Monthly Archives: July 2013

Coming Soon…..

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…   On a Bookshelf Near You!!
 
 
This is a look into what I am excited about coming in August.
This book is on my e reader.
Publication date:  August 13, 2013
Publisher:  Ballantine Books
Goodreads:  Hailed as “the reigning queen of women’s fiction” (The Sacramento Bee), #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber is renowned for her novels of love, friendship, and the promise of fresh starts. Now Macomber returns to the charming Rose Harbor Inn, where each guest finds a second chance and every room comes with an inspiring new view.


Since moving to Cedar Cove, Jo Marie Rose has truly started to feel at home, and her neighbors have become her closest friends. Now it’s springtime, and Jo Marie is eager to finish the most recent addition to her inn. In memory of her late husband, Paul, she has designed a beautiful rose garden for the property and enlisted handyman Mark Taylor to help realize it. She and Mark don’t always see eye-to-eye—and at times he seems far removed—yet deep down, Jo Marie finds great comfort in his company. And while she still seeks a sense of closure, she welcomes her latest guests, who are on their own healing journeys.

Annie Newton arrives in town to orchestrate her grandparents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary celebration. While Annie is excited for the festivities, she’s struggling to move on from her broken engagement, and her grandparents themselves seem to be having trouble getting along. Worse, Annie is forced to see Oliver Sutton, with whom she grew up and who has always mercilessly teased her. But the best parties end with a surprise, and Annie is in for the biggest one of all.

High-powered businesswoman Mary Smith, another Rose Harbor Inn guest, has achieved incredible success in her field, yet serious illness has led her to face her sole, lingering regret. Almost nineteen years ago, she ended her relationship with her true love, George Hudson, and now she’s returned to Cedar Cove to make amends.

 
What is coming soon…. On a bookshelf near you?  Let me know  – I am always looking for a good read!

Baltimore Book Weekend!!

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Come along for a weekend of books with my daughter Kristi of Kritters Ramblings  and I!   We left Tyson’s Corner, VA Saturday early morning to head off to Baltimore for a couple of days drenched in books!  Our first stop was a place called The Book Thing.

This is a very small glimpse into the selection of books they have.  They replenish them as fast as you can take one off the shelf.  All the books here are donated and are free for the taking.  Here is my list of books I brought home:

Defending Jacob by William Landay
Bulls Island by Dorothea Benton Frank
Custody by Nancy Thayer
Everlasting by Nancy Thayer
The Hot Flash Club by Nancy Thayer
The Hot Flash Club Chills Out by Nancy Thayer
House of Secrets by Tracie Peterson
The Beach House by Mary Alice Monroe
The Four Seasons by Mary Alice Monroe
The Summer I Dared by Barbara Delinsky
The Total Truth About Forever by Sarah Dessen
and for my granddaughter’s shelf:  Superfudge by Judy Blume

We hope to return to this book place to donate so someone else will go home as happy as we did!

Next stop was The Ivy Bookshop.

The inside of the bookstore is awesome, friendly and spacious.  Look on line for more pictures.  There was a really nice section for children, a comfortable seating area and a lot of great fiction books to choose from.  I only bought one book here because we were able to get so many from The Book Thing and we had more places to go.  My pick here was Jane Green’s book  The Beach House.
We decided to eat near our next book stop.  So we head to Ukazoo book store and found a fabulous place called  Razorback’s Raw Bar & Grill.  It had the best Cream of Crab soup!  I want to go back for the bookstore at this stop, but I also want to go back for the lunch stop!  The book store at this stop is called Ukazoo Books!  I love the name and the store!

This was my favorite stop!  The books inside are priced so you feel like you can shop and they have a buy three get one free!  What more could you want?  I found so many books I wanted here, but I limited myself to four for me and four for my granddaughter! Here is my Ukazoo list:
Between the Tides by Patti Callahan Henry
Love Starts with Elle by Rachel Hauck
Between Husbands & Friends by Nancy Thayer
Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult
It was time to go to the hotel to check in and regroup. So we headed to the Hyatt Hotel at the Inner Harbor of Baltimore – thank you to my husband for the stay!  It had a beautiful view and was within walking distance to a couple of bookstores.  One was called The Book Escape.  It was a small store packed with options at good prices.  I bought Jane Green’s The Other Woman.
Then we ate at Phillips Seafood which is next to Barnes and Noble at the Inner Harbor.  It is a beautiful setting on the water.  It used to be a power plant.  It is such a unique B& N.
At B&N I bought :
Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck
Holding the Dream by Nora Roberts
Finding the Dream by Nora Roberts
That evening we sat outside drinking Starbucks and reading until it started raining on us!  Such fun!
Sunday morning we stopped back by The Book Thing to see if we missed anything.  We found a couple of things ( listed above ) and headed to a bookstore called Red Canoe Bookstore Cafe.  It was more of a Cafe then bookstore, but really cute and fun to see!
Our last stop was Daedalus Book Warehouse.  It was a great stop.  I think by the time we got here I was “booked” out!  Kristi found a couple of things she wanted.  I ended up not buying anything, but enjoyed the stop.
When we go back, my favorite two stops were The Book Thing and Ukazoo!  We will take my other daughter Jennifer of The Underestimated Mom and we will eat lunch at Razorback Raw Bar & Grill.
Hope you enjoyed our weekend!!  It was really awesome!

Superfudge

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Emma’s Shelf



Author:  Judy Blume
Publisher:  Puffin
Pages:  192
Genre:  Children
Source: Purchased

Goodreads:  Fans young and old will laugh out loud at the irrepressible wit of peter Hatcher, the hilarious antics of mischievous Fudge, and the unbreakable confidence of know-it-all sheila tubman in Judy blume’s five Fudge books. brand-new covers adorn these perennial favorites, and will entice a whole new generation of Fudge—and Judy blume—fans.

Ope’s Opinion: Oh, this was so much fun to read!  It took me back to my daughters younger days.  We used to read everything Judy Blume and they both loved Fudge.

As an adult, I did not mind reading this book over and over again to the girls.  It never got old and now I am looking forward to reading it to my granddaughter.  Some books you just never get tired of reading.

There is the whole Santa Claus issue in the book, so if you have a believer you may want to skip that part.

Loved it and would recommend any one of these books in the series to any child.

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

The Wednesday Sisters

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Author:  Meg Waite Clayton
Publisher: Ballentine Books
Pages:  320
Genre:  Historical Fiction

Source:  My Daughter

Goodreads:   Friendship, loyalty, and love lie at the heart of Meg Waite Clayton’s beautifully written, poignant, and sweeping novel of five women who, over the course of four decades, come to redefine what it means to be family.

For thirty-five years, Frankie, Linda, Kath, Brett, and Ally have met every Wednesday at the park near their homes in Palo Alto, California. Defined when they first meet by what their husbands do, the young homemakers and mothers are far removed from the Summer of Love that has enveloped most of the Bay Area in 1967. These “Wednesday Sisters” seem to have little in common: Frankie is a timid transplant from Chicago, brutally blunt Linda is a remarkable athlete, Kath is a Kentucky debutante, quiet Ally has a secret, and quirky, ultra-intelligent Brett wears little white gloves with her miniskirts. But they are bonded by a shared love of both literature–Fitzgerald, Eliot, Austen, du Maurier, Plath, and Dickens–and the Miss America Pageant, which they watch together every year.

As the years roll on and their children grow, the quintet forms a writers circle to express their hopes and dreams through poems, stories, and, eventually, books. Along the way, they experience history in the making: Vietnam, the race for the moon, and a women’s movement that challenges everything they have ever thought about themselves, while at the same time supporting one another through changes in their personal lives brought on by infidelity, longing, illness, failure, and success.

Humorous and moving, The Wednesday Sisters is a literary feast for book lovers that earns a place among those popular works that honor the joyful, mysterious, unbreakable bonds between friends.

 
Ope’s Opinion:  When you read my review, you should take into consideration that I am not a fan of historical fiction in general.  My daughter Kristi of Kritters Ramblings  gave this book an awesome review, so read her thoughts as well as mine.
 
                                       I did like the friendship the five women had.   I also thought it was kept in the time period accurately.  I just got lost in all the details that Meg put into the story.
 
                                       I found the idea of five women all writing to be unlikely.  It felt like the ones who did want to be writers were pushing the others into writing.  I wanted to see each woman’s interest supported, not just the writers.  
 
                                   It did show me that friendships don’t seem to change.  No matter the time period (historical or present time) we need our friendships – they meet the same need now as they did in the past.
 
Rating:  Two Chairs – I may have one friend who might like this book.
 
 

The Rockin’ Chair

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Author:  Steven Manchester                                                 6d8c5-rockingchair
Publisher: Story Plant
Pages: 272
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Source:  Steven Manchester

Goodreads:  Memories are the ultimate contradiction. They can warm us on our coldest days or they can freeze a loved one out of our lives forever. The McCarthy family has a trove of warm memories. Of innocent first kisses. Of sumptuous family meals. Of wondrous lessons learned at the foot of a rocking chair. But they also have had their share of icy ones. Of words that can never be unsaid. Of choices that can never be unmade. Of actions that can never be undone.

Following the death of his beloved wife, John McCarthy Grandpa John calls his family back home. It is time for them to face the memories they have made, both warm and cold. Only then can they move beyond them and into the future.

A rich portrait of a family at a crossroad, THE ROCKIN’ CHAIR is Steven Manchester’s most heartfelt and emotionally engaging novel to date. If family matters to you, it is a story you must read.

 
 
Ope’s Opinion:  The beginning of the book drew me in when Steve was writing about Alice.  I could see her confusion.  It was a great place to start the story.  The story was of a family, each with issues that needed to be dealt with.  In that way, this could have been anyone’s story – very relatable.  
 
                                     The rocking chair itself was such an awesome symbol of this family.  It was a solid family with flaws. The rocking chair was always there – just like John was always there for this family.  
 
                                    I think one of the main lessons in this book is telling people what you are thinking and feeling.  If you do, it will cause so much less misunderstandings and hurt feelings.  
 
                                   This is my third book by Steven Manchester and I would read another one in a heart beat.    
 
                                         
 
 
 
Rating:  Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.
 
                 FTC – Disclosure of Material Connection: 
      I received one copy of this book free of charge from
                 Steven Manchester. 
            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.
                                                       

 

Book Genre’s

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I include the genre when I am reviewing a book.  So when I was reviewing the books for Emma’s Shelf I looked at the genre they had for each book.   Zero Tolerance by Claudia Mills is a Middle Grade genre.  Then I read Kelsey Green, Reading Queen, it is in Junior Fiction!  I did not know there was a genre category of Junior Fiction!  It made me giggle with delight to think of my granddaughter as a Junior Fiction reader!!
This is what a future Junior Reader looks like!!

Kelsey Green, Reading Queen

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 Emma’s Shelf 



Author:  Claudia Mills
Publisher:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux ( BYR )              

Pages:  128
Genre: Junior Fiction
Source:  Claudia Mills

Goodreads:  Kelsey Kline is the best reader in the third grade–well, maybe tied for best with know-it-all Simon Ellis. When the principal Mr. Boone announces  a school-wide reading contest, complete with a pizza party for the winning class and a special certificate for the top readers in each grade, she knows she’s just the person to lead Mrs. Molina’s third graders to victory. But how can they win when her classmate Cody Harmon doesn’t want to read anything, and even Kelsey’s best friends Annika and Izzy don’t live up to her expectations? And could Simon possibly be reading all of those books that he claims he is, or is he lying to steal Kelsey’s rightful spot at the top?


Ope’s Opinion:  What a wonderful book!  I like how each friend has a strength to help them figure out if Simon is cheating.  I love the way Kelsey loves to read through every other activity.

                                        The reading contest reminded me of when my daughters used to do the library reading program during the summers. They would want to read more then their friends and get all the prizes the library had for each mile stone.  Anything that encourages children to read is wonderful in my world!

                                   I also liked that one child ( Cody ) struggled with reading and Kelsey helped him out.

                                   I am looking forward to Annika Riz, Math Whiz and Izzy Barr, Running Star!  Keep writing.

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
            Claudia Mills. 
            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.
                                                       

Zero Tolerance

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Author:  Claudia Mills
Publisher:  Farrar, Straus and Giroux ( BYR )                      

Pages:  240
Genre:  Middle Grade
Source:  Claudia Mills

Goodreads:  Seventh-grader Sierra Shepard has always been the perfect student, so when she sees that she accidentally brought her mother’s lunch bag to school, including a paring knife, she immediately turns in the knife at the school office. Much to her surprise, her beloved principal places her in in-school suspension and sets a hearing for her expulsion, citing the school’s ironclad no weapons policy. While there, Sierra spends time with Luke, a boy who’s known as a troublemaker, and discovers that he’s not the person she assumed he would be–and that the lines between good and bad aren’t as clear as she once thought. Claudia Mills brings another compelling school story to life with Zero Tolerance.


Ope’s Opinion:  First I would like to you to know what an awesome person  Claudia Mills is.  I sent her a request to read this book and she was generous enough to send me two of her books!  I am beginning to read books for my granddaughter and Claudia was very open to my idea.  

                                     This book was very well written.  It is definitely from a seventh grade girls perspective.  It was a very fast, enjoyable book. I thought the length of the chapters was perfect for a middle grade reader.  

                                 The characters were interesting and relatable.  I think a sequel to know where Sierra is now would be fun!  I am planning on putting this on Emma’s shelf until she is ready for me to read to it to her or for her to read herself.

                              As an adult this book kept my attention and made me want to read right to last page.


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
                                 Claudia Mills. 
            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.