The Running Bibliophile

A while back, I received a Vox Box from Influenster for free in exchange for my honest review.  The package contained three different flavored protein bars that are in the Vital Proteins & Jennifer Aniston line.  One of the flavors I received is Peanut Butter Fudge. Of all the flavors I received, the Peanut Butter Fudge bar is the one I was most excited to try, and I thought that this would be one of my favorites flavors.  However, I was disappointed in it.  It tasted very artificial, and I didn't care for the texture because it was a little waxy.  With that being said, it has less than one gram of sugar and fourteen grams of protein making it a great snack prior to lifting weights. Two out of five stars is what I give the Peanut Butter Fudge flavor of Vital Proteins & Jennifer Anniston protein bar.  I'd be willing to give it another try. Follow The Running Bibliophile On Social Media Facebook | Instagram | Threads | Pinterest | Goo...

Book Review: Many Are Invited by Dennis Cuesta Many Are Invited by Dennis Cuesta opens with John Goertz calling a meeting to deal with Y2K, but he bypasses the normal procedures and makes enemies at work, one of them being Steve Galanos.  After awhile, John and Steve become good friends.  After a few years, John leaves the company for a startup, and the two men's lives start going in different directions.  When John gets a windfall of money from a successful IPO, gets married, and buys a house, distrust builds to the two friends.  Yet, it's a housewarming party for John and his wife that leads to a tragic event. I'd like to thank NetGalley and Celestial Eyes Press for the Advanced Readers Copy of Many Are Invited by Dennis Cuesta.  The synopsis and the cover of the book had me intrigued, so I was ecstatic to be selected to read and review this book ahead of its expected publication of October 6, 2022. The storyline for Many Are Invited is exactly what I tho...

Christmas Scarf Murder by Carlene O'Connor, Maddie Day, and Peggy Ehrhart is a collection of three novellas with an expected publication date of September 27, 2022.  I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Kensington Books for free in exchange for my honest review.  I was delighted to have been chosen to read and review this collection ahead of publication. All three stories in this collection had a common thread . . . they all had characters that knitted and a scarf played an important part in each story.  Each story was a continuation of a cozy mystery series. Christmas Scarf Murder by Carlene O'Connor is about a theft at a local nursing home in Ireland.  When a dead body shows ups at the local tractor parade with the missing scarf around the deceased's neck, Siobhan O’Sullivan must connect all the dots.  This story started off slowly for me, and I found some of the slang difficult to figure out.  With that being said, the pre...

A while back, I received a Vox Box from Influenster for free in exchange for my honest review.  The package contained three different flavored protein bars that are in the Vital Proteins & Jennifer Aniston line.  One of the flavors I received is Dark Chocolate Coconut.   I was worried that I wouldn't like this particular protein bar because I'm not a fan of dark chocolate because I find it to be bitter.  With that being said, I was completely surprised that I enjoyed the Dark Chocolate Protein Bar.  It wasn't bitter at all.  The coconut counter acted the bitterness of the chocolate.  The entire bar had a very enjoyable flavor and did not leave an after taste.  One of the best things about it is that it had less than one gram of sugar but still was sweet tasting.  The texture of the bar had a nice consistency. This bar is a perfect snack to grab and go on the way to the gym.  It's extremely filling without being to heavy on...

The Invitation  by Diane Hoh is a Point Horror novel for young adults published by Scholastic in September 1991 and is about five unpopular high school students receiving an invitation to the party of the year by one of the most popular girls in school.  The five unpopular students hope this will be a night they'll never forget. Diane Hoh was one of my favorite authors as a tween and teen, and I thought I had read all of her books with The Invitation being one of them.  However, in reading this book as an adult, none of it really felt familiar with the exception of maybe a line or two, so I don't think I ever read it. The majority of the characters were unlikable, and I was surprised that there was such an overabundance of unpleasant characters in this novel.  I found it even more remarkable that a couple of them were down right cruel.  The only two characters that I found likable are Sarah and Riley. With that being said, as a whole, The Invitation by Diane Ho...

The Girl in the Castle by James Patterson and Emily Raymond is a young adult novel centered on Hannah Doe, a teenage girl who claims she can time travel between present day New York City and the year 1347. After a frightening incident that police believe to be a mental health episode, Hannah is taken to Belman Psych, where doctors diagnose her as schizophrenic. But as Hannah’s story unfolds, the question lingers ... is she truly mentally ill, or is something far more extraordinary happening? Thank you to NetGalley and LittleBrown Books for Young Readers for providing a digital Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of The Girl in the Castle . I was genuinely excited and grateful to be selected to read and review this book ahead of its publication. The synopsis immediately caught my attention, and the cover art was striking. Going into the novel, I wasn’t entirely sure what direction the authors would take, and I initially expected a young adult fantasy. There was a brief moment of disappointmen...

The Enigma of Room 622 by Joël Dicker is a Swiss book that has been translated into English for American audiences, and the expected publication date is September 13, 2022.  The book is about a writer who decides to vacation in the Swiss Alps and stays at the Palace of Verbier where a murder happened several years before and was covered up.  The author stumbles upon the crime and decides to uncover the truth behind room 622. I'd like to thank NetGalley and HarperVia for the digital copy of the Advanced Readers Copy of The Enigma of Room 622 by Jo ël Dicker in exchange for my honest review.  I was excited to be selected to review this book ahead of its release in the United States. Let me begin by saying I had high hopes for Joël Dicker's The Enigma of Room 622 , but I found it to be a bit too convoluted and long for my taste.  It could have easily been shorter and still gotten the same point across.  There were times when the transitions between past and prese...