WWW Wednesdays May 25th

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

I am just starting to read Easter's Lilly by Judy Serrano for a blog tour in June. And I am still reading My Superhero Sister by Toni LoTempio (e-book). I am reading this in bed right before I go to sleep and I am finding that I don't get very far each night before nodding off. Maybe I should try reading it during the day. 

 

I recently finished The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards. This is the second time I have read it, this time is for my book group. And again, I am finding that I am getting more out of it this time than the first time I read it. Hmmm, wonder if I should always read books twice? Or maybe because I know I am going to be discussing the book with others, I paid more attention to the book this time? I should read every book like that then, shouldn't I?  

The next book on my TBR list is The Canary List by Sigmund Brouwer, which I received from Blogging for Books for review. 

Happy reading everyone!  

The Year We Let Home by Jean Thompson

'In The Year We Left Home, Thompson brings together all of her talents to deliver the career-defining novel her admirers have been waiting for: a sweeping and emotionally powerful story of a single American family during the tumultuous final decades of the twentieth century. It begins in 1973 when the Erickson family of Grenada, Iowa, gathers for the wedding of their eldest daughter, Anita. Even as they celebrate, the fault lines in the family emerge. The bride wants nothing more than to raise a family in her hometown, while her brother Ryan watches restlessly from the sidelines, planning his escape. He is joined by their cousin Chip, an unpredictable, war-damaged loner who will show Ryan both the appeal and the perils of freedom. Torrie, the Ericksons’ youngest daughter, is another rebel intent on escape, but the choices she makes will bring about a tragedy that leaves the entire family changed forever.

Stretching from the early 1970s in the Iowa farmlands to suburban Chicago to the coast of contemporary Italy—and moving through the Vietnam War’s aftermath, the farm crisis, the numerous economic boomsand busts—The Year We Left Home follows the Erickson siblings as they confront prosperity and heartbreak, setbacks and triumphs, and seek their place in a country whose only constant seems to be breathtaking change. Ambitious, richly told, and fiercely American, this is a vivid and moving meditation on our continual pursuit of happiness and an incisive exploration of the national character. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

I really enjoyed this book. The book starts in the year 1973 and ends in 2003. I liked the author's style of having the chapters jump every 2-4 years and join the character's lives at that point. I could relate to the time frame of the book, since I also lived it and it was interesting how the author incorporated current events of the time into her character's stories. I was sad to see the book end because I became involved in their lives and now that is over. 

The Year We Left Home is a part of life that we all go through but then it all comes around again when we realize what is important to us and we return home. This book is a story about that journey. 

http://www.jeanthompsononline.com/ 

WWW Wednesdays May 18th

 

WWW Wednesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading

To play along, just answer the following three questions…
• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

• I am currently reading The Year We Left Home by Jane Thompson and My Superhero Sister by Toni LoTempio (e-book)
• I recently finished Little Bee by Chris Cleave  for my book group, Women of Words and Lisey's Story (e-book) by Stephen King
• I will next be reading The Memory Keepers Daughter by Kim Edwards for my book group, The Book Bags.

Flowers from my daughters

This post is not about a book. And it will be short & sweet. I just wanted to post pictures of the beautiful flowers I recently got from my 2 fabulous daughters! Thank you and I love you both! 

        ~~ from Christa

 ~~ from Carin               

Quicksilver by Joy Spraycar

"A recurring nightmare holds Serry Miller in its grip and has for most of her life. In spite of her fear of the man who becomes a monster, she's in love with him. Not only does she have nightmares while she sleeps, she's living in one with an abusive, alcoholic husband. When, Serry's drunken husband hit's Quinton Worthington's car, she sees the face of the man from her nightmares on a stretcher entering the hospital. When he looks at her and calls her by her name, she is plummeted into a life that she has only dreamed about. Quinton Worthington has suffered for over a hundred years. That's when his evil father ripped Serenity, the love of Quinton's life, from him. At the same time, he changed Quinton into a monster. When Quinton sees Serry's face in the hospital, he believes that Serenity has come back, and he will do anything to be with her. There's only one thing that stands in their way of having the life they want: Quinton's father." ~~synopsis from Goodreads

I was asked by the author to review her book. I said yes for several reasons; I, once again, was drawn to the cover of a book (a weakness of mine, I know) and I love to try new books and new authors. Little did I know that it was a story about werewolves, a genre I try to avoid. If I had been more familiar with the genre, I probably would have picked up on that from the synopsis. But, nope, didn't happen. I forged ahead anyway. 

I will have to admit that this book did grab me from the start even though it was about werewolves. I felt connected to Serry and Quinton right away and wanted their relationship to work. At some points the interaction between the 2 characters was somewhat unbelievable, is anyone really that sappy in a relationship? But I found myself caring about them. I liked the connection they had with each other, call it reincarnation, soul mates or whatever. I think that would be something special to experience and not a lot of us do. 

On the down side to this great book, the author seems to have a love affair of commas and I found myself trying to edit some of the commas out as I was reading the book. The overuse of commas interrupted the flow of the book in my mind. When I was able to forget about the commas, I did find myself wrapped up in the story. 

I look forward to seeing what Ms. Spraycar publishes in the future. Even though werewolves are not my thing, I will be interested to see what other works this author produces. Who knows, maybe I have just opened up a new genre that I will need to explore.

http://www.joyspraycar.com

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

"It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots.

But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it." ~~ from Goodreads.com 

This is a book that captured my eye because of the cover. Isn't it just beautiful? I think it is! And then I just kept seeing this book everywhere; it was all over blogs that I follow and everyone was buzzing about this author's new book. To be honest, I had never read anything by this author before but I found myself needing to find out what all the buzz what about. Let me tell you, I loved what was inside this book as much as I loved the cover. 

I quickly felt right at home in Walls of Water, North Carolina. The story is so beautifully written that I just wanted to escape to that place and could very well have read the book in one sitting if my life wouldn't have gotten in the way. As it was, the story was over way too quickly. 

But then I immediately picked up The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Allen's previous book and lost myself in that story too. She has 2 other books and I plan to read those as soon as possible and will be anxiously waiting for her to publish her next book. 

Thank you Sarah, for writing such beautiful, magical stories! 

http://www.sarahaddisonallen.com/