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Three Amazing Things About You by Jill Mansell
There’s something about curling up with a Jill Mansell novel that makes me feel I’m back in the UK. If I can find a quiet chair, a cozy blanket and a hot cup of tea, I’m sorted for the afternoon (and evening, I confess.) And with Three Amazing Things About You in hand (along with a few chocolate biscuits to dip in said tea), I was not disappointed. Genre: Fiction Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark Release Date: October 1, 2016 Pages: 448 Rating: 4/5 The Blurb International bestseller Jill Mansell breaks hearts and puts them back together in this sweet and poignant story about life’s choices. Three Amazing Things About You features a young woman with a secret.…
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Tuesday’s Read: Seashell Season
What do you do when your one long-held hope is finally realized – and it’s nothing like you expected? What happens when you find out that most of your life has been a lie? Intrigued? Holly Chamberlain’s newest novel, Seashell Season, tackles this and more in a book that will tug on your heartstrings. When Verity Peterson’s baby was two months old, her estranged husband runs off with baby Gemma. For sixteen years, Verity has waited, and hoped, patiently, that she would be found and returned to her. And sixteen years after being abducted, she is. While Verity is overjoyed, Marni Armstrong – the name her father gave her –…
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Two Middle Grade Books for Summer Reading
My 10-year old is an avid reader, and her reading pile is ALMOST as tall as mine. We both have a problem walking away from a tempting book (and what a good problem to have), particularly as we are both making sure we are set for summer reading. Of all the books we’ve both read lately, two stand out as superb choices for your kids: The Real Boy by Anna Ursu, and The Girl Who Could Not Dream by Sarah Beth Durst. Both are excellent options for your kiddo to pick up over the summer because they are fun and engaging. I picked up The Real Boy at the encouragement of our…
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What I’m Reading Wednesday: Relativity
Generally, I judge the strength of a book by a combination of how difficult it is to put down and how much effort it takes to slow down and let myself sink into the story and the language. It’s a difficult balance, after all, setting a reading pace when you can’t wait to see what happens next but you don’t want the story to end. Antonia Hayes debut novel “Relativity” scores a ten on both specs. Beautiful language, a few twists and turns, it is an emotional, compassionate and carefully crafted look at familial relationships, the lengths we go to protect someone from hurt and disappointment, and forgiveness (the seeking and the…
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Weekend Read: Girls’ Weekend
/ I picked up the e-galley of Cara Sue Achterberg’s “Girls’ Weekend” because the blurb intrigued me. Had I known I’d still be sitting in my favorite chair at 2am, racing to the finish, I probably would have put on my pajamas before I started. (Sometime before lunch…) Yeppers, it was that good. It was compelling, touching, and a bit soul-searching. Oh, and it was fun, too. Have you ever been on holiday and thought “what if I just don’t go home? I wish I could stay here and hide from the rest of the world…”? Well, Girls’ Weekend is the story of friends Charlotte, Dani and Meg. Frustrated and in need of a…
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The Feathered Bone – What I’m Reading Wednesday
It’s Wednesday, and it’s BAAAAACCCKKK! Yes – it’s What I’m Reading Wednesday, and BOY do I have a doozy for you to kick off the year. (Never mind that January is almost over. There’s been too much reading and not enough writing, y’all). This week I want to tell you about Julie Cantrell’s latest book (just released yesterday), titled The Feathered Bone. This one had me glued to my comfy chair until the wee hours of the morning, and she done near ripped my heart out with this tale. Read in one marathon sitting, my first response was: damn, y’all. This was hard. HARD. And beautiful. Cantrell manages to wind the themes…
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What I’m Reading Wednesday: House Trained
If you are looking for a sweet tale about love, acceptance and forgiveness, look no further than Jackie Bouchard’s novel House Trained. Alex Halstad is an interior designer who is struggling to keep her business afloat. Her husband, Barry has no idea of the dire straits they are in financially. They live in a beautiful home, impeccably decorated by Alex. Childless by choice, their sweet labradoodle Marie is the object of their love and affection, much to the dismay and thinly veiled criticism of Alex’s mother and sister. So when Barry comes home from the university library where he works with the startling news that he has a teenage daughter he didn’t know…
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Three Christmas Reads for Wednesday
It was 95º here in the Dallas area today, a continuation of the warm weather we’ve been experiencing….so of course, I’m reading Christmas fiction! This week, I have three Christmas stories for you – perfect for getting into the holiday spirit. (Especially when it’s warm outside.) Christmas is quite possibly my favorite holiday season, and these books are just the thing to get me ready and help me through the crazy that the season can be. This is the late-night “it’s still Wednesday somewhere” Christmas story edition of What I’m Reading Wednesday!!! First on my list is actually a novella. Merry Mary, by Ashley Farley, is a story about a…
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WIRW: Books to Get Lost In
Before you say anything…I know…never end a sentence with a preposition. That’s why I’m reviewing the books and not writing them – I get so excited when it’s time to review books sometimes that I just can’t come up with a title suitable to reflect how I feel. In this case, I have the added problem writing a title for two entirely different stories in two different genres. So why review them together? They both sucked me in so quickly, they BOTH proved to be a great escape. Ok, so I basically sat and did nothing until I finished these books. You caught me. I don’t care. Let’s start already,…
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What I’m Reading Wednesday: The House We Grew Up In
This week’s pick is a family drama by British author Lisa Jewell, titled The House We Grew Up In. A compelling, complex family drama that was so very different from the book description (you might wonder if I’m just rubbish at reading the description, but no), I was quickly drawn into both the story and the family members. The happy scene depicted in the opening pages proved to be a stark contrast to the later lives of the inhabitants of the Bird House. When tragedy strikes on an Easter Sunday, the family falls apart, but while the blame for this is put on the tragedy, it turns out to…
