Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I hope this holidays finds you all well! We are having a quiet holiday this year. However you celebrate, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Mailbox Monday March 18

Just a quick Mailbox Monday post. I received some great reads in the mail and I also pre-ordered a book I am so excited about so of course, I had to share it with you! This month's host for MM is Caitlin from Chaotic Compendiums. Thank you Caitlin!



Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (courtesy of Macmillan Audio)

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler (courtesy of Macmillan Audio)

The Lost Husband by Katherine Center(courtesy of Amazon Vine)

Out of the Easy by Ruth Sepetys (purchased)

I usually do not pre-order books but this book is one I didn't want to miss! I loved Beth Hoffman's first book, Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and have been anxiously awaiting her new book!




Looking For Me by Beth Hoffman

I did a happy dance when I saw this book was available for pre-order!

So that is what came to my mailbox(and what will be coming in the future). What wonderful reads made their way into your home?

Thank you all!

I just wanted to pop in and thank you all for your kind words, thoughts and prayers! You can't imagine how much it means! Book bloggers are the best!

Mom had her second round of chemo yesterday. So far, so good. Her hair has begun to fall out this week which was hard for her. She is trying to decide what she wants to wear, a wig or a hat.

I have been slowly reading The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. It is my first read from this author but will not be my last. Not sure what took me so long to get to her books.

I have peeked at everyone's blogs and as a result have pre-ordered some really good books for the spring. Now if spring would just hurry and get here! Old Man Winter just does not want to leave here!

Thank you again for your kind words!

A Life Update

I was trying to get the blog up and running again but sometimes life takes a turn and things don't go as planned. My mom, who is 88, was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma. She had a biopsy on February 14, which did not go as planned. She ended up having to have a tracheotomy. She is responding well to treatment and we are hopeful. I will try to pop in now and then but with work and taking care of mom, there isn't much spare time these days. My mom is my best friend in the world so I try to spend as much time with her as I can. Thank you for bearing with me!

Mailbox Monday February 4

Hi! Remember me? I cannot believe that I haven't posted since October! Life has been busy with work and juggling responsibilities. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and is doing well. I have peeked in on a few blogs now and then when I get home from work. I am still working nights and it looks like it will be that way for quite some time. It's okay but it sure makes it hard to keep up with everything.

I recently received some books in my mailbox. I thought this was a perfect post to dive back into the blogging waters.

Mailbox Monday is being hosted this month by Audra at Unabridged Chick.

A Thousand Pardons by Jonathan Dee

Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Random House (March 12, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0812993217
ISBN-13: 978-0812993219

Summary
Once a privileged and loving couple, the Armsteads have now reached a breaking point. Ben, a partner in a prestigious law firm, has become unpredictable at work and withdrawn at home—a change that weighs heavily on his wife, Helen, and their preteen daughter, Sara. Then, in one afternoon, Ben’s recklessness takes an alarming turn, and everything the Armsteads have built together unravels, swiftly and spectacularly.

Thrust back into the working world, Helen finds a job in public relations and relocates with Sara from their home in upstate New York to an apartment in Manhattan. There, Helen discovers she has a rare gift, indispensable in the world of image control: She can convince arrogant men to admit their mistakes, spinning crises into second chances. Yet redemption is more easily granted in her professional life than in her personal one.

As she is confronted with the biggest case of her career, the fallout from her marriage, and Sara’s increasingly distant behavior, Helen must face the limits of accountability and her own capacity for forgiveness.

See Now Then by Jamaica Kincaid

Audio CD
Publisher: Macmillan Audio; Unabridged edition (February 5, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1427226490
ISBN-13: 978-1427226495

In See Now Then, the brilliant and evocative new novel from Jamaica Kincaid—her first in ten years—a marriage is revealed in all it’s joys and agonies. This piercing examination of the manifold ways in which the passing of time operates on the human consciousness unfolds gracefully and Kincaid inhabits each of her characters, a Mother and Father, their two children living in a small village in New England, as they move, in their own minds, between the present, the past, and the future—for, as she writes, “the present will be a now then and the past is now then and the future will be a now then.” Her characters, constrained by the world, despair in their domestic situations. But their minds wander, trying to make linear sense of what is, in fact, nonlinear. See Now Then is Kincaid’s attempt to make clear what is unclear, and to make unclear what we assumed was clear: that is, the beginning, the middle, and the end.

Starting Now: A Blossom Street Novel by Debbie Macomber

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Ballantine Books (April 2, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0345528816
ISBN-13: 978-0345528810

#1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber returns to Seattle’s beloved Blossom Street in this heartfelt tale of friendship, renewal, and discovering what’s truly important in life.

For years Libby Morgan dreamed only of making partner in her competitive, high-pressure law firm. She sacrificed everything for her career—her friends, her marriage, her chance at creating a family. When her boss calls Libby into his office, she assumes it will finally be good news, but nothing can prepare her for the shocking reality: She’s been let go and must rebuild her entire life . . . starting now.

With no job prospects in sight, Libby reaches out to old friends and spends her afternoons at A Good Yarn, the local knitting store. There she forms a close bond with Lydia, the sweet-natured shop owner; Lydia’s spirited teenage daughter, Casey; and Casey’s best friend, Ava, a shy yet troubled girl who will shape Libby’s future in surprising and profound ways.

As A Good Yarn becomes a second home—and the women a new kind of family—Libby relishes the different person she’s become. She even finds time for romance with a charming and handsome doctor who seems to be her perfect match. But just as everything is coming together, Libby must make a choice that could forever change the life she holds so dear.

Seduction: A Novel of Suspense by M.J. Rose

Hardcover: 384 pages
Publisher: Atria Books (May 7, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1451621507
ISBN-13: 978-1451621501


From the author of The Book of Lost Fragrances comes a haunting novel about a grieving woman who discovers the lost journal of novelist Victor Hugo, awakening a mystery that spans centuries.

In 1843, novelist Victor Hugo’s beloved nineteen-year-old daughter drowned. Ten years later, Hugo began participating in hundreds of séances to reestablish contact with her. In the process, he claimed to have communed with the likes of Plato, Galileo, Shakespeare, Dante, Jesus—and even the Devil himself. Hugo’s transcriptions of these conversations have all been published. Or so it was believed.

Recovering from her own losses, mythologist Jac L’Etoile arrives on the Isle of Jersey—where Hugo conducted the séances—hoping to uncover a secret about the island’s Celtic roots. But the man who’s invited her there, a troubled soul named Theo Gaspard, has hopes she’ll help him discover something quite different—Hugo’s lost conversations with someone called the Shadow of the Sepulcher.

What follows is an intricately plotted and atmospheric tale of suspense with a spellbinding ghost story at its heart, by one of America’s most gifted and imaginative novelists.

Things Remembered by Georgia Bockoven

Things Remembered by Georgia Bockoven

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Reissue edition (October 16, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062195166
• ISBN-13: 978-0062195166

To face the future, a woman must let go of the past. . . .
Returning to her childhood home in the golden hills of Northern California means regret and pain for Karla Esterbrook. Yet she can’t refuse when her ailing grandmother, Anna, asks her to help settle her affairs. After all, Anna raised Karla and her younger sisters after their parents’ death twenty years before. But from the beginning a powerful clash of wills separated Karla and her grandmother, leaving them both bitter and angry.
Little does Karla know that a very determined Anna will do everything in her power to bridge the chasm between them. But can the wounds of the past truly be healed? For Karla, opening her heart could lead to more hurt—or perhaps to reconciliation . . . and a love the likes of which she has never known.

My Thoughts

I enjoy a good story about families especially ones involving sisters. When I read about the reissue of Things Remembered, I knew I would love to read this book.

Anna has raised her three granddaughters after they lost their parents at a young age. Karla, the oldest is the only one who really remembers her parents. She owns a coffee shop and is recovering from a failed marriage. Heather is the mother of two young boys and is expecting a new daughter. Grace, the youngest is a struggling actress.

Anna has been diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure and wants to tie up some loose ends while she can. Karla puts her life on hold to go to Anna to help settle her affairs. While spending time together, the two women face the past. Karla hopes to reconnect with the memories she has of her mother but has no intention of being warm and fuzzy with Anna. Karla is cold and all business. Anna is hoping to make amends.

While Karla is helping settle Anna's affairs, she meets Mark Taylor, a veterinarian and single father. Karla is not ready to give her heart to Anna nor Mark. She has walls up and she is not going to let anyone in! You could say she has a bit of a hip on her shoulder. Will Mark and Anna be able to break through the wall Karla has built?

I enjoyed this story. It was a nice read for a rainy day. It is a nice family story that has a bit of romance involved. The women are strong willed which kept me on my toes while reading the book. The ending left me satisfied and content.

The back of the book includes some recipes from the story and from the authors friends and family. That was a nice touch especially since I found myself very hungry every time there was a scene in which food was mentioned. There is also discussion questions in the back which makes it a nice read for your book group.

About Georgia Bockoven

Georgia Bockoven is an award-winning author who began writing fiction after a successful career as a freelance journalist and photographer. Her books have sold more than four million copies worldwide. The mother of two, she resides in Northern California with her husband, John.

I read this book for TLC Book Tours for my honest review.

Gone Girl

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Hardcover: 432 pages
Publisher: Crown; First Edition edition (June 5, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 030758836X
ISBN-13: 978-0307588364

Summary from Amazon

Marriage can be a real killer.

One of the most critically acclaimed suspense writers of our time, New York Times bestseller Gillian Flynn takes that statement to its darkest place in this unputdownable masterpiece about a marriage gone terribly, terribly wrong. The Chicago Tribune proclaimed that her work “draws you in and keeps you reading with the force of a pure but nasty addiction.” Gone Girl’s toxic mix of sharp-edged wit and deliciously chilling prose creates a nerve-fraying thriller that confounds you at every turn.

On a warm summer morning in North Carthage, Missouri, it is Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and reservations are being made when Nick’s clever and beautiful wife disappears from their rented McMansion on the Mississippi River. Husband-of-the-Year Nick isn’t doing himself any favors with cringe-worthy daydreams about the slope and shape of his wife’s head, but passages from Amy's diary reveal the alpha-girl perfectionist could have put anyone dangerously on edge. Under mounting pressure from the police and the media—as well as Amy’s fiercely doting parents—the town golden boy parades an endless series of lies, deceits, and inappropriate behavior. Nick is oddly evasive, and he’s definitely bitter—but is he really a killer?

As the cops close in, every couple in town is soon wondering how well they know the one that they love. With his twin sister, Margo, at his side, Nick stands by his innocence. Trouble is, if Nick didn’t do it, where is that beautiful wife? And what was in that silvery gift box hidden in the back of her bedroom closet?

With her razor-sharp writing and trademark psychological insight, Gillian Flynn delivers a fast-paced, devilishly dark, and ingeniously plotted thriller that confirms her status as one of the hottest writers around.

My Thoughts

I have mixed feelings about this book. I found myself hating the main characters. They were horrible and self centered. I thought they deserved each other. It was hard for me to decide who was the victim. The main characters are as twisted as they come. Still, I found myself riveted to the dark storyline.

Then came the ending. Oh boy! I was so disappointed! I kept reading the last page over and over hoping I had misread it. Nope. The ending was abrupt and I hated the way it ended. I despised the characters even more, after I read the ending.

To sum it up, I hated the characters, hated the ending but still found myself reading the book. It was like watching a train wreck. I found myself covering my eyes, so to speak, to keep from seeing the wreck but kept peeking through my fingers to watch the wreck happen. I think it takes talent to write about despicable characters and keep the reader immersed in the story, which Gillian Flynn definitely does!

If you like dark, twisted thrillers, this might be a book you will enjoy. I just wish it had ended differently.

I bought this book and read it for the Just For Fun Reading Challenge