Book Group Luncheon July 2015

http://www.theaviaryrestaurant.com/

What a wonderful time we had at the book group luncheon!  Long drive (worth it!) due to Friday holiday travel, but once my husband and I met a part of our book group, it was one of the most magical moments. To share online, a love of books and  friendship, then meet these very people, men and women, it's an experience like nothing else. I have met one dear friend, Robin, from Oklahoma twice, we have been online friends since 1999 and it was the best visit. This time I stayed with another friend, Anne, who has been my online friend since 1999 as well. Seeing both women on Real Time was amazing!

So. Much. Fun. 

We did talk about books at the luncheon, believe it or not. Then some of us, a smaller group, went to a used bookstore after, I was the only one who did not buy a book, I was too excited to concentrate! 

So that was our big hit of this year. I am still job hunting (we won't go there.. it's exhausting) but this tiny trip though big in magic and fun, was what we needed. 

On the trip two friends/members gave me a book each, I will list them below. I also found the book store in Mystic, Connecticut (it's not hard to miss, but I did, three times) and bought a couple of books there. I will post them too.

P.S. We went to The Aviary (link below their website pic) wonderful food and ambiance. They sure can tolerate a bunch of very happy book group members as well. Highly recommended if you are ever in Swansea, Massachusetts. 

A book passed on by my friend, Paula.

A gift from my friend, Anne.

A pass on from Anne. (Reading this now)

Two from the bookstore in Mystic, Connecticut

So my TBR list has grown once again, but from a "literary weekend" for which I am not only excited about as it was my first, but have books to remember with such sweet meaning~


Thank you to my book friends and members, you made a dream come true by participating with exuberance on the book group and in real life, thank you so much! Love to all of you!

My Goings On June 2015

Photo by Cheryl Poole-Musgrove

 It has been a month of celebration with my daughter's graduation from high school. The little one made it. She worked hard, gave it her all even after so many surgeries and therapies. C graduated with the biggest smile I have ever seen. She made it! Against the odds! 

This is why I had to write three blogs, to catch up! 

In between graduation/transitional goings on,  I have found books here and there that I wanted to post. Two came from The Dollar Tree or Store (not sure which at this point) and they were a steal. The others came from our local used book store where I had boxed up some books to get a bit of credit, so they didn't cost an arm and a leg either. Below each book is a link to Amazon's description /page of that particular book. They may stay in my TBR pile for a time but I know I will get to them, enjoy! 

There's nothing like a good bargain/used book!

http://www.amazon.com/Story-Marriage-Andrew-Sean-Greer/dp/0312428286/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435524129&sr=1-4&keywords=%3Bthe+story+of+a+marriage

 http://www.amazon.com/Stay-Awake-Stories-Dan-Chaon/dp/0345530381/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435524249&sr=1-1&keywords=stay+awake+dan+chaon

http://www.amazon.com/Within-These-Walls-Ania-Ahlborn/dp/1476783748/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435524339&sr=1-1&keywords=within+these+walls

 http://www.amazon.com/Book-Lover-Maryann-McFadden/dp/0984867104/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435524467&sr=1-1&keywords=the+book+lover+maryann+mcfadden

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Ruby-Heart-Cold-Blue/dp/B00B9ZHDTG/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435524580&sr=1-1&keywords=the+ruby+red+heart

http://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Wandering-Redemption-Attention-Hardcover/dp/B00RKQ87RU/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1435524713&sr=1-2&keywords=a+deadly+wandering

Summer Reads 2015

Everywhere you look magazines and online book blogs/news sites are screaming "FABULOUS BEACH READS THAT YOU NEED TO READ NOW!" Okay okay it's summer, lets get the party started but lets also make one thing clear. You do not have to classify a book with a lone woman standing in front of the shoreline looking forlorn or wrapped in a blanket as a beach read.

I promise. 

In gathering up beach/summer reads for my book group, I included all genres. I mean, I can't see my one friend who reads Fantasy basking in the Belmar sun while reading Castaway by Elin Helderbrand. No. So, that is the law here, every book has a spot on the beach this summer. Even that cold. damp, chilly Dickens has a place on a towel next to a bottle of sunscreen. 

Many of you are not near a beach. And I will tell you that living on the West side of Jersey forty-five mintues from the closest beach isn't what I do every day. I can be just as content reading on my deck in my favorite chair. Close to a bathroom and the fridge, it's all good.

You do not need a beach to read beach/summer reads to feel the power of summer reading.

I promise.

Here are some good reads for the summer: 

I can't wait to start this series by John J. Higgins.

Book One

Description from Amazon:

Even a match made in Heaven can go awry. THE ARCHANGEL JARAHMAEL AND THE WAR TO CONQUER HEAVEN is the epic three-part story of the Creation of the Universe, told from the perspective of the Angels themselves. The first book of the trilogy, "In the Beginning," describes the initial creation and the establishment of the Seven Heavens and the Nine Orders of Angels, but it also tells of the first Humans, Lillith and Adam. Although they are quite literally a match made in Heaven, free will wreaks havoc with destiny when Lillith falls in love with the Archangel Jarahmael. Can love, as the very essence of the almighty's Universe, survive free will? Or will love, when exposed to an untethered will, rip the Universe apart, pitting Good against Evil in a battle for all?

Lots of buzz on this book

Description from Amazon:

HER PERFECT LIFE IS A PERFECT LIE.

As a teenager at the prestigious Bradley School, Ani FaNelli endured a shocking, public humiliation that left her desperate to reinvent herself. Now, with a glamorous job, expensive wardrobe, and handsome blue blood fiancé, she’s this close to living the perfect life she’s worked so hard to achieve.
But Ani has a secret.
There’s something else buried in her past that still haunts her, something private and painful that threatens to bubble to the surface and destroy everything.
With a singular voice and twists you won’t see coming, Luckiest Girl Alive explores the unbearable pressure that so many women feel to “have it all” and introduces a heroine whose sharp edges and cutthroat ambition have been protecting a scandalous truth, and a heart that's bigger than it first appears.
The question remains: will breaking her silence destroy all that she has worked for—or, will it at long last, set Ani free?

There is nothing like an Elin Hilderbrand book in the summer! My pick this year was Silver Girl (think Ponzi scheme by husband, he goes to jail, wife runs to Nantucket with an old best friend who is still mad at her from the mysterious past. So far I love it as much as I have loved all her books.

Description from Amazon:


Nantucket writer Madeline King couldn't have picked a worse time to have writer's block. Her deadline is looming, her bills are piling up, and inspiration is in short supply. Madeline's best friend Grace, is hard at work transforming her garden into the envy of the island with the help of a ruggedly handsome landscape architect. Before she realizes it, Grace is on the verge of a decision that will irrevocably change her life. Could Grace's crisis be Madeline's salvation? As the gossip escalates, and the summer's explosive events come to a head, Grace and Madeline try desperately to set the record straight--but the truth might be even worse than rumor has it. 

Enjoy your summer, book friends, start today! 

On my TBR list.

I need to pick up the pace!!

TBRs and being "Real"

My reading slump has continued but I am slowly getting through the books I have listed under "Currently Reading"here on this blog, though at a nearly comatose pace. I am a the point where I need to take notes or I will forget the characters. Or worse yet, the plot! However, I am working it.

My sweet husband, knowing the terrible slump I've been in decided to give me a book. It came in on a day I was very stressed and I sat down with it (after giving him the biggest hug.)  It's a very yellowed paged paperback called Bag Balm and Duct Tape by Beach Conger, M.D. What a great story! I am now reading four books at one time. This book stands out, not only because my H gave it to me, but I love to read about old fashioned medicine practiced  in a rural area, non fiction. Can't wait to get back into it today. I will be sure to review it. 

The other book I placed on that "I have started you and will never leave you" list, is my Herman Koch book:

After reading the first bit of this (about a doctor, of course) I knew it was going to be a straight up favorite, though his last book gave me many uneasy strange feels, this one will probably do the same but I just can't seem to stay away from Herman. I just can't. His writing is completely spot on with every tiny nugget he writes.  I won't leave him or his books. Ever.

Lastly, we were all yapping about The Velveteen Rabbit on Facebook (my wall, not the group) and what memories people have of this wonderfully written sweet story about being "Real." 

 My mom gave this to me long ago and wrote to me in the inner flap of the book. She wrote beautiful words about being "Real." Her love for reading and understanding the concepts that I took to heart mind and soul was the foundation of my life. She unlocked the world of being Real for me.

I do believe that this  book should be given to every child,with a note about being "Real" from you! They will carry your words and this book with them forever.
I sure did. Thanks, Mom! 

“Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.'

'Does it hurt?' asked the Rabbit.

'Sometimes,' said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. 'When you are Real you don't mind being hurt.'

'Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,' he asked, 'or bit by bit?'

'It doesn't happen all at once,' said the Skin Horse. 'You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.”
― Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

 “Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand.”
― Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

Outlander, reading over the holidays, and mothers

I tried reading this book years ago. At the time I wasn't impressed. I don't know why, I am not sure what I was into reading back then, but time travel wasn't my cup of tea.

Until I became a rabid Dr. Who fan.
NOT that these two have a thing in common (prove me wrong, I really don't know.)

My mom handed Outlander by Diana Gabaldon to my yesterday. Try it, she said.
So, last night I started it, knowing I couldn't read just this second, and loved it. I fell IN love with it. How does that happen years later with a book?
I suppose books are like people to readers, some you may not prefer until you meet up with them again later in life. A pleasant surprise in most cases.

I am tearing through three books right now but I know that once I get into this book I may not come out for a while, as Mom showed the rest of her series to me sitting brightly on her bookshelf..
And. She pointed out,  you only get one book at a time.
Crestfallen I stayed mute on that one, she knows my complete non-disciplined personality when it comes to series of that magnitude.

Moving on:. The best books seem to be released now thanks to the holidays which calls for tightening up the old TBR list. I had to shuffle some books around and fitting in Outlander is going to be rough. After all, I swore up and down I would NOT start a big book during the holidays as The Goldfinch was read through Christmas and New Year's 2013. What a disservice for Ms. Tartt! And for me! Lovely book, I may have to re-read the beginning in June next year to absorb it a bit better.

Photo by me, that lovely afghan was made by my Gan ( aka grandmom on my mother's side, you will hear more about Gan as I go along.) Wonderful woman who passed the love of books through out our whole family.  May she rest in Heaven's library's peace.

TBR find today

I found this on a book blogger's site. She had listed it as one of the best books of 2014. Here is the synopsis from Goodreads: 

 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18143785-be-safe-i-love-you

"Lauren Clay has returned from a tour of duty in Iraq just in time to spend the holidays with her family. Before she enlisted, Lauren, a classically trained singer, and her brother Danny, a bright young boy obsessed with Arctic exploration, made the most of their modest circumstances, escaping into their imaginations and forming an indestructible bond. Joining the army allowed Lauren to continue to provide for her family, but it came at a great cost.

When she arrives home unexpectedly, it's clear to everyone in their rural New York town that something is wrong. But her father is so happy to have her home that he ignores her odd behavior and the repeated phone calls from an army psychologist. He wants to give Lauren time and space to acclimate to civilian life.

Things seem better when Lauren offers to take Danny on a trip to visit their mother upstate. Instead, she guides them into the glacial woods of Canada on a quest to visit the Jeanne d'Arc basin, the site of an oil field that has become her strange obsession. As they set up camp in an abandoned hunting lodge, Lauren believes she's teaching Danny survival skills for the day when she's no longer able to take care of him.

But where does she think she's going, and what happened to her in Iraq that set her on this path? Be Safe I Love You is a novel about war and homecoming, love and duty, and an impassioned look at the effects of war on women, as soldiers and caregivers, both at home and on the front lines."
Hardcover, 289 pages
Published April 1st 2014 by Simon & Schuster

Can't wait to read this one!