Monthly Archives: August 2012

One Breath Away

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Author: Heather Gudenkauf
Publisher: Harlequin
Pages: 370
Genre: suspense
Source: BEA

Goodreads:       In her most emotionally charged novel to date, New York Times bestselling author Heather Gudenkauf explores the unspoken events that shape a community, the ties between parents and their children and how the fragile normalcy of our everyday life is so easily shattered.In the midst of a sudden spring snowstorm, an unknown man armed with a gun walks into an elementary school classroom. Outside the school, the town of Broken Branch watches and waits.

Officer Meg Barrett holds the responsibility for the town’s children in her hands. Will Thwaite, reluctantly entrusted with the care of his two grandchildren by the daughter who left home years earlier, stands by helplessly and wonders if he has failed his child again. Trapped in her classroom, Evelyn Oliver watches for an opportunity to rescue the children in her care. And thirteen-year-old Augie Baker, already struggling with the aftermath of a terrible accident that has brought her to Broken Branch, will risk her own safety to protect her little brother.

As tension mounts with each passing minute, the hidden fears and grudges of the small town are revealed as the people of Broken Branch race to uncover the identity of the stranger who holds their children hostage.



Ope’s Opinion:  One Breath Away kept me reading.  It was fast paced and intense.  Trying to imagine who the shooter is,  made me want to keep reading.  I wanted to figure it out.  The clues were there, but I didn’t get it until far into the book.  I loved that the gunman was part of the story from the beginning and not just someone we didn’t know.  
                        
                                    I am usually a slow reader.  This book was so captivating, I didn’t put it down much!  I did like that each chapter was short.  It made the story flow.  It made it easy to keep up with all the characters at the same time.

                                  Great book!  Highly recommend it.




Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
                 
              
               FTC – Disclosure of Material Connection: 
      I received one copy of this book free of charge from BEA. 
      I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the
         book; rather the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
                                                          

How do you read a series?

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 This is Karen Kingsbury’s series.  She is one of my
favorite contemporary Christian fiction writers.  This
series is on my next list of to-read books.

Another author who has a wonderful series, is Sally John.

My favorite way to read a series is to wait until all the books in the series are done.  Then I start with the first one and keep reading.  I love getting to know all the characters so deeply and watching them change and grow.

How do you read a series?  As each one comes out?  Do you reread the first one when the next one comes out?  Leave me a comment on how you read them.

Pushing the Limits

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Author: Katie McGarry
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 384
Genre: Young Adult / Contemporary
Source: BEA

Goodreads:   No one knows what happened the night Echo Emerson went from popular girl with jock boyfriend to gossiped-about outsider with “freaky” scars on her arms. Even Echo can’t remember the whole truth of that horrible night. All she knows is that she wants everything to go back to normal.But when Noah Hutchins, the smoking-hot, girl-using loner in the black leather jacket, explodes into her life with his tough attitude and surprising understanding, Echo’s world shifts in ways she could never have imagined. They should have nothing in common. And with the secrets they both keep, being together is pretty much impossible.

Yet the crazy attraction between them refuses to go away. And Echo has to ask herself just how far they can push the limits and what she’ll risk for the one guy who might teach her how to love again.



Ope’s Opinion: This book is like taking an amazing bike ride down a very long hill.  It is easy, continues to accelerate, and you never want it to end!  Pick up the book and go for the ride.  You will never forget it.

                                     Pushing the Limits is such a great book for anyone of any age.  The main characters are in high school, but the story is much more mature.  I started reading and I just didn’t want to do anything else.

                             Katie keep writing!



Note: The consistent use of the “f” word detracted from the story.  In my opinion that language was unnecessary to convey the attitude of the characters.


Rating: Five Chairs – this book is so good it will be passed on and on and on….




                 FTC – Disclosure of Material Connection: 
      I received one copy of this book free of charge from BEA. 
      I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the
       book; rather the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
                                                          

How Lucky You Are

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Author: Kristyn Kusek Lewis
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Pages: 352
Genre: Women’s fiction / Contemporary
Source: Booksparks

Goodreads:   In the tradition of Emily Giffin and Marisa de los Santos, HOW LUCKY YOU ARE is an engaging and moving novel about three women struggling to keep their longstanding friendship alive. Waverly, who’s always been the group’s anchor, runs a cozy bakery but worries each month about her mounting debt. Kate is married to a man who’s on track to be the next governor of Virginia, but the larger questions brewing in their future are unsettling her. Stay-at-home mom Amy has a perfect life on paper, but as the horrific secret she’s keeping from her friends threatens to reveal itself, she panics. 

As life’s pressures build all around them, Waverly knows she has some big decisions to make. In doing so, she will discover that the lines between loyalty and betrayal can become blurred, happy endings aren’t always clear-cut, and sometimes you have to risk everything to gain the life you deserve.



Ope’s Opinion:  How open are you with your friends?  Do they really know you?  How deep is the relationship?  This book made me think about my friendships and other relationships – do I really open myself up to people?  When times are difficult you need to know someone is there for you.  These three women were superficial friends until each one needed the other to be there for them.  
                                       
                                        This book started with a dinner party to learn all the relationship.   Then you saw each one of the women grow and struggle.  You saw them develop their relationship with each other.  

                                        The story line was developed  so well.  I loved this book!  I will suggest it my friends – all of them, close and superficial.  I thought the pace of the book as amazing.  There were intense parts, then the story eased up, then intense again.  What a great book!  Read it.

Rating:  Five Chairs – This book is so good it will be passed on and on and on…..












                 FTC – Disclosure of Material Connection: 
      I received one copy of this book free of charge from BookSparks. 
      I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the
            book; rather the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
                                                         

Family Traditions

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Some one told me when my daughters were born to buy two bottles of wine.  One to toast when they were each born and one to toast when they were getting married.  Since my older daughter is getting married this Saturday, we took time this weekend to have a special dinner with her and her soon to be husband.  We opened the second bottle of wine and shared it.

This is how this family began thirty-two years ago.  

Then we added Kristin twenty-nine years ago.  She is so special and worth celebrating.

Kristin added John Paul to our family.  We are excited to have them live near enough to spend time and celebrate special occasion with us.

Now this is the four us celebrating Kristin’s birth and now their marriage.  Family is so important.

Wedding Week

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This is the week my daughter gets married!  We are all excited.  The dress is picked out, the guests are ready to come, and all the details are planned.  We are looking forward to all the family we don’t see often enough.

When Kristin was little we gave her a precious moment Christmas ornament each year.  Now she is all grown up and ready to start her own traditions.  It has been an honor and a privilege to be her mom.

Since Kristin and I are book fan’s, we have been reading a few “wedding” books this summer.  Here are a few our favorites.

I believe Girls in White Dresses is  Kristin’s favorite.
 She has a signed copy on her shelf.

This is the book Kristin gave me when 
she let me know she was engaged.  


It is wonderful to share our love of books and to share this special time with her.

Fabulous Find

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Mighty Bright Book Light



At BEA’s book blogger conference these book lights were given to the bloggers.  I was excited!  This light ended up being even better then I expected.
– It is sturdy – stands alone
– Flexible – the “neck” can move all over, but stays in place when you get it set
– Light is LED – has two settings of brightness
– Amazing Clip – it is padded, doesn’t hurt the book, but grips very well
Personally, I have used this more then I originally expected.  I sit on my deck, on my swing and read late into the night.  This light is perfect!  I liked it so much I bought one for my daughter. There are great colors to choose from for anyone.
This is my fabulous find.  If you have a book related fabulous find, please leave a comment. I would like to share them with everyone else.

The Chaperone

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The Chaperone

Author: Laura Moriarty
Publisher: Riverhead
Pages: 371
Genre: historical fiction
Source: My daughter ( Kritters Ramblings )
Goodreads:    “USA Today”‘s #1 Hot Fiction Pick for the summer, “The Chaperone “is a captivating novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922 and the summer that would change them both. Only a few years before becoming a famous silent-film star and an icon of her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita, Kansas, to study with the prestigious Denishawn School of Dancing in New York. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone, who is neither mother nor friend. Cora Carlisle, a complicated but traditional woman with her own reasons for making the trip, has no idea what she’s in for. Young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous black bob with blunt bangs, is known for her arrogance and her lack of respect for convention. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will transform their lives forever. For Cora, the city holds the promise of discovery that might answer the question at the core of her being, and even as she does her best to watch over Louise in this strange and bustling place she embarks on a mission of her own. And while what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, she is liberated in a way she could not have imagined. Over the course of Cora’s relationship with Louise, her eyes are opened to the promise of the twentieth century and a new understanding of the possibilities for being fully alive. Drawing on the rich history of the 1920s, ’30s, and beyond–from the orphan trains to Prohibition, flappers, and the onset of the Great Depression to the burgeoning movement for equal rights and new opportunities for women–Laura Moriarty’s “The “”Chaperone” illustrates how rapidly everything, from fashion and hemlines to values and attitudes, was changing at this time and what a vast difference it all made for Louise Brooks, Cora Carlisle, and others like them.

Ope’s Opinion:  I am not usually a fan of historical books, but this one is really good!  My daughter of Kritters Ramblings said, ” No Mom, you have to read this one.”.   So I went into to it a little skeptical.  From the beginning I enjoyed it and the further I got in the more I wanted to read.  My daughter and I were getting ready to go to New York City for BEA when I started this book.  It was interesting to hear about the city back in the 20’s.  Some times in the book, I wasn’t even aware of the time setting because I was so involved in the relationships of the characters.  Even if you do not usually read historical novels, you should read this one.

Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.

Have mother, will travel

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Have mother, will travel

Author: Claire and Mia Fontaine
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Pages: 320
Genre: travel / memoir
Source: my daughter gave it to me
Goodreads:      Their bestselling memoir, “Come Back,” moved and inspired readers with the story of Mia Fontaine’s harrowing drug addiction and her mother, Claire’s, desperate and ultimately successful attempts to save her. Now it’s a decade later and Claire and Mia each face a defining moment in her life, and a mother-daughter relationship that has frayed around the edges. At fifty-one, Claire’s shed her identity as Mia’s savior but realizes that, oops, she forgot to plan for life after motherhood; Mia, twenty-five and eager to step outside her role as recovery’s poster child, finds adult life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Determined to transform themselves and their relationship once again, the pair sets off on a five-month around-the-world adventure.


What awaits them is an extraordinary, often hilarious journey through twenty cities and twelve countries–one that includes mishaps, mayhem, and unexpected joys, from a passport-eating elephant to a calamitous camel ride around the Pyramids–and finally making peace with their tumultuous past in the lavender fields of France, where they live for the last four months of the trip. Seeing how self-possessed and community-minded twentysomethings are in other countries broadens Mia’s perspective, helping her grow, and grow up. Claire uses the trip to examine her broken relationship with her own mother, a Holocaust survivor, and to create a vision for her second act. Watching her mom assess half a century of life, Mia comes to know her as Claire has always known Mia–as all mothers know their daughters–better than anyone else, and often better than themselves.

Wiser for what they’ve learned from women in other cultures, and from each other, they return with a deepened sense of who they are and where they want to go–and with each embracing the mature friendship they’ve discovered and the profound love they share.

Alternating between Claire and Mia’s compelling and distinct voices, “Have Mother, Will Travel” is a testament to the power and beauty of the mother-daughter relationship, one that illuminates possibilities for our own lives.


Ope’s Opinion:  My daughter,  Kristin of Kritters Ramblings and I decided to  “travel” through this book together.  It is always fun to discuss books with her, but this one was especially interesting.  It was fun to share our perspectives of each other, with each other.   It seemed so appropriate to post this book on Kristin’s birthday!  


 I really enjoyed the mother and daughter relationship.  Some of the history was not interesting to me, but I am not much of a history person.  Watching the mother and daughter react to each other and circumstances was enlightening.   The surprise for me was how often I related to the daughters perspective.  


The mother ( Claire ) spoke of her  mothers influence.  It touched me when Claire  spoke of slowing down her steps to spend time with her mother.  My mother passed away this past year.  She had parkinsons.  So we had to slow down our steps and our speech to spend time with my mom.  It brought back many memories for me.  It also made me hope my girls will slow down with me, as I slow down.

Rating: Three and a half Chairs –  I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.  And the half chair is some of their friends will like it!    

The Fault In Our Stars

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Author:  John Green
Publisher:  Dulton Books
Pages:  336               
Genre:  Young Adult
Source:  My daughter
Goodreads:   Two years post-miracle, sixteen-year-old Hazel is post-everything else, too; post-high school, post-friends and post-normalcy. And even though she could live for a long time (whatever that means), Hazel lives tethered to an oxygen tank, the tumours tenuously kept at bay with a constant chemical assault. 

Enter Augustus Waters. A match made at cancer kid support group, Augustus is gorgeous, in remission, and shockingly to her, interested in Hazel. Being with Augustus is both an unexpected destination and a long-needed journey, pushing Hazel to re-examine how sickness and health, life and death, will define her and the legacy that everyone leaves behind.
Ope’s Opinion: This book may be put in the young adult section, but it should be read by everyone.  It is a well written, grab you book.  John Green called into the book store One More Page.  It was so interesting to hear him talk about the characters he brought to life in this book.  In this book, Hazel’s voice was so strong.  It was great to watch her take control and express herself in a forward, but not nasty way.  The characters in this book are realistic, have honest emotions.  They have flaws.  I really did enjoy it.
Rating: Five Chairs – This book is so good it will be passed on and on and on…