Jessica’s Reading Room is 10 Years Old!
Who would have thought my little blog would see its 10th birthday!?!?! That’s right: Jessica’ Reading Room is 10 years old today!
A lot of life has happened in that ten years and a lot of reading! I still enjoy reading and sharing my thoughts with you! I don’t have the largest number of followers, but it is not about that. It’s about sharing the book love! I wish I could be more active on Facebook and Instagram, but working over 40 hours a week can and is tiring! And lately my reading of physical books/ kindle has dropped in the past couple of months due to currently watching True Crime documentaries. You can thank The Crash on Netflix for that: I totally went down the rabbit hole with that one and watched as much as I could as the Netflix documentary was just not giving the whole story.
But back to reading…You may have seen on Instagram or Facebook but I got some very exciting book mail this week. The first novel of author JD Barker’s prequel trilogy of the original 4MK trilogy comes out in September and I received this wonderful package. Many thanks to JD Barker and his publisher Hampton Creek Press for the #bookmail!
This is a trilogy about a serial killer! The order of the trilogy is:
The Fourth Monkey
The Fifth to Die
The Sixth Wicked Child
I have only read the first two in the trilogy, and I will need to reread them so I can read the third before I get to the prequel: The First Scarlet Door. I had gotten the 4MK trilogy on Audible earlier this year in anticipation of this new book, but now having received an arc (advanced reading copy), I think my reading for the next couple of months has been decided for me!
And now………..GIVEAWAY TIME!
I will be doing a giveaway that will be on both Facebook and Instagram.
**I do have to keep this to USA only, but there will be two winners!:
The first winner will have their choice between a $20 giftcard to a online bookstore of their choice OR bookmail!
The second winner will receive the item that the first winner did not select.
The bookmail will consist of signed copies of books and books I may have read in the past. These copies are NEW.
**Winners will have to be comfortable with giving me their email or home address. Once used for the purpose of gifting the gift I will discard your personal information.
Here are the books I will be gifting: All but Isolation Junction are YA. It’s kind of funny how my first genre of choice is Thrillers, yet there are no thrillers in the giveaway…
Isolation Junction by Jennifer Gilmour (I gave four stars and it is based off of a true life escape from domestic abuse situation).
Before You Wake by Cheyanne Young (I gave this one 5 stars and it is a retelling of the movie Sleepless in Seattle. It is also SIGNED by the author!
The Years Between Us by Cheyanne Young (This one is SIGNED by the author!)
Band Geeks by Lara Hope Hayes (This one is SIGNED and she is a local to me author!)
The Chaperone by M. Hendrix (I gave this one 4.5 stars, and this is a hardback copy. This is like a YA version of The Handmaid’s Tale, and I really hope that one day the story will continue!)
There will be posts on both Facebook and Instagram for you to enter and details will be given there!
***Now, you can get a head start on the giveaway by leaving a comment on this post! I know it looks like you might not be able to but you are. You may not see your comment right away as I have to approve comments before they are posted due to extreme spam.***
Winners will be announced on THURSDAY the 23rd!
Instagram @jessica42980
Happy 10 years to me and let’s hope for 10 more! Happy Reading everyone!
Audiobook Review: With a Kiss We Die by L.R. Dorn
With a Kiss We Die
Author: L.R. Dorn
Narrator: Full Cast Narration
Published: July 11, 2023
Audiobook: 9 hours 29 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: July 5-11, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 4 stars
Book Description:
Two college lovers suspected of a brutal double homicide enlist a podcasting crime journalist to proclaim their innocence in this psychologically riveting and compulsively enjoyable novel of love, lies, and murder, perfect for fans of The Lady Vanishes podcast and I’ll Be Gone in the Dark.
I’m Ryanna Raines. And welcome to “The Raines Report.”
Ryanna Raines is the host of a popular true-crime podcast. Her specialty is investigative journalism, her style is truth-seeking moxie, and with millions of listeners along for the ride, her star is rising. But when an intriguing message is left on her tip-line, the reporter is pulled into the most challenging case of her career.
The mangled bodies of a husband and wife have been discovered in their multi-million-dollar estate in Southern California. The prime suspects are their twenty-two-year-old son and his girlfriend, two college theater students who are now facing arrest and indictment. In a surprising move, they only want to speak with Ryanna, offering exclusive interviews in exchange for her help getting their side of the story told.
Instead of a badge or a weapon, Ryanna carries her voice recorder onto the battlefield of the high-profile murder investigation. Through a series of interviews, Ryanna examines her subjects from multiple angles and diverse points of view, breaking past the walls of “he said, she said” to pierce at a dark and horrible truth.
Written in the style of a true-crime podcast, With a Kiss We Die is a heart-racing mystery and thought-provoking tale about love and secrets that unfolds episode by episode as it hurtles towards an explosive conclusion. L. R. Dorn has crafted a suspenseful examination of our cultural obsession with true crime, the complicated moral obligations between journalists and their subjects, and the often-deadly line between performance and deceit.
Jessica’s Review:
This is a book that is meant to be listened to! I can’t imagine reading it after listening to the audiobook. If you enjoy true crime podcasts/ documentaries then you will enjoy this! And I have been on a Netflix true crime documentary kick lately. I’ve been watching so many of those that it is interfering with my reading of physical/kindle books, but I am seemingly addicted to them right now. Thanks to The Crash I have fallen down this rabbit hole!
In With a Kiss We Die, we have a college couple Jordan and Victoria who are accused of brutally murdering Jordan’s parents. They then went to a resort in Mexico. Arrest is seemingly imminent and they contact popular podcaster Ryanna Raines to give their side of the story before their silence happens. They want to give their side in a unique way: Podcast interviews as the story seemingly unfolds in real time. Ryanna agrees and finds herself in a unique situation and as she uncovers more as the case progresses, things are not as they seem! And yes, there are Romeo and Juliet references including the title throughout the novel.
This is my first novel by duo L.R. Dorn and I really enjoyed it. The audiobook enhanced the story 1000%. We have a full cast of narrators which includes a couple of my favorites: January LaVoy and Thérèse Plummer. This novel definitely has a unique premise with what is becoming a more popular subgenre of thriller/crime novels dealing with podcasts. As our world constantly evolves, so do our stories that we love to read or listen to!
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Audiobook Review: No More Boring Bible Study by Faith Womack
No More Boring Bible Study
Author: Faith Womack
Narrator: Faith Womack
Published: November 18, 2015
Audiobook: 5 hours 30 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: June 25-June 30, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 5 stars
Book Description:
The Bible can feel overwhelming, but studying it is easier and more exciting than you think.
Christians are supposed to love the Bible, right? They’re supposed to tell Bible stories, explain their beliefs, and recite favorite verses from memory.
But Scripture is sometimes hard to read! It can be complex, boring (yes, you can say that), and difficult to apply. Many of us carry secret shame about how little we read the Bible. We want to grow as Christians, but we don’t know how.
Faith Womack understands those feelings. Growing up in a home where Bible verses were used to control her, she yearned to grow close to God but found the Bible confusing and boring. After a spiritual wakeup in college, she discovered the life-changing power of real Bible study. Free of the spiritual abuses of her past, she has devoted her life to helping readers like you get excited about Bible reading.
In No More Boring Bible Study, you will:
- Learn quick, easy study methods
- Get energized by the story of Scripture
- Grasp new concepts that bring the Bible to life
- Have fun (yes!) doing close study
- Grow closer to God
Learning to read and study the Bible is life-changing. It’s time to free yourself from the guilt of not getting it. Make your Bible study exciting again!
Jessica’s Review:
No More Boring Bible Study (NMBBS) is a great study piece for beginners in their faith and those not familiar with the Bible. The Bible can be intimidating in the first place, and then to choose the ‘correct’ version for you to read and understand it can be just as confusing. Faith Womack understands this and strives to help those who need assistance with reading and understanding the Bible, myself included.
NMBBS is easy to understand and is a short 5.5 hour listen. You can feel how passionate Womack is with bringing her words to life in this study as narrator. You can even feel her emotion as she narrates this Bible study.
At no fault of this Bible study book, for me personally the audio was a good introduction, but I would definitely benefit from a physical copy to be able to study on my own. I found myself wanting to go back and be able to actually study, but was not able to with the audiobook. And this is the point with this book! To learn to actually study the Bible. There are mentions of a PDF attachment which were not included in my review copy. I felt having this would have also have improved on the book.
I did like how Womack summarized at the end of each chapter with what she calls ‘Bible Nerd Notes’. One thing that did surprise me were that there were two sentences in different parts of the book that came off as ‘political jabs’ to me. I don’t know if it was intentional or not, but I actually listened to those sentences a second time. Political jabs are not necessary with a Bible Study book, if you agree with the statements or not.
Overall, I enjoyed this Bible Study and hope to get a physical copy of this book at some point.
Thank you to the publisher for having the book available as “Listen Now” on NetGalley. I most likely would have never heard of the book if it had not been there.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK