Family Pictures by Jane Green

Tempting Fate was an awesome read by Jane Green!  After I finished that book, I went to see what other reads of Jane's that I hadn't read so I picked up Family Pictures.  I was disappointed - after loving Tempting Fate then reading Robyn Carr's Four Friend's - I was hungry for another good fast read.  Disappointment - not near as good as Tempting Fate.  The plot was about two women who find out they are married to the same man.  It took forever for the wives to discover they were being deceived - the plot was not believable, I didn't relate to the women at all, and felt that plot drug awhile.  So I'll just give this book 3 stars.

From Amazon:

New York Times bestseller Jane Green delivers a riveting novel about two women whose lives intersect when a shocking secret is revealed

From the author of Another Piece of My Heart comes Family Pictures, the gripping story of two women who live on opposite coasts but whose lives are connected in ways they never could have imagined.  Both women are wives and mothers to children who are about to leave the nest for school.  They're both in their forties and have husbands who travel more than either of them would like.  They are both feeling an emptiness neither had expected.  But when a shocking secret is exposed, their lives are blown apart.  As dark truths from the past reveal themselves, will these two women be able to learn to forgive, for the sake of their children, if not for themselves?

Four Friends by Robyn Carr

I just devoured Four Friends by Robyn Carr - started it last night and finished today!  It was a great read - would be a good book club selection and a fun beach read.  I really enjoyed getting to know the four women and how they were there for each other through their daily walks and problems!  I'd give this book 5 stars!

From #1 New York Times bestselling author  Robyn Carr comes the story of four friends determined to find their stride. Ultimately, they'll discover what it means to be a wife, mother, lover, friend…and most important: your true self. 

Gerri can't decide what's more devastating: learning her rock-solid marriage has big cracks, or the anger she feels as she tries to repair them. Always the anchor for friends and her three angst-ridden teenagers, it's time to look carefully at herself. The journey is more than revealing—it's transforming. 

Andy doesn't have a great track record with men, and she's come to believe that a lasting love is out of reach. When she finds herself attracted to her down-to-earth contractor—a man without any of the qualities that usually appeal to her—she questions everything she thought she wanted in life. 

Sonja's lifelong pursuit of balance is shattered when her husband declares he's through with her New Age nonsense and walks out. There's no herbal tonic or cleansing ritual that can restore her serenity—or her sanity. 

Miraculously, it's BJ, the reserved newcomer to Mill Valley, who steps into their circle and changes everything. The woman with dark secrets opens up to her neighbors, and together they get each other back on track, stronger as individuals and unfaltering as friends. 

What I want on my Blog

Okay - I'm trying to get my blog to something that will be easily readable and fun.  I'm having a hard time finding someone to help locally with web design and teaching me how to set this up.
So here's my list of what I want to add.

1.  I'd like to add my TBR pile.
2.  List of all books read each year with a link to the review of each book.
3.  Links to Goodreads, Amazon & Barnes & Noble
4.  Learn how to add pictures
5.  Learn how to put the book covers on the blog
6.  Group reviews also by genre
7.  Add quotes
8.  Review policy
9.  What I don't like to read:  nonfiction, history, erotica, paranormal, time travel
10.  Set up Twitter, facebook & instagram, pinterest
11.  Is title good?  maybe a better one?
12.  Guest blogs

Fun Book quotes:


One of the great things about books is sometimes there are some fantastic pictures.”
― George W. Bush

I guess there are never enough books.”
― John Steinbeck, A John Steinbeck Encyclopedia


“For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.”
― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

Tempting Fate by Jane Green

I saw Jane Green on the Today show talking about her new book Tempting Fate and the premise intrigued me.  She talked about how it is not always the man who has the affair and not many books had been written about when the woman makes the mistake of having the affair.  Ms. Green explained about how when some women turn 40 - it becomes "pots and pans" and they quit feeling attractive so any attention they get just feels great.  So I started this book yesterday and finished at 1:30 am last night!!

Tempting Fate drew me in from the beginning - a bunch of forty something gals out-on-the-town for a girl's night out.  The main character, Gabby, is not having a good time and is surprised about how much the girl's are flirting.  When a handsome younger man starts talking to her, she is so amazed and has so much fun talking with him.  As this relationship develops, I just want to smack her and wake her up to what she is doing.  I could so relate to Gabby and her feelings of not liking being "middle- aged" and how nice it would be to have someone else pay attention to you - (and I have an absolutely terrific husband!).

I would love for our book club to read Tempting Fate when it comes out in trade paperback - I think it would be a great discussion book about aging, marriages, girl's night out, flirting, friendly emails, etc.  I would absolutely recommend this book and give it 5 stars.


From Amazon:

From Jane Green, the New York Times bestselling author of such beloved novels as Jemima J, The Beach House, Another Piece of My Heart, comes an enthralling and emotional story about how much we really understand the temptations that can threaten even the most idyllic of relationships….

Gabby and Elliott have been happily married for eighteen years. They have two teenaged daughters. They have built a life together. Forty-three year old Gabby is the last person to have an affair. She can’t relate to the way her friends desperately try to cling to the beauty and allure of their younger years…And yet, she too knows her youth is quickly slipping away. She could never imagine how good it would feel to have a handsome younger man show interest in her—until the night it happens. Matt makes Gabby feel sparkling, fascinating, alive—something she hasn't felt in years. What begins as a long-distance friendship soon develops into an emotional affair as Gabby discovers her limits and boundaries are not where she expects them to be. Intoxicated, Gabby has no choice but to step ever deeper into the allure of attraction and attention, never foreseeing the life-changing consequences that lie ahead. If she makes one wrong move she could lose everything—and find out what really matters most.

A heartfelt and complex story, Tempting Fate will have readers gripped until they reach the very last page, and thinking about the characters long after they put the book down.

Missing You by Harlan Corben

Whenever I see Harlan Corben is releasing a new novel, I immediately pre-order the book as he is one of my favorite authors.  I started Missing You by Harlan Corben Saturday afternoon and finished it later that night.  His novels usually hook me by the first two pages - this one took a couple of chapters.  Missing You is one of my least favorite books he has written - it is a stand alone novel.

I did like the main character NYPD Detective Kat Donovan - feel like Mr. Corben could do a series of books with her.  I did feel like the plot of this novel based on an online dating profile that revealed an old love, her father's murder, and kidnappings was really far-fetched. I did not understand Kat's long-term attachment to her old love Jeff.  I never got an emotional attachment to Jeff.

What I did like was a fleeting mention of one of my favorite character's in Mr. Corben's novels of Win as they visited his offices - made me go back and start reading a Myron Boliter novel again -  best series ever!  Love those books!

Even though Missing You is not one of my favorites - I'd still recommend it and give it 4 1/2 stars.  Can't wait for the next Harlan Corben book!

P.S.  I'm trying to keep track of how many books I read this year - after finishing Missing You, I immediately started rereading the last Myron Boliter book - Live Wire - to refresh my memory on why Win had disappeared.  I hope Mr. Corben gives us more on Myron Boliter besides his books on Mickey Boliter (which are good also!).  This series is full of drama, irreverent humor, and smart plotting - just love them - need to start from the beginning again!


From Amazon:
It's a profile, like all the others on the online dating site. But as NYPD Detective Kat Donovan focuses on the accompanying picture, she feels her whole world explode, as emotions she’s ignored for decades come crashing down on her. Staring back at her is her ex-fiancé Jeff, the man who shattered her heart—and who she hasn’t seen in 18 years.

Kat feels a spark, wondering if this might be the moment when past tragedies recede and a new world opens up to her. But when she reaches out to the man in the profile, her reawakened hope quickly darkens into suspicion and then terror as an unspeakable conspiracy comes to light, in which monsters prey upon the most vulnerable. 

As the body count mounts and Kat's hope for a second chance with Jeff grows more and more elusive, she is consumed by an investigation that challenges her feelings about everyone she ever loved—her former fiancé, her mother, and even her father, whose cruel murder so long ago has never been fully explained. With lives on the line, including her own, Kat must venture deeper into the darkness than she ever has before, and discover if she has the strength to survive what she finds there.

High Treason by John Gilstrap

I was a first time reader of John Gilstrap with his book High Treason.  It is a Jonathan Grave book and based on this book - I probably won't be reading any more of his writing.  Looking at the reviews on Amazon, his readers have liked his other books a lot more than this one.

High Treason starts off really well - the kidnapping or disappearance of the First Lady.  But the whole plot was so convoluted and unbelievable that the whole book just feel flat.  I was disappointed in the storyline.  I thought it was because of this just being the first of a Jonathan Grave book series that I had read that it just wasn't stand alone material but I just think it was a weak plot line.  I'd give this book 3 stars.

From Amazon:

First Lady Anna Darmond has been kidnapped in a bloody gunfight. It's an unthinkable crime that, if revealed, could cause public panic, so hostage rescue specialist Jonathan Grave and his team must operate in absolute secrecy. But the mission is not all it seems. There are shadows in Mrs. Darmond's past. Cracks in the presidential marriage. Leaks in the country's critical shields of security. As Grave tracks the missing First Lady through a labyrinth of lies and murder, he confronts a traitor at the highest level of Washington power--and a devastating scheme to bring a nation to its knees. . .

March Book Club

Hey gals,

We had a great book club this week discussing the book Don't Go by Lisa Scottoline.  We all agreed that it was a fast read but totally unbelievable.  We did have a really good discussion though about the book and everybody had read it - yeah!!  We were surprised that this was a Target Book Club Pick - not there usual high standards.  What made the book totally unbelievable was all the tragedy that happened to poor Mike Scanlon.  Especially after he returns home and his life falls apart - in ONE WEEK - okay editors - should have given that storyline three months!  (None of us had figured out the ending though.)

Lisa Scottoline has some great books - give her another try - We may have read "Look Again" by her as a book club.  Her series about a female law firm with attorney Bennie Rosato are always easy good mystery/thriller reads.

From Amazon on Don't Go - Writing for the first time from a male perspective, Scottoline tackles a number of heavy issues in this story of a soldier returning from Afghanistan who is forced to deal with even more dire crises on the home front. Mike Scanlon finds his skills as a podiatric surgeon in increasing demand in Afghanistan as a result of the proliferation of IEDs and feels grateful to be able to help so many wounded soldiers. Then he learns his wife has died as the result of a freak household accident, leaving their newborn baby girl without a mother. Overwhelmed, he agrees to let his sister-in-law and her husband take over parenting duties, and re-ups for another tour. But a devastating injury sends him home once again, where he learns a shocking secret about his wife, one that presents the possibility that her death was not an accident. Although this novel feels, at times, overstuffed with issues and superficial in its treatment of PTSD, it will no doubt find a ready audience among Scottoline’s enormous fan base. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Scottoline’s hugely popular Rosato & Associates series as well as the success of her recent stand-alone titles guarantee an audience for this one. --Joanne Wilkinson --

In April we are reading "Where'd You go Bernadette" by Maria Semple.  Okay - gals - I absolutely loved this quirky book - please give it a shot.  When you read what the book is about - you won't want to read it.  And it's written in the form of letters & emails - takes a few pages to get into it.  But stick with it - you will laugh out loud - maybe cry - and won't be able to figure out where this crazy story is going.  Please finish it so we can discuss the ending!  So go get it NOW to pass around!!

Mark your calendars - We are meeting on Tuesday, April 8th at 11:30 at The Blue Mug - hopefully sitting outside!

April - Where'd You go Bernadette by Maria Semple
May - Heartburn by Nora Ephron

From Amazon about "Where'd You Go Bernadette?"  - Bernadette Fox is notorious. To her Microsoft-guru husband, she's a fearlessly opinionated partner; to fellow private-school mothers in Seattle, she's a disgrace; to design mavens, she's a revolutionary architect, and to 15-year-old Bee, she is a best friend and, simply, Mom.

Then Bernadette disappears. It began when Bee aced her report card and claimed her promised reward: a family trip to Antarctica. But Bernadette's intensifying allergy to Seattle--and people in general--has made her so agoraphobic that a virtual assistant in India now runs her most basic errands. A trip to the end of the earth is problematic.

To find her mother, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, secret correspondence--creating a compulsively readable and touching novel about misplaced genius and a mother and daughter's role in an absurd world.

Here are the Book Movements Top Ten for this week:
Top Ten LIst
1. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
2. Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
3. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
4. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
5. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
6. The Light Between Oceans by ML Stedman
7. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
8. Divergent by Veronica Roth
9. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
10. And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini

Happy Reading!


     

After I'm Gone by Laura Lippman

I  just finished Laura Lippman's After I'm Gone.  This thriller/mystery spans several decades about the family of Felix Brewer - he disappeared to escape going to jail and left behind his wife and three daughters, a mistress and business partners.  There are many characters to keep track of and the story dragged a little.  It took me a week to read which is a little long for me - usually if a book really grabs me - I don't get anything done til it's finished.  I like the author's style of writing - will read her again.  I'd give this book 3 1/2 stars.

Book Description from Amazon:

Laura Lippman, the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Most Dangerous Thing, I’d Know You Anywhere, and What the Dead Know, returns with an addictive story that explores how one man’s disappearance echoes through the lives of the wife, mistress, and daughters he left behind.

When Felix Brewer meets Bernadette “Bambi” Gottschalk at a Valentine’s Dance in 1959, he charms her with wild promises, some of which he actually keeps. Thanks to his lucrative—if not all legal—businesses, she and their three little girls live in luxury. But on the Fourth of July, 1976, Bambi’s comfortable world implodes when Felix, newly convicted and facing prison, mysteriously vanishes.

Though Bambi has no idea where her husband—or his money—might be, she suspects one woman does: his mistress, Julie. When Julie disappears ten years to the day that Felix went on the lam, everyone assumes she’s left to join her old lover—until her remains are eventually found.

Now, twenty-six years after Julie went missing, Roberto “Sandy” Sanchez, a retired Baltimore detective working cold cases for some extra cash, is investigating her murder. What he discovers is a tangled web stretching over three decades that connects five intriguing women. And at the center is the missing man Felix Brewer.

Somewhere between the secrets and lies connecting past and present, Sandy will find the truth. And when he does, no one will ever be the same.

Real Life & Liars by Kristina Riggle

I enjoyed reading Real Life & Liars by Kristina Riggle - a first time novelist.  The main character's Mirabelle Zielinski has just discovered she has breast cancer and is celebrating her thirtieth wedding anniversary.  Her adult children come home with all of their own problems.  This novel did not always go as I anticipated and kept me interested.  I'd give it 4 stars.

Amazon - From Booklist:  

Mirabelle and Max Zielinski’s children have returned home for their parents’ thirtieth anniversary. Mirabelle must tell them that she was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer, but they’re preoccupied with their own crises. Katya, the eldest, hides behind a perfectly controlled front, but her marriage and affluent lifestyle are in jeopardy. Ivan, the moody middle child, keeps pursuing the wrong women and can’t get his songwriting career off the ground. The youngest, Irina, shows up with a surprise husband and pregnancy. Faced with her mortality, Mirabelle is stricken by how her children have diverged from her hippie upbringing and wonders if they still need her. Riggle crafts a moving and accomplished first novel about a family coming to terms with change. The characters are familiar but not stereotypical, and the quaint setting of Charlevoix, Michigan, a beachfront town, adds to the nostalgic feel. --Aleksandra Walker

Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly

I just finished Gods of Guilt by Michael Connelly.  It's a typical read by Michael Connelly about the Lincoln lawyer Mickey Haller.  This book was okay - but I got bogged down with all the details of the current case, the past case, all the investigators, and the federal court system.  I don't think the case was as interesting as some of the past Mickey Haller books.  I give it 3 1/2 stars.


From Amazon:


Defense attorney Mickey Haller returns with a haunting case in the gripping new thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly.
Mickey Haller gets the text, "Call me ASAP - 187," and the California penal code for murder immediately gets his attention. Murder cases have the highest stakes and the biggest paydays, and they always mean Haller has to be at the top of his game.

When Mickey learns that the victim was his own former client, a prostitute he thought he had rescued and put on the straight and narrow path, he knows he is on the hook for this one. He soon finds out that she was back in LA and back in the life. Far from saving her, Mickey may have been the one who put her in danger.

Haunted by the ghosts of his past, Mickey must work tirelessly and bring all his skill to bear on a case that could mean his ultimate redemption or proof of his ultimate guilt.The Gods of Guilt shows once again why "Michael Connelly excels, easily surpassing John Grisham in the building of courtroom suspense" (Los Angeles Times).