MY JUNE /JULY 2022 TBR LIST OF BOOKS !! NETGALLEY REVIEWS

 

Hi all, I JOINED NETGALLEY!

 

I Joined NetGalley!

Hi all! 

Today I have some exciting news to share – I have joined NetGalley! For those of you that don’t know, NetGalley is a website dedicated to book bloggers, professional readers, publishers, booksellers, librarians, authors and content creators. It allows you to request digital ARCs (Advanced Reader Copies) of books that have not yet been released and review them. In turn, your post will promote and encourage readers to pre-order or purchase the novel when it finally hits shelves. 

HOW DOES IT WORK? 

Simply log into NetGalley and set up your profile. Try to be as detailed as possible in your bio. The more information you provide, the more likely the publisher will approve your request. Once you are done, go to Find Titles and search for the book you would like to read. There are tons of categories to select. I typically look through the YA section. Click Read Now and once your request is approved, a digital copy will be sent to you. If you prefer to read on Kindle, make sure you follow these instructions first or you will have difficulty loading the book. After you have finished and your review has been published, go to Your Shelf and next to the title, click Give Feedback. You can copy/paste your review or add the link to your post. There is also an option to share it on Goodreads. 

Click on Dashboard to view all of your badges (which you earn as you go). Everybody starts off with the Professional Reader Badge. A code is provided for you to add it to your blog/website. You will see mine (image below) on my home page.  

WHAT WILL BE YOUR FIRST NETGALLEY REVIEW? 

The first book I pounced on the moment I saw it listed was Matilda's secret. This is the sequel to The inheritance series, The inheritance of Lion Hall, which I would want to  read. Stay tuned for my review which will hopefully be up sometime in September. I’m looking forward to working more with NetGalley and being given the opportunity to read upcoming, big-name titles. 

If you have anymore questions regarding NetGalley and how to join, please feel free to ask me or check out their website. There is a huge FAQ section under Get Help.  Happy reading! 

Peace & Love 

SMITHA AGY

The Girl Who Came Home: A Novel of the Titanic by Hazel Gaynor {Book Review}

 

The story of the tragic maiden voyage was found timelessly powerful, tragic, and romantic in the year 1912. The girl who came home was inspired by the true events surrounding a group of fourteen Irish emigrants who left their homes in County Mayo, Ireland, to travel on Titanic to relatives in America. The group is known as the Addergoole Fourteen. When titanic sank, the loss of eleven passengers from the Addergoole group represented the largest proportional loss of life from one region. For the purposes of this novel, the names of all fourteen passengers have changed. The town of Ballysheen, although based on Lahardane in County Mayo, is fictitious. 

Maggie Murphy is based on two of the youngest girls in the Addergoole group (Annie Kate Kelly and Anne McGowan), and Kathleen Dolan is based on Catherine McGowan, the woman generally credited with organizing the Addergoole group's journey, although this has never been proven. 

Annie Kate Kelly reported to the Chicago Herald that she believed she was the last woman to leave Titanic, being helped into lifeboat 16 at 1:25 A.M by a steward she had befriended. Of Course. we now know that lifeboat 4 was the last to leave Titanic around 1:50 A.M., and was followed by the four collapsible lifeboats.

In her later life, Annie McGowan did indeed confess her Titanic story to her great-granddaughter.

Peggy Madden's character is based on Delia McDermott. who having gotten into a lifeboat, apparently returned to her cabin to fetch her precious new hat. Katie Kenny is also based on one of the girls from the Addergoole group, Nora Fleming, who was traveling to be reunited with her sister in New York and celebrated her twenty-fourth birthday on board Titanic on April 14, 1912.

The remaining characters in the Ballysheen group are loosely based on accounts of those who traveled in the party. With the exception of those noted below, the characters Maggie encounters on Titanic and all the events surrounding Grace and Maggie's family life in Illinois and Ireland are entirely fictitious.

The character of Vivienne Walker-Brown is loosely based on Dorothy Gibson, an actress who sailed on Titanic and went on to play herself in Saved from the Titanic, a silent movie made about disaster shortly after the event. Dorothy Gibson did indeed wear the same dress in the movie that she had worn the night the ship sank. Edmund, Vivienne's dog, although fictitious, represents several dogs belonging to first - class passengers that were kept in the staterooms and were taken into the lifeboats. In total, three of the twelve dogs on board survived the sinking.

Some of the passengers whom members of the Irish group encounter aboard Titanic are based in fact. They include Father Browne, the Jesuit priest whose black-and-white images of Titanic are known worldwide; Father Byles, who led the Mass on the morning of April 14; Eugene Daly the piper; the girl with the rash who was refused entry to the ship at Queenstown; young Douglas Spedden, the first-class boy playing with his spinning top; the Marconi radio boys, Harold Bride and Jack Phillips; and, of course, Captain Smith, Mr. Ismay, Mr. Andrews, Officer Lightoller and Mr. McElroy. Thomas Durcan was the White Star Line agent in Castlebar.  

Disclosure of Material: I have received a review copy of this book by the publisher in the form of e-book. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”

The Cellist (Gabriel Allon, #21) by Daniel Silva - Book Review {Upcoming}

 

Book Review: The Last Bookshop in London by Madeline Martin {UPCOMING}

 

Fiction Book Review: A Good Woman by Danielle Steel {UPCOMING}