logo
Wrong email address or username
Wrong email address or username
Incorrect verification code
back to top
Search tags: sloan
Load new posts () and activity
Like Reblog Comment
review 2020-05-25 05:29
Sourdough by Robin Sloan
Sourdough: A Novel - Robin Sloan,Therese Plummer

Having read Sloan's first novel, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, I knew to expect something quirky, but this one is more bizarre than I thought. It's only around 6 hours on audio but felt longer. I liked the parts about Lois learning to make sourdough bread and how it invigorates her. It's when she joins a strange underground market that the story goes a little off for me. The novel's summary describes a fusion between food and technology, similar to the way Mr. Penumbra combines books and IT, but I didn't expect the way it morphs into a bit of science fiction — or maybe even fantasy? I'm not sure. It's still quite charming though, and some funny parts did make me chuckle.

 

What helps this book is having Thérèse Plummer as the narrator. Her engaging delivery makes Lois' excitement over bread-making infectious. However, she has a distinct way of pronouncing certain words which makes me wonder if it's a kind of regional US accent — which I'm not very familiar with since I'm not from the US. A lot of her [i] vowels sound more like [e] or [ei]. For instance, she pronounces 'me' closer to 'may', kind of like that Justin Timberlake 'it's gonna be May' meme. I'm just a linguistic nerd who notices these types of things.

Like Reblog Comment
show activity (+)
review 2019-11-16 08:27
Sourdough
Sourdough: A Novel - Robin Sloan,Therese Plummer

I read Robin Sloan's previous book, and I liked it a lot so naturally, I was looking forward to reading Sourdough. I didn't know a lot about Sourdough (compared to the books in the previous novel) but have googled a bit since then, but it sounded fascinating.

It was a really nice read. The author clearly has a love for San Fransisco, it was nice to see him so enthusiastic on the topic. I recently saw a documentary on sourdough and apparently San Fransisco is the place to be when it comes to it.

I find myself still thinking about this book from time to time.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Like Reblog Comment
review 2019-04-28 00:00
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore - Robin Sloan The most delightful book I've read in a long time. That's partly because so much of it just clicked with my interests - books, fonts, Google and the digitization of the world, the Ruby programming language, and mysteries. It was the humor that made it particularly fun, though. If you like Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams then you might like this book also, but it's a real story in the real world rather than fantasy.

I see a lot of other reviewers have dinged the book because of flat characterization, lack of tension in the plot, "juvenile" writing and so on. OK, maybe it's not as artistic as Kafka's "The Castle," which I finished just before reading "Mr. Penumbra...," but it was sure a lot more fun :-)
Like Reblog Comment
show activity (+)
text 2019-03-25 07:10
Release Blitz - The Dark Side of Chemistry

 

 
 
 
Title: The Dark Side of Chemistry
Author: Ryleigh Sloan
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: March 25, 2019
 
 
 
Blurb:
 
One mistake.

They say you can’t be in love with two people at the same time, but that’s exactly what happened to me. I knew it would catch up with me one day but I didn’t expect that when I went down, I’d take Trent and Jensen along with me. Trent has always been the loving and dependable one—Jensen, unpredictable, cruel . . . and compelling.

When Trent was given orders to deploy to Afghanistan to test a highly classified and dangerous serum, I couldn’t shake the feeling that life was about to irrevocably change. Little did I know how much. My secret was just what an unknown enemy needed to destroy our lives.
 
And he did.

I made a mistake once, and now we’re all paying for it...


 
 
 
Purchase Links

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

Free in Kindle Unlimited



 

Excerpt:

We were nearly there when I noticed the Lt. Colonel staggering toward us from the elevator on the opposite side of the hallway. I thought fast on my feet and did the only thing I could do—and quite frankly the only thing I’d wanted to do since I saw Skyla in her hotel room. I grabbed her face and kissed her with such intensity it took my breath away.
 
 
Pulling her closer to me, I deepened the kiss; flicking my tongue over hers, a low groan escaped my lips. Up to this moment, I hadn’t realized just how much I’d missed her lips on mine, craved the taste of her. In that moment, I realized how it must feel for an addict when he gets his fix. Her hands curled into my hair and as I looked into her face, I was shocked at what I saw there. She wanted me, I could see it in her eyes, feel it in the hands that were roaming my back. She was so close to me that I could feel her heart racing beneath the thin material of her dress and frantic need overwhelmed me.
 
I ran my hands down her waist to her tight ass and pulled her hips flush with mine, my cock pressed against her stomach. When she closed her eyes and whimpered ever so softly, I started walking us toward Stephenson’s room. I would have her, I had to have her. A sound penetrated the haze of lust and without breaking the kiss, I flicked my eyes in the direction of the sound. The Lt. Colonel had just stumbled into his room and was closing the door. It was as though a bucket of ice was thrown over me.
 
 
What the hell was I doing? And what was she doing kissing me back that way? She was Trent’s.
 
My hands shot out to Skyla’s shoulders and I pushed her back. The surprise and hurt radiating from her face fueled my anger. I wanted to hurt her the way she hurt me—show her what it felt like to have her feelings disregarded.
 
“Easy there, tiger, I know Trent’s been away for a while and you are . . . frustrated . . . but I’m not into my brother’s sloppy seconds.” I watched the deep red flush creep up her neck and knew I’d gone too far, but I couldn’t stop myself. Forcing a chuckle from my throat, I walked away, leaving her gaping after me.
 
“What the hell, Jensen?” Skyla yelled, grabbing my shoulder and catching me off guard, so my back slammed into the wall. She jabbed her finger into my chest and all I could do was blink at her.
 
“You kissed me, your hands were all over me!”
 
I pulled my lip into an arrogant sneer I didn’t feel. The same look I’d given her countless times to hide the pain. I leaned in, my lips brushing her ear. I felt her shiver and loaded my voice with contempt. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. Stephenson was coming and I had to do something to save us from suspicion. We’re on an assignment, Sky. Not a real date. Don’t get pissy with me because you got carried away by a simple kiss.”
 
Her hand came around to slap me across the face but I saw it coming and grabbed her wrist. Squeezing hard, my eyes narrowed into thin slits as I looked down at her.
 
“Watch yourself, Skyla, we wouldn’t want Trent to pick on the underlying . . . tension between us now would we?” Seeing the look of panic on her face, I added bitterly, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell if you don’t. I mean, what’s one more secret between us, right?”
 
Turning on my heel, I left her there to glare after me and descended the stairwell to the ballroom. I fucking hated myself.

 
 
 


Author Bio:

 
 
Ryleigh Sloan is a romance author with a masters degree in being an indecisive control freak. Her favorite pastime is driving her friends crazy by writing multiple books at once. 
 
Following the advice of established authors to read, read, read in order to hone one's craft, she does just that and engrosses herself in as many romance novels as she can get her hands on. Her bad habit of writing more than one book at a time carries over to her reading and she can be found reading, and listening to multiple titles at once and enjoying every moment.


Author Links:
 


 

Giveaway:
 
 
 
Like Reblog Comment
show activity (+)
text 2019-03-04 13:05
Cover Reveal - The Dark Side of Chemistry

 

 
 
Title: The Dark Side of Chemistry
Author: Ryleigh Sloan
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Cover Design: Spines and Designs
Release Date: March 25, 2019
 
 
 
Blurb
 
One mistake.

They say you can’t be in love with two people at the same time, but that’s exactly what happened to me. I knew it would catch up with me one day but I didn’t expect that when I went down, I’d take Trent and Jensen along with me. Trent has always been the loving and dependable one—Jensen, unpredictable, cruel . . . and compelling.

When Trent was given orders to deploy to Afghanistan to test a highly classified and dangerous serum, I couldn’t shake the feeling that life was about to irrevocably change. Little did I know how much. My secret was just what an unknown enemy needed to destroy our lives.
And he did.

I made a mistake once, and now we’re all paying for it...
 
 
 
 
Pre-order Links

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU





Excerpt

We were nearly there when I noticed the Lt. Colonel staggering toward us from the elevator on the opposite side of the hallway. I thought fast on my feet and did the only thing I could do—and quite frankly the only thing I’d wanted to do since I saw Skyla in her hotel room. I grabbed her face and kissed her with such intensity it took my breath away.
 
 
Pulling her closer to me, I deepened the kiss; flicking my tongue over hers, a low groan escaped my lips. Up to this moment, I hadn’t realized just how much I’d missed her lips on mine, craved the taste of her. In that moment, I realized how it must feel for an addict when he gets his fix. Her hands curled into my hair and as I looked into her face, I was shocked at what I saw there. She wanted me, I could see it in her eyes, feel it in the hands that were roaming my back. She was so close to me that I could feel her heart racing beneath the thin material of her dress and frantic need overwhelmed me.
 
I ran my hands down her waist to her tight ass and pulled her hips flush with mine, my cock pressed against her stomach. When she closed her eyes and whimpered ever so softly, I started walking us toward Stephenson’s room. I would have her, I had to have her. A sound penetrated the haze of lust and without breaking the kiss, I flicked my eyes in the direction of the sound. The Lt. Colonel had just stumbled into his room and was closing the door. It was as though a bucket of ice was thrown over me.
 
 
What the hell was I doing? And what was she doing kissing me back that way? She was Trent’s.
 
My hands shot out to Skyla’s shoulders and I pushed her back. The surprise and hurt radiating from her face fueled my anger. I wanted to hurt her the way she hurt me—show her what it felt like to have her feelings disregarded.
 
“Easy there, tiger, I know Trent’s been away for a while and you are . . . frustrated . . . but I’m not into my brother’s sloppy seconds.” I watched the deep red flush creep up her neck and knew I’d gone too far, but I couldn’t stop myself. Forcing a chuckle from my throat, I walked away, leaving her gaping after me.
 
“What the hell, Jensen?” Skyla yelled, grabbing my shoulder and catching me off guard, so my back slammed into the wall. She jabbed her finger into my chest and all I could do was blink at her.  “You kissed me, your hands were all over me!”
 
I pulled my lip into an arrogant sneer I didn’t feel. The same look I’d given her countless times to hide the pain. I leaned in, my lips brushing her ear. I felt her shiver and loaded my voice with contempt. “Don’t get your panties in a bunch. Stephenson was coming and I had to do something to save us from suspicion. We’re on an assignment, Sky. Not a real date. Don’t get pissy with me because you got carried away by a simple kiss.”
 
Her hand came around to slap me across the face but I saw it coming and grabbed her wrist. Squeezing hard, my eyes narrowed into thin slits as I looked down at her.
 
“Watch yourself, Skyla, we wouldn’t want Trent to pick on the underlying . . . tension between us now would we?” Seeing the look of panic on her face, I added bitterly, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell if you don’t. I mean, what’s one more secret between us, right?”
 
 
Turning on my heel, I left her there to glare after me and descended the stairwell to the ballroom. I fucking hated myself.

 
 



Author Bio

 
 
Ryleigh Sloan is a romance author with a masters degree in being an indecisive control freak. Her favorite pastime is driving her friends crazy by writing multiple books at once. 
 
Following the advice of established authors to read, read, read in order to hone one's craft, she does just that and engrosses herself in as many romance novels as she can get her hands on. Her bad habit of writing more than one book at a time carries over to her reading and she can be found reading, and listening to multiple titles at once and enjoying every moment.


Author Links
 
 
 
More posts
Your Dashboard view:
Need help?