SERENDIPITOUS TUESDAYS: INTROS/TEASERS — “SWEET SALT AIR” — MAY 21

 

 

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, from Tuesday/First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by Should Be Reading.

My feature today is Sweet Salt Air, by Barbara Delinsky.

 

Intro:  (Prologue)

Charlotte Evans was used to feeling grungy.  As a freelancer, she traveled on a shoestring, getting stories other writers did not, precisely because she wasn’t fussy about how she lived.  In the last twelve months, she had survived dust while writing about elephant keepers in Kenya, ice while writing about the spirit bear of British Columbia, and flies while writing about a family of nomads in India.

She could certainly survive a mizzling, as the Irish called it, though the heavy mist seeped through everything—jeans, boots, even the thick fisherman’s sweater she wore.  The sweater was on loan from the woman under whose roof she was sleeping on this least populated of the three Aran Islands, and though Charlotte did have a fireplace in her bedroom, hot water was in short supply in the small stone cottage.  She could have used a steamy shower, a thorough washing of her clothes, and a solid day of sun.

***

Teaser:  The words echoed.  Nicole looked around, thinking that someone else had said them, because if she was the one, it would be a betrayal of the worst kind.  (p. 58)

***

Blurb:  Charlotte and Nicole were once the best of friends, spending summers together in Nicole’s coastal island house off of Maine. But many years, and many secrets, have kept the women apart. A successful travel writer, single Charlotte lives on the road, while Nicole, a food blogger, keeps house in Philadelphia with her surgeon-husband, Julian. When Nicole is commissioned to write a book about island food, she invites her old friend Charlotte back to Quinnipeague, for a final summer, to help. Outgoing and passionate, Charlotte has a gift for talking to people and making friends, and Nicole could use her expertise for interviews with locals. Missing a genuine connection, Charlotte agrees.

 

But what both women don’t know is that they are each holding something back that may change their lives forever. For Nicole, what comes to light could destroy her marriage, but it could also save her husband. For Charlotte, the truth could cost her Nicole’s friendship, but could also free her to love again. And her chance may lie with a reclusive local man, with a heart to soothe and troubles of his own.

 

***

Doesn’t this sound delicious?  Now I’m off to see what the rest of you are sharing….

TSS: FINDING ENJOYMENT IN THE MOMENTS — MAY 19

Gather around in our Sunday Salon and let’s chat about books, our lives, and whatever we’ve enjoyed this week.

I’ve had a bit of a busy week with other things….family stuff.  But I’ve still managed to do a little blogging and reading.

Over at Story Corner, I’m eagerly anticipating Some Kind of Cruel (which I’ll be getting this week from Vine!)

Thursday showed us how to enjoy old favorites in Comfort Foods for the Soul.

At Chocolate & Mimosas, I changed the look of my blog and raved about my Newest Guilty Pleasure:  Online Soap Viewing.

And my Sweet Saturday Sample brought the aftermath of a frightening event:  Now What?

Now for the reading! (Click Titles/Covers for Reviews)

The Bodyguard & the Show Dog, by Christy Tillery French

Walled-In, by J. Elke Ertle

Just Breathe, by Susan Wiggs (From Mt. TBR)

 

And…still reading, but almost finished with Somewhere Off the Coast of Maine, by Ann Hood.

***

Now I’m going to enjoy breakfast in bed while watching movies.  Yesterday I picked some old favorites to enjoy, like The Jane Austen Book Club.

***

SERENDIPITOUS CHANGE: A BREATH OF FRESH AIR — A REVIEW

Sarah Moon is a cartoonist, a wife, and a would-be mother. She thinks she has the perfect life, but while undergoing fertility treatments to achieve that dream of motherhood, she discovers that all is not as perfect as she’d believed. She finds her husband Jack in bed with another woman.

Fleeing from her life in Chicago, she returns home to Marin County, where she grew up as the daughter of an oyster farmer. In a place where she was the sarcastic and dorky artist, a place that reminds her of her social awkwardness. But the place she had shunned suddenly promises to be just what she needs.

And an old crush from high school, Will Bonner, is turning out to be her best friend. He is the Captain of the fire department, focused intermittently on a series of arson conflagrations that simmer like an undercurrent beneath the surface of the unfolding romance between Sarah and Will. Can Will and Sarah be more than friends? Will an unexpected pregnancy that had resulted from that last fertility treatment further complicate her life, or bring her just what she needs? And what explosive events will unfurl, revealing dark secrets beneath the surface of all their lives?

Just Breathe is one of those stories that unfolds in some predictable ways, but also offers a glimpse of realistic characters, beautiful settings, some intense drama, and that feel-good kind of life we all crave. Showing us the struggles two people must overcome resonated with me; and the challenge of Aurora, Will’s adolescent stepdaughter, complicated the budding romance between Sarah and Will, even as her presence added extra layers of complexity to the tale. Four stars.

TSS: HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! — MAY 12

Good morning, Sunday Saloners!

And for those who are mothers, Happy Mother’s Day!

I am having brunch with my daughter and some friends.  I’m looking forward to a little of this:

Another busy week behind me….not a lot of reading.  A little bit of blogging, like Tempting Images on Pinterest, Bookish Treats, & New Obsessions.

Hump Day Serendipity:  Waiting for “No Child of Mine”

Let’s Curl up and Talk Books

Sweet Saturday Sample:  Neighborhood Watch (An Excerpt from Defining Moments)

Reading:  (Click Titles/Covers for Reviews)

Fly Away, by Kristin Hannah

Instructions for a Heatwave, by Maggie O’Farrell

Finding Lily (e-book), by Lisa D. Ellis (Review will be up on Rainy Days and Mondays on 5/30/13 – Blog Tour)

***

Today I’m reading The Bodyguard and the Show Dog, by Christy Tillery French (A Mt. TBR/Sequel Challenge read).

And this week, I’ve been searching online and finding upcoming reads that I’m excited about, like a new one from Joyce Maynard, After Her; it’s coming August 20!  From the author who gave us Labor Day, among others.

It’s the summer of 1979, and a dry, hot, northern California school vacation stretches ahead for Rachel and her younger sister Patty – the daughters a larger-than-life, irresistibly handsome and chronically unfaithful detective father who loves to make women happy, and the mother whose heart he broke. Left to their own devices, the inseparable sisters spend their days studying record jackets, concocting elaborate fantasies about the life of the mysterious neighbor who moves in down the street, and playing dangerous games on the mountain that rises up behind their house. When young women start showing up dead on the mountain, the girls’ father is charged with finding the man responsible, known as The Sunset Strangler. Seeing her father’s life slowly unravel when he fails to stop the murders, Rachel embarks on her most dangerous game yet: setting herself up as bait to catch the killer, with consequences that will destroy her father’s career and alter the lives of everyone she loves. It is not until thirty years later that Rachel, who has never given up hope of vindicating her father, finally smokes out the killer, bringing her back to the territory of her childhood, and uncovering a long-buried family secret. As with her novel, Labor Day, Maynard’s newest work is part thriller, part love story, Loosely inspired by the Trailside Killer case that terrorized Marin County in the late seventies, her tale delves deep into the alternately thrilling and terrifying landscape of a young girl’s first explorations of adult sexuality and the loss of innocence, the bond between sisters – and into a daughter’s tender but damaged relationship with her father, and what it is to finally trust a man.

***

And here’s a book that arrived in my mailbox yesterday:  Sweet Salt Air, by Barbara Delinsky.  Can’t wait to read it!

 

 

So much to look forward to in the next few months.  What was your week like?  What’s ahead?

HUMP DAY SERENDIPITY: WAITING FOR “NO CHILD OF MINE” — MAY 8

Welcome to another event that features books we are eagerly awaiting.  Visit Jill, at Breaking the Spine, to see what everyone is anticipating.

I just discovered a book that is my kind of read.  No Child of Mine, by Susan Lewis, is a glimpse into a devoted social worker’s world.  To be released on May 14, 2013.

 

 

Alex Lake’s day job is all about helping people, especially children. She cares about them passionately and does everything in her power to rescue them from those who mean them harm. It’s as frustrating a career as it can be rewarding, though all too often she is left wondering if she has done enough. When the case of three-year-old Ottilie Wade comes to her attention everything changes. She finds herself completely unable to detach from the child the way she should, and feels an overpowering need to make a real difference in little Ottilie’s life. To do this she needs the support of her superiors, but no one is prepared to believe that Ottilie is in danger. In the end, Alex follows the only course left to her, and takes law into her own hands.

***

What book is calling to you today?  Come on by and share….

TSS: LOTS OF MOVIES, A LITTLE BIT OF READING — AND HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!

Good morning!  Happy Sunday Salon, and I hope that you all had wonderful weeks!

My week had a lot more TV/Movie Watching, with a little bit of reading and blogging mixed in.

As a soap opera addict, I was thrilled to be able to again watch One Life to Live and All My Children, that debuted on Hulu.com this week.

Tuesday Potpourri:  Soap Magic, the Online Reboot

Because watching on my laptop seemed a bit tedious, even though I found it fairly easy to do, I discovered something else to make my experience better.  My son hooked my TV to my laptop via an HDMI cable and the show plays out on my TV screen!

Then yesterday, I went to the theater again…yeah, I know, two weeks in a row!  And saw The Big Wedding, with Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Robert DeNiro, Katherine Heigl, etc.

It was good for some laughs and some light-hearted moments.

Then last night, I watched Silver Linings Playbook on DVD…and that was a totally engaging film that had me riveted to the very end.

More Blogging:

April Monthly Reading Wrap-Up

What Else?  Sharing at Booking Through Thursday

Sweet Saturday Sample:  Someone is Watching Over Me (An Excerpt)

Books Read/Reviewed (Click Titles Covers for Reviews):

The Engagements, by J. Courtney Sullivan

Cocktail Hour (e-book), by Tara McTiernan

And I’m reading Summer on Blossom Street ; I should finish it today, if I don’t turn on the TV again!  But I now have a new flat screen TV/DVD player in my bedroom and may curl up there for the duration.

What did your week look like?  What’s ahead?

MYSTERIOUS CONNECTIONS REVEALED: WAS IT SERENDIPITY? — A REVIEW

 

 

Evelyn has been married to her husband for forty years–forty years since he slipped off her first wedding ring and put his own in its place. Delphine has seen both sides of love–the ecstatic, glorious highs of seduction, and the bitter, spiteful fury that descends when it’s over. James, a paramedic who works the night shift, knows his wife’s family thinks she could have done better; while Kate, partnered with Dan for a decade, has seen every kind of wedding–beach weddings, backyard weddings, castle weddings–and has vowed never, ever, to have one of her own.

As these lives and marriages unfold in surprising ways, we meet Frances Gerety, a young advertising copywriter in 1947. Frances is working on the De Beers campaign and she needs a signature line, so, one night before bed, she scribbles a phrase on a scrap of paper: “A Diamond Is Forever.” And that line changes everything.

As I read each of the vignettes that seemingly had nothing in common with each other, especially since we skipped ahead years to focus on the characters in each of the spotlighted times, this tale felt a little like a collection of short stories. The common element: diamonds. And specifically, engagement rings.

Some of the characters and their lives were more enjoyable than others….and at times, I was weary of trying to remember the characters from the previous stories about them. But gradually, as more details surfaced with each leap in time, and as more backstory was revealed, I started to feel connected to them.

In the end, many loose ends seemingly converged to reveal the mysterious connections between them all. The Engagements is an intriguing story that I would have enjoyed more if it hadn’t “sprawled” quite so much. Nevertheless, a book I’d recommend to Sullivan fans…and those who like to think of how much “serendipity” plays a role in our lives. 3.5 stars.

SERENDIPITOUS TUESDAYS: INTROS/TEASERS — FLY AWAY — APRIL 30

Welcome to another Tuesday celebrating bookish events, from Tuesday/First Chapter/Intros, hosted by Bibliophile by the Sea; and Teaser Tuesdays hosted by Should Be Reading.

Today’s feature is Fly Away, by Kristin Hannah.

Intro:  September 2, 2010 –  10:14 P.M.

She felt a little woozy.  It was nice, like being wrapped in a warm-from-the-dryer blanket.  But when she came to, and saw where she was, it wasn’t so nice.

She was sitting in a restroom stall, slumped over, with tears drying on her cheeks.  How long had she been here?  She got slowly to her feet and left the bathroom, pushing her way through the theater’s crowded lobby, ignoring the judgmental looks cast her way by the beautiful people drinking champagne beneath a glittering nineteenth century chandelier.  The movie must be over.

***

Teaser:  She was gone.  So were her gold flip-flops.  And her purse.  Those were the only things he knew for sure, but it was enough to tell him that she hadn’t been abducted.  p. 46

***

Amazon Blurb:

Once, a long time ago, I walked down a night-darkened road called Firefly Lane, all alone, on the worst night of my life, and I found a kindred spirit. That was our beginning. More than thirty years ago. TullyandKate. You and me against the world. Best friends forever. But stories end, don’t they? You lose the people you love and you have to find a way to go on. . . .

Tully Hart has always been larger than life, a woman fueled by big dreams and driven by memories of a painful past. She thinks she can overcome anything until her best friend, Kate Ryan, dies. Tully tries to fulfill her deathbed promise to Kate—to be there for Kate’s children—but Tully knows nothing about family or motherhood or taking care of people.

Sixteen-year-old Marah Ryan is devastated by her mother’s death. Her father, Johnny, strives to hold the family together, but even with his best efforts, Marah becomes unreachable in her grief. Nothing and no one seems to matter to her . . . until she falls in love with a young man who makes her smile again and leads her into his dangerous, shadowy world.

Dorothy Hart—the woman who once called herself Cloud—is at the center of Tully’s tragic past. She repeatedly abandoned her daughter, Tully, as a child, but now she comes back, drawn to her daughter’s side at a time when Tully is most alone. At long last, Dorothy must face her darkest fear: Only by revealing the ugly secrets of her past can she hope to become the mother her daughter needs.

A single, tragic choice and a middle-of-the-night phone call will bring these women together and set them on a poignant, powerful journey of redemption. Each has lost her way, and they will need each one another—and maybe a miracle—to transform their lives.

An emotionally complex, heart-wrenching novel about love, motherhood, loss, and new beginnings, Fly Away reminds us that where there is life, there is hope, and where there is love, there is forgiveness. Told with her trademark powerful storytelling and illuminating prose, Kristin Hannah reveals why she is one of the most beloved writers of our day.

***

What do you think?  Would you keep reading?

SERENDIPITOUS MUSINGS: BOOKISH THOUGHTS — APRIL 29

Welcome to another Monday of Musings….hosted by Should Be Reading.

Here are some thoughts to ponder:

Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! 
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

***

Today I’ve been visiting blogs and seeing copies of books that I’ve preordered.  Yes, that means I have to wait a bit. 

I’ve seen two today, though, that won’t be coming until mid-June.  Not that long…right?  Wrong…it seems like I’ve been waiting forever already, since I preordered them awhile ago.  Patience is not my best thing.

Always Watching, by Chevy Stevens, is right up there as a “can’t wait” story.  I’ve loved the other books by this author, and really want this one.  I even ordered the hardcover version of this one…instead of the e-book

 

Blurb: She helps people put their demons to rest.

But she has a few of her own…

In the lockdown ward of a psychiatric hospital, Dr. Nadine Lavoie is in her element. She has the tools to help people, and she has the desire—healing broken families is what she lives for. But Nadine doesn’t want to look too closely at her own past because there are whole chunks of her life that are black holes. It takes all her willpower to tamp down her recurrent claustrophobia, and her daughter, Lisa, is a runaway who has been on the streets for seven years.

When a distraught woman, Heather Simeon, is brought into the Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit after a suicide attempt, Nadine gently coaxes her story out of her—and learns of some troubling parallels with her own life. Digging deeper, Nadine is forced to confront her traumatic childhood, and the damage that began when she and her brother were brought by their mother to a remote commune on Vancouver Island.  What happened to Nadine?  Why was their family destroyed? And why does the name Aaron Quinn, the group’s leader, bring complex feelings of terror to Nadine even today? 

And then, the unthinkable happens, and Nadine realizes that danger is closer to home than she ever imagined. She has no choice but to face what terrifies her the most…and fight back. 

Sometimes you can leave the past, but you can never escape.

Doesn’t that sound wonderful?

And then there’s Sweet Salt Air, by Barbara Delinsky…another favorite author.  This one is going on Sparky…

Charlotte and Nicole were once the best of friends, spending summers together in Nicole’s coastal island house off of Maine. But many years, and many secrets, have kept the women apart. A successful travel writer, single Charlotte lives on the road, while Nicole, a food blogger, keeps house in Philadelphia with her surgeon-husband, Julian. When Nicole is commissioned to write a book about island food, she invites her old friend Charlotte back to Quinnipeague, for a final summer, to help. Outgoing and passionate, Charlotte has a gift for talking to people and making friends, and Nicole could use her expertise for interviews with locals. Missing a genuine connection, Charlotte agrees.

 

But what both women don’t know is that they are each holding something back that may change their lives forever. For Nicole, what comes to light could destroy her marriage, but it could also save her husband. For Charlotte, the truth could cost her Nicole’s friendship, but could also free her to love again. And her chance may lie with a reclusive local man, with a heart to soothe and troubles of his own.

***

Can’t wait…like I said.

So what are you pondering today?  Come on by and let’s chat.

 

 

TSS: READING, RESPITE, & REINVENTING OURSELVES — APRIL 28

Good morning!  It is a beautiful day here, and I’m looking forward to what the day will bring.

Sunday Salon is a great way to begin the week, and it’s like a gathering post for bloggers to share their adventures.

I’ve done quite a bit of reading, a little blogging, and yesterday I took a break to see  a movie I’ve been eagerly awaiting.

The Company You Keep, with a wonderful cast that includes Robert Redford, Julie Christie, Susan Sarandon, and many others, took me back to a time in my life….and I just sat there absorbing it all.  I haven’t been buying as many DVDs lately (I have 800+ on my shelves!), but this is one I’m going to add.

So after a nice respite, I grabbed my book again.

My Week on the Blogs:

Tuesday Intros/Teasers:  The Smart One

Waiting on Wednesday with Morning Glory

Thursday Potpourri:  Disturbing Midnight Moments

A Guilty Pleasures Treat:  Book Beginnings/Friday 56 – Tapestry of Fortunes

Sweet Saturday Sample:  Awaiting her Fate (An Excerpt from Defining Moments)

Reading-Click Titles/Covers for Reviews:

Drinking with Men, by Rosie Schaap

The Smart One, by Jennifer Close

 

The Good House (e-book), by Ann Leary

 

Lucky Me (Memoir), by Sachi Parker

 

And late yesterday, I started reading Tapestry of Fortunes, by Elizabeth Berg…and I’m savoring it!

A story of reinventing your life, which sometimes means downsizing and recreating everything.

I like this blurb from the Amazon page:  In this beautifully written novel, leaving home brings revelations, reunions, and unexpected turns that affirm the inner truths of women’s lives. “Maybe Freud didn’t know the answer to what women want, but Elizabeth Berg certainly does,” said USA Today. Elizabeth Berg has crafted a novel rich in understanding of women’s longings, loves, and abiding friendships, which weave together into a tapestry of fortunes that connects us all.

What does your day—and your week—look like?  Come on by and chat.