Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Release Day: A Paris All Your Own: Bestselling Women Writers on the City of Light ~ My Thoughts

Happy Release Day!!

32887869

A Paris All Your Own

A Paris All Your Own: Bestselling Women Writers on the City of Light
Paperback and e-book, 304 pages
Published July 4th 2017 by G.P. Putnam's Sons

A collection of all-new Paris-themed essays written by some of the biggest names in women's fiction, including Paula McLain, Therese Anne Fowler, Maggie Shipstead, and Lauren Willig, edited by Eleanor Brown, the New York Times bestselling author of The Weird Sisters and The Light of Paris.

"My time in Paris," says New York Times-bestselling author Paula McLain (The Paris Wife), "was like no one else's ever." For each of the eighteen bestselling authors in this warm, inspiring, and charming collection of personal essays on the City of Light, nothing could be more true.

While all of the women writers featured here have written books connected to Paris, their personal stories of the city are wildly different. Meg Waite Clayton (The Race for Paris) and M. J. Rose (The Book of Lost Fragrances) share the romantic secrets that have made Paris the destination for lovers for hundreds of years. Susan Vreeland (The Girl in Hyacinth Blue) and J. Courtney Sullivan (The Engagements) peek behind the stereotype of snobbish Parisians to show us the genuine kindness of real people.

From book club favorites Paula McLain, Therese Anne Fowler (Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald), and anthology editor Eleanor Brown (The Light of Paris) to mystery writer Cara Black (Murder in the Marais), historical author Lauren Willig (The Secret History of the Pink Carnation), and memoirist Julie Powell (Julie and Julia), these Parisian memoirs range from laugh-out-loud funny to wistfully romantic to thoughtfully somber and reflective.

Perfect for armchair travelers and veterans of Parisian pilgrimages alike, readers will delight in these brand-new tales from their most beloved authors.

Content:

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a French Woman
Too Much Paris
Paris is Your Mistress
A Myth, a Museum, and a Man
French for "Intrepid"
Paris, Lost and Found
Failing At Paris
The Passion of Routine
Investigating Paris
My Paris Dreams
We'll Never Have Paris
Reading Paris
Finding Paris's Hidden Past
Secret Eatings
Until We Meet Again
A Good Idea?
Paris Alone
Thirty-Four Things You Should Know About Paris
What is it about Paris? 


My thoughts about A Paris All Your Own ~~

A trip to Paris is on my bucket list of places to visit someday. I have always wanted to go there. It just seems like such a beautiful, romantic place to be so how could I not love a whole book about Paris? People have a passion for Paris, whether it's real or their fantasy.

A Paris All Your Own is a wonderful anthology of Paris stories written by eighteen fabulous authors. The book is full of personal stories about the Paris that each of these women experienced. Some of the experiences were wonderful, like you would expect, and then some of them were not. It just goes to show that everyone's expectations and experiences are different.

Some of the women are authors that I have read before and I loved reading their stories. Others were new-to-me authors and I enjoyed the little taste that I got of their writing style. Each chapter was a little autobiographical glimpse into the author's life. I learned about their personalities which is something that you typically don't get in their normal work.

And at the end of the chapters, each author lists some interesting facts for the reader, such as what a person must do when visiting Paris and a list of things to skip. It's sort of like a little travel guide for Paris. Bonus!

I received an copy of A Paris All Your Own in exchange for my honest opinion. 

*********************

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Monday, July 3, 2017

Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale ~ My Thoughts

29639736

Everything We Keep

Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale
Series: Everything We Keep #1
Print and ebook, 306 pages
Published August 1st 2016 by Lake Union Publishing

A luminous debut with unexpected twists, Everything We Keep explores the devastation of loss, the euphoria of finding love again, and the pulse-racing repercussions of discovering the truth about the ones we hold dear and the lengths they will go to protect us.

Sous chef Aimee Tierney has the perfect recipe for the perfect life: marry her childhood sweetheart, raise a family, and buy out her parents’ restaurant. But when her fiancé, James Donato, vanishes in a boating accident, her well-baked future is swept out to sea. Instead of walking down the aisle on their wedding day, Aimee is at James’s funeral—a funeral that leaves her more unsettled than at peace.

As Aimee struggles to reconstruct her life, she delves deeper into James’s disappearance. What she uncovers is an ocean of secrets that make her question everything about the life they built together. And just below the surface is a truth that may set Aimee free…or shatter her forever.


My thoughts about Everything We Keep ~~

(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first line.)

First line—"On our wedding day, my fiancé, James arrived at the church in a casket."

This book had me hooked from that very first line. What? The guys comes to his wedding in a casket? I just had to keep reading to find out more. And then, as I kept reading, I became emotionally involved in these character's lives. This was the perfect book to binge read over the weekend.

Aimee tries to get on with her life, tries to carry on after the devastating news of her fiancé's death. Somethings just don't feel right to her and she has a hard time letting go and moving on. And then the secrets start surfacing, lots of secrets.

I loved Everything We Keep and I'm jumping right into the sequel, Everything We Left Behind. Kerry Lonsdale is going on my list of must-read authors after this series—I love them!

I received a copy of Everything We Keep in exchange for my honest opinion.

About the author

Kerry Lonsdale

Connect with Kerry

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

*********************

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? July 3, 2017


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!

**************************************

What a blissful week! Hubby was out of town for an entire week. I love him and missed him but it's sometimes nice to have the house to myself, know what I mean? I even got in a couple of girls-only evenings. And lots of reading! Now I'm enjoying a 4-day weekend because for the 4th of July holiday. We never do much for this holiday, maybe we'll see some of the kids, maybe we won't, but it's nice to have the time off to just relax.  

If you are celebrating the 4th of July here in the US, have a fun, safe time! 

Image result for 4th of july

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

What I'm currently reading/listening to

31277190
Everything We Left Behind 
(Everything We Keep #2)
by Kerry Lonsdale

33398799
Say Goodbye for Now
by Catherine Ryan Hyde

What I recently finished

32887869
A Paris All Your Own: Bestselling Women Writers on the City of Light
18 authors, edited by Eleanor Brown
My thoughts will be posted later today.

23645121
Under a Blue Sky
by Jason Sandberg
Read my thoughts here.

29639736
Everything We Keep 
(Everything We Keep #1)
by Kerry Lonsdale
My thoughts will be posted later today. And the sequel comes out tomorrow!

29482259
The Eagle Tree
by Ned Hayes
Enter my giveaway for a copy!

What I am going to read next

32600726
The Almost Sisters
by Joshilyn Jackson

I really love my reading life!

What are you reading this week?

*************************

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

Sunday, July 2, 2017

Under a Blue Sky by Jason Sandberg ~ My Thoughts

23645121

Under a Blue Sky

Under a Blue Sky by Jason Sandberg
ebook, 14 pages
Published November 29th 2014 by Jason Sandberg eBooks

"For some time I've been wondering how I could include my paintings in an eBook. I would need an appropriate narrative to tie the various landscapes together. The thought occurred that the 'story' could be a poem about the experience of taking in a landscape painting, the process of slowing down and appreciating the details. I chose my favorite paintings and placed them into a variety of illustrated rooms to create the impression of walking through a museum. Under a Blue Sky is a poem for children that celebrates those first youthful glimpses at the complexity and scale of our world."—Jason Sandberg


My thoughts about Under a Blue Sky ~~

I have maybe read most, if not all, of Jason's books and even though they are short and sweet, I have loved them all. I love savoring the pictures he draws to go along with the beautiful words he writes.

Under a Blue Sky is full of fascinating illustrations of all kinds of skies. So as we are reading about blue skies, grey skies, and orange skies, we get to savor the wonderful pictures depicting the scenes he describes.

Under a Blue Sky and several of Jason's other books 
are only $.99 on Amazon right now. 

About the author


“I’m a Fine Artist who also wants to produce the ‘missing books’ from my childhood, the books I wished I’d had.”

Jason Sandberg, born in Minneapolis in 1971, acquired a love of drawing after discovering the artwork of Jacob Kurtzberg. His paintings have been exhibited in Minneapolis and Manhattan. Art Historian Scott McCloud classified his work as “uncategorizable.”

Connect with Jason

Website | Amazon | Facebook | Twitter

*********************

Be sure to check the sidebar for my current giveaways!

Saturday, July 1, 2017

Book Spotlight Giveaway! The Eagle Tree by Ned Hayes


I have sooooo many books! The Book Spotlight Giveaway feature that I post every Saturday is a way for me to clear my shelves and to share some of the many books I have. This feature is a way for my to cull my collection and to give someone else the opportunity to enjoy these treasures.

****************************

The book I have this week is one that we just read in one of my books clubs. It is about an autistic boy and his fascination with trees—in particular, the eagle tree. We had an interesting discussion since one of our members has an autistic son and we were able to get her perspective on the topic.

Good luck and be sure to stop back next week!

29482259

The Eagle Tree

The Eagle Tree by Ned Hayes
Paperback, 262 pages
Published May 1st 2016 by Little A

Fourteen-year-old March Wong knows everything there is to know about trees. They are his passion and his obsession, even after his recent falls—and despite the state’s threat to take him away from his mother if she can’t keep him from getting hurt. But the young autistic boy cannot resist the captivating pull of the Pacific Northwest’s lush forests just outside his back door.

One day, March is devastated to learn that the Eagle Tree—a monolithic Ponderosa Pine near his home in Olympia—is slated to be cut down by developers. Now, he will do anything in his power to save this beloved tree, including enlisting unlikely support from relatives, classmates, and even his bitter neighbor. In taking a stand, March will come face-to-face with some frightening possibilities: Even if he manages to save the Eagle Tree, is he risking himself and his mother to do it?

Intertwining themes of humanity and ecology, The Eagle Tree eloquently explores what it means to be part of a family, a society, and the natural world that surrounds and connects us.

  

About the author

Ned Hayes

Ned Hayes is a voracious reader (and writer) from Olympia Washington. 

My newest novel is The Eagle Tree ("Little A", 2016). The novel has been nominated for the Washington State Book Award, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award and has been a national bestseller. 

I like to read a lot of different books, and my daily 1 minute podcast reviews have received some notice. I especially enjoy historical fiction like Philippa Gregory, Anita Diamant and Hilary Mantel, as well as supernatural historical fiction from Susanne Clarke and Tim Powers, along with the hilarious (and disturbing) works of Mark Henry. But I've also been known to read -- and teach -- literary fiction such as Annie Dillard, Jorge Borges and Michael Chabon. 

I wrote the well-reviewed historical novel Sinful Folk, a book set in the 14th century. Sinful Folk's cover and a series of lovely internal illustrations were created by the marvelous New York Times bestselling author/illustrator Nikki McClure. Sinful Folk was nominated for the "Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award," was a semi-finalist in the "Amazon Breakthrough Novel" contest, and has received numerous starred reviews from publications, including BookList. 

I've also written other books -- you can find out about them at my bookish writing website -- Ned Note.com .

Connect with Ned




******************************

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

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...