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304 pages

Cover:  Its good… I think it really captures the book

An arresting story about starting over after a friend’s suicide, from a breakthrough new voice in YA fiction.

dear caitlin, there are so many things that i want so badly to tell you but i just can’t.

Devastating, hopeful, hopeless, playful . . . in words and illustrations, Ingrid left behind a painful farewell in her journal for Caitlin. Now Caitlin is left alone, by loss and by choice, struggling to find renewed hope in the wake of her best friend’s suicide. With the help of family and newfound friends, Caitlin will encounter first love, broaden her horizons, and start to realize that true friendship didn’t die with Ingrid. And the journal which once seemed only to chronicle Ingrid’s descent into depression, becomes the tool by which Caitlin once again reaches out to all those who loved Ingrid—and Caitlin herself.

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I picked this book up while I was in Florida at Books A  Million.   Cover and story line drew me in and I was curious to see where this story on teenage suicide would lead.

As the book opened up and I read the first 10 – 15 pages I thought, “The writer has no emotion, it was like everything was just matter of fact – what Caitlin was doing…. it felt – monotone.  And then a new feeling washed over me.  A cold one.

This is grief I thought.  I know grief all too well, and suddenly my appreciation for the book and the author grew in leaps and bounds.  Grief is at times non emotional.  You go through the motions of life, of what you are suppose to – meant to do…. but there is no feeling behind it.  Because – there is no feeling in you.  And this is where I find Caitlin.  And we connect.

I appreciate a book that lets you feel without being told how you should feel.  hold still was just that type of book.  As Caitlin works through her grief, at times seeming so real that tears fell down my face, I could feel the mood of the book lift.

I really could go on and on about the book.   When Caitlin finds a new friend, there is that sense of betrayal to her friend Ingrid who committed suicide.  And then there is the diary which reminded me a little of Thirteen reasons Why (another fantastic book), but this one clearly stood on its own.  Caitlin starts to understand her friend Ingrid more and more through the pages of the diary and reminded me once again how fragile teenagers can be as they deal with growing up, that boy/girl that they really wish would notice them, parents who couldn’t possibly understand, school pressures, friends, popularity….

The more I read, the more impressed I came with the book and have to say this is a fantastic read.  Even as I look at it now for this review, I wish there was more.  It was one of those books that you fall into and befriend the characters, and I miss them already.

I purchased my copy of this book from Books A Million in Pensacola, Florida

Tiziana Manoretti is an only child in her late twenties blessed with loving parents, a promising career, and a best friend who fiercely protects her. When her mother falls seriously ill and the relationship between her parents becomes suddenly strained, a carefully hidden family secret is revealed and Tiziana’s seemingly idealistic world is turned upside down.

After discovering she was born in a Naples orphanage and subsequently given up for adoption, Tiziana sets out for the small town of Gaeta in an attempt to find her birth parents. Meanwhile, her best friend Christopher is sending her mixed messages, causing her to wonder if there is more to their relationship than just companionship. As she becomes intertwined with a handful of interesting characters who help her uncover her past, Tiziana needs to decide whether her feelings for Christopher are deeper than she realizes. She discovers herself and others all while her family’s resilience and love for one another is tested when confronted with a shocking truth.

The answers lie in a box found in a closet in Italy, and Tiziana must determine if she wants to embrace the heartache and the pain from her past in order to learn forgiveness and find peace in the future.

I really enjoyed my time with Tiziana.  This is a book that I read the synopsis of and thought it sounded like a wonderfully intriguing story and guess what?  It was!

I enjoy books that make you feel like you are there – right in the story and that was the feeling I found within the pages of Daughter of Mine.  I could imagine Tiziana’s feeling of despair and confusion as her life goes from near perfect (picture Snow White surrounded by birds and critters) to a turmoil that had to be gut wrenching.

I would not have looked at this book and called it a romance…. but in a way, it is.  Not being a big fan of the romance genre – I have to say I was pleased how this book flowed into that genre, but also was surrounded by mystery.

I found the book to be well written, beautifully detailed in characters and settings.  Daughter Of Mine had a quality about it that made the book feel real to me.

About Laura:

Laura Fabiani has been writing as far back as she can remember, making use of poetry and short compositions throughout her youth to express her ideas and feelings.  One of her early goals in life was to write a novel. She began several of them, but never brought them to completion… until one day her sister asked, “Laura, when are you going to finish that book you once talked about writing?”

That’s when Fabiani finally sat down and began to write where she had left off more than eight years ago, when the idea for Daughter of Mine was sparked listening to her mother-in-law’s stories of her youth in her native Naples.

Italy has always held a special place for Laura Fabiani because her parents are Italian immigrants. Her father is from the beautiful mountainous region of Pescara in Abruzzo and her mother from the romantic city of Rome. In addition, Fabiani’s maternal grandmother came from a noble family in Gaeta, Naples. Fabiani has traveled several times to Italy and stayed in her ancestral home in Rome with her relatives.

When not writing or immersed in study, she divides her time between taking care of her family and sharing in a volunteer worldwide Bible education program. Of all the literature Fabiani has read, the Holy Scriptures have shaped her life the most. She has deep respect for this book that has influenced some of the world’s greatest art, literature, music and has had a significant impact on law. “It teaches us how to live the best life now and in the future,” she believes.

She is currently working on her second novel. She lives with her husband and two children in Montreal, Quebec.

My Amazon Review

I received my review copy from the author, Laura Fabiani.  This in no way has any effect on how I reviewed this book.

Button your blouse, here comes a sandstorm of laughs!

Travel isn’t always what we dream it will be, but oh, the stories that follow. Share in the hilarious, bizarre, and unforgettable misadventures of 29 women whose trips went comically awry. From Australia to Zambia, up Nepal’s mountains and along Mexico’s beaches, the true stories in this collection will make you laugh, groan, and sympathize with these travelers who took a trip on the lighter side.

Lose your panties on a city street in Abu Dhabi with Christie Eckardt

* Dodge beer bottles and punches with Alison Wright as she serves up brew at a wild pub in Australia

* Enjoy the nutty nitty-gritty of Burning Man in the Nevada desert with Christine Nielsen

* Feel the delicious freedom to be fat in Tahiti with Sandra Tsing Loh

* Turn beet red with Kate Crawford in Paris, locked out of her boyfriend’s apartment in a t-shirt and nothing more

* Toss your cookies with Deborah Bear as she tests alternative seasickness remedies on a Pacific voyage

Including stories by Anne Lamott, Ellen Degeneres, Sarah Vowell, Margo Kaufman, Sandra Tsing Loh, Adair Lara, and many more…

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I picked this book up last summer when I was on the North Shore for the weekend with my girlfriends.  There was a cute little book store right on the docks by Lake Superior and I found this fun read.

I read most of this a week ago during the readathon but finished it and skimmed through it again while on the plane to Florida, which I thought was appropriate for this book.    I literally laughed out loud at some of the funny happenings in this book….. travel nightmares, undergarment malfunctions, and one of my personal favorites – Ellen Degeneres fear of flying, hilarious description of the 6 peanut in flight snack, and of course, punching a nun.

If you travel – I think you would really enjoy this book and be able to relate to some of the funny stories within this book.

Other books in this series (and ones I think I will look for this summer when I am inevitably in that same book store again in Grand Marais, MN…)

The Thong Also Rises Further Misadventures From Women On The Road

More Sand In My Bra Funny Women Write From The Road Again

My Amazon Rating

I purchased my copy of this book in Grand Marais, MN

When nurse Hanne Abrahamsen impulsively shields Steffen Petersen from a nosy Gestapo agent, she’s convinced the Lutheran pastor is involved in the Danish Underground. Nothing could be further from the truth.

But truth is hard to come by in the fall of 1943, when Copenhagen is placed under Martial Law and Denmark’s Jews—including Hanne—suddenly face deportation to the Nazi prison camp at Terezin, Czechoslovakia. Days darken and danger mounts. Steffen’s faith deepens as he takes greater risks to protect Hanne. But are either of them willing to pay the ultimate price for their love?

This book is based around the days of 1943, WWII, a Lutheran Pastor named Steffen, and a Jewish Nurse named Hanne.  Set in a time I have never known, other than through books, I found that this particular story at times took my breath away as I put myself in the characters world.   Steffen steps outside his comfort zone of “behind the pulpit” and the pages begin to turn…

Is it possible to love and hate a book?

Never a fan of war related stories, this one, held on to me.   I had no problem at all staying entirely engrossed in this fictional, historical, Christian read, that brought this horrible war and this incredible love to my home.

There  are so many things in this world that I have not lived or experienced, and author Robert Elmer, through a fictitious read about a true war, brought a piece of history to me that I had not really known.  I now feel in my heart – that I have a little of that fear, that “hold on to your faith” through everything knowledge, because of this book.

Robert Elmer is a former pastor, reporter and as copywriter who now writes from he home he shares with his wife Ronda in northern Idaho. He is the author of over fifty books, including eight contemporary novels for the adult Christian audience and several series for younger readers. Combined, his books have sold more than half a million copies worldwide. Like his popular “Young Underground” youth series, Wildflowers of Terezin was inspired by stories Robert heard from his Denmark-born parents and family. When he’s not sailing or enjoying the outdoors, Robert often travels the country speaking to school and writers groups.

To read the first chapter of Wildflowers of Terezin, go HERE.

My Amazon Rating

I received my review copy from Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

The year is 1945. The war is over and 21-year-old Betty Lake has been invited to Europe to sing in a USO tour for American soldiers who now occupy Hitler’s Germany. The first nights performance is a hit. Betty becomes enthralled with the applause, the former Nazi-held mansion they’re housed in and the attention of Frank Witt, the US Army Signal Corp Photographer. Yet the next night this songbird is ready to fly the coop when Betty’s dear friend, Kat, turns up missing.

Betty soon realizes Franks photographs could be the key to finding Kat. Betty and Frank team up against post-war Nazi influences and the two lovebirds’ hearts may find the answers…in each other.

But will they have a chance for their romance to sing? The truth will be revealed under a German moon.

I have read Tricia Goyer before and have enjoyed her writing style.   Under A German Moon is the first Historical Fiction read I have read by this author.

I found myself sitting back and enjoying this mystery suspense read.  Tricia has a knack of bring characters to life, and while her suspense is not “on the edge of your seat” style.… it is enough of an impact where you want to keep reading, you want to know what is going to happen.

As the novel continues on and Betty searches for her friend…. and somewhere in the midst of her searching – finds that she is also searching for herself.   Tricia Goyer puts historical details in place of building and scenery into this after WWII story.

This mystery part of the story I enjoyed more than the romance story between Betty and Frank.  As one who will choose a mystery over a romance read any day, that is just me.

Tricia blends the story together nicely and I came out the other side satisfied with the book.

About Tricia:

Tricia Goyer is the author of twenty-four books including From Dust and Ashes, My Life UnScripted, and the children’s book, 10 Minutes to Showtime. She won Historical Novel of the Year in 2005 and 2006 from ACFW, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer’s Conference in 2003. Tricia’s book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion in 2005. In addition to her novels, Tricia writes non-fiction books and magazine articles for publications like Today’s Christian Woman and Focus on the Family. Tricia is a regular speaker at conventions and conferences, and has been a workshop presenter at the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International Conventions.  She and her family make their home in the mountains of Montana. Visit www.triciagoyer.com for more info!

What Era? Contest: Leave a comment on Tricia’s blog or send an email through her website CONNECT page and answer this question: What era in history do you wish you’d lived in and why? Earn extra entries by signing up for Tricia’s newsletter here, becoming a Fan on Facebook or Tweeting about the contest on Twitter (use hashtag #songbird)!

Winner’s announced here!

I received my copy for review of this book from Litfuse

On a stifling day in 1975, the North Vietnamese army is poised to roll into Saigon. As the fall of the city begins, two lovers make their way through the streets to escape to a new life. Helen Adams, an American photojournalist, must take leave of a war she is addicted to and a devastated country she has come to love. Linh, the Vietnamese man who loves her, must grapple with his own conflicted loyalties of heart and homeland. As they race to leave, they play out a drama of devotion and betrayal that spins them back through twelve war-torn years, beginning in the splendor of Angkor Wat, with their mentor, larger-than-life war correspondent Sam Darrow, once Helen’s infuriating love and fiercest competitor, and Linh’s secret keeper, boss and truest friend.

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War. A book on war.  This is not exactly a topic I leap for when I see books like this hit the shelf.  But saying a book like this, isn’t a fair synopsis – because this book is a different book on war… and the draw for me to this book, like a month to a flame – was her.  Was Helen and her story.

Helen Adams is an American War Photographer and she finds herself in Vietnam, going to where her brother had died and getting a feel of what the soldiers like him experience on a day-to-day basis.

Helen steps into her role willingly and naively and as the book takes us through the eyes of a photographer.  I as a reader, and Helen as a person – grew…  Opening up this book I learn that we are beginning with the end in mind …. we know the outcome and then we are taken back into the war to see how we got there. And The Lotus Eaters brings you to the front line. I found the book to be engaging and I wanted to know how Helen and the man she comes to love, Linh, get to where the book begins.

The characters are well brought out and I quickly found myself becoming attached to several of them.  I wanted to know where they were going, and if they would survive.  Truly an author for detail, Tatjana Soli left nothing to the imagination as I experienced Viet Nam through her words.  At times my breath caught in my throat as the details unfolded.

The vivid images that author Tatjana Soli paints of a war will remain in my mind for a long time to come.  I will be holding on to this story that was heartwarming and heart-wrenching all rolled into the combined pages of The Lotus Eaters.

Tatjana Soli is a novelist and short story writer. Born in Salzburg, Austria, she attended Stanford University and the Warren Wilson MFA Program. Her stories have appeared in The Sun, StoryQuarterly, Confrontation, Gulf Coast, Other Voices, Nimrod, Third Coast, Carolina Quarterly, Sonora Review and North Dakota Quarterly among other publications. Her work has been twice listed in the 100 Distinguished Stories in Best American Short Stories and nominated for the Pushcart Prize. She was awarded the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Prize, the Dana Award, finalist for the Bellwether Prize, and received scholarships to the Sewanee Writers’ Conference and Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference. She lives with her husband in Orange County, California, and teaches through the Gotham Writers’ Workshop.

I received my review copy from TLC Book Tours

America is on the brink of war with England, and Fin Button is about to come undone. She’s had it with the dull life of the orphanage, and she’s ready to marry Peter and get away from rules, chores, and a life looked after by the ever-watchful Sister Hilde. But an unexpected friendship forms between Fin and the fiddle-playing cook, Bartimaeus, which sets her on a course for revolution.

With Bart’s beloved fiddle and haunting blunderbuss as her only possessions, Fin discovers her first taste of freedom as a sailor aboard the Rattlesnake. She’s hiding some dark secrets, but there are bigger problems for the crew—they are on the run from the Royal Navy, and whispers of mutiny are turning the captain into a tyrant.

When Fin finally returns home, will she find Peter still waiting, or will she find that she’s lost everything she once held dear?

I have been a long time fan of The Rabbit Room.  I love everything it stands for, and the people who frequent it with delightful posts and quirky down to earth comments…. it is a luxury for me to lurk there… occasionally coming out of the shadows to post a comment on something I feel passionate about.

Who knew that passionate comment would be about a book…. a book called The Fiddler’s Gun?  Certainly not me.

When I initially read about The Fiddler’s Gun in a little post at The Rabbit Room something about the book called to me.  The title…. holds mystery.  What could the Fiddler’s Gun be?  Who is the Fiddler?

So my adventure began.  I entered totally unprepared for what I would find within the pages of this book.  If I should have brought a weapon (and in hindsight perhaps I should have) after all, was I not entering into a war?

And with that – I leaped into the book and met an unlikely lady, Fin, who was more tom boy than girl…. more so just one of the guys and liked it that way at the orphanage she called home.  Usually clad in dirty clothes with a dirty face and hair – I instantly took a liking to her… she reminded me of the tomboy I was growing up.  “Go Team Fin!”

Phineas Button is her full name and she is the 13th female born in a family where her father really really wanted a boy.  This is how we find Fin within a few pages of this read at the orphanage.  You can imagine what a chip this girl carries on her shoulders.

Along with Fin, entered her sidekick in all things prankish, Peter, a beloved friend and confidant Bartimaeus who hold secrets that reach beyond the pages of this book, and a couple of Nun Sisters who try as they may could not mold Fin into who they felt she should be.   And within this motley crew of character…. a story blooms…

I don’t want to give too much away so I am just going to tell you there is a lot of action, fantastic and well developed characters, pirates, and…. oops… I have said to much 😉

Written is an adventurous way, this book wove its way into my heart with a little bit of laughter along the way, and in the end, even a few tears.  I look forward with eager anticipation to the conclusion of this story and answering the questions I am so eager for answers to, in The Fiddler’s Green.

You can purchase your copy of this book here at The Rabbit Room

The Fiddler’s Gun is available to book clubs with some special bonuses. There’s a study guide for download on the website, each book club gets bookmarks specially printed with the name of the club, as well as free digital copies of the companion book The Fiddler’s Gun: Letters which is a compilation of letters, log entries, and other interesting items telling of further adventures of Fin and her crew during the storyline of the main book, there is also a special link where book club members can purchase the book for $4 off the cover price, or to save on shipping, clubs can order in bulk.

MY AMAZON RATING

I received my copy for review from the author

Meet the Roncalli and Angelini families, a vibrant cast of colorful characters who navigate tricky family dynamics with hilarity and brio, from magical Manhattan to the picturesque hills of bella Italia. Very Valentine is the first novel in a trilogy and is sure to be the new favorite of Trigiani’s millions of fans around the world.

In this luscious, contemporary family saga, the Angelini Shoe Company, makers of exquisite wedding shoes since 1903, is one of the last family-owned businesses in Greenwich Village. The company is on the verge of financial collapse. It falls to thirty-three-year-old Valentine Roncalli, the talented and determined apprentice to her grandmother, the master artisan Teodora Angelini, to bring the family’s old-world craftsmanship into the twenty-first century and save the company from ruin.

While juggling a budding romance with dashing chef Roman Falconi, her duty to her family, and a design challenge presented by a prestigious department store, Valentine returns to Italy with her grandmother to learn new techniques and seek one-of-a-kind materials for building a pair of glorious shoes to beat their rivals. There, in Tuscany, Naples, and on the Isle of Capri, a family secret is revealed as Valentine discovers her artistic voice and much more, turning her life and the family business upside down in ways she never expected. Very Valentine is a sumptuous treat, a journey of dreams fulfilled, a celebration of love and loss filled with Trigiani’s trademark heart and humor.

I first met author Adiana Trigiani within the pages of Viola In Reel Life.  I was reading the at book last fall in a group discussion and fell in love with her writing style.  When the offer came along to review Very Valentine, I was sold as soon as I seen the word Trigiani.

First off I have to say shoe lovers, this is a book for you!   Can you imagine making custom wedding shoes?  I would love to just tour a place like that!  And what is not to love about a large Italian family?  Just reading this I am filled with the visions of homes filled with laughter and love, and spicy scents of food always cooking.  Coming form a very small family – this scene in my head becomes very “Norman Rockwellesque”.

I mentioned food and I love a book filled with food.  These are the type of books I like for book club because we can then potluck around the food items.  Very Valentine not only fills my ead with delicious thoughts…. but also provides the recipes in the back of the book!  Right there made my decision to recommend this read for our next Book Club Meeting.

Truly an enjoyable read with wonderful characters.  Adriana has a gift with her writing and reading about her makes me think she would be just a wonderful full of life person who I would enjoy hanging out with.  These are my people.  🙂

Adriana was raised in a small coal mining town in southwest Virginia in a big Italian family. She chose her hometown for the setting and title of her debut novel, the critically acclaimed and bestselling Big Stone Gap, followed by the sequels Big Cherry Holler, Milk Glass Moon, and the fall 2006 release Home to Big Stone Gap. Lucia, Lucia, The Queen of the Big Time, Rococo and Very Valentine were all instant New York Times bestsellers. Adriana’s novels have been translated and sold in over 30 countries around the world.

Adriana also teamed up with her family in 2005 to pen Cooking With My Sisters, which was co-authored by her sister Mary, with contributions from their sisters and mom; the cookbook-memoir features recipes and stories dating back a hundred years from both sides of their Italian-American family.

Reading Group Guide

I received my review copy from TLC Book Tours