Read-a-thon: Beginning

Morning all read-a-thoners! I am ready to go ! I am going to start with Sworn To Silence by Linda Castillo. I am still cozy in my jammies and the coffee is made. The house is quiet except for the dog. I'm still learning the ropes to the read-a-thon so I'm playing it by ear today! I'm off to read!

Fall Into Reading Challenge

I am participating in the Fall Into Reading Challenge hosted by Katrina over at Callapidder Days. This is my one month update. I have added 2 library books to my list and have read 4 of the 12 books on my list. I'm hoping to get some reading done tomorrow during the Read-a-thon. I need to get cracking on this.

1. The Calligrapher's Daughter by Eugenia Kim
2. Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner
3. Sworn To Silence by Linda Castillo
4. Sarah's Promise by Leisha Kelly
5. Confections Of A Closet Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado
6. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
7. Beautiful Mess by Diamond Rio
8. Blue Like Playdough by Tricia Goyer
9. The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett
10. The Moon Looked Down by Dorothy Garlock
11. The Day The Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
12. No Time To Wave Goodbye by Jacquelyn Mitchard

Read-a-thon Books

I am participating in Dewey's Read-a-thon tomorrow. It is my first time and I'm excited to be participating. If the weather is anything like it is today it will be a great day to tuck in and read! It's cold, rainy and windy! Perfect reading weather!

Okay my stack is ridiculous! I won't be reading all these books but I wanted a nice assortment so if I need to take a break from a book, I can. I also threw in an audio book I had just in case the eyes need a break. I even got a cute pumpkin bookmark from the library.

1.Welcome To The World Baby Girl! by Fannie Flagg(audiobook read by Fannie Flagg)
2.A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber
3.Real Murders by Charlaine Harris
4.The Secret Garden by Francis Hodgson Burnett
5.Cherries In Winter by Suzan Colon
6.Luv Ya Bunches by Lauren Myracle
7.The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
8.Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
9.Sarah's Promise by Leisha Kelly
10.The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
11.The Gift of an Ordinary Day by Katrina Kenison
12.Beautiful Mess by Diamond Rio
13.Sworn To Silence by Linda Castillo

I have books from a couple favorite authors but many of them are new to me authors that I have read great reviews about on other blogs. Now to get some snacks together.

Are you participating? If so what is on your list?

No Time For Goodbye

From the book jacket;
New York Times bestselling author Jacquelyn Mitchard captured the heart of a nation with The Deep End of the Ocean, her celebrated debut novel about mother Beth Cappadora, a child kidnapped, a family in crisis. Now, in No Time to Wave Goodbye, the unforgettable Cappadoras are in peril once again, forced to confront an unimaginable evil.

It has been twenty-two years since Beth Cappadora’s three-year-old son Ben was abducted. By some miracle, he returned nine years later, and the family began to pick up the pieces of their lives. But their peace has always been fragile: Ben returned from the deep end as another child and has never felt entirely at ease with the family he was born into. Now the Cappadora children are grown: Ben is married with a baby girl, Kerry is studying to be an opera singer, and Vincent has emerged from his troubled adolescence as a fledgling filmmaker.

The subject of Vincent’s new documentary, “No Time to Wave Goodbye,” shakes Vincent’s unsuspecting family to the core; it focuses on five families caught in the tortuous web of never knowing the fate of their abducted children. Though Beth tries to stave off the torrent of buried emotions, she is left wondering if she and her family are fated to relive the past forever.

The film earns tremendous acclaim, but just as the Cappadoras are about to celebrate the culmination of Vincent’s artistic success, what Beth fears the most occurs, and the Cappadoras are cast back into the past, revisiting the worst moment of their lives–with only hours to find the truth that can save a life. High in a rugged California mountain range, their rescue becomes a desperate struggle for survival.

No Time to Wave Goodbye is Jacquelyn Mitchard at her best, a spellbinding novel about family loyalty, and love pushed to the limits of endurance.

My review;

If you read The Deep End Of The Ocean and loved it as much as I did I think you will love this book. Jacquelyn Mitchard does not disappoint. I am sometimes leery of sequels. This one was excellent!

I once again fell in love with the Cappadora family. They have all aged a little but still are pretty much the same people they were in the first novel. I felt like I never lost touch with them. They have all been affected by Ben/Sam's kidnapping and eventual return. It has played a huge role in the people they have become. I think it's interesting that this book addresses not only kidnapping but what happens after. How do families go on living? This book pulls you in right from the get go. It seems the family is adjusting well to life. The kids are grown. Ben/Sam is married and a father, Kerry is on her way to becoming an opera singer, and Vincent has made a documentary which will change all their lives. Unfortunately the Cappadora's have to relive the horrible past with a new kidnapping in the family. It's hard to review it and not give the story away so I won't say too much. I read the bulk of the book in one day. I could not put it down. I just had to know what happened. There are many twists in the novel. Just when I thought I had it figured out, there was another suspect in my mind. I felt Beth's pain as she relived her own nightmare but then has to also watch her son live the same nightmare. I absolutely loved this book! This is one of the best books I have read this year. It is a compelling drama. I would give it 5 out of 5 stars!

I checked out this book from our library.

Mailbox Monday

Thanks to Marcia at The Printed Page for hosting Mailbox Mondays. It's been awhile since I have had a book come to my mailbox. Today I struck gold and had 2! What a nice surprise!




Cherries in Winter:
My Family's Recipe for Hope in Hard Times
by Suzan Colon

From the author's website

What is the secret to finding hope in hard times?

When Suzan Colón was laid off from her dream job at a magazine during the economic downturn of 2008, she needed to cut her budget way, way back, and that meant home cooking. Her mother suggested, “Why don’t you look in Nana’s recipe folder?” In the basement, Suzan found the tattered treasure, full of handwritten and meticulously typed recipes, peppered with her grandmother Matilda’s commentary in the margins. Reading it, Suzan realized she had found something more than a collection of recipes—she had found the key to her family’s survival through hard times.

Suzan began re-creating Matilda’s “sturdy food” recipes for baked pork chops and beef stew, and Aunt Nettie’s clam chowder made with clams dug up by Suzan’s grandfather Charlie in Long Island Sound. And she began uncovering the stories of her resilient family’s past. Taking inspiration from stylish, indomitable Matilda, who was the sole support of her family as a teenager during the Great Depression (and who always answered “How are you?” with “Fabulous, never better!”), and from dashing, twice-widowed Charlie, Suzan starts to approach her own crisis with a sense of wonder and gratitude. It turns out that the gift to survive and thrive through hard times had been bred in her bones all along.

I received this compliments of Doubleday Books.




Fallen
by Lauren Kate

Synopsis courtesy of Random House

There's something achingly familiar about Daniel Grigori.

Mysterious and aloof, he captures Luce Price's attention from the moment she sees him on her first day at the Sword & Cross boarding school in sultry Savannah, Georgia. He's the one bright spot in a place where cell phones are forbidden, the other students are all screw-ups, and security cameras watch every move.

Even though Daniel wants nothing to do with Luce--and goes out of his way to make that very clear--she can't let it go. Drawn to him like a moth to a flame, she has to find out what Daniel is so desperate to keep secret . . . even if it kills her.

Dangerously exciting and darkly romantic, Fallen is a page turning thriller and the ultimate love story.

I received this books compliments of Random House Books

What came to your mailbox?

Dewey's Read-a-thon

I feel like I am so far behind in my reading lately. I always seem to get distracted and have other things to do so I have decided to take 24 hours, participate in Dewey's Read-a-thon and catch up a little. Once I found out that I really don't have to do the full 24 hours, I was sold. I am not a night owl so I know I won't make it all night but I'll give it a fair shot. I have warned the the kids already. I plan on cooking some extra food on Friday so we can just reheat on Saturday. The only bad thing is I will have to miss our library book sale on Saturday. Not like I need any more books or anything! Any tips from seasoned Read-a-thoners are greatly appreciated! Now I need to make a list of possible reads! Head on over and check it out and join in!

My Favorite Reads: Redeeming Love

>

My Favorite Reads is hosted by Alyce at At Home With Books. Each week you share a book that was a favorite read in the past.

One of my all time favorite reads is Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.


For years I had had many people recommend this book to me. For some reason I never got around to reading it. Finally one day I picked it up in the bookstore and bought it. It is one of the best books I have ever read. The setting is California's gold country in 1850. Angel is sold into prostitution at a young age. She eventually meets Michael Hosea. Michael marries Angel as an answer to God's call. The story tells of all the trials and tribulations they face. They are an unlikely couple in every way. I can't describe this book in a way that does it justice. It always comes off sounding like a dime store novel but it is so much more! This book is a retelling of the book of Hosea from the Bible. It is an amazing book and I recommend it every chance I get!