WWW Wednesdays July 11

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? 

What are you currently reading?

Harvesting the Heart by Jodi Picoult

This is an older Picoult book but we are reading it for my book club this month. Actually I am listening to the audiobook, something I should do more of ~ some of the readers are amazing!

What did you recently finish reading?

The Roots of the Olive Tree by Courtney Miller Santos

Loved it!!

The Cell Phone Lot by Stephanie Elliot 
Quick read and my thoughts are here

With My Body by Nikki Gemmell 
My thoughts will be posted July 13th

Paula Takes a Risk by Randi M. Sherman

Short but funny book and my thoughts will be posted July 17

What do you think you will read next?

Kat Fight by Dina Silver 
On tour here on July 21-22

What's on your WWW this week?

Leave me a comment and 
I'll stop by to check out your reads. 

The Little Giant of Aberdeen County by Tiffany Baker

When Truly Plaice's mother was pregnant, the town of Aberdeen joined together in betting how recordbreakingly huge the baby boy would ultimately be. The girl who proved to be Truly paid the price of her enormity; her father blamed her for her mother's death in childbirth, and was totally ill equipped to raise either this giant child or her polar opposite sister Serena Jane, the epitome of femine perfection. When he, too, relinquished his increasingly tenuous grip on life, Truly and Serena Jane are separated--Serena Jane to live a life of privilege as the future May Queen and Truly to live on the outskirts of town on the farm of the town sadsack, the subject of constant abuse and humiliation at the hands of her peers.

Serena Jane's beauty proves to be her greatest blessing and her biggest curse, for it makes her the obsession of classmate Bob Bob Morgan, the youngest in a line of Robert Morgans who have been doctors in Aberdeen for generations. Though they have long been the pillars of the community, the earliest Robert Morgan married the town witch, Tabitha Dyerson, and the location of her fabled shadow book--containing mysterious secrets for healing and darker powers--has been the subject of town gossip ever since. Bob Bob Morgan, one of Truly's biggest tormentors, does the unthinkable to claim the prize of Serena Jane, and changes the destiny of all Aberdeen from there on.

When Serena Jane flees town and a loveless marriage to Bob Bob, it is Truly who must become the woman of a house that she did not choose and mother to her eight-year-old nephew Bobbie. Truly's brother-in-law is relentless and brutal; he criticizes her physique and the limitations of her health as a result, and degrades her more than any one human could bear. It is only when Truly finds her calling--the ability to heal illness with herbs and naturopathic techniques--hidden within the folds of Robert Morgan's family quilt, that she begins to regain control over her life and herself. Unearthed family secrets, however, will lead to the kind of betrayal that eventually break the Morgan family apart forever, but Truly's reckoning with her own demons allows for both an uprooting of Aberdeen County, and the possibility of love in unexpected places. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads 

My thoughts on The Little Giant of Aberdeen County ~~ 

This was another book club selection and I have to admit that I was not looking forward to reading it. As you know, I am a cover lover and this cover did not do anything for me, AT ALL!

I always try to get the book read each month, kind of like getting my homework done in school, so I started in, thinking I would just plug away until our group met. Well, now I have to say that this is probably one of the best books we have read this year and it generated a lot of conversation. We really had a great discussion.

Truly is born with a disorder that makes her keep growing. They never mention what it is, but I am pretty sure that it's something similar to giant-ism. Her older sister is pretty and petite, everything that Truly is not. Serena has an easy life where Truly doesn't at all.

The story follows Truly's hard life and the decisions that are made for her as she is growing up, as well as the decisions that she has to make on her own, as she becomes an adult. We know that Truly is a good person and has some bad people in her life that take advantage of her goodness.

This was an amazing book and once again it proved to me that I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover. Kind of like Truly and her looks ~ she wasn't pretty to look at, like her sister was, but she had a pretty and generous heart.

This is a great book to read but even more, it is an excellent choice for book groups since there are so many interesting characters and events to discuss. 

Author's website  

Discussion questions 

from ReadingGroupGuides.com

Winner @ The Book Bag

I am happy to announce that I've got another winner here @ The Book Bag! 

Rafflecopter made it's decision early this morning 

and selected .........  

#2 Sarah E. ~ Easy Entry

Congratulations Sarah!! 

I will be sending you an email soon.

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty and a Giveaway

Remember the woman you used to be ...

Alice is twenty-nine. She is whimsical, optimistic and adores sleep, chocolate, her ramshackle new house and her wonderful husband Nick. What's more, she's looking forward to the birth of the 'Sultana' - her first baby.

But now Alice has slipped and hit her head in her step-aerobics class and everyone's telling her she's misplaced the last ten years of her life.

In fact, it would seem that Alice is actually thirty-nine and now she loves schedules, expensive lingerie, caffeine and manicures. She has three children and the honeymoon is well and truly over for her and Nick. In fact, he looks at her like she's his worst enemy. What's more, her beloved sister Elisabeth isn't speaking to her either. And who is this 'Gina' everyone is so carefully trying not to mention?

Alice isn't sure that she likes life ten years on. Every photo is another memory she doesn't have and nothing makes sense. Just how much can happen in a decade? Has she really lost her lovely husband for ever? ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

My thoughts on What Alice Forgot ~~  

This book was my selection for my book group in May. I thought the synopsis sounded intriguing ~ 10 years of your life are gone from your memory. What would that be like? How much can your life change in 10 years? And are the changes for the better? Or was your life better 10 years ago?

I am happy to report that everyone in my book group loved this story! That's always a worry of mine ~ will they like the book I pick? And who is say that we always have to like the books everyone picks? That's whats great about a book group ~ exposure to books you otherwise might not read. 

Liane wrote a story that is a pleasure to read, where we get to see Alice struggle with her loss of memory and finding out about the person she has become.

I highly recommend this book as it really makes one stop to think about who we were and who we are now. This makes a great book group read, mainly because of that particular topic but also because there are some great characters and all of their issues. This story is about so much more than a ten year memory loss.

 Author's website

Discussion questions for your book group 

I loved this book and I want to give my copy to one of my US followers. Be forewarned, this is not a new book but it is in great shape!

Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Showcase Sunday #6

Showcase Sunday is a weekly meme hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits & Tea, where we show off the books and eBooks we receive each week. 

Come join the fun!

My mailman has been getting of easy the last few weeks. I have not been receiving very many books in the mail. But, hey, that's okay. I am starting to make a dent in my TBR plie. That's always a good thing, right? 

The Angel Experiment (Maximum Ride #1) 
by James Patterson
from Hippies, Beauty and Books ... OH MY!
I had read this years ago and loved it. I just never finished the whole series. I am going to get them all read now ~ it's a great series! 

What are you showcasing this week? 

Leave me a link so I can stop by and check out your books!