The Book Bag: Before and Again

Showing posts with label Before and Again. Show all posts

Monday, July 9, 2018

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? July 9, 2018

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a place to meet up and share what you have been, are and about to be reading over the week. It's an opportunity to visit other blogs and to comment on their reads. And ... you can add to that ever growing TBR pile! So welcome everyone. This meme started with J Kaye's Blog and then was taken up by Sheila from Book Journey. Sheila then passed it on to Kathryn at the Book Date. And here we are!

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I just have to say that the month of June has been such an off month for me as far as my blog, and my life, goes. First my knee surgery at the beginning of the month and then at the end of June, I ended up back in the hospital with blood clots in both lungs. They were able to resolve the issue fairly quickly but now I have to be on blood thinners for a year. It was very scary and will be for me for the next year. I've been a pretty healthy person so this is so outside my normal.

But then, there is something positive coming up. I'm taking a road trip to Colorado next week! I got the okay from my doctor to take that long of a car drive, as long as I stop frequently to get out and walk. We have family living in Colorado so we'll be able to see some of them while we're there. And then when I get back from that, it's back to work for me. Reality hits!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week. Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading

Girl Gone Ghost
by Dawn Husted
This book publishes today. I'm so excited to be reading it!

Rattling the Heat in Deadwood
(Deadwood #8)
by Ann Charles

(audio-book)

What I recently finished

The Ever After: A Novel

by Sarah Pekkanen

My thoughts will be posted soon.

House of Belonging
(Hesse Creek #3)
by Andrea Thome

My thoughts will be posted soon.

Before and Again
by Barbara Delinsky

My thoughts will be posted soon.

What I am going to read next

She Was the Quiet One

by Michele Campbell

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

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Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Release Day! Before and Again by Barbara Delinsky

Happy Release Day!

Before and Again

Before and Again by Barbara Delinsky
Print and e-book, 416 pages
Published June 26th 2018 by St. Martin's Press

Mackenzie Cooper took her eyes off the road for just a moment but the resulting collision was enough to rob her not only of her beloved daughter but ultimately of her marriage, family, and friends—and thanks to the nonstop media coverage, even her privacy. Now she lives in Vermont under the name Maggie Reid, in a small house with her cats and dog. She’s thankful for the new friends she’s made—though she can’t risk telling them too much. And she takes satisfaction in working as a makeup artist at the luxurious local spa, helping clients hide the visible outward signs of their weariness, illnesses, and injuries. Covering up scars is a skill she has mastered.

Her only goal is to stay under the radar and make it through her remaining probation. But she isn’t the only one in this peaceful town with secrets. When a friend’s teenage son is thrust into the national spotlight, accused of hacking a powerful man’s Twitter account, Maggie is torn between pulling away and protecting herself—or stepping into the glare to be at their side. As the stunning truth behind their case is slowly revealed, Maggie’s own carefully constructed story begins to unravel as well. She knows all too well that what we need from each other in this difficult world is comfort. But to provide it, sometimes we need to travel far outside our comfort zones.

Before and Again is a story of the relationships we find ourselves in—mothers and daughters, spouses and siblings, true companions and fair-weather friends—and what kind of sacrifices we are or aren’t willing to make to sustain them through good times and bad.

Congratulations Barbara

on the release today of

Before and Again!

I am currently reading Before and Again and am loving it, as I have loved all of Barbara's stories. She definitely has another hit on her hands.

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About the author

I was born and raised in suburban Boston. My mother’s death, when I was eight, was the defining event of a childhood that was otherwise ordinary. I took piano lessons and flute lessons. I took ballroom dancing lessons. I went to summer camp through my fifteenth year (in Maine, which explains the setting of so many of my stories), then spent my sixteenth summer learning to type and to drive (two skills that have served me better than all of my other high school courses combined). I earned a B.A. in Psychology at Tufts University and an M.A. in Sociology at Boston College. The motivation behind the M.A. was sheer greed. My husband was just starting law school. We needed the money.

Following graduate school, I worked as a researcher with the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and as a photographer and reporter for the Belmont Herald. I did the newspaper work after my first son was born. Since I was heavily into taking pictures of him, I worked for the paper to support that habit. Initially, I wrote only in a secondary capacity, to provide copy for the pictures I took. In time, I realized that I was better at writing than photography. I used both skills doing volunteer work for hospital groups, and have served on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and on the MGH’s Women’s Cancer Advisory Board.

I became an actual writer by fluke. My twins were four when, by chance, I happened on a newspaper article profiling three female writers. Intrigued, I spent three months researching, plotting, and writing my own book - and it sold.

My niche? I write about the emotional crises that we face in our lives. Readers identify with my characters. They know them. They are them. I'm an everyday woman writing about everyday people facing not-so-everyday challenges.

My novels are character-driven studies of marriage, parenthood, sibling rivalry, and friendship, and I’ve been blessed in having readers who buy them eagerly enough to put them on the major bestseller lists. One of my latest, Sweet Salt Air, came out in 2013. Blueprints, my second novel with St. Martin’s Press, became my 22nd New York Times bestselling novel soon after its release in June 2015. Making Up, my work in progress, will be published in 2018.

2018? Yikes. I didn’t think I’d live that long. I thought I’d die of breast cancer back in the 1900's, like my mom. But I didn’t. I was diagnosed nearly twenty years ago, had surgery and treatment, and here I am, stronger than ever and loving having authored yet another book, this one the non-fiction Uplift: Secrets From the Sisterhood of Breast Cancer Survivors. First published in 2001, Uplift is a handbook of practical tips and upbeat anecdotes that I compiled with the help of 350 breast cancer survivors, their families and friends. These survivors just ... blew me away! They gave me the book that I wish I’d had way back when I was diagnosed. There is no medical information here, nothing frightening, simply practical advice from friends who’ve had breast cancer. The 10th Anniversary Volume of Uplift is now in print. And the money I’ve made on the book? Every cent has gone to my charitable foundation, which funds an ongoing research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital. ~ Goodreads

Connect with Barbara

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads | Twitter

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Be sure to check the sidebar for all of my current giveaways!

Monday, June 25, 2018

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? June 25, 2018

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I'm four weeks out since my knee surgery. I'm kind of amazed at how slow the recovery has been for me. I've never had surgery before and thought I would be back to 'normal' a lot sooner than I have been. I guess the doctor knows what he's talking about when he told me to take 6 weeks off of work. And I guess having to miss 6 weeks of work in the summer time isn't necessarily a bad thing either, right?

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you all have a good week. Happy reading!

What I'm currently reading

Before and Again
by Barbara Delinsky
I love her books and this one releases tomorrow!!

Rattling the Heat in Deadwood
(Deadwood #8)
by Ann Charles

(audio-book)
I love this author and her Deadwood series. I attended a library event last week and got to meet her again.