• About

By Hook Or By Book

~ Book Reviews, News, and Other Stuff

By Hook Or By Book

Monthly Archives: November 2019

Heartwarming Holiday Commercials ~ Pt. 2

30 Saturday Nov 2019

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 20 Comments

Tags

”Holiday Reunion “, Cute Holiday Commercials Pt.2, E.T., Xfinity

ED4A8692-64AA-4313-9EBF-85F5786B11F7

During the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, a commercial from Xfinity dropped that I’m pretty sure made most of us forget the balloons, bands, and bad lip syncing. E.T. has come back and reunited with Elliott (actor Henry Thomas), and what follows is enchanting. One word of warning: you may want to have some tissues handy.

 

Black Friday 2019

29 Friday Nov 2019

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 28 Comments

Tags

Black Friday, Humor

1F9B7AF9-A9B0-48CF-BA06-992C05374761

Okay everyone. It’s Black Friday so here’s your chance to work off those Thanksgiving calories. Unless, you’re a wuss like me and you’re not venturing out past your front door that is. Here are some fun memes to get you ready.

335C41E2-667D-4ABF-A8E8-2816B5AA9F42

6DF110A1-4A37-4FF1-A5A8-BDBDF0A615B6

2C292BB6-8AA7-462C-A860-A6F3B85E5684

879A1CFB-3E9E-4986-B0A3-2BF4A1C37764

6E3F2A5A-3C21-408E-BA24-A7E210E854CC

E679EC18-7BD9-4FB1-AB35-84A5CCF1D2C3

C1C70CBE-9511-42D9-995B-0573BD641B6B

12A4E226-C411-4CEC-857F-EBFC6E9784A4

And for those of you who sallied forth into battle, well done! I hope your quest was successful and you’ve returned safely. Here are some more Baby Yoda pictures to help you relax.

5E140DB9-C5C4-49DE-B271-3CD8A24AD560

0D8AA5B1-C04D-42BC-8FE0-326B6E3B4D47

11FCEE52-1547-4927-B7C5-0DC9CCB55408

Happy Thanksgiving!

27 Wednesday Nov 2019

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 34 Comments

Tags

Happy Thanksgiving, Holderness Family, Thanksgiving Mash-Up

Happy Thanks Giving Messages

I’d like to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving tomorrow. This Thanksgiving Mash-Up from the Holderness family sums up the holiday perfectly!

 

 

Whimsical Wednesday

27 Wednesday Nov 2019

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 27 Comments

Tags

Baby Yoda, Whimsical Wednesday

54DFB7FC-3653-4DAE-ACBB-533DCFB504CF

Just when you think we can’t agree on almost anything, along comes Baby Yoda from The Mandalorian who has united everyone in saying “Awwww!” I’ve searched the galaxy, ahem, internet far and wide for the cutest and most clever memes and images for this week’s Whimsical Wednesday. Look you must!

BFA522B8-6B2A-49D4-8C91-C6CB7D33DDD6

67986F03-1850-4EAD-9E81-92EB90DA5495

90B8D452-5180-45B0-8275-FC88F96998B6

BA05AD98-B6C2-4564-900C-2E1C749960AE

95C2EE17-837D-4754-B5B5-084021B9277C

545D1031-8D23-4EAE-8DA1-6932865A8545

563D6F16-8002-484B-B4B7-996F8F8BEF29

FE779EFB-97CD-4306-AA12-212F41C32DFE

9777BA27-C1D1-4C8E-8073-89D7AC7AEFA1

E05DB3F8-30BB-4C87-B464-EAFCEEAB80B6

814E1E63-E88B-432B-8E6F-97D28021CAC2

41E27D76-9A01-4757-89A7-D2876135844D

BB4A574D-58DE-4556-AF4D-4CE28F2C2393

5BE08DE9-6FC4-4A36-B84D-2D8CC0A9F3C4

B0B792F7-F206-4319-AE65-2BE48E0BBC36

The Rise of Magicks (Chronicles of The One), by Nora Roberts ~ 4.5 Stars

26 Tuesday Nov 2019

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 27 Comments

Tags

Action-Adventure, Adult Fiction, Dystopian Fiction, Fantasy, Paranormal Fiction, Romance

442F6622-D06E-451E-B8EF-B8266C968710

Thanks to Edelweiss and St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: November 26th, 2019

464 Pages

Synopsis: The #1 New York Times bestselling author of  “Year One” and “a Of Blood and Bone” concludes her stunning trilogy that the New York Times Book Review praised as “A match for end-of-the-world classics like Stephen a King’s ‘The Stand’.”

After the sickness known as the Doom destroyed civilization, magick has become commonplace, and Fallon Swift has spent her young years learning its ways. Fallon cannot live in peace until she frees those who have been preyed upon by the government or the fanatical Purity Warriors, endlessly hunted or locked up in laboratories, brutalized for years on end. She is determined to save even those who have been complicit with this evil out of fear or weakness—if, indeed, they can be saved.

Strengthened by the bond she shares with her fellow warrior, Duncan, Fallon has already succeeded in rescuing countless shifters and elves and ordinary humans. Now she must help them heal—and rediscover the light and faith within themselves. For although from the time of her birth she has been The One, she is still only one. And as she faces down an old nemesis, sets her sights on the enemy’s stronghold, and pursues her destiny—to finally restore the mystical shield that once protected them all—she will need an army behind her…

The Rise of Magicks is the spectacular conclusion to the Chronicles of the One trilogy, and is further evidence of Nora Roberts’ writing artistry. The way she juggles numerous characters with their own fully plotted backstories, snappy dialogue, exciting fight scenes, swoon-worthy romance, immersive world building, AND ties everything up in a perfect bow, is simply amazing. There are no empty fillers here. Everything and everyone has a purpose. The only issue I had (and I’m not sure if I’m being overly fussy), is that I had envisioned an epic battle between Fallon and her evil cousin Petra, but when their face-off came, it was a bit anticlimactic. Overall though, The Rise of Magicks is as close to perfect as you can get, and Chronicles of The One is my favorite trilogy by Roberts after her Three Sisters Island trilogy. I highly recommend this and the previous two books—Year One, and Of Blood and Bone—to readers who enjoy dystopian fiction, fantasy, paranormal fiction, romance, and adventure.

The Only Good Indians, by Stephen Graham Jones ~ 5.0 Stars

25 Monday Nov 2019

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 31 Comments

Tags

Adult Fiction, Horror, Native Americans, Suspense

2DACC900-4705-4784-B6BD-E83F556CD770

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: May 19th, 2020

320 Pages

Synopsis: Peter Straub’s “Ghost Story” meets Liane Moriarty’s “Big Little Lies” in this American Indian horror story of revenge on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.

Four American Indian men from the Blackfeet Nation, who were childhood friends, find themselves in a desperate struggle for their lives, against an entity that wants to exact revenge upon them for what they did during an elk hunt ten years earlier by killing them, their families, and friends.

Entertainment Weekly recently asked if award winning author Stephen Graham  Jones could be the Jordan Peel of literary horror, and after finishing The Only Good Indians in less than three hours, my answer is a resounding “Yes!”

I’m going to start out by saying I’m not a fan of hunting. However, I don’t judge people who do, except for those who just kill for trophies to hang on their walls. In this overwhelmingly suspenseful story, four friends pay for what they did a decade previously during a bloody elk hunt. They immediately lose the right to hunt on reservation land, but there’s a future price that they never could have conceived of that will not only cost them, but everyone they love and care about. The first few chapters nicely sets up what’s to come as the readers are introduced to the four men and the people in their lives. It doesn’t take long for the horror elements to come into play and some of the scenes are just gory enough that they may be difficult for some readers, especially those who are animal lovers.

One of the things that made me feel so empathetic toward these characters is that they’re not indifferent to the suffering they caused during the elk hunt, and they know they crossed the line. When vengeance/justice comes for them years later, it’s almost as though they’re expecting it, which broke my heart a bit. Just as it did for the entity that hunts them as it too suffered unimaginable loss. At the end, there are no real villains here.

The Only Good Indians is a literary horror tour de force that will have you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. Jones masterfully blends horror, suspense, Native American life, and biting social commentary into a beautifully crafted tale that’s storytelling at its best. If Hollywood doesn’t scoop this up I will be shocked. This isn’t out until May 2020, but horror fans should add this to their calendars now because I predict it will be one of the most talked about books of next year.

 

 

Musical Meanderings

24 Sunday Nov 2019

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

“Tubthumping”, Chumbawamba, Musical Meanderings

 

 

Literary Lines

23 Saturday Nov 2019

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

Literary Lines, Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union

FDEE7693-6090-4DD2-9818-C4E74776A063

It never takes longer than a few minutes, when they get together, for everyone to revert to the state of nature, like a party marooned by a shipwreck. That’s what a family is. Also the storm at sea, the ship, and the unknown shore. And the hats and the whiskey stills that you make out of bamboo and coconuts. And the fire that you light to keep away the beasts.

~ Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policemen’s Union ~

❄️Frozen Friday❄️

22 Friday Nov 2019

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 26 Comments

Tags

Crosswalk the Musical, Frozen II, James Corden

714D3E91-AC43-4C47-988E-00AA3635A9C6

With the impeachment hearings over these last two weeks, I’ll admit I’ve been a tad stressed. The very best and the very worst of the U.S. has been on display. Well, thankfully we have a respite and as Frozen II is sliding into theaters today, I can think of no better way to Let It Go (that just never gets old!) than to share James Corden’s new Crosswalk the Musical featuring Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff and Josh Gad, with you. I hope this makes you all laugh as it did me. Oh, and Pete—you have to watch this from beginning to end!

 

 

Words To Remember ~ Impeachment Edition

22 Friday Nov 2019

Posted by By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff in Uncategorized

≈ 25 Comments

Tags

Dr. Fiona Hill, Impeachment public hearings, Words To Remember

Fiona Hill, David Holmes

 

The impact of the successful 2016 Russian campaign remains evident today. Our nation is being torn apart. Truth is questioned. Our highly professional and expert career Foreign Service is being undermined. I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternate narrative that the Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary, and that Ukraine—not Russia—attacked us in 2016. These fictions are harmful even if they are deployed for purely domestic political purposes.

~ Dr. Fiona Hill, former Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs at the National Security Council during her opening statement at the November 21st public impeachment hearing. ~

← Older posts

  • By Hook Or By Book: Book Reviews, News, & Other Stuff

Archives

November 2019
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930  
« Oct   Dec »

Blog Stats

  • 338,423 hits
Follow By Hook Or By Book on WordPress.com

Blogs I Follow

  • Read Betwixt Words
  • The Psy of Life
  • Bookshelves & Teacups
  • idahobluebird50 Plants, Animals, Cats, Dogs, Mysteries and Chat
  • fromcavewalls.wordpress.com/
  • Tracy the Bookworm
  • BOOKSTAGGER
  • theconfessionsofarandomblogger.wordpress.com/
  • Hit or Miss Books
  • Amani's Reviews
  • @onceuponawishlist
  • Gauri the Dreamer
  • A Naga of the Nusantara
  • Award Winning Books
  • Reader Jones
  • The Traveling Bookworm
  • novels around the world
  • I Heart Fictional People
  • The Write Stuff
  • Jane Lurie Photography
  • Mythaxis Review
  • The Book Bites
  • Literary Liza
  • abigailsbooks.wordpress.com/
  • Page by Page
  • The Masked Bibliophile
  • Dreams And Escapes
  • sugarandscream.wordpress.com/
  • Lines by Leon
  • Lovabull Books
  • Schizanthus Nerd
  • katherinesmits Word Siren
  • Bonkers For The Books
  • Bite! Eat! Repeat!
  • Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog
  • Stuart France
  • Tallis Steelyard
  • Jim Webster
  • The Rantings of a Book Addict
  • Books Teacup and Reviews
  • Gulf South Free Press
  • Bantering Books
  • Barb Taub
  • The Introverted Reader 📚
  • Odd Bits About Books
  • Between Pages
  • The Suspected Bibliophile
  • Beach Walk Reflections: Thoughts from thinking while walking
  • The Silent Eye
  • France & Vincent

Member of The Internet Defense League

Follow By Hook Or By Book on WordPress.com

Blogs I Follow

  • Read Betwixt Words
  • The Psy of Life
  • Bookshelves & Teacups
  • idahobluebird50 Plants, Animals, Cats, Dogs, Mysteries and Chat
  • fromcavewalls.wordpress.com/
  • Tracy the Bookworm
  • BOOKSTAGGER
  • theconfessionsofarandomblogger.wordpress.com/
  • Hit or Miss Books
  • Amani's Reviews
  • @onceuponawishlist
  • Gauri the Dreamer
  • A Naga of the Nusantara
  • Award Winning Books
  • Reader Jones
  • The Traveling Bookworm
  • novels around the world
  • I Heart Fictional People
  • The Write Stuff
  • Jane Lurie Photography
November 2019
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930  
« Oct   Dec »

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Read Betwixt Words

Books, Reviews, Recommendations and occasionally Poetry

The Psy of Life

Understanding the psychology that drives our politics

Bookshelves & Teacups

Because paradise is a library

idahobluebird50 Plants, Animals, Cats, Dogs, Mysteries and Chat

Memories of a Senior citizen

fromcavewalls.wordpress.com/

The Journey Home

Tracy the Bookworm

a bookworm detailing all her bookish thoughts

BOOKSTAGGER

Connecting Author to Readers and Readers to Author

theconfessionsofarandomblogger.wordpress.com/

the confessions of a random blogger

Hit or Miss Books

Reviews for children's and adult books.

Amani's Reviews

Here’s where I’ll gush about my favorite books , shows, and other projects!

@onceuponawishlist

all things bookish!!

Gauri the Dreamer

My slice-of-life as child and as parent. Of reading, writing, gardening, and giving back to nature.

A Naga of the Nusantara

Fantasy and sci-fi reviews by a Malaysian book wyrm

Award Winning Books

As decided by me, your favorite raccoon host

Reader Jones

a book blog

The Traveling Bookworm

novels around the world

.com

I Heart Fictional People

Falling in Love One Book at a Time…

The Write Stuff

"Writers Helping Writers" with Marcia Meara & Friends

Jane Lurie Photography

Jane's Lens

Mythaxis Review

art and technology

The Book Bites

Literary Liza

Cozy up and read with me!

abigailsbooks.wordpress.com/

"Books wash away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

Page by Page

Book Reviews with Bianca

The Masked Bibliophile

Books, Novels, Reviews, Poetry

Dreams And Escapes

Moments cherished, memories kept, dreams fulfilled and little things that make everyday a blessing.

sugarandscream.wordpress.com/

Lines by Leon

Leon Stevens is a poet, science fiction author, and composer. Writing updates, humorous blogs, music, and poetry.

Lovabull Books

My journey as a dog mom and book worm...

Schizanthus Nerd

Living the dream one page at a time

katherinesmits Word Siren

Reviewing enchanting reads and discussing all things bookish

Bonkers For The Books

Book reviews and more by Michael David

Bite! Eat! Repeat!

52 Cookbooks. 52 Recipes. A Tasty 2022!

Chris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

READER - WRITER - CURATED RESOURCES - & MORE

Stuart France

Writer

Tallis Steelyard

The jumbled musings of Tallis Steelyard

Jim Webster

Books and Stuff

The Rantings of a Book Addict

Books Teacup and Reviews

Eclectic Mix Book Blog

Gulf South Free Press

Opinion Is The Medium Between Knowledge And Igonrance

Bantering Books

Book Reviews

Barb Taub

Writing & Coffee. Especially coffee.

The Introverted Reader 📚

Forever lost in literature

Odd Bits About Books

Between Pages

Documenting the inspiration I find, Between Pages

The Suspected Bibliophile

rambling book reviews and queer SFF writing

Beach Walk Reflections: Thoughts from thinking while walking

The Silent Eye

A Modern Mystery School

France & Vincent

Writing Magic, Myth and Mystery

Read Betwixt Words

Books, Reviews, Recommendations and occasionally Poetry

The Psy of Life

Understanding the psychology that drives our politics

Bookshelves & Teacups

Because paradise is a library

idahobluebird50 Plants, Animals, Cats, Dogs, Mysteries and Chat

Memories of a Senior citizen

fromcavewalls.wordpress.com/

The Journey Home

Tracy the Bookworm

a bookworm detailing all her bookish thoughts

BOOKSTAGGER

Connecting Author to Readers and Readers to Author

theconfessionsofarandomblogger.wordpress.com/

the confessions of a random blogger

Hit or Miss Books

Reviews for children's and adult books.

Amani's Reviews

Here’s where I’ll gush about my favorite books , shows, and other projects!

@onceuponawishlist

all things bookish!!

Gauri the Dreamer

My slice-of-life as child and as parent. Of reading, writing, gardening, and giving back to nature.

A Naga of the Nusantara

Fantasy and sci-fi reviews by a Malaysian book wyrm

Award Winning Books

As decided by me, your favorite raccoon host

Reader Jones

a book blog

The Traveling Bookworm

novels around the world

.com

I Heart Fictional People

Falling in Love One Book at a Time…

The Write Stuff

"Writers Helping Writers" with Marcia Meara & Friends

Jane Lurie Photography

Jane's Lens

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • By Hook Or By Book
    • Join 6,101 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • By Hook Or By Book
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.