Uncategorized – Book Dust Magic

A historical novel about flood: The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton @PRHGlobal #partner #bookreview

Book review for The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton

The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton book cover

GIFTED / Today I am bringing you my review for the historical novel called The Last Train to Key West.
I was sent a digital ARC of the book when it came out, but with everything going on in my life, I only got around to read it this month. However, when it comes to historical fiction, I feel like the books from that genre can’t be outdated, so I don’t think I’m too late with my review, even though I am aware that it would be better if I read it when it first came out.

About the book:

FROM GOODREADS /

In 1935 three women are forever changed when one of the most powerful hurricanes in history barrels toward the Florida Keys in New York Times bestselling author Chanel Cleeton’s captivating new novel.

Everyone journeys to Key West searching for something. For the tourists traveling on Henry Flagler’s legendary Overseas Railroad, Labor Day weekend is an opportunity to forget the economic depression gripping the nation. But one person’s paradise can be another’s prison, and Key West-native Helen Berner yearns to escape.

The Cuban Revolution of 1933 left Mirta Perez’s family in a precarious position. After an arranged wedding in Havana, Mirta arrives in the Keys on her honeymoon. While she can’t deny the growing attraction to the stranger she’s married, her new husband’s illicit business interests may threaten not only her relationship, but her life.

Elizabeth Preston’s trip from New York to Key West is a chance to save her once-wealthy family from their troubles as a result of the Wall Street crash. Her quest takes her to the camps occupied by veterans of the Great War and pairs her with an unlikely ally on a treacherous hunt of his own.

Over the course of the holiday weekend, the women’s paths cross unexpectedly, and the danger swirling around them is matched only by the terrifying force of the deadly storm threatening the Keys.

Review:

The Last Train to Key West was always on my radar, but it took me years to actually read it.
It is just a typical story of one with too many books and never-ending tbr.

What pulled me in immediately was three different voices of our three main characters. Each’s chapter was written in first person, and they all sounded differently, which was mind blowing.

As I started the novel, I was sure I would read it in only few sittings, but then I got corona virus which really ruined my reading experience.
I wasn’t able to really enjoy the book, to really get into the story.

Beside that, I also came to realization that I don’t like to read about tragedies anymore, as they remind me of the earthquake and are triggering to me. I guess they hit home too close, at least at this point of my life.

Overall, I think The Last Train to Key West was a good book and I would recommend it to historical fiction lovers out there.

Something I want to talk about: #BlackLivesMatter #BLM

I am starting this post with an apology.

I am sorry for not speaking sooner.

I could give you list of reasons why I kept quiet and non of them would be good enough, because what I realized is that in times like this, we have to speak up, talk about what we think is right, no matter where we are.

Silent support is not enough.

And still I feel like I don’t know how to be a loud supporter, but I want to change that.

What we all witnessed recently, the murder of Goerge Floyd in the middle of the day, with witnesses begging for his life, changed me (and I believe many of you too) for the rest of my life.

I realized how ignorant I was, thinking something like that was happening only in past, not that is happening still today.

I will never forget the look of pure satisfaction on the murderer’s face while he was taking Floyd’s life. I don’t want to say his name because I don’t want him to be remembered. I only want for George Cloyd to be the one who’s name will one day be learned in school, not the name of the police officer who did this.

And I wish we didn’t know about Floyd at all, that he was still alive and this kind of hatred wouldn’t exist at all.

Since then, we witnessed even more police brutality, and it has to stop.

Unfortunately we don’t have protests here in my country (Croatia) but I support everyone who goes to them.

I feel like from here I can’t do enough, and whatever I want to say, I feel has already been said or that I will mess up.

But what I have been doing since May 25th was talking with people from Croatia about it, and try to make them see how racism is our problem too, and not just something that happened far away.

It hurts me to say it, but I live in a country where racism is very high. So many people are open about it, and many who think they aren’t racist still do some racist things (like talking racist jokes or getting a picture with black people like they are some kind of attraction) without even realizing how bad it is.

I want to change that, and even though I know I can’t do a lot, I will still try to do as much as I can.

I also want to educate myself about black people and their culture, and I want to see where I make mistakes and correct them.

I also will support black creators, read more books written by black authors, show my support to black people in any way I can.

I want my son to grow up in a world where colors will be seen, but no one will be discriminated by it.

I saw there was a hashtag “AllLivesMatter” and even though it is true, let’s not take this importance away from black people.

That is what Black Lives Matter is trying to prove. That black lives matter as much as other lives. There should be no difference.

There are so many organizations where you can donate money to show your support.

But I want to link you to youtube video that you can watch, filled with adds, where all the money that the maker of the video will make, will go to support BLM movement.

Watch video HERE.

I probably made mistakes so feel free to correct me.

I will get back to everyone even though it will probably take some time because these days taking care of my 3 months old baby is taking all of my time (it took me literally days to finally finish this text).

Take care of yourselves and those around you!

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What I read while I was away: four book reviews #booklovers #reading #bookbloggers #fiction

Gifted / I have been away from blogosphere for months now, due to personal things that happened in my life (I became a mother) but also because my computer broke and I didn’t fix it until today.

However, I started to miss this part of my life so badly, that I decided to run my blog from my cell, until this corona madness stops and I’ll be able to work on my laptop once again.

Today I bring you four reviews for books that I have read while I was away.

All of them I received via Netgalley, in an exchange for an honest review.

Such a Fun Age

I was so happy to have a chance to read Such a Fun Age, and when I heard it was chosen as Hallo Sunshine pick for January, my excitement was huge.

Such a Fun Age was such an amazing book.
No wonder it took bookish community by the storm! It is well deserved.

In my honest opinion, this is the perfect book for reading clubs and buddy reads, as it’s thought provoking.

While talking about race, classes, one’s place in the world and people’s relations, it is very enjoyable to read.

As I already said, it deserves all the success.
I expect this brilliant debut to be on many bloggers’ lists of favourites of 2020.

The Christmas Invitation

It is no secret that Trisha Ashley is dear to my heart.
I usually love her books and appreciate her as an author, so when she was coming out with her new Christmas novel The Christmas Invitation I was pretty excited.

Unfortunately, this time it didn’t work out. And it is probably me, not the novel.

You see, I had hard time concentrating on the story, was lost when trying to figure out what was going on and to be honest, I mistook characters more then once.
I blame the fact that I read it during last trimester of my pregnancy, when was so hard for me to focus on anything.

The story follows to POVs, one written in first person, and another written in third.
At first I wasn’t a fan of it, but then I realized that it helps me to focus on which perspective I was reading, so I started to like it.

Maybe I should give this book another chance once again in few years, and see what I’ll think about it.
Maybe I’d like it more the second time.

You, Me, Everything

I read You, Me, Everything when it first came out with aim to review it.
But life happened and I postponed and postponed my review writing until I realized I didn’t feel comfortable to give it proper review, because the book wasn’t fresh in my mind anymore.
But I loved it so much.

Then I decided to reread this masterpiece and even though I rated it 5 stars the first time I read it, I can say I appreciate it so much more the second time around.

What changed is I became a parent and I understand now the things I didn’t before, and I can say that I read You, Me, Everything with a new perspective.

This is the book where the characters make the readers appreciate their own lives.
Maybe it sounds dramatic, but once you give this book a chance, you’ll understand where I’m coming from.

The writing style was amazing, like it always is when it comes to Jane Costello (Catherine Isaac is pseudonym).
The story is written in first person.

I know there was movie production for this story, but I don’t know where it stands right now.
However, I hope we’ll get a chance to see You, Me, Everything on big screen.

I definitely recommend this one!

The Liar’s Daughter

This was really good book that talks about important topic called pedophilia. It should come with trigger warning, even though some would consider it a spoiler.
I agree that it is spoilery, but then again, I think it’s better to know what it is about then to have unwanted flashbacks of your own unpleasant experience.

The only downside to the story is it’s predictability.
Then again, maybe it was predictable to me, because I do have experience with a pedophile (I talked about it in my review for Living Dead Girl).

The writing style was really good and very easy to follow.
There were all kinds of characters, all gray in their own ways, and after a long time I found a character that really got on my nerves that I started to feel the similar thing to hate. If I said I hated her it would be too strong of a word, but it wasn’t far from that.

I also appreciated the creepy vibe of small town this novel provided.

In the end, I would recommend this book to lovers of dark mysteries.

Gender reveal party!! #MummyBloggers #MumToBe #GenderReveal

Hi Guys!

I just quickly want to announce that I am pregnant with a boy! I am about to be a mum to a little male human being, and I hope I will raise him into a man who will respect everyone, be polite, and most of all, be proud and always be true to himself.

I know I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I will do my best and hope I’ll make right decisions in this new chapter of my life.

Wish me luck! 😉

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Products I use to prevent stretch marks during pregnancy #Pregnancy #Lifestyle #BeautyBloggers #SelfCare

Pregnancy is blessed state one woman can be in, but it also leaves some changes on one’s body.
Stretch marks are those ugly reminders we want to avoid, so in my opinion, it is better to fight them from the very beginning then cry later.

Not every skin type is the same, and some women are more likely to get skin damage then others.

I personally have very dry skin on my body (my face is a different story) so I knew I have to do everything in my power to keep those little marks away from me.

At this moment, when I am 24 weeks pregnant, I am successful in my mission, without any stretch marks.
However, I am aware that the situation can change with time, as my belly will continue to grow.

Here are the products I use to prevent stretch marks:

BIOBAZA MAMA – Nourishing body cream for pregnancy and motherhood

This is Croatian product that I have received as a gift in my favourite drugstore dm (it was in a goody bag all pregnant women receive).
Biobaza is Croatian brand that I am a fan of. Their products are natural without paraben, preservative, parfum or color, and this one was no exception.
It smells like marigolds and it’s very soft on the skin.
Since this lotion is not so oily, in my opinion it is the best one to use in early pregnancy. I almost used all of it, and these days I only use it sometimes in the morning, if I have to go somewhere (to doctors, for example) and don’t have much time to sit and rest while the my skin absorbs oil.

LUSH THERAPY bar

This is the only product I purchased myself, because it was recommended to me by Lush employers.
It is completely vegan and safe to use during pregnancy (most Lush products are, but not all of them, so if you’re pregnant make sure to check all the products are safe before purchasing them).
It smells citrusy and it is easy to use, but it takes ages for it to absorb, because it can be used as a massage bar.
I like it but I am not head over hills with it.

Bio-Oil

Bio-Oil was a gift I received from a friend of mine, and in my opinion, out of all the products I use, this one smells the best.
It’s scent reminds me of roses.
This oil is transported from South Africa and I am not sure where in the world is available, but according to my friend, it is pretty popular along expectant mothers.
Bio-Oil contains Purcellin oil that makes the skin absorb the product faster.
It helps to prevent stretch marks, but also it helps with uneven skin tone, aged and dehydrated skin.
I tried to use it on my face but I had bad reaction – my skin went red, so I use it only on my belly.
I still love it though, because I feel like it really works and it smells so nice. I use it daily.

oleo THERAPY apricot oil

This one is my absolutely favourite. It is organic, cold pressed apricot oil and it has no scent.
This particular oil is transported from Spain, but in reality, any apricot oil would do the similar job, as long as it’s organic.
I like to use it before bed, as it’s little ticker then Bio-Oil. However, it absorbs pretty fast.
This oil is not only good for stretch marks, but also to use on face and hair.
I tried it on my face multiple times and it leaves my skin very soft.
I have also used it on my hair, few hours before washing it, and I am satisfied with it’s performance.
This is the only product I will continue to use after I give birth and will repurchase it many times.
I truly recommend it, to all women, not only mums-to-be.

That is it!
Tell me how do you fight stretch marks, if you’re pregnant or if you’re not.
Do you have any product recommendations?

If you have similar post to this one, feel free to leave your links so I can visit you.

A Modern Family by Helga Flatland (Blog Tour)

GIFTED / Today it’s my stop for A Modern Family blog tour.
I want to say thank you to Anne Carter for inviting me.

About the book:

When Liv, Ellen, and Håkon, along with their partners and children, arrive in Rome to celebrate their father’s 70th birthday, a quiet earthquake occurs: their parents have decided to divorce. Shocked and disbelieving, the siblings try to come to terms with their parents’ decision as it echoes through the homes they have built for themselves, and forces them to reconstruct the shared narrative of their childhood and family history. A bittersweet novel of regret, relationships, and rare psychological insights, A Modern Family encourages us to look at the people closest to us a little more carefully, and ultimately reveals that it’s never too late for change

Review:

This review will be short and simple.

A Modern Family is a general fiction story that took me over 10 days to finish. I don’t mind it though, because I feel like you get most out of this novel by taking your time with it.

You see, it is a thought provoking story that makes readers think about human relationships and how they shape people, not only those that are in those particular relationships, but also those close to them.

It is also book that will probably make readers analyse their own lives and how their parents status shapes them into humans they are.

The story follows a family who goes together on a trip to Italy, where parents of three grown children announce that they are divorcing.

The story is written in first person, following three perspectives: Liv, Ellen and Hakon who are children of Sverre and Torrill.

Reading their POV’s, we see how Sverre and Torrill by being in a marriage for 40 years accidentally put pressure on their children to have happy marriage and successful life, and how their relationship affected them.

The writing style is good. I feel like it was even better in it’s original language, even though the translator did a great job.

The book was easy to read even though it did took me some time to finish.

I think this book is perfect for readers who like slow, everyday stories that make you think about life.

Follow the tour:

The Program I’d like you to know about: PDFelement #AD #productivity #partner #BusinessTip #bloggers #PDFelement #lifestyle #giveaway

We all know how important PDFs are today. Long gone are days when PDFs were just documents we only read in our every day life.
Today, everyone was, at least once, in a situation when they had to deliver a certain document or statement in PDF format.

For example, few days ago I had to create a PDF document and send it to our customs duty department so they would know what I ordered from abroad and would know how much tax they would charge me.

Also, in my job (I work in a publishing company Mozaik Knjiga, in case you didn’t know) we get to send PDFs to third parties on almost regular basis.
Even though we do have colleagues who’s job is creating, sometimes we need to make only few changes to documents that already exist, so I prefer to make changes on my own.

Because there are so many parts of our everyday life that ask from every day people to know not only average, but also avid computer science, it is great to know there are computer programs that something that sounds intimidating at first make easy to use in every day life.

PDFelemet is one user friendly program I fell in love with.

I was lucky to have an opportunity to test PDFelement 6 Pro, and I will tell you what I honestly think about it in my review bellow.

It is really easy to use: You can create PDF without much effort

When I first opened PDFelement I was surprised how user friendly it actually is.
I expected to be lost and that I would need at least few days to get used to it, but that was not the case.

As soon as I had an idea in my mind what a document I wanted to create would look like, it was easy to create.
Not once was I lost or stuck in my process, but it is important to stress out that preparation is the key.

If you know what your PDF document should look like, and you have all the images and text ready, the work you’ll need to do to link everything won’t be that hard.

PDFelement kind of reminds me of GIMP 2 that I use sometimes to adjust pictures. Even though they are two very different programs, I think if you are familiar with GIMP 2, using PDFelement will feel like home.

Also, one pro I find with this program is how you can always resume with your work if for some reason you didn’t have enough time to finish what you started.

Free Templates – My second favorite part

PDFelement 6 Pro has so many already saved templates that are ready to use.
You can find everything here: from budget planners to Wedding menus and Tax forms. You name it, they probably got it.

PDFelemet also has a giveaway going on right now in which you can win 2019 Planner Templates (that in my opinion are really useful and look awesome), and you can enter HERE.

All templates are in English, but if you’re from some other speaking language country, you can always adjust them in the program.

Edit and combine PDF simply

Editing already created PDFs is something I have to do now and then, so to have that option is really important.
It saves so much time and energy when you need to do only few changes, and the best part is, with PDFelement it won’t even feel like an effort: that’s how easy it is.

When it comes to combining PDFs, I have to admit that I wasn’t in a position when my job required it of me, but from little that I tried on my own, it seemed to be pretty easy too.

You can convert PDF in other formats

I think everyone had to convert PDF to some other format at some point.
With PDFelement it is so simple to convert PDF into fully editable formats, such as Word, HTML, epub, Excel…

My final thoughts

PDFelement is the best program I had an opportunity to work on for creating my PDF files. It is the most user friendly solution, and because of that aspect, it won me.

Before discovering PDFelement, I was using Adobe, but to be honest, I used it only for reading PDFs, because when it comes to creating, I was lost. The whole process was complicated to me, so this is why I’m thankful I came across PDFelement 6 Pro.

I recommend this program because it has everything you need when it comes to PDF at one place: create, convert, change, combine, use templates, and it’s price is affordable.

At this moment, Wondershare has PDFelement on sale, and you can get it for up to 50% discount HERE.

Tell me what do you think about PDFelement if you’ve tried it and also, what PDF programs and converters do you use in your everyday life?
I would like to know!

Thank you to Wondershare for sponsoring this blog post.

Monthly Reading Wrap Up: January 2019 #bookbloggers #booklovers #Reading #January

Hi guys!

I know it’s been a while since I did my last monthly reading wrap up, and I am a bit late with this one too, but the thing is, yesterday I decided I want to do them again. I don’t read a lot of books per month, as some of you do, and I can only dream about reading 15+ books monthly (but I still dream about it), but I still want to do this every single month, if nothing, to keep track about my reading.

At the beginning of 2019 I made a decision to reread Vampire Academy, and I’ll be reading a book per month, following with Bloodlines.
I also challenged myself to read every single month at least one book with more then 500 pages.

This month I did good, and I hope I’ll continue with my progress in following months.

In the end, I finished 7 books, and I am happy about it. I wish I read more, but I am starting to make peace with my reading speed.

Here are the books I read in January:

My favorite book of the month:

That is it!

Tell me what awesome books have your read in January?
What was your favorite one?

A gripping crime that will make you hold your breath: The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup – Book Review (Blog Tour) #BookReview #BookTour #TheChestnutMan @MichaelJBooks

I am so honoured to be today’s host in The Chestnut Man blog tour.
I want to thank Jenny Platt from Michael Joseph, Penguin for inviting me.
I just loved this gripping novel so it is my honour to tell you everything about it.

About the book:

A NAIL-BITINGLY THRILLING CRIME NOVEL FROM THE SCRIPT WRITER BEHIND THE KILLING

Rosa Hartung is returning to her job as Minister for Social Affairs, a year since the disappearance of her twelve year-old daughter. Linus Berger, a mentally ill young man, confessed to her killing, but can’t remember where he buried her dismembered corpse.

That day a young single mother is found murdered at her home in the suburbs of Copenhagen – she’s been tortured, and one hand has been cut off. Thulin and Hess, sent to investigate the crime, arrive to find a chestnut figure hanging from a playhouse nearby.

When yet another woman is murdered, and another chestnut figure is found, Thulin and Hess begin to suspect that there’s a connection between the Hartung case and the murdered women.

Thulin and Hess are drawn into a race against time, as the murderer is on a mission that is far from over . . .

My Review:

It seems to me that everyone already knows about Soren Sveistrup because of The Killing, but since I’ve never watched it, this was my first time encountering his work.
It will definitely not be the last, because my Soren Sveinstrup journey just began!

In case you didn’t have a chance to see The Chestnut Man in person, let me tell you: it is a massive book. It has more than 500 pages and bigger format than usual novels. You could easily use it as a weapon!

But despite this novel looking intimidating at first, it reads really easily because of the short chapters, intense story and great translation.

The story follows two main characters, detective Naia Thulin and investigator Mark Hess who work on the case together. The murders they have to deal with are not easy on the stomach because the killer likes to do amputations while the victims are still alive. On the crime scenes, there is always one little chestnut man, as a mark of a killer.

There is so much more to the story, because we follow so many characters who’s stories intertwine.

At first it was bit hard for me to follow and connect everything and everyone, because of so many different characters with to me unusual names, but after some time (around 80 pages into the story), it became pretty easy to follow.

This crime novel is the first one that reminded me of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Even if their stories are totally different, I recognized the similar dark atmosphere.
If you like Stieg Larsson, don’t miss out on this one!

This book really pulled me in. I was so invested in this gripping story, wanted to know everything and solve the crime myself, but also it made me want to know why characters acted the way they did, and what is under everyone’s surface.

The Chestnut Man is a brutal, chilling story that made me question are psychopaths really born that way, or do they become what they are because of others?
I think it’s both, and I think the second plays the main part what will become of a person.

Overall, I recommend The Chestnut Man to every single crime novels fan.
This book is the one that should be on everyone’s tbr-s and I predict that by the end of 2019 it will be on many people’s favorites lists.

Follow the tour:

Playing Book Fairy in Zagreb: Giving Away my Books #ibelieveinbookfairies #Booklovers #Books #BookFairy #Zagreb #Croatia

At the very beginning of 2019 I caught myself thinking how can I start this new year on a positive note.

If you didn’t know, I am a huge believer in karma, or as I like to call it, the law of “the world gives you back what you give and do to others”. Because of that, I like to start year with doing something good.

This year, I was inspired by Book Fairies who I worked with (I actually worked with Simon and Schuster UK who collabed with Book Fairies) in 2018 (and you can read bits about it here). They are organization of people who leave books around for other people to find them.

I like the idea, because as a book lover, I can only imagine how excited I would be if I found a great book somewhere in the city, that waits it’s new owner to take it.

So what I decided is to take 5 ARCs that I enjoyed reading but knew I wouldn’t reread, and took them with me to center of Zagreb, while the tourists were still there.
I chose 5 places and left books for someone to find them. I really hope they found a good home.

In the time I was working on my “project book fairy” I didn’t have official stickers, so I wrote my own message similar to the one Book Fairies use.

I can now proudly say that I am also one of book fairies, and to be honest, the feeling is good.

There is something satisfying in giving to others, so if you have some books you don’t want to keep anymore, I highly recommend you to do something similar (or donate them).

P.S. I apologize for the low quality of pictures. It was dark and I used my phone camera.

What do you do with books you don’t want anymore?
What about ARCs?

Feel free to leave your opinions, comments and links bellow.