Tag: Book Tour

Naomi Feinstein is afraid of losing.  She is afraid of losing her parents – her dad with a weakened heart…. her mom who is deeply depressed.  She is afraid of losing her friend Teddy who she confides everything…

Setting her mind on becoming a doctor, Naomi buries herself in her books, hoping to be accepted into the college of her dreams, Wellesley.  When Teddy does (as she had feared) departs from her life, the blow is too hard and too deep, and seems larger than she can handle – even when the hopeful acceptance letter from Wellesley arrives.

Hoping that college will fill all the gaps in her life where fear and loneliness seep in, Naomi heads straight into the school she believes will become her security.  But, college is not what she had dared hope, and while Naomi finds herself surrounded by hundreds of other young women… at the same time she feels unreachable and alone.

When Naomi witnesses a girl fall into a freezing lake, things began to change.  She learns of a mysterious society – called the Shakespeare Society with all the lure a secret society would have – rituals and secret meetings, and students with a canny passion.  Finally Naomi believes she has found something that makes her feel a part of life and fills all those gaps.  As Naomi grows into this new person, hard lessons are brought forth and Naomi is about to learn the most important lesson of her life.

 

Does anyone remember Dead Poet’s Society?  It was a movie from the late 1980’s starring Robin Williams as an unconventional Professor of English, John Kleets.  While I adore this movie and love all that John Kleets stood for, the best part of the movie to me, was the secret society of The Dead Poet’s.  (Even as I type this my mind is thinking… do I still have this movie in my collection?  Is it DVD or VHS?  Please be DVD….)

I mention this now, because when I first read the synopsis of this book… that is what stood out to me.  An ancient secret society…. sorry, I never went to college – I think I crave the whole secret sorority thing….

In An Uncommon Education, Naomi’s back story (prior to college) is a slow tedious start.  I picked the book up.  I put it down.  I picked it up again.  I believed it had a story within its pages that I wanted to read.  I just had to find that story. 

I hung in there.  I found the book detailed, well-developed, I had a good feel for who Naomi was and what she stood for.  I liked her.  These are the things I clung too while I slogged through the first part of this book. 

And then…

Wellesley.

Bringing Naomi to the school, the book picked up more of a heartbeat pace.  It had rhythm… it had life.  More importantly, I no longer wanted to sett he book down and move on.  I think Naomi as well finds her heartbeat.  When things get rough and a scandal is resented – Naomi then is forced into some hard truths that really bring this book full circle.

In a few words:  Give the book some time to warm up, it is worth the wait.

In a word:  WOW.

 

Thank to to TLC Book Tours for a gorgeous, thought provoking  read

Daisy is traveling with her teenage daughter Coco to Paris.  When they arrive and Coco goes through her bag excited to take out the carefully picked out skirts, peasant tops, and super cure shoes, instead she find wadded up t-shirts and dirty pants.  Ugh.  Who packs dirty pants???

WRONG bag.

Andrew is traveling with his teenage son Webb.  Andrew had noticed the very attractive  woman sitting in 6-B, with her younger sister.  Ummm… too cheesy?  Ok her daughter, but she doesn’t look like she could have a teenage daughter!  He decided to slip a note in her purse when she is not looking.  When they arrive Web finds that he has the wrong bag…. filled with expensive shirts and clothing items he can not even identify.

While Andrew and Daisy try to figure out how to get the bag mix up settled, they are unaware that Webb and Coco are also working on their own “reunion”.

I knew when I chose this book it sounded like fun.  Visions of light summer reading, smiles and the occasional giggle escaping me while I sat on the deck slathered in tanning lotion drinking ice tea…

well that was the plan.

The book delivered, the weather did not.

Either way, In The Bag was as I had expected.  Reading the synopsis I knew this one was just going to be candy for my brain. I liked the alternation chapters between our four protagonists, Daisy, Coco, Andrew, and Web.  The note that Andrew stuck in Daisy’s purse cracked me up… totally GUY.  😛  The email exchanges are light and fun. 

In the end, a quick, fun, read.  That if you are going to the beach, this one need to be, in the bag.  😉

Thank you TLC book tours for a fun summery type book that made me crave beaches and warm sand.

 

 

Tuesday, May 1st: Seaside Book Nook
Wednesday, May 2nd: A Bookworm’s World
Thursday, May 3rd: 2 Kids and Tired Book Reviews
Monday, May 7th: Walking With Nora
Tuesday, May 8th: Book Hooked Blog
Wednesday, May 9th: Book Journey
Thursday, May 10th: A Musing Reviews
Monday, May 14th: A Cozy Reader’s Corner
Tuesday, May 15th: Life In Review
Wednesday, May 16th: Book Reviews by Molly
Thursday, May 17th: Good Girl Gone Redneck

They were the best of friends.  Gwen, Mickey (both girls) , Tim Jr, Sean, and Gordon (Go-Go), the latter three being brothers.  They were then in their childhood, always together, always in the woods exploring and pushing the boundaries or their surroundings summer after summer.  Until that one summer when tragedy strikes, a secret is kept, and the five are never quite the same, nor their friendship quite the same… ever again.

Fast forward 30 years and tragedy has struck again.  This time it is with Go-Go, the youngest of the five, has died in what is still undecided… accident or suicide.  After all, Go-Go carried with him, perhaps the deepest secret of them all. 

The remaining four come together for the first time in many years, looking for answers, and wondering if that fateful day all those summers ago is not the answer to what haunts them still today.

As anything that has the name Laura Lippman on it, I was excited to jump into this read.  The synopsis… friends from childhood go through something BIG together, are bound to a secret and as with all of us, adulthood happens… we move on, we move apart… and those bounds that were once so tight, are now merely spider web strong.  I do love books about friendships….

The Most Dangerous Thing is spilled out onto pages with multiple narrations, each of the five have an opportunity to tell a portion of the story.  I personally enjoy multiple narration when it is done well, chapters changing narrator, you get to see different sides unfold. Lippman does a pretty good job of not confusing me in the “who is telling the story now?”  I believe this is the first time I have read a book with this many narrators though. 

So hmmm…. where do I begin?

I have said in the past that I prefer books with fewer characters and I think that is because I really like to get to know a character.  In this read while the main five were doable, there are also the parents who are brought into the conversations and while that was done well, for me… it was a lot of voices in my head.  I think perhaps that is what leaves me with a “hmmmmmm” feeling.  I did not feel strongly for any one of them, while an interesting story – it branched out so much and switched narration to the point I never fully sunk into this read, and ooh, I do like to sink into a read. 

Overall I think Lippman’s writing is something to experience, however if you are new to her books I would not start with this one, she does have more engaging reads. The Most Dangerous Thing is a book that was interesting and held my attention, but was not a “WOW” for me. 

Her main character from her detective series, Tess Monaghan makes an appearance in this book and I thought that was kind of fun.  I like it when authors do that.

Thank you to TLC book Tours

for the opportunity to read and review this book

As if I did not already love Adriana’s beautiful writing, she comes up with this breathtaking Historical Fiction novel that made my heart leap from the very first time I seen it!  Cover, title, synopsis, all three captivated me and made me want to drop everything and read it right away.

As always Adriana writes characters so delightfully detailed and three-dimensional that I feel as though I would know them anywhere. Family also seems to play a large theme throughout Adriana’s writing, something I bask in – the warmth the commitment, and it is shown to run deep in Ciro and Enzo as well. 

Written in alternating chapters, as the reader we are able to enjoy seeing the story unfold from both Ciro and Enzo’s world.  I followed the story line closely feeling as though I too was hanging around the corner watching what was about to unfold.   The fact that a part of this book lands in Minnesota, of course, just makes me happy! 

As Adriana tends to do, this story is inspired by a true story, and in this case it is molded from Adriana’s own grandparents who grew up in the Alps, but met in the United States after they emigrated. 

My final thoughts:  I have read and enjoyed many of Adriana’s books and this one is no exception, in fact I think this one rates as one of my favorites of her ten books.  If you start this book, you are not going to want to put it down.  Consider yourself warned and allow yourself a good afternoon or evening to really sink deeply into this powerful story that will cause your heart to swell and your mind to explore the possibilities…   This is a book I will read again.

You can check out who else is on this tour here and check out more about Adriana Trigiani at her website.

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

Thank you to Adriana Trigiani for sending me this book!

And to TLC Book Tours for allowing me to gush on their tour!

Every day when Christine wakes up she wonders who the man is sleeping next to her.  She does not recognize herself in the mirror.  Every day her husband Ben patiently tells her who she is, what has happened, and how long it has been.  And it has been a long time. 

Christine, as is explained to her, is amnesiac, the result of a serious and mysterious accident. At the urging of her doctor, Christine is encouraged to write in a  journal every day to help jog her memory of what has been happening in her life.  One morning as she goes to read her journal and see who she is she opens it to find one big header:

Do not trust Ben.

What does that mean?  Why would she not trust this patient man who has stood by her patiently day after day as she tries to remember.  And then slowly, very slowly Christine with the help of the journal and her doctor, starts to see glimpses of a past that does not coincide with what she is being told by those she trusts the most.  And for that matter, can she even trust who she has told herself she is?

Word on the street is Before I go To Sleep will be a movie.  I would love to see this as a movie, I think it would translate to the screen in a big way that would keep your heart racing until the end!

Mmmmm hmmmm…. I know right?  Twisty and turny synopsis?  Well it is a twisty and turny book!  This book through my emotional meter out the window.  As it opens, I think Ben is amazing, how patient to repeat the same thing to the woman he dearly loves day after day.  Then…. I don’t like Ben… I have my reasons.  😀  And then… Oh Ben, you are awesome. 

See what I mean?  And it’s not just with Ben.  As Christine learns more about herself, it is still like reading a book through a veil, you never quite see her clearly enough to say you know her.  At the time of the reading, that annoyed me that I could not quite get a grasp on her.  Now in hindsight, I wonder if that is not just a brilliant move by this new author…. after all why should I see Christine clearly when she can not see herself that way?

In the end for me, I was still frustrated… the twists the turns, I felt were too many… I was exhausted trying to keep up and annoyed with all the characters.  Yes… all of them.

But – know this … I am in the minority.

Not only have I read raving reviews on this book, it was also our March book club pick for the Bookies.  I was excited to not only read this for the TLC book tour, but to also include the opinions of a group of fantastic girls that LOVE books and discuss them well.

And so the Bookies reviewed.  Out of the 12 of us in the room, only a couple struggled with the book the way I did.  For the most part they loved the ups and downs and ins and outs never knowing… thinking you know… then realizing you know nothing.  On a scale of 1 to 5, the book pulled in a strong 4 average. 

And of course, if the Bookies do a house meeting… we have FOOD. 

 

 

 

Check out Angie’s review of this book at By Book Or By Crook… Angie is in our book club and had a fantastic time with the book and wrote an amazing review!

Thank you to TLC Book Tours for allowing me

to read this book before I went to sleep 😀

What does wine tasting and clean water in Sudan have in common?

Doc Hendley. 

Doc Hendley was born into a Christian family.  His father a Pastor, his mother a devout follower, and his siblings following in their footsteps.  Yet while Doc believed in God… he was more in his Harley, drinks with friends, and making a living bar-tending.  He preferred to lay low in life, Doc just wanted to do his own thing and be left to himself to do it.

Then one night after having a dream that left him with the words “wine to water” in his head… he spent some time on Google and was shocked at what he discovered:

• One in every six people do not have access to clean water
• In developing countries, women and children walk 4 or 5 hours to get water each day
• Unclean water kills a child every twenty seconds

An idea was born.  With a little help from his friends, Doc organized the first Wine to Water charity event.  In a nightclub with a Deejay and many donated cases of wine, they opened up the event on Saturday February 4 , 2004 to more than 300 people attending.  They made over $6,000 dollars… and that was just the beginning…

Little did Doc know at the time that he would be traveling to one of the world’s most dangerous hot spots: Darfur, Sudan, in the name of clean water.

If you have spent any time frequenting this blog then you probably know a little bit about me.  My first trip to Honduras was in February 2004, the same month and year that Doc Hendley would be having a fundraiser called “Wine To Water”.    While what pulled at my heartstrings to bring me to Honduras was kids who lived in the streets, Doc was drawn to areas where the water was undrinkable and used as a weapon just as dangerous as a nuclear bomb. My heart for those in need… was what initially drew me to this book.

How can I describe this book?  Mostly I found it interesting.  I loved the descriptions of Sudan, and what Doc experiences, from my own time in a impoverish country, I could imagine quite well what is must have been like.  And it was also heart breaking.  When Doc describes going out to the one shack of a restaurant one day with one of his team members and each eating a whole chicken before they see the small boy inching towards their table, bone thin and half-starved with tears in his eyes… I had to sit the book down and compose myself.

Can you imagine never having enough to eat?  Never having experienced a restaurant?  Can you imagine seeing someone come to where you live in the world… with things you never have had – clean clothes and the means to eat when hungry?

This book really touched me.  Not only did it give me a closer look at a country that struggles to have clean water, but also a look at how we can make a difference.  I sit in a home as I am believing all of you do as well, where the water is clean and unlimited.  It’s easy to forget that is not the case for everyone… and I appreciate what Doc has written here to remind me that in whatever way I can…I need to make a difference either small or large, in some way in our world.   What a powerful calling to give families in need the life saving gift of water.

As of November 2011, I have traveled to Honduras 10 times, one a year since 2004 and a couple of years I went twice.  As surely as I am drawn to those children, I can understand Doc’s draw to clean water to save lives. 

Doc grew as a person from the beginning to the end of this book.  I did too as I read it.

AMAZON Rating

Goodreads Review

I have been offered one copy of this book to give away to one of my readers!  To enter this giveaway please let me know in a comment below a place you would like to go to make a difference/ or where you have gone to make a difference and what that difference would be .  It does not have to be out of the country, shoot… it doesn’t even have to be out of your town!  😀   I will choose a winner this coming Saturday and then forward their information on to the publisher.

Thank you to TLC for allowing me this opportunity to read and review this book

Cate Cooper has had quite the year.  She had built up quite a life with her husband of twenty-six years, Addison Cooper.  And what a whirlwind it had been, an insane love for each other in the beginning… and then it all began to unravel.

As Cate stood over Addison’s casket, she had to wonder where it all went wrong…

Life can be funny that way, as Cate soon finds out that Addison’s death is only the beginning of surprises for her.  Quickly (really minutes) after the funeral Cate discovers that Addison was not at all who she thought he was.  Within 48 hours… she is out of the home she had grown to love, and finds herself heading back to Folly Beach, the place of her childhood, looking for scraps she can accumulate into a new life.

But Folly Beach is not only the place where Cate grew up… it is also the memories of another woman from another life time… memories of a marriage that was like a symphony, the Heyward’s spirit lives on within the breezes of Folly Beach.

Can Cate go home again and start anew?

Take it from someone who did return to her childhood home, yes, you can go home again. Folly Beach took me a bit by surprise.  I was expecting it to be a good story, I wasn’t expecting some of the great humor!

And that’s just in the early pages, as Cate’s story unfolds it is not only one of a backdrop of historical (?) fiction, a little romance in the mix and a lot of family drama too… it is also one of finding your own fit in this world.  I enjoyed going along with Cate as she did just that.

The reason I question the historical fiction above is that while the scenes in the book referring to the Heywards may be fiction, the Heyward’s were not.  Dorothy Kuhns Heyward and her husband Dubose Heyward were real people and real playrights.  Dorothy was also a novelist and assisted her husband in turning his novel Porgy, based on Negro life on the waterfront of Charleston, South Carolina, into a play.

Truly fascinating to see them woven into this book.

As I write this review I sit at the antique round kitchen table that was my mother’s. If you lean on it, you will find it to be not quite level, but as far as I am concerned, no other table will grace my home. It connects me to her. 

And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

You can find Dorothy Benton Frank at website: www.dotfrank.com, and she’s also on Facebook.

Amazon Rating

Goodreads Review

I received this book as part of the TLC Book Tour

Also – I happen to have an extra copy of this book and would love to give it to one of my readers!  Please leave a comment here letting me know where you would like to escape for a time of relaxation and renewal?

Brooke Madison Bowers.  Everyone in St. Dennis, Maryland knew her name.  After all she was the prettiest, most popular girl of her town.  Star of the pageant and Prom Queen, there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Brooke would go far.  She married the man of her dreams and Brooke’s happily ever after seemed to all be falling into place…

but things can happen…

When her husband is killed while serving in Iraq, a very brokenhearted Brooke returns to her hometown along with her young son, to be close to those who love her.

When Jesse Enright moves to St. Dennis to run the family law firm, Brooke catches his eye and his heart in short time.  But Brooke has no intention of putting her own heart on the line again and Jesse finds that if he wants any chance at all with Brooke he is going to have to wait for her to first come to him.

Ummmm…. so Sheila, I didn’t think you really enjoyed romance novels?

This is true… but every once in a while a book comes along that I am drawn to despite the genre.  Honestly, reading that synopsis, doesn’t it remind you a bit of the movie Hope Floats?  In both cases you have a popular, beautiful woman who returns to her home town after things go wrong in her marriage.  She is afraid to love again but along comes a guy who seems to be so right… yet the woman is afraid to put herself out there… I love Hope Floats.  I own the movie.

Ok.. I drifted…

Hometown Girl is part of a series called The Chesapeake Diaries.  I admit, I have not read the previous books and I am curious about them.  While I did not need the other books to get into this one, there are friendships around Brooke (especially in the beginning) that I feel had I read the previous books I would have felt more in the know. 

While it is true romance stories are not my genre of choice, this is just a sweet read.  Honestly, I rooted for Jesse.  I love the fact that Brooke runs a cupcake shop, it just feels like a sweet story and a nice place to live.  I liked the characters and am drawn to read the other books just to get to know them better.  In fact, I enjoyed Mariah Stewarts way with words so much that I have been checking out some of the many other series she has written.

Thank you to Lisa with TLC Book tours

for the chance to read and review this book