Tag: Book Tour

The world thinks me dead, but there is a lot of life left in these old bones, yet.  I’ve been absent from the world for a long time.  But I’m here.  Waiting.

`Lucia Grandi

Born the first day of June, Lucia Grandi has lived a long life.  Having just celebrated her one hundred and tenth birthday she is startled when a young female visitor, as Lucia does not receive much company, comes to see her.  She is more startled, or perhaps a better word is amused, when this stranger asks if she will share her life story.   Having outlived friends, family, and other loved ones, Lucia had seen much in her long life.  Still with her wits about her (not sure if that was a gift or a curse) Lucia decided that perhaps she could share her memories… just this once…

And so Lucia does share her life stories, from being an unwanted child from the moment of birth, witnessing a suicide at 3 years of age, difficulty with parents and siblings, running away, sent to a strict Catholic school, and more, Lucia opens up her life to the stranger a chapter at a time….

 

 

My love of mixing genres amuse me.  In the middle of reading a paranormal YA, a good old-fashioned crime novel, and Little Women, I find my way into The Tale Of Lucia Grandi with a “lets see where this goes” attitude.

Oh… how I amuse me.  😀

Lucia Grandi speaks with a voice of someone I could listen to a long time.  (How fun is that to say we can put a voice to writing, a voice I have never heard except for the one in my head I have given to this elderly protagonist).  As chapter by chapter unfolded I was more and more memorized by the book.  Never heavy, but always interesting, what a life this woman lead!I am finding it hard to put into words the beauty of this writing.  Rhythmic comes to mind.  Poetic.  Resigning.  There were quite a few passages that I had to pause after reading, think about how I liked what was said, and then read it again to go even deeper into the meaning.  Time and again this happened throughout this read, never distracting, but instead engaging me even more.  What a fascinating way to write a book.

Over all, I am thoroughly impressed. I enjoyed this book so much that for several days it became a constant companion everywhere I went so I could get in a few pages while waiting in the car, before meetings started…

Take note – this is called “The Early Years” and we do not hear all of Lucia’s life within this book and I suspect there will be more to come…  Yet reader, sigh not, for I believe that by the time you turn the last page of this book, you will have no problem wanting to read the next as well.  After all Lucia’s story needs to be told.

 

I wish to thank TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book for my honest opinion and for allowing me to spend time with a remarkable woman named Lucia Grandi.

 

 

What would you be willing to sacrifice to be who you want to be?

When Desdemona was at the peak of her breakthrough as an artist in 1935, she made a hasty decision to marry Asa Spaulding, a solid and stable man, and make a home in the town of Cascade to be there for her bankrupt father whose health is quickly failing.  While Desdemona felt in her head this was the right decision for the circumstances, her heart strongly disagreed.

And who’s head has not been overrun by their hearts wants?

With Cascade being considered to be flooded to provide water for Boston, Desdemona is even more restless with her decisions.  When she becomes attracted to a fellow artist Jacob who provides her with everything her husband can not, she knows it is time to make the hard choices that hopefully can correct the wrong ones she made in her past.

But at what cost?  Is it possible to turn away from a choice without causing further damage?  And even as she contemplates a brighter future, would she be able to live with herself for doing so?

First.  Let’s take a pause for this beautiful cover.  Cover love at its finest, cover alone would cause me to pick up this book wanting to know more, and honestly… it did factor in on my choice to read this book.

While set against the backdrop of the Depression and WWII, Cascade (thankfully) focuses more around Desdemona and her relationships with the men in her life and the decisions she must make.  While beautifully written, Cascade is not for the person looking for a quick read.  It takes times to absorb this slower paced detail oriented book.  You really get the feeling you are brought fully into the world that is Cascade.

For me, the book was good but the slower pace was a deterrent.  Perhaps it was the time of year that I chose to read this that made it more of a struggle for me.  Desdemona is not the most likable character, her choices… well, if you read it you will see. Cascade, in my opinion, is a book to take your time with, to read over several sittings and contemplate what would you do put in a similar situation?

Well written, filled with historical facts that will make you think and learn, and those are always pluses for me.

Thank you TLC Book Tours for giving me a little history

along with a good read that made me think.

 

WARNING:  This book is based on a true crime and the details in this synopsis may be a bit graphic and disturbing. 

 

It was February 17th, 1970 in North Carolina.  Jeffrey MacDonald, a Green Beret Doctor had discovered his two-year old daughter Kristen had wet his side of their bed, so after cleaning her up and putting her to sleep in her own bed, Jeffrey decided to sleep on the couch and deal with the clean up in his own bed in the morning.  It was late, and he was tired.  Hours later, he was startled awake by a noise, screaming actually, and seen several people in his home.  When he got up, startled, he was hit by an object and knocked out.

When Jeffrey regained consciousness he called the police for help.  It was 3:42 am and his life had just changed forever.

What the police found, was the beginning of a nightmare for all involved.  MacDonald’s pregnant wife and two daughters had all been brutally murdered.  The word “PIG” was written in blood on the master bedroom wall. 

Jeffrey MacDonald told the story of what he had seen when he woke up, four young people, one being a woman, chanting and holding candles. He believed drugs were involved.  The police felt that MacDonald’s story didn’t fit with the evidence they seen.   In 1979, MacDonald was convicted of killing his entire family and remains in prison to this day.
But…

Was clear evidence in this crime ignored?  Were there people who were possibly connected to this crime that were never investigated?  Is Jeffery MacDonald an innocent man who was wrongly imprisoned? 

 

 

Why did I want to read this book?  I admit I have always been drawn to true crime.  That sounds terrible.  Ugh.  I think I am curious about what would make people act that way.  What would bring one human to the brink of harming another – killing another in love or hate or whatever…. 

 

Author Errol Morris writes a story that definitely falls under reasonable doubt in this case.  The book is filled with police reports, and interviews that definitely bring the results of this case into question for this reader.  I found myself turning page after page, gathering my own evidence – even looking back through what I had already read, checking my own “facts” again and again.  I even found myself looking up things about the case on line, to get another perspective to go by.

I like books that make me think and Errol Morris covered that with A Wilderness Of Error.  I felt I came into this case cold, as honestly, prior to this reading I had never heard of Jeffrey MacDonald or this crime that took place right along the time of the Manson murders. 

The book’s title comes from a poem by Edgar Allen Poe:

 

What chance—what one event brought this evil thing to pass, bear with me while I relate… I would fain have them believe that I have been, in some measure, the slave of circumstances beyond human control. I would wish them to seek out for me, in the details I am about to give, some little oasis of fatality amid a wilderness of error.

 

I was bewildered by how this case was handled – granted these were the days before CSI and all the things we have in today’s world to track evidence but if you go by Errol Morris’ account, this case was truly misguided.  There is even a woman, Helena Stoeckley, who admitted time and again that she committed these murders, but was written off as being an unreliable drug addict.

I found the book to be very interesting and well written.

In the end – I personally can’t say if MacDonald did it or not.  MacDonald himself, now 68 years old, still claims he is innocent.

 

For more information about the evidence surrounding this crime and how Errol Morris came up with is facts, see this interesting site.

 

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to be a part of a jury by reading this amazing book.

 

 

 

Tilly Silverberg loves her garden.

After her husband had passed away, her garden and her thriving plant business is her sanctuary.  Between that and her son Isaac, Tilly finds enough to keep her mind busy and to avoid sticking a toe out beyond her own little world.  Its safe in Tilly’s world and it is enough.

James Nealy has money to spare and when he wants something… it is just a matter of tossing money at it to make it so.  As an in demand software developer he has trouble quieting the activity in his mind, but he has a plan to do just that… by creating a garden.  He has seen Tilly’s work and wants her to be the designer even as she doesn’t think she is the right person for the job – after all, she sells plants, she does not design gardens.

And so the story goes, a family emergency creates a new way to escape for Tilly and as she retreats with Isaac to where she grew up she finds that while on the outside things look wonderfully the same – they clearly are not.  Her best friend has a secret, her mother is plotting, and an old boyfriend is available and that is a temptation Tilly does not want… but does. 

And then suddenly there is the compulsive and attractive James knocking on her door, asking again about an idea he has for a garden…..

 

Why did I want to read this book?  Well… cover love for one!  This was offered to me through a TLC book tour and I thought the synopsis sounded fun.

AND The Unfinished Garden was fun… an adventure really.  Barbara Claypole White’s characters jump off the page.  I was reading this book this past week and while at first it seemed a bit jumbled (those first pages…) do not be discouraged!  Suddenly the book was flowing nicely along and I really found myself enjoying Tilly and her strength.  While James is not normally the type of character I would find myself drawn to (the impulsiveness, the guilt he carries) I dd find myself waver a bit… it was not a love, but I was able to like him. 

The book provided a nice story line that kept me engaged and interested.  I am not a fan of romance reads, but this one never felt heavy in that department and I am thankful for that.  This book to me was a story about second chances and finding the strength to let go… and in ways that are both sweet and surprising, I think you will find that both Tilly and James are characters with flaws that are endearing because they reflect some of the same flaws we can find in ourselves. 

 

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

Thank you to TLC book tours for allowing me to spend some time in the garden.

Alice Humphrey really could have it all.  After all her father was the famous award winning director, Frank Humphrey.  Alice knew that life wasn’t for her and had insisted that she make it on her own.  After months of struggling financially she can not believe her luck when while visiting an art gallery, she meets Drew Campbell who offers her a job as a new gallery manager.  The owner who chooses to remain anonymous, will leave the details up to Alice, and it will be as though Alice owns the gallery herself!

There is one tiny catch….

At the opening of this new gallery this mysterious owner wants only one artist to be featured and promoted.  Once this artists run is up, Alice is open to choose any other artists to feature in the gallery.  The artist Alice must represent has some pretty far our unpleasant art pieces.  Alice just continues to remind herself that this is only for a time and then she can make the gallery more to her liking… and hey, the paychecks are coming in!

But a group of protesters against the art set Alice’s nerves on edge, and then finding the gallery emptied to the bare bones and Drew’s body in the gallery the morning after the protesters is impossible to wrap her mind around.  Who would do such a thing? 

When the police are involved, Alice soon discovers that Drew is not who he says he was.  And now the art that was displayed and the gallery itself seem to be tied to a missing girl.  When pictures turn up of a woman who looks like Alice in compromising acts, Alice knows she has been set up.  To save herself from being put behind bars she has to get to the bottom of this twisted area of her life.  Who is this girl and how is she tied to the gallery?  As she works to find answers Alice begins to discover long hidden secrets within her own family – secrets that could get her killed.

Why did I want to read this?  The synopsis is fascinating… a mysterious job offer, a murder centered around an art gallery and a protagonist who comes from a life of plenty but chooses to make her own way.  It is funny how those family ties no matter how hard we try to distance ourselves in some cases, can come back when we least expect it.

Long Gone is definitely a page turner.  There is no long drawn out front story to this book – instead we jump into the gallery job offer and things spiral into action from there, which I like it when a book gets to the point.  I liked Alice, she felt real.  I was surprised that the missing girl was not a bigger part of the story.  While that story line hovers around the edges of the book, a small part about it in the beginning and then a few sprinkles throughout the read, it is really more about Alice. 

As you get to the end it all starts coming together and meshes into a fantastic climax.  As I think about the lack of information about the missing girl I can not help but wonder if that was not the author being strategic… after all the girl is missing… it could make sense that she does hover – almost ghost like and not quite there, throughout the read.

Lovers of great suspense and good fast action should definitely check this book out.

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

Thank you to TLC book tours for letting me solve the crime with Alice!

Pre gush.  I really enjoy enjoy fictitious stories based around a non fiction character.  The fact that Mary Bower was in fact a real woman who really was a freed slave who came back into slavery to save others is fascinating.  That alone was enough to get me setting aside time on a very rainy weekend for this book.

Gush:  But Mary Bowsers story is so much more… this extremely well written book dives into this woman’s history with painstaking details… fact of fiction, in the end I felt as though I had a good feel for who Mary was and what she stood for.  We can all only hope to leave even a fraction of such a legacy. 

I admit I am not a huge fan of war related stories, however Marys part in what was happening around her made the book flow well with the war while being a large topic, was not the main story line.  Mary carries the book. 

The underground railroad has always fascinated me… such a rich history we have that is we do not take the time to dig into it, it will pass us by and we will be lesser people for never knowing, never caring.  Thank you to Mark Bowser and to Lois Leveen for writing such a vivid story I am left wanting more… in a good way.

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for trusting this

treasure of a book to be placed in my care and the chance for my

fingertips to type and try to do the book justice.

S many things are right in Anne Blythe’s life… she loves her job working for a respected magazine, she enjoys great friends, and has a book deal coming together….

so why for the love of all that is good and holy – can she not find a decent boyfriend?

After yet another disastrous breakup and the announcement of her best friend engagement, Anne feels it is time to take drastic measures…. obviously her criteria of “dark hair, steely blue eyes, and perfect build” in a man in getting her nowhere.  When she finds a business card to what she believes is a dating service she feels this is divine intervention telling her to take a chance on a different method to happiness.  Upon making a meeting with this service she discovers to her shock that this is an exclusive, by appointment only – arranged marriage service.  AND $10,000 at that.

At first Anne balks the idea – the cost is out of her price range, and marrying a guy you have never met (the services rules – they believe that when you choose a partner by looks first you are setting yourself up for failure) is crazy.  Yet, her best friends overwhelming happiness and her book advancement of $10,000 makes her decide to give it a try… after all, what does she really have to lose and she can always pull out of the program before the final and largest payment in made.

But there is that nagging… what if?  What if all these testings and therapy sessions, graphs and life styles actually could lead up to the man of her dreams?  What if she too could be gushingly happy like all those married couples she is surrounded by?  Would it work? 

I first read Catherine McKenzie’s book SPIN and really enjoyed it.  What I thought would be a light fun chick lit book actually had bite.  Again, in Arranged, Catherine McKenzie sets the bar a little higher with a book that has more to discover within its pages than one may first think.

Color me a litle wackadoodle… but ever since One Flew Over The Coocoo’s Nest, I have had a little thing for books and movies centered around insane asylums.  And if you also are drawn to such topics… you know they are few and far between.  Nobody…. quite literally…

wants to go there.

Well, until now.  When Iris Dunleavy during Civil War time is convicted of madness for being willfull (and yes, I should watch my back!), she is sent to Sanibel Asylum – not a nice little r and r at a local country club, nope… a full fledge asylum with a plethora of interesting, and colorful, characters. 

The plan is that Iris is to work the program and be restored to the obedient woman her hubby thinks she should be and then she will also be restored to her wifely duties.  Iris of course knows she is not mad, simply strong willed and standing up for her rights.  However… mad may be preferable to her life she had…

And then there is Ambrose Weller, a war-haunted Confederate soldier who is calmed only by the color blue.  Iris finds herself drawn to him and as she plans a way out of this dreadful place she ponders if she could possibly make a break for two, bringing Ambrose along with her to a life she knows nothing of…

I have been reading a few lighter more “summery” reads as of late and Blue Asylum is quite a bit different from that genre.  Quite truly Historical Fiction Blue Asylum is a book with a back bone, and that backbone is named Iris Dunleavy.

I was happy to meet the strong and witty Iris within the pages of this book.  She is just the type of female character that keeps me turning pages.  Having heard how well Kathy Hepinstall writes, this brilliant protagonist did not surprise me… however, what did, was the surrounding characters who also felt three-dimensional, and actually made me feel for them.  I like that.

Feeling.

A cast of fun characters burst forth from Hepinstalls mind – a woman who like to swallow things… really anything… rings, whatever.  Another who believes her husband is beside her as she talks to him and walks with him day in and day out…  another, a man whose feet are too heavy to move… and of course Ambrose, who is haunted by a war that only the color blue seems to sooth…

What I really enjoyed is how Iris interacted and even helped each person in a way.

a little bit historical… a little bit romance… for me a pleasant mix that left me thinking after that final page was closed.

Little bonus for Asylum enthusiasts…. I found this site for famous Asylums

Thank you TLC for sending me this review copy

that kept me reading and cheering Iris on!