It's Finally Friday!

Since I am reading Please Excuse My Daughter by Julie Klam (and really enjoying it!) I have added another one of her books to my wish list:

You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness by Julie Klam:

The hilarious and heartfelt chronicle of a woman learning the secrets of love, health, and happiness from some very surprising teachers: her dogs. This title will be released in October 2010.

Cruddy by Lynda Barry:

From Goodreads:
Lynda Barry's illustrated novel Cruddy has not one but three equally alarming openings. The first is a suicide note: "Dear Anyone Who Finds This, Do not blame the drugs." The next is a description of the lurid crucifix that hangs over the narrator's bed: "Some nights looking at him scares me so bad I can hardly move and I start doing a prayer for protection. But when the thing that is scaring you is already Jesus, who are you supposed to pray to?" The third is worthy of a nightmare fairytale, beginning "Once upon a cruddy time on a cruddy street on the side of a cruddy hill in the cruddiest part of a crudded-out town in a cruddy state, country, world, solar system, universe..."

She's not exaggerating. It's 1971, and 16-year-old Roberta Rohbeson lives in what looks very much like hell. It's five years after the Lucky Chief Motel Massacre, after which Roberta was found wandering the desert, covered with blood and clutching her dog, Cookie, who suffers from "incurable skin problems." Even now, Roberta still won't talk about what happened. She lives with her mother and sister on the aforementioned cruddy street, hides in the weeds during her lunch period, and eventually befriends some suicidal misfits like herself. The novel intercuts their chemically enhanced adventures with scenes from a gore-filled road trip taken five years before. Hint No. 1: Roberta's father used to run a slaughterhouse. Hint No. 2: The maps inside the front covers have keys that read "Dead People We Left Behind" and "Places There Were Blood."

Barry came to fame as a cartoonist, and though the humor in her strip Ernie Pook's Comeek is dark, nothing in it could prepare her fans for the sheer horror of Cruddy. The novel is funny, sort of, as long as you think naming a knife Little Debbie is funny, or lines like "A man who has been dead for a week in a hot trailer looks more like a man than you would first expect." What's more, it's compulsively, almost harrowingly, readable, written with the kind of velocity that makes you keep turning pages even when you don't want to. Despite the hallucinogenic quality of the violence around her, Roberta is never anything less than real, and her story will strike chords in anyone whose childhood was marked by ugliness and fear. Cruddy may be a bad acid trip, but if you can stomach the ride, it's a very good book.

What did YOU find today?

An Award For Lil' Ol' Me!

Cmash at CMash Loves To Read has presented me with the Versatile Blogger award! Thank you SO much for this award....it is a new one for me!

The Rules for the award are:
1. Thank the person who gave you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to 15 who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (in no particular order…)
4. Contact the picked and let them know about the award.

1. I was born and raised in NY, but consider myself a Southern Gal at heart!
2. My new favorite ice cream flavor is Ben & Jerry's Boston Cream Pie.
3. My husband is 13 years younger than I am (I am a Charter Member of The Cougar Club)
4. I love pizza....I could probably eat it every day.
5. I have an overwhelming desire to own a condo at the beach and will stop at nothing to get one.
6. My favorite season is Fall, and my favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.
7. I wanted to own my own pet grooming salon at one time in my life.

Now, I am passing this award on to:

LibraryCat Booklist
Shan at Curled Up With A Good Book and A Cup of Tea
Cecile at All I Want And More
Cat at Tell Me A Story
SenoraG at Reading, Reading and Life

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read*
* Open to a random page*
*Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page *

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! ;)

My teaser today comes from Please Excuse My Daughter: A Memoir by Julie Klam:

~We stopped at a red light, and my mother coolly critiqued each person crossing the street, like Howard Cosell at a run-way show. "What was she thinking this morning - 'I think I'll wear everything brown that I own'? Brown ain't going to cover that ass, honey. You need a tarp."

I am already laughing-out-loud at this memoir....Julie Klam is just what I need to chase away my post-vacation blues! What's YOUR teaser today?

The Sunshine Award

A big hug for Yvonne at Socrates' Book Reviews for passing The Sunshine Award on to me!



This award is given to bloggers who inspire others and show positivity and creativity.



The Rules:


1) Put the logo within my blog or on my post


2) Pass the award on to up to 12 fellow bloggers


3) Link the nominees within my post


4) Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog


5) Share the love and link to the person whom you received this award from.


I would like to pass this award on to the following bloggers:

Priya at The Plum Bean Project

Kate at Kate's Library

Julie P. at Reading Without Restraint

Pinkilili at Sandals and Snowshoes

Carin at Caroline Bookbinder

Vacation, over ~ Books in my Mailbox

After a week of sun, sand, good food and lots of reading, we are back home. It is hard to switch gears back into "reality mode". At least I have today to do laundry and rest before it is time to go back to work tomorrow.

I finished two books while I was gone....In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White, and Hide and Seek by Jack Ketchum. I will be posting reviews for those some time this week. I brought 10 books with me, and thought that I would get through more than 2, but it didn't work out that way. Two of the books that I started I couldn't get into....big disappointment. I did have a nice, relaxing week, though. Vacationing and reading at the beach is always good therapy!

While I was gone, I received a few books in the mail:

Blood Echoes by Thomas H. Cook:

Alternately horrifying and deeply moving, this fast-paced true-crime report by Cook (Early Graves, The City When It Rains- -both 1990, etc.) focuses on the murder of six members of the Alday family of rural Seminole County, Georgia, on May 14, 1973. The slaughter was the work of three brothers--Carl and Billy Isaacs and Wayne Coleman--and of a slow-witted black man, George Dungee. The quartet were on the lam from Baltimore, where Carl, Wayne, and George had recently escaped from prison. Billy, the youngest, was along for the excitement. Spotting the trailer home of Jerry and Mary Alday, the four men, short on cash, pulled into the yard and began rifling the place. In the midst of the burglary, Jerry and his father arrived home and were promptly shot to death. A while later, other family members arrived: each was murdered. The last to appear was Mary, who was killed after being raped repeatedly. Then the murderers took off in her car and began roaming the South, staging holdups and stealing cars. Eventually arrested in West Virginia, they were returned to Georgia to stand trial. Billy turned state's evidence, and the three others were given death penalties--but the sentences were appealed, with two overturned. Today, a totally unrepentant Carl is apparently still manipulating the system and issuing statements such as, ``What did [the victims] ever do? No one would have ever paid any attention to them, if I hadn't come along and killed them.'' In Cook's capable hands, the cumulative effect is shattering. And when the author writes of the sufferings of surviving Alday family members--the loss of their farm, or their reliving of the tragic events with each new judicial maneuver--his words prove sensitive and resonant. An immensely involving work that shifts from the repellent to the heartwarming and back and asks important questions about the clash between criminals' and victims' rights.

Please Excuse My Daughter by Julie Klam:

A woman's hilarious, bittersweet account of growing up in a family of career-shunning, dependence-seeking women and her journey to a state of twenty-first-century self-reliance.

Julie Klam was raised as the only daughter of a Jewish family in the exclusive WASP stronghold of Bedford, New York. Her mother was sharp, glamorous, and funny, but did not think that work was a woman's responsibility. Her father was fully supportive, not just of his wife's staying at home, but also of her extravagant lifestyle. Her mother's offbeat parenting style-taking Julie out of school to go to lunch at Bloomingdale's, for example-made her feel well-cared-for (and well-dressed) but left her unprepared for graduating and entering the real world. She had been brought up to look pretty and wait for a rich man to sweep her off her feet. But what happened if he never showed up?

When Julie gets married to a hardworking but not wealthy man-one who expects her to be part of a modern couple and contribute financially to the marriage-she realizes how ambivalent and ill-equipped she is for life. Once she gives birth to a daughter, she knows she must grow up, get to work, and teach her child the self-reliance that she never learned.

Delivered in an uproariously funny, sweet, self-effacing, and utterly memorable voice, Please Excuse My Daughter is a bighearted memoir from an irresistible new writer.

It Takes A Worried Man by Brendan Halpin:

Will people really want to read the rantings of a pouting, grouchy, grumbling, whiny 32-year-old? They will when they meet Halpin, a teacher in a Boston charter high school and the husband of a 32-year-old woman with Stage 4 breast cancer. Few books on breast cancer feature the husband's perspective (David Tillman's beautiful In the Failing Light, LJ 5/15/99, is a rare exception). Halpin's view is so in your face, so funny, so foul-mouthed, and so honest that everyone will want to read this and cheer for his wife, Kirsten, and their four-year-old daughter, Rowen. This is the yearlong diary of Kirsten's ordeal, which included high-dose chemotherapy and stem-cell replacement. Halpin describes every day, every complaint, every fear, along with his favorite (and not so favorite) music (loves the Carter Family, hates Dan Fogelberg), TV shows, movies, and food (especially food). He doesn't let family or friends off the hook except maybe the folks from the Unitarian Church where he belongs who do his housework, even cleaning the toilets, and his students, whom he truly loves teaching. Fortunately, there is no ending to his story. Kirsten is alive, her tumors are still palpable but considerably smaller, and she celebrated her 33rd birthday. According to Halpin, that "has to be enough." The language is graphic, which is to be expected of most 32-year-old males, but this book should not be missed. Highly recommended. Bette-Lee Fox, "Library Journal"

What about you? Did you get any good books last week?

Teaser Tuesday

My teaser this week comes from In the Sanctuary of Outcasts:

A Memoir by Neil White:


~Then the man who stared at me put his hand in the air and turned back toward the front. "I heard there was a 50 percent chance we was gonna be leopards when we get out of here." pg. 34~

I am loving this book! Althought it deals with a serious subject, Neil White is able to turn his prison experience into something comical and memorable.

What's YOUR teaser today??

Mailbox Monday is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page.

What I received last week:

Your Roots Are Showing by Elise Chidley (From Wendy at ItsJUSTme....thanks, Wendy!)

Lizzie Buckley has a life many women dream of - a gorgeous husband, a beautiful home and darling (when they're not fighting) three-year-old twins. But ever since the birth of her children, she's had a fantasy about locking herself in her bedroom for twenty-four hours with a good book and a box of chocolates. Unfortunately, her husband James doesn't understand her feelings. And when Lizzie unburdens herself in a flaming email to her sister Janie, then hits send at the wrong moment and accidentally shoots it off to James instead, her fairytale life gets a big dose of reality. With the word "divorce" ringing in her ears, Lizzie finds herself moving out and embarking on a totally different life - working hard to reinvent herself as a runner, a gardener, and a writer of children's books. But despite transforming her body, her neglected career, and her libido (courtesy of the local landscape gardener), Lizzie can't get over her soon-to-be ex. As Lizzie discovers, sometimes the fairytale ending is just the beginning of the real story.

Every Last One by Anna Quindlen from Paperbackswap.com:

In this breathtaking and beautiful novel, the #1 New York Times bestselling author Anna Quindlen creates an unforgettable portrait of a mother, a father, a family, and the explosive, violent consequences of what seem like inconsequential actions. Mary Beth Latham is first and foremost a mother, whose three teenaged children come first, before her career as a landscape gardener, or even her life as the wife of a doctor. Caring for her family and preserving their everyday life is paramount. And so, when one of her sons, Max, becomes depressed, Mary Beth becomes focused on him, and is blindsided by a shocking act of violence. What happens afterwards is a testament to the power of a woman’s love and determination, and to the invisible line of hope and healing that connects one human being with another. Ultimately, in the hands of Anna Quindlen’s mesmerizing prose, Every Last One is a novel about facing every last one of the the things we fear most, about finding ways to navigate a road we never intended to travel, to live a life we never dreamed we’d have to live but must be brave enough to try.


What was in YOUR mailbox last week?

God Bless Our Troops

On My Wishlist #10

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where you can list all the books that you desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming.

What We Have by Amy Boesky

The stirring true story of a woman who chose fearlessness in the face of a fatal family legacy and discovered the pleasure of living each moment to its fullest

At thirty-two, Amy Boesky thought she had it all figured out: a wonderful new man in her life, a great job, and the (nearly) perfect home. For once, she was almost able to shake the terrible fear that had gripped her for as long as she could remember. Women in her family had always died young-from cancer-and she and her sisters had grown up in time's shadow. It colored every choice they made and was beginning to come to a head now that each of them approached thirty-five-the deadline their doctors prescribed for having preventive surgery with the hope they could thwart their family's medical curse. But Amy didn't want to dwell on that now. She wanted to plan for a new baby, live her life. And with the appreciation for life's smallest pleasures, she did just that. In What We Have, Amy shares a deeply transformative year in her family's life and invites readers to join in their joy, laughter, and grief.

In a true story as compelling as the best in women's fiction, written with the sagacity of Joan Didion and the elegance of Amy Bloom, Amy Boesky's journey celebrates the promise of a full life, even in the face of uncertainty.


Little Girl Blue: The Life of Karen Carpenter by Randy L. Schmidt

An intimate profile of one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century, this first full-length biography of Karen Carpenter details every aspect of her life, from her modest Connecticut upbringing and her rise to stardom in southern California to the real story of her tragic, untimely death. This illuminating depiction of a 1970s icon covers her time as lead singer of the Carpenters—the top-selling American musical act of the decade—and provides insight into their string of 16 consecutive top-20 hits, including "Close to You," "We've Only Just Begun," "Top of the World," and "Superstar," as well as a critical review of her aborted solo career. A behind-the-scenes look into the life of a superstar, from the prolific recordings and the relentless touring to the awards, fame, and fortune, this history also chronicles her struggle with anorexia nervosa and gives important new details from her autopsy that shed new light on her death at age 32. Groups such as Sonic Youth and the Corrs and artists including k. d. lang and Madonna have cited Karen Carpenter among their major influences, and this definitive biography, based on exclusive interviews with nearly 100 of her friends and associates, is a testament to her brief yet remarkable life.

The Hour Between: A Novel by Sebastion Stuart

When Arthur McDougal is kicked out of Manhattan’s toniest boys’ school, his parents ship him off to the only place that will take him in—the Christian Science–inflected Spooner School. There, in the woods of Connecticut, Arthur meets Katrina Felt, the charming, troubled daughter of a Hollywood movie star. As Arthur struggles with his sexuality and Katrina’s beauty and talent land her in a Broadway musical, the two forge a tender friendship. But while Arthur’s confidence grows, Katrina is pulled down by the heartbreaking secrets and sorrows of her past. By year’s end, their lives will be changed forever, and their friendship will be over. Set in the late 1960s, The Hour Between is a compelling portrait of a time and place, replete with drugs, sex, Andy Warhol, a cast of truly memorable secondary characters, and some of the sharpest and funniest dialogue in recent memory.


What's on YOUR wish list????

Neat Website!

Someone sent this to me in an email! It's a really neat website where you can type in an address and it will pull up a picture for you. I've looked at the houses where I grew up and some of my friend's houses....brings back good memories! I thought you all would enjoy it!

www.vpike.com

Enjoy and Happy Friday!

Friday, Friday, Friday.....TGIF!!

It's finally FRIDAY.....AND....A Holiday Weekend.....AND.....the beginning of my week-long vacation at Myrtle Beach, SC! I've been looking forward to this vacation since December when we put a deposit down on the condo that we've rented. I don't care if it rains all week...I am bringing a huge stack of books. I may not be tan when I come home, but I will have made a sizable dent in my TBR stack!

I found the following books on Goodreads!

Necessary Sins: A Memoir by Lynn Darling

When Lynn Darling met Lee Lescaze at the Washington Post, they could not have been more different. He was older, married, more “establishment,” a celebrated foreign correspondent and editor. She, who entered Harvard at age sixteen, was a brilliant wild child of the sixties. She lived life in the present tense, where every affair was an adventure. Then Darling fell in love and everything changed.

This is a story of the many lessons love can teach us, of a marriage turned upside down and inside out, and all the tenderness, thrills, comfort, and yes, even disappointment, that comes with the territory. Lynn Darling thought she knew the narrative of her own life, until it really began with her “one true north,” and now, ten years after his death, her story is still unfolding.

Flory: Survival in the Valley of Death by Flory A. Van Beek

Like Anne Frank, Flory Van Beek was a young girl caught in the ruthless Nazi occupation of Holland. But Flory survived to recount this extraordinary story of persecution and survival. Flory and her husband, Felix, endured the sinking of a ship bound for safety in the New World, the increasing danger of the occupation, and finally a life in hiding. There, cut off from the outside world and their families, they faced the hunger and stress of daily life in confined quarters along with the ever-present threat of discovery and certain death. This inspiring account vividly captures the terror of the Holocaust while telling a poignant story of love and courage.

HIM by Diane Martin

A heart wrenching true story. Donna met and fell in love with HIM at the age of 17 years old little did she know that the next 22 years of her life would lead her through some of the most abusive situations she could have ever dreamt of. Fighting to change a man she thought loved her, dragged her deeper and deeper into a life of fear and entrapment with little hope of escape. With two beautiful daughters to take care of how difficult was it going to be to keep them safe from this man she had began to realize would never change.... no matter what promise he made. But as long as he was having affairs with other women .. and his relationships were going well Donna and her girls were safe. Her fight to freedom takes many roads and faces many different hurdles and god only knows if she can survive long enough to become the free person she dreams about being. One day she hopes to sleep peacefully and fear no more.

I wish all of you a wonderful long weekend, and don't forget......3:00 pm on Memorial Day (Monday) please pause whatever you are doing for a minute for a National Moment of Remembrance . (See below....)

The National Moment of Remembrance, established by Congress, asks Americans wherever they are at 3 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day to pause in an act of national unity (duration: one minute).The time 3 p.m. was chosen because it is the time when most Americans are enjoying their freedoms on the national holiday. The Moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events; rather it is an act of national unity in which all Americans, alone or with family and friends, honor those who died for our freedom. It will help to reclaim Memorial Day as the sacred and noble holiday it was meant to be. In this shared remembrance, we connect as Americans. How to Participate Wherever you are, observe the Moment at 3 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day. Ask others to remember—relatives, friends, church, neighborhood, or co-workers to observe the Moment at places such as your neighborhood, local pool, picnic grounds, etc., for one minute of Remembrance. Participation can be informal as ringing a bell three times to signify the Moment. Why To provide a time of Remembrance for America’s fallen and to make a commitment to give something back to our country in their memory.To have Americans participate in an act of national unity and demonstrate gratitude and respect for those who died for freedom since the founding of our Nation.To provide a sense of history to our citizens and ensure that younger generations understand the sacrifices made to preserve our liberties.

What did YOU find today????

What Are YOU Waiting For?

Waiting On Wednesday is hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Left Neglected by Lisa Genova:

A poignant novel about a busy, vibrant woman in her 30s who has a car accident, leaving her to deal with a crippling disorder called left neglect.

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Gallery (January 4, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439164630
• ISBN-13: 978-1439164631

Composed: A Memoir by Roseann Cash

A candid and moving memoir from the critically acclaimed singer and songwriter

For thirty years as a musician, Rosanne Cash has enjoyed both critical and commercial success, releasing a series of albums that are as notable for their lyrical intelligence as for their musical excellence.

Now, in her memoir, Cash writes compellingly about her upbringing in Southern California as the child of country legend Johnny Cash, and of her relationships with her mother and her famous stepmother, June Carter Cash. In her account of her development as an artist she shares memories of a hilarious stint as a twenty-year-old working for Columbia Records in London; recording her own first album on a German label; working her way to success; her marriage to Rodney Crowell, a union that made them Nashville's premier couple; her relationship with the country music establishment; taking a new direction in her music and leaving Nashville to move to New York; motherhood; dealing with the deaths of her parents, in part through music; the process of songwriting; and the fulfillment she has found with her current husband and musical collaborator, John Leventhal.

Cash has written an unconventional and compelling memoir that, in the tradition of M. F. K. Fisher's The Gastronomical Me and Frank Conroy's Stop-Time, is a series of linked pieces that combine to form a luminous and brilliant whole.

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult (August 10, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670021962
• ISBN-13: 978-0670021963

What are YOU waiting for today?

Book Review - Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver

From Goodreads.com:

What if you had only one day to live? What would you do? Who would you kiss? And how far would you go to save your own life?

Samantha Kingston has it all—looks, popularity, the perfect boyfriend. Friday, February 12th should be just another day in her charmed life. Instead, it’s her last. The catch: Samantha still wakes up the next morning. In fact, she re-lives the last day of her life seven times, until she realizes that by making even the slightest changes, she may hold more power than she had ever imagined.


My Thoughts:

I was quickly drawn into Samantha Kingston's story of reliving the same day over and over again for 6 days, and how she prepared herself for the 7th day.

Sam is part of a elite clique of girls at school, who are popular, and do and say anything to anyone, even if it hurts other people's feelings. They are "mean girls" who make no secret of what they think of others. It is enlightening to see how Sam's feelings change as the story progresses. At the beginning of the story, Sam is so unlikable. As the story progresses, she starts to grow on you, as her attitude changes about herself, her family, her friends and her classmates. She has seven chances to relive and observe one particular day in her life and make it right. And she is successful.

This book was very good!

Very Good!

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 480 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 edition (March 2, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006172680X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061726804

Teaser Tuesday!

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

* Grab your current read* * Open to a random page* *Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page *

BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! ;)

Today my teaser comes from Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver....

~I watch patterns of snow coming down at an angle as though flowing, cresting, breaking on a massive current, a tide that leaves the world glittering. It's beautiful. All I can think is that it's the first of many things Juliet won't see.~ pg. 406


What's YOUR teaser today?

On My Wishlist #9

On My Wishlist is a fun weekly event hosted by Book Chick City and runs every Saturday. It's where you can list all the books that you desperately want but haven't actually bought yet. They can be old, new or forthcoming.

The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin

"I need you to understand how ordinary it all was. . . ."

In the turbulent southern summer of 1963, Millwood's white population steers clear of "Shake Rag," the black section of town. Young Florence Forrest is one of the few who crosses the line. The daughter of a burial insurance salesman with dark secrets and the town's "cake lady," whose backcountry bootleg runs lead further and further away from a brutal marriage, Florence attaches herself to her grandparents' longtime maid, Zenie Johnson. Named for Zenobia, Queen of Palmyra, Zenie treats the unwanted girl as just another chore, while telling her stories of the legendary queen's courage and cunning.

The more time Florence spends in Shake Rag, the more she recognizes how completely race divides her town, and her story, far from ordinary, bears witness to the truth and brutality of her times—a truth brought to a shattering conclusion when Zenie's vibrant college-student niece, Eva Greene, arrives that fateful Mississippi summer.

Minrose Gwin's The Queen of Palmyra is an unforgettable evocation of a time and a place in America—a nuanced, gripping story of race and identity.

Your Roots Are Showing by Elise Chidley

Lizzie Buckley has a life many women dream of - a gorgeous husband, a beautiful home and darling (when they're not fighting) three-year-old twins. But ever since the birth of her children, she's had a fantasy about locking herself in her bedroom for twenty-four hours with a good book and a box of chocolates.

Unfortunately, her husband James doesn't understand her feelings. And when Lizzie unburdens herself in a flaming email to her sister Janie, then hits send at the wrong moment and accidentally shoots it off to James instead, her fairytale life gets a big dose of reality. With the word "divorce" ringing in her ears, Lizzie finds herself moving out and embarking on a totally different life - working hard to reinvent herself as a runner, a gardener, and a writer of children's books.

But despite transforming her body, her neglected career, and her libido (courtesy of the local landscape gardener), Lizzie can't get over her soon-to-be ex. As Lizzie discovers, sometimes the fairytale ending is just the beginning of the real story.


What's on YOUR wish list today?

It's Friday!!!

I found these while browsing on Goodreads!



Leaving Unknown by Kerry Reichs:

Maeve Connolly is tired of being labelled as irresponsible. Yes, she may spend unhealthy amounts of time on Facebook and watch marathon sessions of America's Next Top Model, but Maeve isn't a typical post-college slacker. Determined to change her life and make her own luck, Maeve impulsively decides on a grand adventure - driving cross country to LA. But en route, Maeve's car breaks down and she is stranded in Unknown, Arizona. It is here, alone and in the middle of nowhere, that Maeve finally faces up to the reality of her past. What Maeve has denied acknowledging, even to herself, is that she isn't running from bad luck, but from something much more complicated - something that made her feel as though the world would never turn again, and her heart would always remain closed. What begins as a hilarious and quirky coming-of-age tale soon deepens into a complex portrayal of survivorship and one woman's journey to a new beginning. Funny, irreverent, and moving in equal measure, The Good Luck Girl will leave you smiling through tears.

Talking to the Dead by Bonnie Grove:

Twenty-something Kate Davis can't seem to get this grieving widow thing right. She's supposed to put on a brave face and get on with her life, right? Instead she's camped out on her living room floor, unwashed, unkempt, and unable to sleep-because her husband Kevin keeps talking to her.

Is she losing her mind?

Kate's attempts to find the source of the voice she hears are both humorous and humiliating, as she turns first to an "eclectically spiritual" counselor, then a shrink with a bad toupee, a mean-spirited exorcist, and finally group therapy. There she meets Jack, the warmhearted, unconventional pastor of a ramshackle church, and at last the voice subsides. But when she stumbles upon a secret Kevin was keeping, Kate's fragile hold on the present threatens to implode under the weight of the past . and Kevin begins to shout.

Will the voice ever stop? Kate must confront her grief to find the grace to go on, in this tender, quirky story about second chances.

What did YOU find today?

WINNER OF THE OH BABY GIVEAWAY!

World4art.com - Orkut Scraps, Graphics, & Comments


The lucky winner of my Oh Baby! Giveaway for the $100 gift certificate to use at any of CSN's Stores is:

Lilly of Reading Extravaganza!

Thanks to everyone who signed up for the giveaway.

Congratulations Lilly!

Don't Miss It - An E Reader Giveaway

The Bibliophilic Book Blog is giving away 10 eReaders!!

and if you have no desire for that - you can have a $100 Amazon Gift Card!!

Enter today!!

The Bodacious Blogging Book Reviewers Award

Many thanks to Kate of Kate's Library for presenting me with The Bodacious Blogging Book Reviewers Award. This is a new reward for me and I am just tickled PINK!



How it works...

If you are given this award you must first accept it by leaving a comment on the post you were nominated on. Then copy and paste the post and add it to your own blog. Make a list of the last 5 books you read and pass the award on to 5 other bloggers (no backsies!). Please also identify the blog from which you got the award and don't forget to tell your picks that they have a blog award!

My last five books were:


The Butterfly Garden by Chip St. Clair
Firefly Rain by Richard Dansky
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Arcadia Falls by Carol Goodman
Rainy Lake by Mary Francois Rockcastle

My five picks to pass this award on to are:


Susan at Crazy Cat Lady's Library
Michelle at Red Headed Book Child
Teresa at Teresa's Reading Corner
Deb at The Book Nook
Julie at Reading Without Restraint!

Thanks again to Kate! Happy Reading!