Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu *Review*

Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. They had been best friends since they were six, spending hot Minneapolis summers and cold Minneapolis winters together, dreaming of Hogwarts and Oz, superheroes and baseball. Now that they were eleven, it was weird for a boy and a girl to be best friends. But they couldn’t help it – Hazel and Jack fit, in that way you only read about in books. And they didn’t fit anywhere else. 

And then, one day, it was over. Jack just stopped talking to Hazel. And while her mom tried to tell her that this sometimes happens to boys and girls at this age, Hazel had read enough stories to know that it’s never that simple. And it turns out, she was right. Jack’s heart had been frozen, and he was taken into the woods by a woman dressed in white to live in a palace made of ice. Now, it’s up to Hazel to venture into the woods after him. Hazel finds, however, that these woods are nothing like what she’s read about, and the Jack that Hazel went in to save isn’t the same Jack that will emerge. Or even the same Hazel. 

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.

When visiting my grandma as a child, one of my favorite things to do was to hide away in her spare bedroom with a big thick book of fairy tales she kept on a  bookshelf in there.  At the beginning of every chapter there was a black and white drawing of one of the scenes in the story.  I distinctly remember the troll under the bridge in Three Billy Goats Gruff.  The stories were magical.  I wish I had that book today!

As an adult, I don’t read fairy tales anymore.  I have moved on and haven’t had the opportunity to.  When I read the synopsis of Breadcrumbs I knew I had to give it a try to see if I could recapture some of that wonder I had as a child.

From the beginning it is apparent that even though this is intended as a middle grade read, the writing is more suited for someone older than 8-12 years of age.  Not that the story line is too deep or the language too difficult, but the writing is wonderfully descriptive and gorgeously appealing.  It’s not something I can see a middle grader settling into and enjoying the quality of, if you can understand where I’m coming from.

The story itself starts out well.  I enjoy the quality of Hazel and Jack’s friendship and the ease with which they get along to the exclusion of others.  When Jack is taken away by the Snow Queen and Hazel enters the forest to find him and bring him home is where the fairy tale actually begins.  The references to Narnia, Harry Potter and classic fairy tales were fun…at first.  Then I began to feel they were a bit too contrived.  Wolves, and axemen and ballet slippers you will find in many fairy tales and this story has a lot of them.  I began to get bored when I felt the charming elements of the fairy tales from my youth were being crammed in on every page and I began to lose what the story was truly about.

When Hazel finally rescues Jack from the Snow Queen at the end of the story (come on, you knew she was going too!) my heart thawed a little.  Ms. Ursu does write a beautiful story about friendship, betrayal, growing up and changing.    3/5 stars

best kept secret by Amy Hatvany *Review*

Cadence didn’t sit down one night and decide that downing two bottles of wine was a brilliant idea.

Her drinking snuck up on her – as a way to sleep, to help her relax after a long day, to relieve some of the stress of the painful divorce that’s left her struggling to make ends meet with her five-year old son, Charlie.  

It wasn’t always like this. Just a few years ago, Cadence seemed to have it all—a successful husband, an adorable son, and a promising career as a freelance journalist.  But with the demise of her marriage, her carefully constructed life begins to spiral out of control.  Suddenly she is all alone trying to juggle the demands of work and motherhood.               

 Logically, Cadence knows that she is drinking too much, and every day begins with renewed promises to herself that she will stop.  But within a few hours, driven by something she doesn’t understand, she is reaching for the bottle – even when it means not playing with her son because she is too tired, or dropping him off at preschool late, again.  And even when one calamitous night it means leaving him alone to pick up more wine at the grocery store.  It’s only when her ex-husband shows up at her door to take Charlie away that Cadence realizes her best kept secret has been discovered….

 Heartbreaking, haunting, and ultimately life-affirming, Best Kept Secret is more than just the story of Cadence—it’s a story of how the secrets we hold closest are the ones that can most tear us apart.

Who has not been in this situation before?  Tired after a long day at work you arrive home only to find more work still to do.  Dinner must be made, laundry needs to be done, one of the kids needs to be driven to her soccer game or a church event.  Don’t you just wish sometimes all the demands would go away and you could just relax?  What if picking up a bottle and drinking a glass of wine was a way you could relax?  Okay, as long as it’s one glass with dinner.  But what if it starts taking another glass to calm you…and then another.

Being a mother with a demanding schedule after my work day, I could easily see the draw of a glass of wine .  Seems harmless enough.  But when it starts to spiral out of control, how do you pick up the pieces and return to a normal life that won’t make you insane?

Cadence’s drinking does spiral out of control and she ends up losing her son.  I can think of nothing that would be harder to bear then being away from the one you love the most.  It’s hard for Cadence not to be a part of Charlie’s life anymore and she fights her battle with alcoholism to try to win him back.

Amy Hatvany’s characters are real.  I can feel the disapproving nature of her ex mother-in-law, I can sense Charlie’s pain when he’s afraid his mother is going to pick up a bottle again, my heart hurts for Cadence’s suffering as she realizes what she has done to Charlie and how she may never be able to right that wrong.

It came as no surprise to me that the author has traveled this road herself.  The pain that came through on the page was a pain that can only come from experience.  I applaud her for coming out about her alcoholism and sharing her journey with others.  I have great respect for someone who can not only succeed in the face of adversity but help others do the same.  A very thought-provoking book that has plenty to discuss with your book club (what makes a good mother, can you ever undo a wrong, trust, forgiveness, balancing work and family) I wasn’t surprised to see that 37/39 reviewers on Amazon gave the book a 5 star rating.   Add mine to that…5/5 stars.

Ashfall by Mike Mullin *Review*

Many visitors to Yellowstone National Park don’t realize that the boiling hot springs and spraying geysers are caused by an underlying supervolcano. It has erupted three times in the last 2.1 million years, and it will erupt again, changing the Earth forever.

Fifteen-year-old Alex is home alone when the supervolcano erupts. His town collapses into a nightmare of darkness, ash, and violence, forcing him to flee. He begins a harrowing trek in search of his parents and sister, who were visiting relatives 140 miles away.

Along the way, Alex struggles through a landscape transformed by more than a foot of ash. The disaster brings out the best and worst in people desperate for food, clean water, and shelter.  When an escaped convict injures Alex, he searches for a sheltered place where he can wait–to heal or to die. Instead, he finds Darla. Together, they fight to achieve a nearly impossible goal: surviving the supervolcano.

I have always enjoyed stories of survival against incredible odds.  Although most of the survival books I read are true stories, occasionally I like to delve into something that’s not true…but could be.

Ashfall lets you think about the what ifs.  What if the supervolcano under Yellowstone did erupt?  What if the falling ash for weeks on end killed all wildlife and crops still in the field?  What if there was no clean water to drink?  How would you survive…or could you?

Alex starts out on his trek with nothing more then a few cans of food and bottles filled with water from the back of the toilet tank.  He doesn’t know if he can make the trip to his uncle’s house to join up with his parents but he knows if he stays he will surely die.  Along the way he does meet up with a few communities who are starting to pull life back together.  They are organized and they are willing to shelter him if he joins their work crews to try to forage for food.  Even though the temptation is great, his will to join his family is greater.  So on he moves.

When he is injured by a desperate convict looking for food he is reluctantly saved by Darla.  Her mother, being a Christian, is determined to help feed and clothe him but Darla knows any food they share with him means less for her and her mother.    She wishes he would just leave.  Thankfully, Darla sticks with him and aids him on his journey because this feisty teen ends up saving him more than once!

A mesmerizing  fiction novel about life after a supervolcano eruption, Ashfall receives 3.5/5 stars.

Never Knowing by Chevy Stevens *Review*

All her life, Sara Gallagher has wondered about her birth parents.  As an adopted child with two sisters who were naturally born to her parents, Sara did not have an ideal home life.  The question of why she was given up for adoption has always haunted her.  Finally, she is ready to take steps to find closure.

But some questions are better left unanswered.

After months of research, Sara locates her birth mother-only to be met with horror and rejection.  Then she discovers the devastating truth: her mother was the only victim ever to escape a killer who has been hunting women every summer for decades.  But Sara soon realizes the only thing worse than finding out about her father is him finding out about her.

What if murder is in your blood?

Never Knowing is author Chevy Stevens second novel and I have to say, I LOVE her!  Her first novel Still Missing garnered a 5 star review from me in December and this one wasn’t far behind.  Ms Stevens has a way of gripping you from the first page and not allowing you to pry your fingers free of the book until the very last sentence.

Sara Gallagher, understandably, is looking for answers.  She has never felt like she truly belongs to the family she was adopted into.  Her mother was great, true, but her father was always distant, demanding and disappointed.  Her younger sister Melanie’s jealousy is also something she has always had to deal with and it has made their relationship strained.

When Sara hires a private investigator to help track down her birth mother the answers she receives are horrifying,  She finds out she is the product of the rape and attempted murder of her mother by the serial killer the Campsite Killer.  It isn’t long before her birth father finds out about her existence and the lives of her birth mother, her fiancé, her daughter, and the rest of her family is in jeopardy.

When the Campsite Killer contacts Sara and wants to meet her she at first denies him the opportunity.  But when, out of frustration, he kills again, Sara knows she really has no choice.  She might be the only one who can stop him…

Never Knowing is a fast paced thriller that makes you wonder if, sometimes, you would be better off… Never Knowing.   4/5 stars

 

 

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh *Review*

Victoria only knows how to relate to people one way…through flowers.  Unable to vocalize her hurt and anger, she turns to the language she learned from the one person she has ever loved, Elizabeth.  Elizabeth taught her the language of flowers.  She taught her that thistle means misanthropy and dahlia means dignity.  Victoria uses this language throughout her life with various people she encounters whether they understand the language or not.  That’s actually the way she prefers it.  She keeps to herself, never letting anybody get too close to her.  Those that try she drives away.  She really can’t take any more hurt and disappointment.

     Unapproachable, no one is able to break through her shell until one day, someone who has been studying her from a distance hands her mistletoe- “I surmount all obstacles.”  Can this young man tear through the wall Victoria has carefully constructed around her heart?

The Language of Flowers  is a beautiful story of love and loss, hurt and disappointment, realization and hope.  I learned so much about this romantic Victorian language that young lovers used to describe their feelings for each other.  Words can’t always describe what you truly feel, but a fragrant flower…sniff! 

So what would you give to a friend hoping to have a baby?  Dittany.  To someone who has lost a loved one?  Cypress or Aloe.  To someone who has helped you out in a time of need?  Bellflowers.  I laughed when I went through the drive through of my bank the other day and realized they had planted cabbage which means profit!  I also now understand why so many bridal bouquets include red roses (love) and baby’s breath (everlasting love.)

Going through the Dictionary of Flowers I wondered which one I would give my husband?  My Choice?  Cactus.  I’ll leave you to look that one up! 

4.5/5 stars

The Christmas Wedding by James Patterson *Review*

The tree is decorated, the cookies are baked, and the packages are wrapped, but the biggest celebration this Christmas is Gaby Summerhill’s wedding. Since her husband died three years ago, Gaby’s four children have drifted apart, each consumed by the turbulence of their own lives. They haven’t celebrated Christmas together since their father’s death, but when Gaby announces that she’s getting married–and that the groom will remain a secret until the wedding day–she may finally be able to bring them home for the holidays. But the wedding isn’t Gaby’s only surprise–she has one more gift for her children, and it could change all their lives forever. With deeply affecting characters and the emotional twists of a James Patterson thriller, The Christmas Wedding is a fresh look at family and the magic of the season.

 

     I love an easy read this time of year.  The yuletide season is just too busy to try to get into a chunkster, so when our book club voted in The Christmas Wedding as our December read I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about the hustle and bustle of trying to speed read the day before to get it done.

     In typical Patterson style, the chapters are short (and there are a lot of them.)  It’s a treat to be able to sneak a chapter in after you’ve put the cookies in the oven and have a few under your belt when you take them out.

     The premise of the story is a little amusing and a lot unbelievable.  I can not imagine any 3 guys, no matter how wonderful,  helping plan a wedding they might not have a role in, nor waiting patiently at the altar while the bride finally announces her decision.

     Believability aside, it was a fun book and just what I needed.  I enjoyed trying to figure out who the groom was going to be (I was right by the way.)  I also appreciated that even though this is kind of fluffy Christmas fare, Patterson does not tie everything up all neat in ribbons and bows.  The family (her children and grandchildren) have troubles and issues throughout the book and when the book is finished…they still do.  It would have been so easy to create within the pages a Christmas miracle and make everyone well, happy and magically in love again and I respect Patterson for not doing that.  That part at least was more real.  If you’re looking for a quick feel good (but not too good) read…this one would be a good present for yourself.  3.5/5 stars

The Paris Wife by Paula McClain *Review*

A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.

A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

 

I had heard good reviews of this book and it was on Book Movements Top 10 Book Club Picks at the time I picked it up so I was really excited to wrap my hands around it.  Even the reviews on the back cover were glowing:

“Impossible to resist…” People Magazine

“…a moving portrait…” The Boston Globe

And even after reading it I wouldn’t say I totally disagree with any of them except

“…making the macho Hemingway of myth a complex and sympathetic figure.” USA Today

 

Sympathetic?  Hell no!  From the very beginning I felt Ernest was a self-absorbed, egotistical coward.  He drags Hayden across the sea to Paris, leaves her alone most of the day while writing alone in his apartment, seeks out praise for himself like other people gulp in air after  a long dive and can’t face criticism  when given it.  He alienates his friends and mentors for a more bohemian crowd that thinks he hung the moon, and pouts when he finds out Hayden’s pregnant because it doesn’t fit into his plans.

I was frustrated  with Hayden the entire time because I felt she gave up too much of herself to satisfy his ego.  Towards the end when their marriage started to unravel she was not whole enough to even try to fight for this man she loved so much.

The book was not a total loss.  I thought it was very well written and would indeed make for a good discussion at a book club.  I could see our book club being very passionate about this read.  3/5 stars

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Last week’s reading goals went…pffffttt!  Out the window!  I wanted to read The Ledge (which I did), The Family Fang (which I got 1/3 of the way through), and finish Unbroken (which didn’t even get in the CD player.)  So in other words…almost epic fail!

This week I am scaling back my reading goals to something a bit more manageable.  I will finish reading the Family Fang, but Unbroken will go back to the library until after the new year.

IF I finish The Family Fang I will read The Courage Tree by Diane Chamberlin:

Eight-year-old Sophie Donohue just wanted to be like every other little girl. Which is why her mother, Janine, reluctantly agreed to let her go on the weekend camping trip with her Brownie troop. But when Janine arrives to pick up Sophie after the trip, her daughter is not among the others. Somehow, along the forested route from West Virginia, Sophie has disappeared.

Sophie is no ordinary 8 year old. She suffers from a rare disease, and Janine has recently enrolled her in an experimental treatment as a last effort to save her life — despite the vehement objections of her ex-husband, Joe, who believes conventional medicine is the only route to take. The only person to support Janine in her decision is Lucas Trowell, someone familiar with the herbs used in the treatment. Lucas has been encouraging Janine to keep Sophie in the program, and, indeed, the little girl has been showing remarkable improvement.

All her mother’s instincts tell Janine that Sophie is alive, but time is running out. Without her treatment, it’s only a matter of days before Sophie’s illness will claim her life. As Janine, Joe and Lucas embark on a desperate search to find Sophie, envy and suspicion grow between the two men, casting doubts on each other’s true motives for helping Janine.

Deep in the forest, another drama unfolds. Sophie has found refuge in a remote cabin inhabited by a woman who wants nothing to do with the little girl. She’s desperate to help her own daughter, who has been wrongly imprisoned for murder and who, after escaping, is on her way to join her mother. Sophie’s arrival puts in jeopardy her daughter’s future, but the mysterious woman is as determined to save her daughter as Janine is to save Sophie.

Only one of them can succeed.

My personal goals for this week are to finish  start my Christmas shopping, get up my Christmas tree, decorate the house,  make my pasties for Christmas Eve, plan my Ad Altare Dei lesson for my religious emblem class, catch up on my Boy Scout Blog (I’m 3 meeting posts behind!), birthday shop for my hubby,  go to our book club Christmas party/baby shower, make praline cheesecake for our last Revelation Bible study session, cheer on my winning Minnesota Wild Hockey team (my true passion) and plan my menu for my New Year’s Eve party.  It’s going to be a fun (and exhausting) week!  Have a great week everybody and keep those pages turning!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.

Redemption by Stacey Lannert and Kristen Kemp *Review*

On July 5th, 1990, Stacey Lannert shot and killed her father who had been abusing her sexually since she was 7.  Missouri state law, a disbelieving prosecutor, and Stacey’s own fragile psyche conspired against her: she was found guilty of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Redemption is Stacey’s candid memoir of what happened after she found herself in prison for life.  It is an extraordinary account of Stacey’s will to live a positive-even triumphant- life, and ultimately, the healing power of forgiveness.

After spending as many years in prison as she had out of it, on January 10th, 2009 outgoing Missouri governor, Matt Blunt, commuted Stacey’s life sentence.  Six days later, she walked out of the prison gates a free woman.  Redemption is the story of how Stacey became a free woman while still inside those gates.

Redemption starts out with an idyllic family.  A family that sounds too good to be true.  Stacey is born as a blond, blue-eyed baby with a kewpie doll curl. We have Stacey remembering  photo albums filled with family pictures of bright smiling faces, a mother and daughter sporting matching outfits that Deborah sewed herself, a father who sits her on his lap, shares his popcorn and is truly interested in how her day went, a grandma that sneaks them sugared cereal (which isn’t allowed at home) and boat rides on family vacations.

But then things start to go horribly wrong.  Dad starts arriving home drunk every night, angry and abusive.  Soon, sitting on his lap, father-daughter time turns into something altogether different.  Something scary and ugly.  At the age of seven, Stacey’s sexual abuse begins.  It’s occasional and she’s able, at first, to separate  the daddy she loves from Tom, the drunk sexual abuser.  She withdraws into herself and blocks out the disturbing acts that are starting to happen more frequently to her.

Around this same time her mother starts to distance herself from her family, more interested in school and a career then paying attention to what’s happening at home.  Soon Deborah and Tom are divorced and Stacey’s mom is not there for her when she ‘s needed the most.

Stacey’s dad becomes the one constant in her life.  When he’s not drunk and he’s the kind, sweet father and not Tom, she can count on him.  But when he’s drunk…

Stacey is tired of the abuse and wants it to stop.  She scrunches up the nerve to tell a few people that her daddy is “hurting” her.  Rape is not a word she knows yet.  But no one believes her. No one.  After too many years of shame and abuse, neglect and hurt, Stacey picks up a gun and shoots her father.  Unbelievably, her prison sentence is life-without parole.

Stacey’s story is a heartbreaking one.  I was sickened by the abuse that the child Stacey suffered.  How could nobody believe her when all the signs were there?  But now, Stacey’s trying to change that.  She’s speaking out across the country in school and college campuses, through magazine articles and TV talk shows.  She’s made it her life mission to convince other victims of sexual abuse to tell someone what is happening and to keep telling until they find someone who believes them and will help them.  Stacey also runs a non-profit website called Healing Sisters with the goal of eradicating sexual abuse.

If you suspect someone is being sexually abused, talk to them and let them know you are there for them.  And if someone tells you they are being sexually molested BELIEVE THEM and get them help.  One in four girls are sexually molested in the United States today, a statistic that makes me shudder.  Don’t let these girls down.     3/5 stars

Thank you to Crown Publishers for providing me with a copy of this book.

Still Missing by Chevy Stevens *Review*

Wow! Wow! Wow!  I love it when a debut author, a book that I wasn’t expecting so much out of, totally blows me away!

On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two year old realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever- patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all. Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent as the captive of psychopath in a remote mountain cabin, which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist, is a second narrative recounting events following her escape—her struggle to piece her shattered life back together and the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor.

The truth doesn’t always set you free.

Comments in my It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? post several weeks ago that I featured this title in had me a little nervous.  “Disturbing.” “Hard to read.”

Yes, I agree.  You hit the nail on the head.  But fantastic, heartbreaking, and page turning need to be added too. 

Annie O’ Sullivan’s year of captivity  is hard to read about.  I felt her fear, her anger, her confusion and her loss.  How does she try to live with her captor on a day-to-day basis when she doesn’t know who he is or what made him the way he is.  She thinks she has him figured out and tries to act like she thinks he wants her to act and ends up being beaten for saying the wrong thing.  She has to clean the house when he tells her, take a bath when he tells her, eat when he tells her, and even has to pee on his timetable.  It’s amazing that she can even think on her own.

After she’s back home she has a hard time doing just that.  She watches the clock so she knows when she can eat, she can’t do it before the right time no matter how hungry, her stomach just won’t cooperate.

The story of her life in captivity, as well as how she’s putting her life back together now that she’s free come out piece by piece, a little at a time during visits to her shrink.  In fact, the chapters are even titled Session One, Session Two, etc.

SESSION ONE You know, Doc, you’re not the first shrink I’ve seen since I got back. The one my family doctor recommended right after I came home was a real prize. The guy actually tried to act like he didn’t know who I was, but that was a pile of crap—you’d have to be deaf and blind not to. Hell, it seems like every time I turn around another asshole with a camera is jumping out of the bushes. But before all this shit went down? Most of the world had never heard of Vancouver Island, let alone Clayton Falls. Now mention the island to someone and I’m willing to bet the first thing out of their mouth will be, “Isn’t that where that lady Realtor was abducted?”

trust me on this one, you have to add this book to your “Have to Read” list.  Then deadbolt your doors, double-check that your windows are locked and lay in bed with it until you’ve shut the back cover.  5/5 stars

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Not much happened in my world last week.  Oh, I was busy with the usual:

Monday-Ad Altare Dei class then Boy Scouts

Tuesday- RCIA class

Wednesday- Christmas cookie and candy making with my cousin (we made: Mounds Balls, Peanut Butter Balls, Butterfinger Bites, Dipped Pretzels, Ritz Dipped, Gourmet Toffee Pretzels, Peanut Butter Fudge, Cathedral Window candy, Wreath Cookies, Spritz, Snowman cookies and Peanut Blossoms and Potato Stick Haystacks)

Thursday- My Revelations Bible Study Class

Friday- Finally! Relaxation after dropping my son off at his confirmation retreat

Saturday- Did 3 loads of laundry, 3 loads of dishes, bought 3 Christmas presents online, and made 4 more kinds of Christmas cookies (Berry Shortbread Dreams, Cherry Dipped Cookies, Pumpkin Cookies and Molasses Creams) all by 9am. Then took a nap (!) before assembling supper, picking up my son from his retreat and visiting with company who stopped by my house.

Sunday- Church, then more sweet treats. Made Snickers Bars, Waffle Cookies, Toffee, Lemon Snowballs, Peppermint Chocolate Chip Meringues and Russian Tea Cakes.  Believe it or not, I am not done yet.  There are still a few more I need to make, but those will have to wait until next weekend.

Yes, all this while working two jobs!  Someday, retirement will come… Although I heard the other day that 80 is the new 65.  It seems people are starting to retire when they are 80 now.  That scares me a little!

Last week I managed to fit in two reviews:

You Are My Only by Beth Klephart and Big Scary Monster by Thomas Docherty.

Coming up later for review this week is Still Missing (a 5 star review!) and Redemption, so stop on back for those.

This week I will be reading The Ledge: An Adventure Story of Friendship and Survival on Mount Ranier  by Jim Davidson and Kevin Vaughan.

In June 1992, best friends Jim Davidson and Mike Price stood triumphantly atop Washington’s Mount Rainier, celebrating what they hoped would be the first of many milestones in their lives as passionate young mountaineers. Instead, their conquest gave way to catastrophe when a cave-in plunged them deep inside a glacial crevasse—the pitch-black, ice-walled hell that every climber’s nightmares are made of.

An avid adventurer from an early age, Davidson was already a seasoned climber at the time of the Rainier ascent, fully aware of the risks and hopelessly in love with the challenge. But in the blur of a harrowing free fall, he suddenly found himself challenged by nature’s grandeur at its most unforgiving. Trapped on a narrow, unstable frozen ledge, deep below daylight and high above a yawning chasm, he would desperately battle crumbling ice and snow that threatened to bury him alive, while struggling in vain to save his fatally injured companion. And finally, with little equipment, no partner, and rapidly dwindling hope, he would have to make a fateful choice—between the certainty of a slow, lonely death or the seeming impossibility of climbing for his life.

Then I will get to The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson.

Mr. and Mrs. Fang called it art.

Their children called it mischief.

Performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang dedicated themselves to making great art. But when an artist’s work lies in subverting normality, it can be difficult to raise well-adjusted children. Just ask Buster and Annie Fang. For as long as they can remember, they starred (unwillingly) in their parents’ madcap pieces. But now that they are grown up, the chaos of their childhood has made it difficult to cope with life outside the fishbowl of their parents’ strange world.

When the lives they’ve built come crashing down, brother and sister have nowhere to go but home, where they discover that Caleb and Camille are planning one last performance–their magnum opus–whether the kids agree to participate or not. Soon, ambition breeds conflict, bringing the Fangs to face the difficult decision about what’s ultimately more important: their family or their art.

And finally I will try to round out the week by finishing an audio that I started last week.  I thought maybe I could fit in an audio while making all those Christmas cookies, but I was only 3 CDs out of 14 in when I realized I hadn’t added quite enough flour to one recipe and almost forgot the vanilla in another so I turned it off before all my hard work was ruined!  So finishing up Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand will also be a priority for me.

On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood.  Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared.  It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard.  So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini.  In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails.  As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile.  But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater.  Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion.  His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.

An ambitious week ahead of me but I think I’m up for it!  How about you?  What Are You Reading? 

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.

Kid Konnection: Big Scary Monster

Kid Konnection is a weekly meme hosted by Booking Mama.  Every Saturday she features a children’s book and encourages us to link up with her and do the same!

This week our trip to the library had us coming home with Big Scary Monster by Thomas Docherty.

On the top of the mountain lived a Big Scary Monster whose absolutely favorite thing in the world to do  was scare the animals that lived around him on the mountain.  When the animals get wise and start to hide, the Big Scary Monster has to travel down the mountain to the valley to find new victims.

What he finds when he gets to the bottom of the mountain is that the animals are bigger and the Big Scary Monster is not so big and scary anymore.

This cute story about a little bully who learns his lesson appealed to me more than it did to Princess Grace.  I don’t know if it was because the illustrations were not as colorful as some of the other books we have been reading or if the storyline just didn’t excite her, but this book is not one she has asked me to reread over and over.  Don’t discount it though.  I think this book is a fun one and one that will spur a discussion on bullies which is always a good discussion to have with a kid of any age.

One sticky thumb up from me and a sticky thumb down from Gracie.

You Are My Only by Beth Kephart *Review*

Emmy Rane was married at nineteen and a mother by twenty. Trapped in a life with an abusive husband, Baby was her only joy. Until one day in September, when Emmy walked the sixty-three steps from the backyard to the upstairs closet, and returned to find Baby missing. All that was left behind was a yellow sock, which Emmy clings to as she’s institutionalized for what she calls grief and others call mental instability.

In another town, fourteen years later, Sophie is a teenage girl living a reclusive life with her overbearing mother. They move from place to place with almost no notice, always outrunning the No Good. One afternoon, Sophie ventures outside and meets Joey and his two aunts. Their unconventional family opens up Sophie’s eyes, giving her the courage to look into her past. And what she discovers changes her world forever. . .

Written in alternating chapters between Emmy and then Sophie, each one’s story is released a little at a time.  First we see into Emmy’s life of imprisonment within the walls of the institution she lives.  We see her inability to leave and search for Baby and the helplessness she feels as time continues to tick.

Next, we get a peek into Sophie’s own imprisonment within the walls of her own home, hiding from the No Good who could come at anytime and ruin the life she’s starting to build.  Sophie is not allowed to leave the house, her mother homeschools her and brings meals home for her daily in styrofoam takeout containers.

Sophie falls in love with the boy next door and their family.  It’s the only normal she knows and she longs to be a part of it.  Sophie’s story appealed to me the most.  I longed for Sophie to know the happiness she has been missing out on most of her life.

Written in a prose-like style Ms. Kephart’s writing is at times beautiful and appropriate for the book, but it is not a style that appeals to me.  I found myself rereading paragraphs to try to get the essence of what she was saying.  I have read other reviews from people who have loved this book, and while I didn’t hate it, it just wasn’t the book for me.   2/5 stars

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday!  What Are you reading is a fun weekly meme hosted by Sheila over at Book Journey.  It’s a great way to catch up on everyone’s reading week, see what’s coming up for them and add some wonderful new books to your TBR pile!

Last week I kept my reading goals low.  Thanksgiving and Black Friday kept this Electronics Department Manager really busy so I knew attempting to fit in one too many books would be a disaster.  I committed to reading Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick, a non-fiction account of the Pilgrims, the first Thanksgiving, and what happened to them when they got greedy for more and more land from the indians.

This week I’m going to try for two books.  Hey!  It’s still the busy season!  The first book I’m going to start is Christmas Wedding by James Patterson.  This is our book club read for December and it finally came in at the library for me.  Knowing the waiting list is still long for this one I’m going to get right on it and get it back for the next patron on the list.

The tree is decorated, the cookies are baked, and the packages are wrapped, but the biggest celebration this Christmas is Gaby Summerhill’s wedding. Since her husband died three years ago, Gaby’s four children have drifted apart, each consumed by the turbulence of their own lives. They haven’t celebrated Christmas together since their father’s death, but when Gaby announces that she’s getting married—and that the groom will remain a secret until the wedding day—she may finally be able to bring them home for the holidays.

But the wedding isn’t Gaby’s only surprise—she has one more gift for her children, and it could change all their lives forever. With deeply affecting characters and the emotional twists of a James Patterson thriller, The Christmas Wedding is a fresh look at family and the magic of the season.

After that I’m going to read The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh.     

A mesmerizing, moving, and elegantly written debut novel, The Language of Flowers  beautifully weaves past and present, creating a vivid portrait of an unforgettable woman whose gift for flowers helps her change the lives of others even as she struggles to overcome her own troubled past.

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, asters for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But a mysterious vendor at the flower market has her questioning what’s been missing in her life, and when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

So that’s what my week looks like.  How about yours?

Kid Konnection: Gladys Goes Out to Lunch

Kid Konnection is a weekly meme hosted by Booking Mama.  Every Saturday she features a children’s book and encourages us to link up with her and do the same!  My 4 1/2 year old future granddaughter and I love reading books together and have made a trip to the library one of our weekly outings.

This week we picked up Gladys Goes Out to Lunch by Derek Anderson.

At the zoo Gladys eats bananas for breakfast, bananas for lunch, and even bananas for dinner.  But one day Gladys smells something even better than bananas.  Could it be pizza?  Ice Cream?  Or something altogether better?

Growing up watching the Grape Ape on Saturday morning cartoons, Gladys, the purple gorilla on the cover of this book immediately caught my eye.  I picked it up based on that more than the synopsis of the book (because I don’t like bananas!)  I’m glad I did because I loved Gladys.

Unfortunately, when Princess Grace and I read the book, Gladys turned into a boy.  Gracie insisted that Gladys was a daddy gorilla and not a mommy gorilla so I had to change all the pronouns from he to she and her to him when I read it!

I loved this book and Gracie did too.  The bright illustrations filled each page with color and we couldn’t wait to see what Gladys’ nose was leading her to!

This is definitely a book I am going to pick up for Gracie’s book shelf.  Two sticky thumbs up!

Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick *Review*

From the perilous ocean crossing to the shared bounty of the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrim settlement of New England has become enshrined as our most sacred national myth. Yet, as bestselling author Nathaniel Philbrick reveals in his spellbinding new book, the true story of the Pilgrims is much more than the well-known tale of piety and sacrifice; it is a fifty-five-year epic that is at once tragic, heroic, exhilarating, and profound

I love history, especially American history.  That wasn’t always the case though.  Oh sure, in ninth grade I got an A+ in Mr. Kuelb’s history class, but he was an easy teacher and he offered lots of extra credit.

By high school, more than once I had fallen asleep in class.  I hated  it.  At that age, I don’t really think you can understand the significant role of our forefathers in our lives.  At seventeen, history is too  far in the past to warrant your attention.  That’s why I think an American History course should be mandatory…for forty year olds.  By then you know enough to understand its importance. 

But enough rambling.  What did I think of the book?  Well…it was good!  not fantastic, but it was well worth the time I spent reading it.  I learned a lot about the Pilgrims and the Puritans and the violence in the lives of these Christian peoples.  I think I learned even more, however, about the Pokanokets, Massachusetts, and Naragansett indians though.

It’s true the Pilgrims would not have made it through their first winter if it hadn’t been for the indian sachem Massasoit.  Starving, weak and ravaged by disease they were losing up to 3 people a day from the small group who had traveled all the way from Leidener, Holland to be able to worship in their own way.

It’s also true that Massasoit relied heavily on the Pilgrims as well.  Trading with the Pilgrims they were able to try new foods (they didn’t like mustard) and advance in weaponry from the bow and arrow.  But soon the New Englander’s greed for more and more of the indian’s land started to cause problems among Massasoit’s tribe and neighboring tribes as well.

Within half a century the Pilgrims and Puritans had so incited the rage of the natives that a war was imminent.  Many lives were lost in the bloody battles on both sides.

War is not something I like to read about so the last third of the book dragged a little for me, but all in all Mayflower was an interesting account of the people responsible for one of my favorite holidays.                    3/5 stars

Lisa at Buttery Books was the person who turned me onto this book.  Thanks Lisa!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday!  What Are you reading is a fun weekly meme hosted by Sheila over at Book Journey.  It’s a great way to catch up on everyone’s reading week, see what’s coming up for them and add some wonderful new books to your TBR pile!

This week I have but one book on my agenda.  It’s going to be a busy week in the retail world I work in and with the holiday I figure I can only manage one.  To stay in the spirit of the holiday I chose Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick.     

This book was featured last week by Lisa at Buttery Books.  I have just started reading it a learned so much already.  I love that books are always teaching me something new!

So that’s my week.  Tell me about yours!

Kid Konnection: Llama Llama Misses Mama

Kid Konnection is a weekly meme hosted by Booking Mama.  Every Saturday she features children’s books and encourages us to join along with her!

This week Princess Grace and I read Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney.

Time to get up, get dressed, and get going because it’s Llama Llama’s first day of school!  Meet the new teachers, find new friends, but wait…why is Mama Llama leaving?  It’s too much for Llama…Llama Llama misses Mama!

With excitement Llama Llama heads to his first day of school but when he gets there he feels shy and alone.  It’s all a little overwhelming for little Llama Llama and he starts to cry.  Soon the other children are taking Llama Llama under their wing-showing him how to play all kinds of fun kindergarten games.  Llama Llama finds he doesn’t miss Mama quite so much anymore.

I loved the canvas like illustrations in this book.  They were so full of color!  A sweet book about overcoming fears and being open to new experiences, Llama Llama Misses Mama is sure to appeal to your youngster.  Princess Grace could relate to this book because she just started preschool this year and this is one of her favorite books we have read.

Two sticky thumbs up!

Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff *Review*

Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator.

Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well; incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. Both were married to other women. Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and–after his murder–three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean; the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since.

I nominated this book last month for our book club.  The back cover made it sound lurid and fascinating.  I should have read it more thoroughly.  Not that this book wasn’t fascinating in places.  I just didn’t pick up that this was a non-fiction account of Cleopatra’s life.  I totally thought I was going to be reading a historical fiction novel.  My bad.

For most of this book I felt  I was not reading about the Queen of Egypt, but more about Caesar and Mark Antony.  Not much is truly known about Cleopatra so what we know of her comes from her involvement in the lives of these two world renown men.  Little exists in print or chiseled portraits of this intelligent and manipulative woman.

Cleopatra was an enigma; very knowledgeable in science, politics and the arts, she had riches beyond measure, and she was charming to boot.  So charming in fact, that most men who met her fell hopelessly in love with her despite the fact she was not the great beauty Elizabeth Taylor portrayed her to be.  I did learn a lot about Roman and Egyptian culture and their forms of government at the time, but I wish I would have learned more about this fascinating and beloved ruler.    3/5 stars

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

Last week even my days off weren’t free days as I had a house full of company due to the opening of hunting season.  In our family deer hunting is taken seriously.  Hunters wake up at 5am to get coffee in their thermos and head out to the deer stand before the sun comes up.  They’re usually back for a big breakfast between 10-10:30 then they are out again until after dark where they come in for a big supper before curling up under a warm blanket and watching a little TV before hitting the sack to do it all over again the next morning.  Last weekend my husband shot a 7 point buck with a drop tine that he was kind of excited about and my future daughter-in-law also got a young buck.

Me?  I’m the head chef and babysitter!  I don’t like guns, myself.  I have went bow hunting before, but that’s the extent of it for me.  Reading during the week and weekend came only late at night where I would read a few pages before falling asleep.  I finished Cleopatra: A Life which was our book club read and I also finished Redemption, but I haven’t got around to writing the reviews on either one yet.

This week I will be reading a few I had on request from the library that finally came in.  They are:

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain                                                                                                      

A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. 

Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for. 

A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

And, Still Missing by Chevy Stevens

On the day she was abducted, Annie O’Sullivan, a thirty-two-year-old Realtor, had three goals—sell a house, forget about a recent argument with her mother, and be on time for dinner with her ever-patient boyfriend. The open house is slow, but when her last visitor pulls up in a van as she’s about to leave, Annie thinks it just might be her lucky day after all.

Interwoven with the story of the year Annie spent captive in a remote mountain cabin—which unfolds through sessions with her psychiatrist—is the second narrative recounting the nightmare that follows her escape: her struggle to piece her shattered life back together, the ongoing police investigation into the identity of her captor, and the disturbing sense that things are far from over. 

Still Missing is a shocking, visceral, brutal, and beautifully crafted novel about surviving the unsurvivable—and living to bear witness.

**It’s Monday!  What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila of Book Journey.  It’s a fun way to catch up on the reading week of my fellow book bloggers and share what has happened in mine**