Sunday, December 28, 2014

Winter Street by Elin Hilderbrand


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Fun light Christmas read!  3 Stars!

Book Description by Amazon:

Kelley Quinn is the owner of Nantucket's Winter Street Inn and the proud father of four, all of them grown and living in varying states of disarray. Patrick, the eldest, is a hedge fund manager with a guilty conscience. Kevin, a bartender, is secretly sleeping with a French housekeeper named Isabelle. Ava, a school teacher, is finally dating the perfect guy but can't get him to commit. And Bart, the youngest and only child of Kelley's second marriage to Mitzi, has recently shocked everyone by joining the Marines. 

As Christmas approaches, Kelley is looking forward to getting the family together for some quality time at the inn. But when he walks in on Mitzi kissing Santa Claus (or the guy who's playing Santa at the inn's annual party), utter chaos descends. With the three older children each reeling in their own dramas and Bart unreachable in Afghanistan, it might be up to Kelley's ex-wife, nightly news anchor Margaret Quinn, to save Christmas at the Winter Street Inn. 

Before the mulled cider is gone, the delightfully dysfunctional Quinn family will survive a love triangle, an unplanned pregnancy, a federal crime, a small house fire, many shots of whiskey, and endless rounds of Christmas caroling, in this heart-warming novel about coming home for the holidays. 


Mr. Miracle by Debbie Macomber

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Debbie Macomber is the queen of Christmas fiction - Mr. Miracle continues her reign!  It's just a light sweet Christmas read.  3 stars!

Book Description from Amazon:


Beloved author Debbie Macomber celebrates the most wonderful time of the year in this heartwarming Christmas novel of romance, hope, and the comforts of home—coming soon as a Hallmark Channel original movie!
Harry Mills is a guardian angel on a mission: help twenty-four-year-old Addie Folsom get her life back on track—and, if the right moment strikes, help her find love. Posing as a teacher at a local college in Tacoma, Washington, Harry is up to the task, but not even he can predict the surprises that lay in store.

After trying to make it on her own, Addie has returned home to Tacoma for the holidays, but this time she plans to stay for good, enrolling in the local community college to earn her degree. What she doesn’t plan to do is run into Erich Simmons.

Addie and her next-door neighbor, Erich, are like night and day. Growing up, he was popular and outgoing while she was rebellious and headstrong, and he never missed an opportunity to tease her. Now she intends to avoid him entirely, yet when they’re suddenly forced to spend Christmas together, Addie braces for trouble.

Perhaps it’s the spirit of the season or the magic of mistletoe, but Addie and Erich soon find they have more in common than they thought—and that two people who seem so wrong for each other may actually be just right. With a little prompting from a certain angelic teacher, the two are in for a holiday miracle they’ll never forget.

Flesh and Blood by Patricia Cornwell

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I love the Kay Scarpetta books by Patricia Cornwell - Flesh and Blood does not disappoint!  I read this over my Thanksgiving vacation - great book to read on a plane!  Loved it - 5 stars!

Book Description from Amazon:

It’s Dr. Kay Scarpetta’s birthday, and she’s about to head to Miami for a vacation with Benton Wesley, her FBI profiler husband, when she notices seven pennies on a wall behind their Cambridge house. Is this a kids’ game? If so, why are all of the coins dated 1981 and so shiny they could be newly minted? Her cellphone rings, and Detective Pete Marino tells her there’s been a homicide five minutes away. A high school music teacher has been shot with uncanny precision as he unloaded groceries from his car. No one has heard or seen a thing.

In this 22nd Scarpetta novel, the master forensic sleuth finds herself in the unsettling pursuit of a serial sniper who leaves no incriminating evidence except fragments of copper. The shots seem impossible, yet they are so perfect they cause instant death. The victims appear to have had nothing in common, and there is no pattern to indicate where the killer will strike next. First New Jersey, then Massachusetts, and then the murky depths off the coast of South Florida, where Scarpetta investigates a shipwreck, looking for answers that only she can discover and analyze. And it is there that she comes face to face with shocking evidence that implicates her techno genius niece, Lucy, Scarpetta’s own flesh and blood.

The Andy Cohen Diaries by Andy Cohen

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I'm a huge Andy Cohen and Bravo fan - love watching his Watch What Happens Live.  I enjoyed reading about his past year with his famous friends.  4 stars!

Book Description from Amazon:

A year in the whirlwind life of the beloved pop icon Andy Cohen, in his own cheeky, candid, and irreverent words

As a TV Producer and host of the smash late night show Watch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen has a front row seat to an exciting world not many get to see. In this dishy, detailed diary of one year in his life, Andy goes out on the town, drops names, hosts a ton of shows, becomes codependent with Real Housewives, makes trouble, calls his mom, drops some more names, and, while searching for love, finds it with a dog. We learn everything from which celebrity peed in her WWHL dressing room to which Housewives are causing trouble and how. Nothing is off limits – including dating. We see Andy at home and with close friends and family (including his beloved and unforgettable mom). Throughout, Andy tells us not only what goes down, but exactly what he thinks about it. Inspired by the diaries of another celebrity-obsessed Andy (Warhol), this honest, irreverent, and laugh-out-loud funny book is a one-of-a-kind account of the whos and whats of pop culture in the 21st century.

An Island Christmas by Nancy Thayer

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Good Christmas read!  3 stars!

Book Description from Amazon:

In this enchanting holiday novel from New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer, family and friends gather on Nantucket for a gorgeous winter wedding with plenty of merry surprises in store.

As Christmas draws near, Felicia returns to her family’s home on the island to marry her adventurous, rugged boyfriend, Archie. Every detail is picture-perfect for a dream wedding: the snow-dusted streets, twinkling lights in the windows, a gorgeous red and white satin dress. Except a lavish ceremony is not Felicia’s dream at all; it’s what her mother, Jilly, wants. Jilly’s also worried that her daughter’s life with daredevil Archie will be all hiking and skydiving. Wondering if their handsome neighbor Steven Hardy might be a more suitable son-in-law, Jilly embarks on a secret matchmaking campaign for Felicia and the dashing stockbroker.

As the big day approaches and Jilly’s older daughter, Lauren, appears with rambunctious kids in tow, tensions in the household are high. With the family careening toward a Yuletide wedding disaster, an unexpected twist in Nancy Thayer’s heartwarming tale reminds everyone about the true meaning of the season.

Pegasus by Danielle Steel

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I really enjoyed Pegasus by Danielle Steel - seems like she went back to her roots and wrote this novel similar to her earlier books.  Good book - would give it 4 stars!

Book Description from Amazon:


NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In a rich historical novel of family and World War II, #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel unfurls a powerful saga that spans generations and continents. This is a story of courage, friendship, and fate as two families face the challenges of war . . . and the magnificent stallion that will link them forever.

PEGASUS

Nicolas von Bingen and Alex von Hemmerle, titled members of the German aristocracy, have been best friends since childhood. Both widowers, they are raising their children—Nick’s two lively boys and Alex’s adored teenage daughter—in peace and luxury on the vast Bavarian estates that have belonged to their families for generations. While Nick indulges in more glamorous pursuits, Alex devotes himself to breeding the renowned white Lipizzaner horses that enthrall audiences throughout Europe with their ability to dance and spin on command, majestic creatures whose bloodlines are rare and priceless. But it is Nicolas’s bloodline that changes everything, when his father receives a warning from a high-ranking contact inside the Wehrmacht. A secret from the past has left the family vulnerable to the rising tide of Nazism: Nick’s mother, whom he never knew, was of Jewish descent. 

Suddenly Nicolas must flee Germany, wrenching his sons away from the only home they have known, sailing across the Atlantic for a new life in America. Their survival will depend on a precious gift from Alex, their only stake for the future: eight purebred horses, two of them stunning Lipizzaners. In Florida, where Nicolas joins the Ringling Brothers Circus, he becomes Nick Bing, with Alex’s prize white stallion—now named Pegasus—the centerpiece of the show.

In this extraordinary book, Danielle Steel tells the story of a family reinventing itself in America, while the country they left behind is engulfed in flames and madness, and men like Alex von Hemmerle are forced to make unbearable choices. Alex’s daughter will find sanctuary in England. In America, Nick will find love, his sons will find a future, and their left-behind world will eventually find them. A novel of hope and sacrifice, of tragedy, challenge, and rebirth, Pegasus is a brilliant family chronicle that unfolds across half a century—a masterwork from one of our most beloved writers.

Natchez Burning by Greg Iles


Natchez Burning (Penn Cage, #4)
Wow!  Just finished this masterpiece by Greg Iles - Natchez Burning.  I have loved his books - love Penn Cage - the main character in this book and others.  But Natchez Burning was not just a good novel - it was a history lesson about a dark period of history - a secret cell of the KKK.  The book was slow to start for me - but once I got past the beginning - I could not put this book down.  I wish Greg Iles had tied things up for me with a bow but he doesn't - so I will run and read the next installment of this trilogy!

Book Description from Amazon:


#1 New York Times bestselling author Greg Iles returns with his most eagerly anticipated novel yet and his first in five years—Natchez Burning—the first installment in an epic trilogy that interweaves crimes, lies, and secrets past and present in a mesmerizing thriller featuring Southern lawyer and former prosecutor Penn Cage.
Growing up in the rural Southern hamlet of Natchez, Mississippi, Penn Cage learned everything he knows about honor and duty from his father, Tom Cage. But now the beloved family doctor and pillar of the community is accused of murdering Violet Turner, the beautiful nurse with whom he worked in the dark days of the early 1960s. A fighter who has always stood for justice, Penn is determined to save his father, even though Tom, stubbornly evoking doctor-patient privilege, refuses to speak up in his own defense.
The quest for answers sends Penn deep into the past—into the heart of a conspiracy of greed and murder involving the Double Eagles, a vicious KKK crew headed by one of the wealthiest and most powerful men in the state. With the aid of a local friend and reporter privy to some of Natchez's oldest and deadliest secrets, Penn follows a bloody trail that stretches back forty years, to one undeniable fact: no one—black or white, young or old, brave or not—is ever truly safe.
With everything on the line, including his own life, Penn must decide how far he will go to protect those he loves . . . and see justice done, once and for all.
Rich in Southern atmosphere and electrifying plot turns, Natchez Burning marks the brilliant return of a genuine American master of suspense. Tense and disturbing, it is the most explosive, exciting, sexy, and ambitious story Greg Iles has written yet.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Without Fail by Lee Child


Without Fail (Jack Reacher, #6)

Without Fail by Lee Child is one of the older Jack Reacher stories (#6) - in my process of clearing out my Kindle I found this book.  I do love the Jack Reacher books - he's a character I've grown to know and love.  This story was good - it drug a little in the middle - but was a good thriller.  I'd give it 3 1/2 stars and will continue to read Lee Child's books.  I would not recommend this for book club.

Editorial Review from Amazon:


What better way to test the security surrounding a U.S. vice president-elect than to hire someone skilled in the killing arts to penetrate his protection? Assassination strategy, though, is only part of the assignment facing Jack Reacher in Without Fail. This restive, blunt-edged ex-military cop must also determine whether recent threats against VP-to-be Senator Brook Armstrong are legitimate or are primarily intended to embarrass the perfectionist head of Armstrong's new Secret Service detail, M.E. Froelich, who happens to have been a girlfriend of Reacher's late brother.

If Without Fail lacks the emotional urgency of Lee Child's previous novel, Echo Burning, it still barely lets the reader catch a decent breath between plot crests. Jack and his fetching yet formidable colleague, Frances Neagley, must figure out how warning letters to Armstrong are being delivered into the Secret Service sanctum, whether the senator is at risk because of something political or personal, and who staged the demonstration murders of two innocent men also named Armstrong, first initial B. Unfortunately, a few twists (including the source of a thumbprint applied to the threats against Armstrong) can be figured out in advance, and the story is light on character development. A tiny breach in Reacher's reclusive carapace opens as Froelich transfers the love she once felt for his brother toward him, and there are suggestions that Neagley may have depths of feeling just waiting to be plumbed. However, other players are mere ciphers--the sacrificial victims of an action-oriented yarn. --J. Kingston Pierce

The Beach House by Georgia Bockoven


The Beach House

The Beach House by Georgia Bockoven was one of those reads I had leftover from my summer reading list I did not get too.  I'm in the process of trying to catch up with books on my Kindle and this was one of them.  I really enjoyed getting to meet the different characters and families that are renting Julia Huntington's beach house throughout the summer.  Not every story was tied up with a bow and I liked that.  I will definitely be looking for more by this author and will recommend this book - 4 stars.
Not sure it would be a good book club book but just a good read.  Looking on Goodreads - Georgia Bockoven has two more books in this series - guess I will check them out!

Book Description from Goodreads:

Georgia Bockoven aims straight for the heart in a tale as timeless as waves beating against the shore. The beach house is a peaceful summer heaven, a place to escape mundane troubles. Here, four families find their feelings intensified and their lives transformed. With equal measures of heartbreak and happiness, this unforgettable story tells of the beauty of life and the ...more


It Happened One Wedding by Julie James



It Happened One Wedding (FBI/US Attorney, #5)
It Happened One Wedding by Julie James was a quick read - very predictable plot and ending.  I am trying to clear my Kindle of books that have been on it for awhile - this was one.  I would not recommend it.  Two Stars.

Book Description from Amazon:

Special agent Vaughn Roberts always gets his man on the job and his woman in bed. So Sidney’s refusal to fall for his charms only makes him more determined to win over the cool and confident redhead. Only what starts out as a battle of wills ends up as a serious play for her heart. Because the one woman who refuses to be caught may be the only one Vaughn can’t live without…

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn


Sharp Objects
Wow - Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn is a creepy book.  This book was a little dark for me.  The book was a fast read but I did not enjoy the storyline.  I would not recommend this book for my book club -
2 1/2 stars.

Book Description from Amazon:

Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Gray Mountain by John Grisham


Gray Mountain
I run to buy John Grisham's books when they come out - I absolutely inhale his legal thrillers!  I didn't even care about his latest scandal about his comments about a friend in prison and child pornography as I figured the press had overblown the issue.  I do however take offense at trying to read a boring book - Mr. Grisham - you have let me down!  This was a boring book!  I learned more about strip mining, coal, black lung, etc. than I ever wanted too.  I tried to put it down and not finish the book but I decided I had to finish it to see where the story would go.  It was okay - but nothing compared to his earlier work.  Definitely a disappointment!  2 1/2 stars.  Not a good book club book - too boring - predictable plot.

Book Description from Amazon:


The year is 2008 and Samantha Kofer’s career at a huge Wall Street law firm is on the fast track—until the recession hits and she gets downsized, furloughed, escorted out of the building. Samantha, though, is one of the “lucky” associates. She’s offered an opportunity to work at a legal aid clinic for one year without pay, after which there would be a slim chance that she’d get her old job back.

In a matter of days Samantha moves from Manhattan to Brady, Virginia, population 2,200, in the heart of Appalachia, a part of the world she has only read about. Mattie Wyatt, lifelong Brady resident and head of the town’s legal aid clinic, is there to teach her how to “help real people with real problems.” For the first time in her career, Samantha prepares a lawsuit, sees the inside of an actual courtroom, gets scolded by a judge, and receives threats from locals who aren’t so thrilled to have a big-city lawyer in town. And she learns that Brady, like most small towns, harbors some big secrets.

Her new job takes Samantha into the murky and dangerous world of coal mining, where laws are often broken, rules are ignored, regulations are flouted, communities are divided, and the land itself is under attack from Big Coal. Violence is always just around the corner, and within weeks Samantha finds herself engulfed in litigation that turns deadly.
                        

We were Liars by E. Lockhart


We Were Liars

I've had this book on my Kindle for awhile - must have been on someone's summer reading list to catch my attention.  I then saw this book on Goodreads as a contender for the 2014 Book of the Year so I thought I better read it!  I read this book in one day on a long car ride home from Colorado & New Mexico - kept my attention.

We Were Liars was an interesting book - I'm not sure I loved it  - it will make for an interesting discussion because of the unexpected ending.   I don't think I would recommend this book for my particular book club as I don't think they would like it.  I'd give it 3 1/2 stars.

Book Description from Amazon:

E. Lockhart’s novel, We Were Liars, is clever, alluring, and wildly addictive. Each summer the wealthy, seemingly perfect Sinclair family meets on their private island and We Were Liars is the story of what happened there; particularly one year the protagonist, Cadence, can’t seem to remember through her migraine haze. Prejudice, greed, and shifting patriarchal favoritism amongst the three adult sisters chafes against the camaraderie and worldview of the teenage cousins and their friend Gat, who also spends summers on the island with them. Sticky lemonades on the roof and marathon Scrabble games to twisty suspense, true love, and good intentions gone horribly wrong--We Were Liars begs to be read in one sitting.


Mean Streak by Sandra Brown



Mean Streak
I used to love everything by Sandra Brown but lately her books have kinda fallen flat so I wasn't sure I wanted to read Mean Streak.  The blurb on the back cover got my attention - sounded interesting.  I read this book in a couple of days on vacation and enjoyed it.  A good thriller and vacation read.  I do not think it would be a good book club book because there would not be much of a discussion.  I'd give it 3 stars but Goodreads readers give it 4 1/2 stars.

Book Description by Goodreads:

Dr. Emory Charbonneau, a pediatrician and marathon runner, disappears on a mountain road in North Carolina. By the time her husband Jeff, miffed over a recent argument, reports her missing, the trail has grown cold. Literally. Fog and ice encapsulate the mountainous wilderness and paralyze the search for her.

While police suspect Jeff of "instant divorce," Emory, suffering from an unexplained head injury, regains consciousness and finds herself the captive of a man whose violent past is so dark that he won't even tell her his name. She's determined to escape him, and willing to take any risks necessary to survive.

Unexpectedly, however, the two have a dangerous encounter with people who adhere to a code of justice all their own. At the center of the dispute is a desperate young woman whom Emory can't turn her back on, even if it means breaking the law.

As her husband's deception is revealed, and the FBI closes in on her captor, Emory begins to wonder if the man with no name is, in fact, her rescuer.
 

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult



Leaving Time
I was lucky enough to hear Jodi Picoult speak last year at a luncheon as she has always been one of my favorite authors.  She didn't discuss Leaving Time very much because it had not been released yet but I wish I could hear her discuss this book!  I absolutely loved it!  I learned more about elephants than I would ever want to know but it was very interesting. I absolutely did not see the ending coming.  I loved Leaving Time and The Storyteller - seems like she is getting back to writing great books!  This would be a great book club book when it is released as a trade paperback.  I'd give it 5 stars.


 Book Description from Amazon:

Throughout her blockbuster career, Jodi Picoult has seamlessly blended nuanced characters, riveting plots, and rich prose, brilliantly creating stories that “not only provoke the mind but touch the flawed souls in all of us” (The Boston Globe). Now, in her highly anticipated new novel, she has delivered her most affecting work yet—a book unlike anything she’s written before.
 
For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe she was abandoned, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.
 
Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest: Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons, only to later doubt her gifts, and Virgil Stanhope, the jaded private detective who’d originally investigated Alice’s case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. As the three work together to uncover what happened to Alice, they realize that in asking hard questions, they’ll have to face even harder answers.
 
As Jenna’s memories dovetail with the events in her mother’s journals, the story races to a mesmerizing finish. A deeply moving, gripping, and intelligent page-turner, Leaving Time is Jodi Picoult at the height of her powers.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos


Falling Together

I just finished Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos and absolutely loved it!  Really a good book - I fell in love with the college friendship between Pen, Cat, and Will and wondering if the friendships will be ever be repaired during their search for Cat.  I loved meeting Pen's daughter Augusta!  This would make a great book club book and I give it 5 stars!  Easy read - great storyline.  Just read some of the reviews on Goodreads - not everybody loved it as much as I did.  Oh well - not sure I liked the conclusion of the book but that's life!

Book Description from Goodreads:

What would you do if an old friend needed you, but it meant turning your new life upside down? Pen, Will, and Cat met during the first week of their first year of college and struck up a remarkable friendship, one that sustained them and shaped them for years – until it ended abruptly, and they went their separate ways. Now, six years later, Pen is the single mother of a five-year-old girl, living with her older brother in Philadelphia and trying to make peace with the sudden death of her father. Even though she feels deserted by Will and Cat, she has never stopped wanting them back in her life, so when she receives an email from a desperate-sounding Cat asking her to meet her at their upcoming college reunion, Pen goes. What happens there sends past and present colliding and sends Pen and her friends on a journey across the world, a journey that will change everything.(less)


Found by Harlan Corben

Product Details

I love reading anything by Harlan Corben and I am liking his YA series about Mickey Bolitar - Myron's nephew.  This is the third book in the series - Found.  My problem is having a hard time remembering where the series left off when I begin the new book - would rather read all of them in succession - but that will never happen because I will not be able to wait!  Love Myron Bolitar - wish Harlan would write another with him and Winn or Wyn - see he needs to revisit him because I can't remember how his best buddies name is spelled! Quick read -  I give this 4 stars - especially if I had a YA to give it too!


Book Description from Amazon:

From internationally bestselling author Harlan Coben comes this third action-packed installment of his bestselling young adult series.

It’s been eight months since Mickey Bolitar witnessed the shocking, tragic death of his father. Eight months of lies, dark secrets, and unanswered questions. While he desperately wants answers, Mickey’s sophomore year of high school brings on a whole new set of troubles. Spoon is in the hospital, Rachel won’t tell him where he stands, his basketball teammates hate him . . . and then there’s Ema’s surprise announcement: She has an online boyfriend, and he’s vanished.

As he’s searching for Ema’s missing boyfriend (who may not even exist!), Mickey also gets roped into helping his nemesis, Troy Taylor, with a big problem. All the while, Mickey and his friends are pulled deeper into the mysteries surrounding the Abeona Shelter, risking their lives to find the answers—until the shocking climax, where Mickey finally comes face-to-face with the truth about his father.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Fall Book Club Books

First we are reading The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty.  

In the Blood by Lisa Unger is our psychological thriller we will discuss on November 11th.

Fannie Flagg's The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion is tentatively next - we usually like a good Christmas story but it's kinda early to find one and it's also hard to find a good one.  We always do our Christmas Exchange - our usual date would be Dec. 9th.  Anybody want to volunteer their house this year?  If not, I can probably have it at my house.

Private Relations : 25th Anniversary Edition by Diane Chamberlain is our pick for February 10th.  You will probably have to order it on Amazon - it's an old book that's been re-released.  She's one of my favorite authors.  We also looked at reading Necessary Lies by her also - it's a Target Club Pick if you want to read it.

Other books looked at (I may have missed a few):

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kid - Target Club Pick
This is Where I Leave You by Jonathon Tropper
Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf
Someone Else's Love Story by Joshily Jackson - Target Club Pick Aug 14
Sea Creatures by Susanna Daniel - Target Club Pick Sept 14
Whistling Past the Graveyard - by Susan Crandall - Target Club Pick Feb 14
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Light in the Ruins by Chris Bohjalian
A Long Time Gone by Karen White

Books from last email:
Their October 2014 pick is Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain - we've read her books before - just an idea.

Vogue has a Fall List that looks interesting -

The Children's Act by Ian McEwan
The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters (Also Entertainment Weekly recommends)
The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
Nora Webster by Colin Tobins
Lila by Marilynne Robinson

Here's the current book club picks from BookMovement - we've read some of them.

This Week's Top Club Picks & Rising Stars:

1. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
2. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
3. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
4. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
5. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
6. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
7. The Giver by Lois Lowry
8. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
9. The Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
10. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Some other's to look at that I sent out this summer:

Goodnight June by Sarah Jio

The New York Times bestselling author of Blackberry Winter imagines the inspiration for Goodnight Moon
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (Goodnight Songs) is an adored childhood classic, but its real origins are lost to history. In Goodnight June, Sarah Jio offers a suspenseful and heartfelt take on how the “great green room” might have come to be.

June Andersen is professionally successful, but her personal life is marred by unhappiness. Unexpectedly, she is called to settle her great-aunt Ruby’s estate and determine the fate of Bluebird Books, the children’s bookstore Ruby founded in the 1940s. Amidst the store’s papers, June stumbles upon letters between her great-aunt and the late Margaret Wise Brown—and steps into the pages of American literature.

Vintage by Susan Gloss

Vintage is Susan Gloss's sparkling debut novel in the vein of The Friday Night Knitting Club, centered around a Midwestern vintage clothing shop and and a group of women who eventually transform the store and each others' lives.

At Hourglass Vintage in Madison, Wisconsin, every item in the boutique has a story to tell . . . and so do the women who are drawn there.

Violet Turner has always dreamed of owning a shop like Hourglass Vintage. When she is faced with the possibility of losing it, she realizes that, as much as she wants to, she cannot save it alone.

Eighteen-year-old April Morgan is nearly five months along in an unplanned pregnancy when her hasty engagement is broken. When she returns the perfect 1950s wedding dress, she discovers unexpected possibilities and friends who won't let her give up on her dreams.

Betrayed by her husband, Amithi Singh begins selling off her old clothes, remnants of her past life. After decades of housekeeping and parenting a daughter who rejects her traditional ways, she fears she has nothing more ahead for her.

An engaging story that beautifully captures the essence of women's friendship and love, Vintage is a charming tale of possibility, of finding renewal and hope when we least expect it.


Some Girls Some Hats by Trudi Kanter

In 1938 Trudi Kanter, stunningly beautiful, chic and charismatic, was a hat designer for the best-dressed women in Vienna. She frequented the most elegant cafés. She had suitors. She flew to Paris to see the latest fashions. And she fell deeply in love with Walter Ehrlich, a charming and romantic businessman. But as Hitler’s tanks rolled into Austria, the world this young Jewish couple knew collapsed, leaving them desperate to escape.

In prose that cuts straight to the bone, Some Girls, Some Hats and Hitler tells the true story of Trudi’s astonishing journey from Vienna to Prague to blitzed London seeking safety for her and Walter amid the horror engulfing Europe. It was her courage, resourcefulness and perseverance that kept both her and her beloved safe during the Nazi invasion and that make this an indelible memoir of love and survival.

Sifting through a secondhand bookshop in London, an English editor stumbled upon this extraordinary book, and now, though she died in 1992, the world has a second chance to discover Trudi Kanter’s enchanting story. In these pages she is alive—vivid, tenacious and absolutely unforgettable.

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A Perfect Life by Danielle Steel


A Perfect Life

Sometimes I'm in the mood for a good story where I don't have to concentrate on too many characters or a complicated plot line.  That was me yesterday when I read  A Perfect Life by Danielle Steel.  I always read all of her books -loved her early work and have kept them all and reread many!  A Perfect Life is a typical Danielle Steel plot line - woman who has a great career - is lonely - parents died young - meets a man who doesn't fit her usual type and falls in love.  And this time there is a child who is Type 1 diabetic and blind.  Good story - quick read.  I'd give it 4 stars and would not recommend it for book club.

Book Description from Amazon:

The epitome of intelligence, high-powered energy, and grace, Blaise McCarthy is an icon in the world of television news, asking the tough questions and taking on the emotionally charged issues of world affairs and politics with courage and insight. A single mother, she manages her well-ordered career meticulously, always prepared on the air or interviewing world-renowned figures and heads of state. To her audience, Blaise seems to have it all. But privately, and off the set, there is another untold story she has kept hidden for years.
 
Blaise’s teenage daughter, Salima, was blinded by Type 1 diabetes in childhood, and her needs have kept her away in a year-round boarding school with full-time medical care and assistance ever since. When Salima’s school closes after a tragedy, Salima returns to her mother’s New York City apartment, and suddenly they face challenges they’ve never had to deal with before, and that Blaise feels ill-equipped to handle. A new caretaker provided by Salima’s school creates as many problems as he solves. Handsome, accomplished, thirty-two-year-old Simon Ward, with strong opinions on every topic, questions how mother and daughter view themselves and each other. Simon opens new doors for both of them and refuses to accept Salima’s physical limitations. He turns their world upside down, and the three become friends.
 
Then everything starts to unravel and Blaise can’t keep her two worlds separate anymore. A beautiful young anchorwoman is hired at the network; it is no secret that she is being groomed to take Blaise’s place. Her career as she has known it is threatened, and her previously well-ordered life feels totally out of control. For the first time, Blaise’s life is not perfect, but real.
 
In this unforgettable tale, the incomparable Danielle Steel has written a novel that pulsates with emotion and honesty as three people face the truth about themselves. A Perfect Life is about what we do when facades fall away and we can no longer run from the truth. As old ideas fail, everything changes, and life is suddenly brand-new.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Dear Daughter by Elizabeth Little



Dear Daughter
I really wanted to like Dear Daughter by Elizabeth Little.  It's been compared to Gone Girl, etc. but this book did not live up to it's billing.  The book dragged a little - I really didn't relate to Janie Jenkins who is trying to figure out her mother's past and who could have killed her mother.  The book was ok - 3 stars - not a good book club book.

Book Description from Goodreads:

As soon as they processed my release Noah and I hit the ground running. A change of clothes. A wig. An inconspicuous sedan. We doubled back once, twice, then drove south when we were really headed east. In San Francisco we had a girl who looked like me board a plane to Hawaii.

Oh, I thought I was so clever.

But you probably already know that I'm not.


LA IT girl Janie Jenkins has it all. The looks, the brains, the connections. The criminal record.

Ten years ago, in a trial that transfixed America, Janie was convicted of murdering her mother. Now she's been released on a technicality she's determined to unravel the mystery of her mother's last words, words that send her to a tiny town in the very back of beyond. But with the whole of America's media on her tail, convinced she's literally got away with murder, she has to do everything she can to throw her pursuers off the scent.

She knows she really didn't like her mother. Could she have killed her?(less)

Heroes Are My Weakness by Susan Elizabeth Phillips



Heroes Are My Weakness
I devour everything written by Susan Elisabeth Phillips and usually read each book many times.  That being said, this book Heroes Are My Weakness, was good but not great.  No laugh at loud moments, I was a little bored in the beginning and the book was totally predictable.  I will keep reading her but probably won't recommend this title.  Not a good book club read - 3 1/2 stars.

Book Description from Goodreads:

The dead of winter.  An isolated island off the coast of Maine .  A man.  A woman.

A sinister house looming over the sea ...

He's a reclusive writer whose macabre imagination creates chilling horror novels. She's a down-on-her-luck actress reduced to staging kids' puppet shows. He knows a dozen ways to kill with his bare hands. She knows a dozen ways to kill with laughs.

But she's not laughing now. When she was a teenager, he terrified her. Now they're trapped together on a snowy island off the coast of Maine. Is he the villain she remembers or has he changed? Her head says no. Her heart says yes.

It's going to be a long, hot winter.(less)

This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper



This is Where I Leave You

I absolutely loved every minute of This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper - this book was published in 2009 - don't know how I missed it!  It's absolutely hilarious and totally inappropriate with lots of sex - don't recommend it to people who would be offended.  

The book is narrated by Judd Foxman who is separated from his wife and been called back home to sit shiva for his father.  His family is (of course) very dysfunctional - his mother (played by Jane Fonda in the movie that has just been released) is a child-rearing expert who has a boob job and has no problem talking about her sex life and her children's!  Each character in this book is developed well and shades of every family are probably present and totally relatable!  Loved it!  5 stars but inappropriate!  Would be a great book club book!


Book Description from Amazon:

The death of Judd Foxman's father marks the first time that the entire Foxman clan has congregated in years. There is, however, one conspicuous absence: Judd's wife, Jen, whose affair with his radio- shock-jock boss has recently become painfully public. Simultaneously mourning the demise of his father and his marriage, Judd joins his dysfunctional family as they reluctantly sit shiva-and spend seven days and nights under the same roof. The week quickly spins out of control as longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed and old passions are reawakened. Then Jen delivers the clincher: she's pregnant.

This Is Where I Leave You is Jonathan Tropper's (One Last Thing Before I Go) most accomplished work to date, and a riotously funny, emotionally raw novel about love, marriage, divorce, family, and the ties that bind-whether we like it or not. 

Sunday, August 10, 2014

Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore


Bittersweet
I started reading Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore after overhearing some people discussing this book and how they absolutely loved it.  I also saw it on lots of people's summer reading list so I added it to mine.  This is a long read and full of twists and turns.  I did think the book lagged in a few places and I did not like how the story concluded - wish the ending had more to it's resolution.  But isn't that the sign of a good book - it leaves you wanting more?

This book is a great beach read - a mystery, romance, beach, wealthy family estate, art history, etc.  It is not a mindless read though - beautifully written.  This will be a great book club book - lots to discuss but not everybody will like it because of the plot dragging in a few places.  Probably the best book I've read lately.  I'd give it 5 stars!

Amazon Book Description:

On scholarship at a prestigious East Coast college, ordinary Mabel Dagmar is surprised to befriend her roommate, the beautiful, wild, blue-blooded Genevra Winslow. Ev invites Mabel to spend the summer at Bittersweet, her cottage on the Vermont estate where her family has been holding court for more than a century; it’s the kind of place where children twirl sparklers across the lawn during cocktail hour. Mabel falls in love with midnight skinny-dipping, the wet dog smell that lingers near the yachts, and the moneyed laughter that carries across the still lake while fireworks burst overhead. Before she knows it, she has everything she’s ever wanted:  friendship, a boyfriend, access to wealth, and, most of all, for the first time in her life, the sense that she belongs.

But as Mabel becomes an insider, a terrible discovery leads to shocking violence and reveals what the Winslows may have done to keep their power intact - and what they might do to anyone who threatens them. Mabel must choose: either expose the ugliness surrounding her and face expulsion from paradise, or keep the family’s dark secrets and make Ev's world her own. 

The Girls of August by Anne Rivers Siddons



The Girls of August
I absolutely love anything written by Anne Rivers Siddons -her books about the South just draw you in with her wonderful writing and stories.  That being said, The Girls of August just didn't "take me away" like some of other works such as Colony.  It is a good book but the plot just left me wanting more.  The plot resolution was not satisfying.  I'm going to go back and read some of her earlier novels.  I'd give this probably 3 1/2 stars and not recommend it for my book club.


Book Description from Amazon:
Every August, four women would gather together to spend a week at the beach, renting a new house each year. The ritual began when they were in their twenties and their husbands were in medical school, and became a mainstay of every summer thereafter. Their only criteria was oceanfront and isolation, their only desire to strengthen their far-flung friendships. They called themselves the Girls of August. But when one of the Girls dies tragically, the group slowly drifts apart and their vacations together are brought to a halt. Years later, a new marriage reunites them and they decide to come together once again on a remote barrier island off the South Carolina coast. There, far from civilization, the women make startling discoveries that will change them in ways they never expected.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Nantucket Sisters by Nancy Thayer



Nantucket Sisters
Just finished Nantucket Sisters by Nancy Thayer last night - it's a good beach read!  No surprises, pretty predictable plot but just good summer reading.  I enjoyed it!  I don't see this book as a good book club choice as there would not be much discussion about the book. 4 stars!

Book Description from Amazon:

Friendship takes center stage in New York Times bestselling author Nancy Thayer’s captivating, emotionally charged novel featuring all the tenderness and wit, drama and romance that readers have come to expect from this insightful, much-loved writer.
 
When they meet as girls on a beach in Nantucket, Maggie Drew and Emma Hudson become fast friends—though Emma’s well-heeled mother would prefer that she associate with the upscale daughters of bankers and statesmen rather than the child of a local seamstress. But the two lively, imaginative girls nevertheless spend many golden summers together building castles in the sand, creating magical worlds of their own, and forging grand plans for their future.
 
Even as Emma falls for Maggie’s brother, Ben, and the young women’s paths diverge, the duo remain close friends. Then the unthinkable happens: a lifelong friendship is pushed to its breaking point with the appearance of the handsome, charismatic, charming, and incredibly sexy Wall Street trader Cameron Chadwick—upending both of their lives.
 
Struggling with the difficult choices they have made and the secrets they have kept, Maggie and Emma find the road to love and fulfillment is full of bumps and twists, as well as entirely unexpected and quite wonderful turns of the heart. They also learn that while true love may be rare, a true friendship is rarer still.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Inside Man by Jeff Abbott

Inside Man (Sam Capra # 4)

I just finished Inside Man by Jeff Abbott - what a great thriller which I absolutely loved!  Inside Man continues the adventures of former CIA agent Sam Capra who now owns bars across the world which were given to him by the Round Table- a secret organization.  (This secret organization is still really "secret" as we don't learn more about it in this novel!).

This time the action takes place in Miami where Sam goes to check out his bar in Miami - his friend Steve is murdered and Sam is drawn into a maze of a powerful Miami family.  There is a little romance, lots of action, and twists and turns that I did not see coming.  The middle dragged a little for me - but stick with it - the last third of the book was a wild roller coaster ride!  Loved it - 5 stars!


Book Description from Amazon:

Following Adrenaline, The Last Minute, and Downfall, Jeff Abbott returns with the next riveting novel in the award-winning New York Timesbestselling Sam Capra series.

INSIDE MAN

Sam Capra's friend Steve has been murdered, shot dead in the rain outside of his Miami bar. The only lead: a mysterious, beautiful stranger Steve tried to protect. To avenge his friend, Sam goes undercover into the Varelas, one of Miami's most prominent and dangerous families.

Now on the inside, playing a part where one wrong move means death, Sam faces a powerful, unstable tycoon intent on dividing his business empire between his three very different children, who each may hold murderous secrets of their own.

Sam is relentlessly drawn into this family's intense drama, amplifying painful echoes of his own shattered relationships as a son, brother, father, and husband. And just when he thinks he understands why the family is self-destructing, he discovers a lethal secret so shocking that the Varelas cannot let him walk away alive . . . 

Sunday, July 6, 2014

The House on Mermaid Point by Wendy Wax



The House on Mermaid Point
Just finished The House on Mermaid Point by Wendy Wax - a fun 4th of July read for me - ok - I wasn't at the beach but enjoyed my light summertime fun read!  I've enjoyed all of Wendy Wax's books with Maddie, Avery, Nikki, Deirdre and Kyra and their reality decorating show "Do Over". I've enjoyed seeing how these women have become strong as they've faced many obstacles and personal challenges.  Lots of fun between the ladies!  

This book highlights Maddie and her potential romance with a rock legend William Hightower - the owner of the house on a private island in the keys that the show is renovating.  I like seeing how romance may not be dead in the older generation!  

What I'm not enjoying is the different stories and romances are left in limbo for the next book in the series - don't need to drag them out so long.  My favorite book in this series was probably the first one - Ten Beach Road.  Anyway - will look forward to the next one!  4 stars!


Book Description on Amazon

In this new novel from the author of Ten Beach Road and Ocean Beach, three unlikely friends who were thrown together by disaster get a do-over on life, love, and happiness . . . 

Maddie, Avery, and Nikki first got to know one another—perhaps all too well—while desperately restoring a beachfront mansion to its former grandeur. Now they’re putting that experience to professional use. But their latest project has presented some challenges they couldn’t have dreamed up in their wildest fantasies—although the house does belong to a man who actually was Maddie’s wildest fantasy once . . .

Rock-and-roll legend “William the Wild” Hightower may be past his prime, estranged from his family, and creatively blocked, but he’s still worshiped by fans—which is why he guards his privacy on his own island in the Florida Keys. He’s not thrilled about letting this crew turn his piece of paradise into a bed-and-breakfast for a reality show . . . though he is intrigued by Maddie. Hard as that is for her to believe as a newly single woman who can barely manage a dog paddle in the dating pool.

But whether it’s an unexpected flirtation with a bona fide rock star, a strained mother-daughter relationship, or a sudden tragedy, these women are in it together. The only thing that might drive them apart is being trapped on a houseboat with one bathroom . . . 

Thursday, July 3, 2014

In the Blood by Lisa Unger



In the Blood
This was my first time to read author Lisa Unger and I can't wait to catch up on her previous thrillers!  In the Blood is a great psychological  thriller - so many twists and turns that I absolutely did not see coming.  Very dark - very thought provoking as we learn about college student Lana Granger and all her problems.  She has led a very complicated life and her professor urges her to get her first job - babysitting troubled Luke (Of course the reader wants to say "No - don't take the job - run!").  Through flashbacks and a diary - we learn more about the past but we are not sure whose past we are learning about - again - lots of twists and turns!

Lots of thought provoking questions are still lingering after I finished and I would love to discuss - mental illness passed down from one generation to another - definition of psychopaths and what age can they be identified, how do you handle a difficult child, can a difficult birth cause problems in a child, how a troubled child affects a marriage, at what age can a child manipulate his/her parents, etc.
As I'm still thinking about this novel several days later, I'd give it 5 stars!  Dark good read!

Book Description from Amazon:

SOMEONE KNOWS LANA'S SECRET - AND HE'S DYING TO TELL.

LANA GRANGER LIVES A LIFE OF LIES. She has told so many lies about where she comes from and who she is that the truth is like a cloudy nightmare she can't quite recall. About to graduate from college and with her trust fund almost tapped out, she takes a job babysitting a troubled boy named Luke. Expelled from schools all over the country, the manipulative young Luke is accustomed to control­ling the people in his life. But, in Lana, he may have met his match. Or has Lana met hers? 

When Lana's closest friend, Beck, mysteriously disappears, Lana resumes her lying ways--to friends, to the police, to herself. The police have a lot of questions for Lana when the story about her where­abouts the night Beck disappeared doesn't jibe with eyewitness accounts. Lana will do anything to hide the truth, but it might not be enough to keep her ominous secrets buried: someone else knows about Lana's lies. And he's dying to tell. 

Lisa Unger's writing has been hailed as "stellar" (USA Today), "arresting and meaningful" (Washington Post) with "gripping narrative and evocative, muscular prose" (Associated Press). Masterfully suspenseful, finely crafted, and written with a no-holds-barred raw power, In the Blood is Unger at her best.

One plus One by Jojo Noyes

One Plus One


Just stayed up tip 2 am to finish One plus One by Jojo Noyes - (my Jawbone up24 sleep counter isn't liking the little number on the bottom of my Kindle telling me I have 23 minutes left to finish the book - hurting my sleep stats!) - absolutely loved this book and this author!  

Jojo Noyes does a great job of drawing you into characters you probably would ignore in everyday life - like the hardworking cleaning woman Jess and her goth stepson and math prodigy daughter.  Jess's problems seem insurmountable but her good heart and incredible work ethic make you cheer for her!  Along comes the software genius Ed who has major problems of his own to deal with but somehow he's pulled into Jess's complicated life and ends up driving them to a math competition.  As nothing comes easy for Jess, opening up her heart and asking for help is nearly impossible and Ed is also very resistant to any new relationships with all his problems.  

This sweet quirky story will make a great movie - haven't checked to see if it's been optioned - the story reminds me of  "Little Miss Sunshine"?  I think book clubs across both oceans will love this - I hope mine will love it!  5 stars!!!  Great read!


Book Description from Amazon:
Suppose your life sucks. A lot. Your husband has done a vanishing act, your teenage stepson is being bullied, and your math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you can’t afford to pay for. That’s Jess’s life in a nutshell—until an unexpected knight in shining armor offers to rescue them. Only Jess’s knight turns out to be Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. But Ed has big problems of his own, and driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages . . . maybe ever.
 
One Plus One is Jojo Moyes at her astounding best. You’ll laugh, you’ll weep, and when you flip the last page, you’ll want to start all over again.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Summer Reads

Hope everybody is enjoying their summer!  If you are looking for something to read, here's some ideas!  I haven't read all of these - just going by reading reviews and seeing some summer reading lists.

Happy Reading!!  Book Descriptions from Amazon

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Goodnight June by Sarah Jio

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (Goodnight Songs) is an adored childhood classic, but its real origins are lost to history. In Goodnight June, Sarah Jio offers a suspenseful and heartfelt take on how the “great green room” might have come to be.

June Andersen is professionally successful, but her personal life is marred by unhappiness. Unexpectedly, she is called to settle her great-aunt Ruby’s estate and determine the fate of Bluebird Books, the children’s bookstore Ruby founded in the 1940s. Amidst the store’s papers, June stumbles upon letters between her great-aunt and the late Margaret Wise Brown—and steps into the pages of American literature.

Bittersweet by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore (Not in paperback yet)

   On scholarship at a prestigious East Coast college, ordinary Mabel Dagmar is surprised to befriend her roommate, the beautiful, wild, blue-blooded Genevra Winslow. Ev invites Mabel to spend the summer at Bittersweet, her cottage on the Vermont estate where her family has been holding court for more than a century; it’s the kind of place where children twirl sparklers across the lawn during cocktail hour. Mabel falls in love with midnight skinny-dipping, the wet dog smell that lingers near the yachts, and the moneyed laughter that carries across the still lake while fireworks burst overhead. Before she knows it, she has everything she’s ever wanted:  friendship, a boyfriend, access to wealth, and, most of all, for the first time in her life, the sense that she belongs.

   But as Mabel becomes an insider, a terrible discovery leads to shocking violence and reveals what the Winslows may have done to keep their power intact - and what they might do to anyone who threatens them. Mabel must choose: either expose the ugliness surrounding her and face expulsion from paradise, or keep the family’s dark secrets and make Ev's world her own.


Vintage by Susan Gloss

Vintage is Susan Gloss's sparkling debut novel in the vein of The Friday Night Knitting Club, centered around a Midwestern vintage clothing shop and and a group of women who eventually transform the store and each others' lives.

At Hourglass Vintage in Madison, Wisconsin, every item in the boutique has a story to tell . . . and so do the women who are drawn there.

Violet Turner has always dreamed of owning a shop like Hourglass Vintage. When she is faced with the possibility of losing it, she realizes that, as much as she wants to, she cannot save it alone.

Eighteen-year-old April Morgan is nearly five months along in an unplanned pregnancy when her hasty engagement is broken. When she returns the perfect 1950s wedding dress, she discovers unexpected possibilities and friends who won't let her give up on her dreams.

Betrayed by her husband, Amithi Singh begins selling off her old clothes, remnants of her past life. After decades of housekeeping and parenting a daughter who rejects her traditional ways, she fears she has nothing more ahead for her.

An engaging story that beautifully captures the essence of women's friendship and love, Vintage is a charming tale of possibility, of finding renewal and hope when we least expect it.


Some Girls Some Hats by Trudi Kanter

In 1938 Trudi Kanter, stunningly beautiful, chic and charismatic, was a hat designer for the best-dressed women in Vienna. She frequented the most elegant cafés. She had suitors. She flew to Paris to see the latest fashions. And she fell deeply in love with Walter Ehrlich, a charming and romantic businessman. But as Hitler’s tanks rolled into Austria, the world this young Jewish couple knew collapsed, leaving them desperate to escape.

In prose that cuts straight to the bone, Some Girls, Some Hats and Hitler tells the true story of Trudi’s astonishing journey from Vienna to Prague to blitzed London seeking safety for her and Walter amid the horror engulfing Europe. It was her courage, resourcefulness and perseverance that kept both her and her beloved safe during the Nazi invasion and that make this an indelible memoir of love and survival.

Sifting through a secondhand bookshop in London, an English editor stumbled upon this extraordinary book, and now, though she died in 1992, the world has a second chance to discover Trudi Kanter’s enchanting story. In these pages she is alive—vivid, tenacious and absolutely unforgettable.


Some of My Favorite Beach Read Authors - should be paperbacks

Four Friends by Robyn Carr
Ladies Night by Mary Kay Andrews -
Porch Lights by Dorothea Benton Frank
The Time Between  by Karen White
Island Girls by Nancy Thayer
Beautiful Day by Elin Hilderbrand
The Supreme Macaroni Company (Last in trilogy - Bravo, Valentine Series) by Adriana Trigiani

You can cut and paste these links to get some other book ideas!

http://www.redbookmag.com/health-wellness/advice/summer-beach-reads

http://fun.familyeducation.com/slideshow/reading-fun/


From Book Movement:

This Week's Top Club Picks and Rising Stars:
1. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
2. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
3. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
4. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
5. The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin - Author
6. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
7. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
8. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
9. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
10. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Rising Stars: The Museum of Extraordinary Things Alice Hoffman
& The Vacationers by Emma Straub