A Reliable Wife

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

Summary

He placed a notice in a Chicago paper, an advertisement for "a reliable wife." She responded, saying that she was "a simple, honest woman." She was, of course, anything but honest, and the only simple thing about her was her single-minded determination to marry this man and then kill him, slowly and carefully, leaving her a wealthy widow, able to take care of the one she truly loved.

What Catherine Land did not realize was that the enigmatic and lonely Ralph Truitt had a plan of his own. And what neither anticipated was that they would fall so completely in love.

Filled with unforgettable characters, and shimmering with color and atmosphere, A Reliable Wife is an enthralling tale of love and madness, of longing and murder.


My thoughts

I had a like/hate relationship with this book. The story pulled me in from the beginning. I thought the writing itself was beautiful. The story was good. And then I realized that the main character, Ralph Truitt was obsessed with sex. There was way too much sex in this book for my taste which ruined the rest of the book for me. I did finish it as I wanted to know how it would all turn out in the end but I had to do much skimming to get through it. If sex in a book doesn't bother you, you may like this story. I just couldn't get past it. It was the first book I purchased on my Nook. I am loving the Nook, this book not so much.

My Favorite Books of 2010

I wanted to post a list of my favorite reads of 2010. These are books I loved and would recommend.

Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman This was my first read of 2010 and is my very favorite of the year! This is one I will reread again and I don't do that often. If you want a book that you can feel good about, read this! I can't say enough about this book!

Seven Year Switch by Claire Cook I loved this book also. A great beach read. This book was a lot of fun to read.


The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees I am a huge fan of Louisa May Alcott so I knew I wanted to read this book. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The Love Goddess' Cooking School by Melissa Senate Another good story that you could feel good about reading.

Now for some heavier books that I read and enjoyed. The subjects were not so feel good and happy but I did enjoy these books as well.

The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom I loved reading about this period in time.

Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger This was beautifully written.

Every Last One by Anna Quindlin I knew going into this book there was a tragedy that happens but I had no clue what it was. Even though I knew something was going to happen, it threw me for a loop when it did happen and I had to know how it would all turn out.


Still Missing by Chevy Stevens This one was a real page turner for me too. Probably not a book for everyone but it had me from the very beginning.

So that is my list of my favorites this past year. I am looking forward to adding more favorites to my list in the upcoming year! May our new year be full of more great books! Happy New Year!

2010 Reading Challenges

This is a short recap of how horribly I did on last years reading challenges. This year I am signing up and hoping to do better. There are two that ware still ongoing and I hope to complete them also. Even though I failed miserably I do have fun participating.

ARC Reading Challenge 2010-I read 34 Arcs, made the gold level when I was only going for Bronze...not shabby. I will do this one again!


Reading From My Shelves Project I only have posted 11 out of 30 books read, I think I did better but just forgot to keep track, I will most likely do this one again also as I need to clear some books out.


Historical Reading Challenge read 5 out of 12 books

Okra Picks Challenge this one is ongoing until the end of March I have read 0 books for this, hey there is still hope! I only signed up for the Goober level and I hope to read two books.

Read, Remember, Recommend Fiction Reading Challenge I have only read 2 books for this challenge but this challenge doesn't end until April 1 , 2011.

I'll be making decisions today about which challenges to sign up for this next year. All the challenges have been fun and I would like to thank each and every host of all of the challenges. Even when I have done poorly I have had fun!

Mailbox Monday December 27

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. (Library books don’t count, but eBooks & audiobooks do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @ The Printed Page, is on tour! This months hostess is Lady Q at Let Them Read Books. Thank you to Lady Q for hosting. Check out her Mailbox Monday posts for great recipes!

I hope everyone had a very Happy Holiday! Things were crazy and busy here so not much blogging nor reading has been done lately. Last night I was finally able to curl up with my new Nook that Santa surprised me with and read for the first time in a long time. How I missed reading. The hustle and bustle is over and I am looking forward to spending time reading and blogging. The books I received over the past two weeks. All three look very good! I am loving my Nook and have downloaded two books. I had a hard time getting it to work at first but I think it was a server problem as many were having the issue. This morning all was good in Nookland and I was able to buy a book with ease. I didn't think I would enjoy an e-reader as much as I am. I still love paper books but this is a nice addition to my library. I do need a booklight for it but I am unsure which one to get.



The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse (received for review from G.P. Putnam's Sons)

The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan (received for review from Penguin)

The Book of Tomorrow by Cecelia Ahern (received for review from Harper Collins)

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (ebook purchased for my Nook)

Falling Home by Karen White (also purchased for my Nook)

All books are linked to Goodreads if you wish to learn more about them.

I hope everyone has a very Happy New Year full of many good books!

Mailbox Monday December 13

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. (Library books don’t count, but eBooks & audiobooks do). Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists!

Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia @ The Printed Page, is on tour! This months hostess is Lady Q at Let Them Read Books. Be sure to check out Lady Q's blog. She has posted a yummy fudge recipe that has me dying for fudge!



I received one book this past week. The cover sure has me intrigued as does the book summary. See what you think.

Wither by Lauren DeStefano

What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden's genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden's eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limited time she has left.

I received this book for my honest review from Simon & Schuster

What wonderful books made their way into your home?

Catching Genius

Catching Genius by Kristy Kiernan

Summary from Goodreads

As children, Connie and Estella were best friends-until Estella was discovered to be a math prodigy, which led to the sisters' estrangement. Now, years later, they are forced to reunite on the Gulf Coast of Florida as they pack up their childhood home and ready it for sale. The reunion comes at a time when both Connie and Estella must come to terms with painful revelations and devastating consequences in their own lives. And once again, her sister's genius may alter Connie's life in ways she cannot control.

My Thoughts

This is the second book I have read that was written by Kristy Kiernan. I love finding new authors to read and I am so glad a friend recommended her to me. Catching Genius is a complex story about relationships. The main characters, Connie and Estella are sisters who don't have much of a relationship at all. When the girls were young, Estella was labeled as a math genius. She is sent off to college at age 12. The girls, who were once very close, drifted apart. Now adults, they are forced to close up their mother's beach house before she sells it which makes them both very uncomfortable. They not only have issues with each other but both sisters are dealing with other problems in their lives. The story is told from the viewpoint of both sisters, dealing with their relationship now as well as their past. There are two sides to every story and that is very clear in this book. I look forward to reading more from Kristy.

I received this book from a friend.

Mailbox Monday December 6

Mailbox Monday is meme created by Marcia from The Printed Page. Marcia says,"Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists." Mailbox Monday is on tour and this month's hostess is Lady Q from Let Them Read Books. Be sure to hop on over to Lady Q's blog and check things out! Thank you lady Q for being this month's hostess!

We now have snow and it is very cold. How fast the weather can change. It is great weather for reading though!

I had an awesome mailbox week full of great books. Most of these book come out next year and they all look very good!I'm looking forward to reading them all. I've linked them all to Amazon so you can read a bit about them.




13, rue Thérèse: A Novel by Elena Mauli Shapiro (received from Reagan Arthur Books/Little, Brown and Company)

Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum (received from Inkwell Management)

The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean (received from Five Spot/Hachette Books)

His Other Wife by Deborah Bedford (received from Faithwords/Hachette Books)

The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship by Lisa Verge Higgins (received from 5 spot/Hachette Books)


Georgia Bottoms by Mark Childress (received from Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Books)

Rescue by Anita Shreve (received from Little, Brown and Company/Hachette Books) This book is available now.

I think all these books should keep me pretty busy this upcoming year! What wonderful books made their way into your home?

Between Friends by Kristy Kiernan

Between Friends by Kristy Kiernan

Ali and Cora are the best of friends. The type that will do anything for the other. When Ali and her husband, Benny find out they can not conceive a child, Cora comes to the rescue and helps then have the baby they so desperately want. Now that the child is a teenager, Ali is feeling the yearning of wanting another child and there are frozen embryos that could be used to have another child. However, Cora has a secret that could change all of their lives forever.

I am a pansy when it comes to books about friendships. This one I loved! The story is told from three different viewpoints, Cora's, Ali's, and Letty's, Ali and Ben's teenage daughter. It was very interesting to read the story through three very different set of eyes. This story took turns that I did not see coming. This is a book about friendship, mother/daughter relationships and marriage. If you like a good girlfriend story, give this a try. I think you might just like it. It's a very quick read and I had a hard time putting it down.

This book came from my own personal library.