar 16 – A Mama's Corner Of the World – book review / giveaway
Mar 17 – She Just Loves Books – book review / giveaway
Mar 18 – My Reading Journeys – book review / giveaway
Mar 20 – Svetlana's reads and views – book review / giveaway
Mar 20 - Adventurous Jessy – book review / giveaway
Mar 20 - Nighttime Reading Center - book review / giveaway

March 19, 2020

6:34 PM By Lindz No comments Edit This

Book Review: The Crow's Calls

Book Title: The Crow's Calls
Author: Wanda E. Brunstetter
Genres: Mystery, Amish, Romance, Christian
Publisher: Shiloh Run Press
Publisher Date: 3/1/20 (320 Pages, Paperback)
Series: Amish Greenhouse Mystery #1

Mysterious Events Plague a Greenhouse in Pennsylvania’s Amish Country

When Vernon King, his son, and son-in-law are involved in a terrible accident, three women are left to cope with their deaths, as they become the sole providers of the family they have left. The women’s only income must come from the family greenhouse, but someone seems to be trying to force them out of business.

Amy King has just lost her father and brother, and her mother needs her to help run the family’s greenhouse. It doesn’t seem fair to ask her to leave a job she loves, when there is still a sister and brother to help. But Sylvia is also grieving for her husband while left to raise three children, and Henry, just out of school, is saddled with all the jobs his father and older brother used to do. As Amy assumes her new role, she also asks Jared Riehl to put their courtship on hold. When things become even more stressful at the greenhouse, will Amy crumble under the pressure?

Discliamer: I received a copy free though Wanda's Book Club for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.
Want To Buy: Amazon | BH Publishing Group | Lifeway |
Add To: Goodreads

The Crows Call is a good story. I enjoyed it. The storyline is about the Kings. If you remember Michelle from the Prayer Jars series. Well, we meet up with Michelle and Ezekiel once again. You will be surprised when you do.

I am glad to see them once again. We get to see a bit more of their storyline. Though this takes place mostly around the King's greenhouse and the King's family. There something tragic that happens, and those remaining have to deal with it. They seem to deal with it in different ways.

Though this seems to be mostly Amy King and Jared's story? How will Amy deal with the tragic events that hit her and family? Wanda seems to show how everyone deals with grief in their way. Though we see each family member cope in different ways.

Henry seems to be the one that struggles the most. How will he deal with it? Everyone seems to tell him what to do. There seem to be a silver lining to his way. He seems to attach to a crow and when to train it. Will he be able to?

10:27 AM By Lindz No comments Edit This

Book Review: Little Words Matter Jumbo Coloring Book

Book Title: Little Words Matter Jumbo Coloring Book
Author: B&H Kids Editorial Staff
Genres: Children, Coloring, Religious, Christian, Activities
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Publisher Date: 2020-02-15 (384 Pages, Coloring Book)

Little words matter, and so do little artists! Your toddler will love these simple coloring pages filled with animal friends, alphabet blessings, and reminders that Jesus loves them! With almost 400 pages of fun, the Little Words Matter Jumbo Coloring Book is sure to be a big favorite for your littlest loves.

Discliamer: I received a copy free though BH Bloggers for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.
Want To Buy: Amazon | BH Publishing Group | Lifeway |
Add To: Goodreads

Little Words Matter Jumbo Coloring Book is a coloring book. It got different activities for children to do in it. There words and pictures to color. To tracing a letter. There is also Connect the dots activities in the book. There are many different activities for children from ages toddlers to kindergarten to maybe even elementary school.

I do not know if the contributor had this in mind when they release this, what good timing to have this release around when a pandemic has made us have to social distance. I know the Coronavirus did not make this to happen as it did. No one saw it coming well mostly us citizens.

With schools closed and kids home with their family. This looks to be a good time to get your young children and toddlers to color and learn at the same time. This is no different than before only know it just seems like it a good to have. Parents that home school or even do not but have to do so now. This is a way to have your little one be entrained and learn will teaching your other children as well.

March 7, 2020

1:22 AM By Lindz No comments Edit This

Book Review: The Quiet/Crazy Easter Day

Book Title: The Quiet/Crazy Easter Day
Author: Jill Roman Lord
Genres: Children, Holiday, Easter, Religious, Christian
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Publisher Date: 2/4/20 (24 Pages, Board Book)

You might think of the first Easter as a quiet, peaceful morning. But with all creation celebrating the risen Lord of Lords, it may not have been so quiet! The Quiet Crazy Easter Day imagines the crazy celebration that might have occurred when Jesus arose . . . a festive day filled with chirps and croaks, shouts and coos and loop-de-doos. Join the rejoicing as we follow along with the Easter story and learn how we too can shout and sing and spread the news that Jesus is alive.

Discliamer: I received a copy free though BH Bloggers for an honest review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.
Want To Buy: Amazon | BH Publishing Group | Lifeway |
Add To: Goodreads

The Quiet Crazy Easter Day is a really cute book. It will make children understand Easter and the season in why we celebrate it. It really is something lovable and enjoyable. The book is padded and good for little ones.

The pictures are vibrant and tell to story. The words rhyme to make it fun. I enjoyed the rhyming though out the book. It is not all that hard to see what the book is about. How would you celebrate if you were there when the lord was reborn.

There no book so far that does this for little children that make it this easy. Little children as young as 2 can look at the pictures and enjoy it as well as children as for can learn to say some of the words. Read along with a parent there. It that sweet and cute.