Monthly Archives: April 2014

Coming Soon…

Posted on by
Reply

…. On a Bookshelf near you!

I look forward to any book by Emily Giffin!

the one and only

Publication Date: May 20, 2014
Publisher: Ballantine Books

Goodreads: The New York Times bestselling author of Where We Belong, Something Borrowed, and Baby Proof makes her Ballantine debut with an extraordinary new novel about love, loss, and the ties that bind.

Shea has always lived in the orbit of her best friend Lucy Carr’s family. Lucy’s parents had been Walker University’s prettiest cheerleader and star quarterback, and Lucy’s dad went on to become the indomitable and beloved Coach Carr, one of the winning-est coaches in college football. Mrs. Carr was the elegant and kind all-around surrogate mother, fundraiser, and therapist for the team. Together they are like local royalty, so even if football weren’t a religion in their Texas town, it would still be the center of Lucy’s, and by extension, Shea’s life. It is practically a foregone conclusion that Shea will marry Lucy’s brother Lawton, if Shea can ever break it off for good with Miller, the cutest (and dumbest) guy in Texas. But when Mrs. Carr dies soon after a brief and terrible bout with cancer, it sets off a chain of events that upends Shea’s very existence. Written with intelligence, warmth, and wit, The One and Only is a luminous novel about the choices we make in life and love, for better or worse, from one of our most beloved writers.

What is coming soon …. to a bookshelf near you?

Let me know – I am always looking for a good read!

In the Mirror

Posted on by
2

                                                                                                 

mirror                                                       

Author: Kaira Rouda
Publisher: Real You Publishing Group                                Genre:  Chick Lit
Source: Author

 

This book goes on sale May 1, 2014.
Go get your copy.
Amazon: http://ow.ly/vZHPb

 

Goodreads:   If you knew you may die soon, what choices would you make?

Jennifer Benson has it all: a successful career, a perfect husband, two kids and abundant friendships. The only problem is she may be dying. IN THE MIRROR is the realistic love story about a woman facing a deadly illness, and her loves past and present. It’s a story that unfolds with a delightful blend of humor and poignancy, ringing true in the heart of anyone who has ignored a warning of her own.

Ope’s Opinion:  This book made me think.  It was really well written.  The author makes you look at what the main character did – and say to yourself – would I do what she did?  How would I handle what life throws at me?

Everyone who is around the person with cancer is effected.  The party that Jennifer threw showed how many people were effect by her illness.  It was interesting to see how her husband handled her illness and how he handle life without her being able to help with the children.  As in any major change in life it is a hard adjustment.

The ending was different then I expected.  

Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
de9fc-4chairs

BEA Bound!

Posted on by
1

Train tickets are bought, Hotel is booked, BEA registration is done – now we count down until we get to leave for BEA!!!  My daughter Kristin of Kritters Ramblings and I are really looking forward to this year.  

We are doing the Bloggers conference!  I am excited to learn new ideas that will improve my blog.  The schedule offers different aspects of blogging that I hope will make change what you see when you come to my website.

Since I have been to BEA once, I know to wear comfortable shoes, look over the author signing schedule so I don’t miss someone I am anxious to meet, and be prepared to mail some boxes home.  Any other advice from veteran BEA goers – please pass it on!

Also, if you are going to BEA please let me know.  I would love to meet other book enthusiasts.  It would be fun to grab a drink, discuss books or chat while we wait to meet an author.

Hope to see you in a month!!

The Lonely Hearts Club

Posted on by
Reply

Author:  Brenda Janowitz                  lonely                     
Publisher:  Point
Genre:  Young Adult
Source:  Purchased

 

 

 

Goodreads:   Love is all you need… or is it? Penny’s about to find out in this wonderful debut.

Penny is sick of boys and sick of dating. So she vows: no more. It’s a personal choice. . .and, of course, soon everyone wants to know about it. And a few other girls are inspired. A movement is born: The Lonely Hearts Club (named after the band from Sgt. Pepper). Penny is suddenly known for her nondating ways . . . which is too bad, because there’s this certain boy she can’t help but like. . .

Ope’s Opinion:  This is such a wonderful book for young adults to read.  There is a little bit of boy drama, but the focus is on girl friends.  I really like how the girls in this book put their friends before boys.  

The theme in this book of not changing for other people – friends or boys is awesome! They also discovered what they wanted to do as individuals – not following the crowd. It was such a good example of independent girls supporting each other  – not talking behind each others back.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it for any young adult.

Rating:  Three ( and a half ) Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.

3 chairs

Don’t Call Me Baby

Posted on by
Reply

Author: Gwendolyn Heasley                    dont call me baby
Publisher:  Harper Teen
Genre: Young Adult
Source:  Little Bird Publicity

 

 

 

Goodreads:  All her life, Imogene has been known as the girl on THAT blog.

Imogene’s mother has been writing an incredibly embarrassing, and incredibly popular, blog about her since before she was born. Hundreds of thousands of perfect strangers knew when Imogene had her first period. Imogene’s crush saw her “before and after” orthodontia photos. But Imogene is fifteen now, and her mother is still blogging about her, in gruesome detail, against her will.

When a mandatory school project compels Imogene to start her own blog, Imogene is reluctant to expose even more of her life online…until she realizes that the project is the opportunity she’s been waiting for to tell the truth about her life under the virtual microscope and to define herself for the first time.

Don’t Call Me Baby is a sharply observed and irrepressibly charming story about mothers and daughters, best friends and first crushes, and the surface-level identities we show the world online and the truth you can see only in real life.

Ope’s Opinion:  This is definitely a younger adult book, but it is really cute.  It is a quick, easy, fun read.

I have a granddaughter, that has been blogged about since we knew she was on her way. Her mother ( my daughter ) The Underestimated Mom has been blogging for along time.  I am wondering how her daughter will feel when she is fifteen.  I will be passing this book on to her.  My daughter/granddaughter’s situation is nothing like the book, but it is interesting to see the next generations reaction to all the blogs out there.

Teen years are hard enough – I can’t imagine being on display for all the world to watch me go through that time in my life.  The mother/daughter relationship isn’t always easy – it was good to see both sides of this issue.

I do like how things ended in the book.  I am interested in reading another book by Gwendolyn Heasley.

Rating:  Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.
3 chairs

House of Secrets

Posted on by
Reply

Author: Tracie Peterson                                                 house
Publisher:  Bethany House Publishers
Genre:  Christian Fiction
Source:  Purchased

 

 

 

Goodreads:   When her father orchestrates a surprise trip to the summer house of her childhood, Bailee Cooper is unprepared for what follows. What is intended to be a happy reunion for Bailee and her sisters, Geena and Piper, quickly becomes shrouded by memories from the past.

Together again, the three sisters sift through their recollections of fifteen years ago…of an ill mother, and of their father making a desperate choice. They vowed, as children, to be silent–but one sister believes the truth must now be revealed. Yet can they trust their memories?

Mark Delahunt arrives in the wake of this emotional turmoil. Determined to win Bailee’s affection, Mark becomes the strong fortress for her in this time of confusion, and what was once a tentative promise begins to take root and grow. Caught between the past and an uncertain future, can Bailee let God guide her to heal the past and ultimately to embrace love?

Ope’s Opinion:  This family had a lot of misunderstandings and secrets to deal with.  By not being honest with each other, they all assumed incorrect information.  The family met at a vacation home they owned and hashed it all out.  It felt unrealistic to me that for fifteen years they don’t go to this vacation home and don’t talk about their secrets, then it all comes out in a matter of a few days.  I also thought God was awkwardly infused in the story at random times.  It did not come across that God was a natural part of their lives.

I enjoyed the story being told from Bailee’s perspective.  The flash backs gave you insight to her childhood.

I really liked the fact that going to counseling was treated like going to any other doctor.  They encouraged each other to get the help they needed.

Overall, this story was okay.  I might try a different Tracie Peterson book.

 


Rating:  Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.
3 chairs

Barefoot Season

Posted on by
3

Author:  Susan Mallery            barefoot
Publisher:  Mira
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Source:  Purchased

 

 

 

Goodreads:  Michelle Sanderson may appear to be a strong, independent woman, but on the inside, she’s still the wounded girl who fled home years ago. A young army vet, Michelle returns to the quaint Blackberry Island Inn to claim her inheritance and recover from the perils of war. Instead, she finds the owner’s suite occupied by the last person she wants to see.

Carly Williams and Michelle were once inseparable, until a shocking betrayal destroyed their friendship. And now Carly is implicated in the financial disaster lurking behind the inn’s cheerful veneer.

Single mother Carly has weathered rumors, lies and secrets for a lifetime, and is finally starting to move forward with love and life. But if the Blackberry Island Inn goes under, Carly and her daughter will go with it.

To save their livelihoods, Carly and Michelle will undertake a turbulent truce. It’ll take more than a successful season to move beyond their devastating past, but with a little luck and a beautiful summer, they may just rediscover the friendship of a lifetime.

Ope’s Opinion:  This is the first book in the Blackberry Island series. I read them all out of order.  I read the second, third and now this one.  They can each stand alone, but would be better read in order.  

Once again, Susan Mallery wrote a captivating story that had you rooting for the main characters. All the other characters feel real and add so much to the story.  She made me want to go stay at the inn or move to Blackberry Island.  

This is a  story of friendship.  There is some romance, but it is not the focus of this book.  I actually enjoyed the fact that this book was focus more the friendship.  Towards the end of the book a dog is part of the story – it is such an awesome part of this book.  I don’t want to give anything away, so that is all I will say.

Pick up this book and start reading.  You will  want to go ahead and get the other two books – Three Sisters and Evening Star.  So much fun to read!

 
Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
de9fc-4chairs

An April Bride

Posted on by
Reply

Author:  Lenora Worth                      april wed
Publisher:  Zondervan
Genre:  Christian Fiction
Source: Netgalley

 

 

 

Goodreads:  War changes everything . . . even their love.
Bride-to-be Stella Carson can’t wait to marry her longtime sweetheart Marshall Henderson. But Marshall has been away serving his country and after suffering a head wound and being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome, he has distanced himself from Stella by asking her not to visit him in a Washington, D.C. hospital.
Marshall returns to Louisiana just four weeks before the wedding, but as the big day draws near, Stella wonders if the man she’s loved for most of her life still wants to marry her.

Ope’s Opinion:  If you like Christian Fiction you will like this book.  The characters are praying a lot.  Their lives are centered around their church.  

The whole book was centered around if Marshall and Stella would get married.  As short as this story was, being in limbo seemed to drag on, then all of a sudden it ended.

 

Rating:  Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.
3 chairs

Riley Mae and the Rock Shocker Trek

Posted on by
Reply

Author:  Jill Osborne              riley
Publisher:  Zonderkidz
Genre:  Young Adult
Source: BookLook

Goodreads: If you’re gonna run for your life, you gotta wear the right shoes. Riley Mae Hart loves sports and action—so when the Swiftriver Shoe Company offers her a contract to be the spokesperson for their new outdoor sport collection, she jumps at the chance. Soon she’s appearing in commercials and magazine ads, and every girl in town wants to wear Riley Mae shoes. Well, except for Riley. Because walking in those shoes means missing out on softball season, making her best friend TJ mad, and embarrassing her new friend, Rusty. It also means sneaking around, hiding, and keeping secrets—because suddenly something isn’t quite right at Swiftriver. But a contract’s a contract, so Riley laces up her ‘Rock Shocker’ hiking boots for a climb up Half-Dome in Yosemite. Will they be the right shoes to get her back on solid ground?

Ope’s Opinion:  If you are looking for an awesome book to share with a young reader or to read to a young person in your life – this book is an awesome choice.  The story is appropriate for a young person, but interesting enough for the adult sharing it.

There is a really good mystery, twist to the story.  The plot will keep your attention from the beginning until the end.

I liked that Riley Mae was into sports, her friends and God.  She was very relatable to any young girl.  She was very aware of other peoples feelings and needs.  An attribute I would love to see passed on to others.

This series will be fun to collect to for a young person in your life.
Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
de9fc-4chairs

The Girls from Ames

Posted on by
Reply

Author:  Jeffery Zaslow               ames
Publisher:  Gotham
Genre: Non – Fiction
Source:  Purchased

 

 

Barnes and Noble:  As children, they formed a special bond, growing up in the small town of Ames, Iowa. As young women, they moved to eighth different states, yet they managed to maintain an extraordinary friendship that would carry them through college and careers, marriage and motherhood, dating and divorce, the death of a child, and the mysterious death of the eleventh member of their group. Capturing their remarkable story, The Girls from Ames is a testament to the enduring, deep bonds of women as they experience life’s challenges, and the power of friendship to overcome even the most daunting odds.

The girls, now in their forties, have a lifetime of memories in common, some evocative of their generation and some that will resonate with any woman who has ever had a friend. The Girls from Ames demonstrates how close female relationships can shape every aspect of women’s lives-their sense of themselves, their choice of men, their need for validation, their relationships with their mothers, their dreams for their daughters-and reveals how such friendships thrive, rewarding those who have committed to them. With both universal events and deeply personal moments, it’s a book that every woman will relate to and be inspired by.

Ope’s Opinion:   This was an enjoyable read.  It was interesting to meet all these girls and see how the friendships grew, how each of them changed and where they are so many years later.  They reminded me of some of my friends that I grew up with and still have in my life.

Friendships are so important to us.   Even with all their changes and not living near each other, they kept in touch.

I would hope after you read this book, you might look back on someone you would love to reconnect with or someone you want to call and thank them for their friendship.

Rating:  Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.
3 chairs