Book Club – July book
Dear Readers,
We spent the month of June wrestling with family secrets. I think it is time to take a fun vacation. How about to Mount Rainier National Park? A Road to Paradise by Karen Barnett is a delightful fun little vacation.
We will explore the park in its infancy. We will also get to meet one of the earliest female rangers. Even though she is fictional, it is fun to learn about women who are blazing new trails.
So pack your bags and we are off on a fun new trip.
Happy Reading.
P.S. Comment on this post and you will be entered to win a free copy of The Road to Paradise. Contest ends June 26, 2017. Limited to USA residence only.
Lisa Wingate
Dear Readers,
A couple weeks ago I started following some of the buzz that had begun to swirl around Lisa Wingate’s new release, Before We were Yours. I don’t always pay attention to the buzz around books as some of it is generated by the publishing house to get attention to a new release. This buzz was a bit different and rightly so.
Before We were Yours has a storyline based on actual happens at the Tennessee Children’s Society Home. It looks into how the home was able to get some of the children and what happened to these children that were taken from their families. Because of these activities of those working with the TCSH and a few other local authorities, families were torn apart and unable to find each other back.
This book has put itself in serious contention for my book of the year. It has been one of the hardest books to read in a long time. It makes you uncomfortable and yet so angry at these adults who made themselves god in deciding which families deserved children and which ones didn’t. It forced me to wonder if I would have been able to do something to help them. It was a book that I never wanted to keep reading because of the heart break in it. But at the same time I never wanted to lay it down either.
Well-written with characters you fall in love with. I dare you not to have your heart broken by young Rill and her siblings she tried so hard to keep together. Characters that you shake your head at because really there just could not be someone so evil and awful in the world. And Avery, from the contemporary storyline, is trying to deal with several issues in her and her family’s life while trying to remain perfect in the public’s eye.
A rich fictional tale that you know is based on fact, but you will struggle to believe it happened. I can only thank Lisa for such a good read and one that makes me anxious for her next book.
Happy Reading,
Summer Reading list IV
Dear Readers,
Halfway through June. I have found that I really am enjoying the later evenings outside. It is quieter and restful at the end of a busy day. Add a great book and sometimes I forget to go back inside.
Happy Reading,
Firstborn – Tosca Lee – Face-to-face with her past, Audra Ellison now knows the secret she gave up everything—including her memory—to protect. A secret made vulnerable by her rediscovery, and so powerful neither the Historian nor the traitor Prince Nikola will ever let her live to keep it. Fantasy/Contemporary
O’Malley Series – Dee Henderson – Still after many years a very popular series. Prequel – Danger in the Shadows, #1 The Negotiator, #2 The Guardian, #3 The Truth Seeker, #4 The Protector, #5 the Healer and #6 the Rescuer. Contemporary
High as the Heavens – Kate Breslin – Evelyn Marche is a British nurse serving in a hospital in Brussels by day, but at night she carries out missions for the Belgian resistance group. A downed British pilot suddenly puts her and the whole resistance movement in danger. Historical – WWI
The Captain’s Daughter – Jennifer Delamere – Rosalyn is left alone and penniless in London. She finds a job at a theater backstage. She finds she loves what she does and thinks she may pursue a career in theater. Historical
Life After – Katie Ganshert – One year after surviving an attack on the transit system, Autumn is still trying to put her life back together. Suffering from survivor’s guilt, she can’t figure out why she was spared. Others see her as a picture of hope, especially the other victim’s families. But Autumn knows she didn’t deserve to survive… Contemporary
New Releases – June 12 – 17
Dear Readers,
The good titles continue to roll out. Not sure which ones to read first.
Happy Reading,
The Captivating Lady Charlotte – Carolyn Miller – #2 Legacy of Grace – Lady Charlotte Featherington is destined for great things on the marriage market. After all, as the beautiful daughter of a marquess, she should have her pick of the eligible nobility when she debuts. She, however, has love at the top of her list of marriageable attributes. And her romantic heart falls hard for one particularly dashing, attentive suitor. Sadly for Charlotte, her noble father intends her betrothed to be someone far more dull.
Alabaster – Chris Alsan – Maryam is stuck in an abusive marriage, living with her in-laws in a conservative, toxically religious village. A few years back, her father was given a jar of priceless perfume by a dying leper and it seemed as if their fortunes would improve, but then Maryam’s father contracted leprosy and was exiled from the village. Maryam and her siblings, Eleazar and Marta, experience the shame and ostracism this brings. The precious jar that was meant to bring them freedom has only brought destruction. But rumors abound concerning a new doctor; perhaps hope is on the horizon.
To Deep for Words – Andrea Boeshaar – #2 Shenandoah Valley Saga – Carrie Ann Collier has been a newlywed for nineteen blissful days–as blissful as life can be in the midst of war, that is. Soon that war will take a toll she never expected. When her new husband, Peyton, goes missing during battle, she refuses to believe he is dead, and must find a way to move forward with everyday life in the face of fear.
The Run Away – Claire Wong – Shortly before her eighteenth birthday, Rhiannon Morgan runs away from the remote Welsh village of Llandymna. Camping out in Dyrys Woods, she starts to make a new life for herself. In the woods she finds space for her active imagination–weaving together the stories she loves and memories of her past, including the mother she lost thirteen years ago.
Love Story – Karen Kingsbury – Baxter Series prequel – Decades ago, John and Elizabeth Baxter lived a love story that is still playing out in the lives of their adult children and grandchildren. But few of them know the exact details of that love story or the heartbreak that brought the two together.
Now in high school, Ashley Baxter Blake s oldest son, Cole, must write a family history paper for a freshman English class. He decides to interview his grandfather about that long ago distant love story.
My Summer Reads
Dear Readers,
Since publishing my summer reading suggestion list I have been ask several times for my own summer list. The first time I was asked this question I was stumped because that person asked me for just 5 books I wanted to read this summer. Only 5!?! Who only reads 5 books in 3 months.
After much thought I did come up with 5 different books. This might even give you a good idea of what my reading patterns are like. This list is in no particular order. I am not picking any book over another as better, I usually pick which one I read next by what I feel like reading. So I could read one of these this week or in August, but here you go.
- Before We Were Yours – Lisa Wingate – Since reading The Story Keeper Lisa has become one of those authors I am always on the lookout for. It is 1939 and something dark is happening at the Tennessee Children’s Home. Based on real life happenings.
- Beren and Luthien – J.R.R. Tolkien/Christopher Tolkien – The first book Tolkien wrote after arriving back home after WWI. It is a love story that started Middle Earth. Based on he and his wife’s story.
- The Writing Desk – Rachel Hauck – Rachel’s books are rich in characters that are easy to fall in love with. Her stories are ones that make me late for work if I start reading them in the morning.
- Every Deadly Kiss – Steven James – I have absolutely loved the Patrick Bowers series right from page one. Patrick (Steven) has kept me awake at night more times than I care to count. I can hardly wait for the next one to release.
- Jane of Austin – Hillary Manton Lodge – Hillary writes book that are a wonderful blend of issues and humor. One minute you are laughing and then crying. Her books are a great way to spend a day.
I know none were on the list I gave out, but these are just releasing or releasing later this Summer. Feel free to add them to your list. Of course they will make a different list sometime soon.
Happy Reading,
Book Club
Dear Readers,
It was pointed out to me on Saturday that last week there were no questions for the book club. My oops. What was scheduled to go out did not release, because of internet problems here at work I didn’t check it Friday. Sorry.
So we will have the last of the questions this week and do a new book next week.
So what did you think?
Do you understand their family better now? Have you ever had a situation like this in real life? A family that tries so hard to keep a secret that keeps bubbling up. I have and yet I can’t seem to make them see that if they would just get it out in the light and let it heal things are better and easier.
My mother worked with women who were abused as children. I use to talk about it to different people just because they asked what she did. One time a woman asked my why anyone would want to remember and then work through the situation. Why not let the past be the past. At the time it didn’t strike me as a big deal, in fact my answer was kind of the standard “That way they can get rid of its power of them and their families.” A few years later I found out she joined one of the groups and is now healed and living a very normal and wonderful life.
Interesting how fiction can teach us so much.
Happy Reading,
