Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Laura Lipton

December 15, 201110 Comments

Finished 12-4-11, rating 3.5/5, fiction, 353 pages, pub. 2009

Peggy has been waiting for Brock to propose for 7 years, so is it any surprise that after a drunken night in Vegas with girlfriends that she wakes up next to a stranger? Oh, and that he’s her husband? After heading back to New York City and the store she owns with her best friend, she receives a call from Luke, her Connecticut WASP husband. This White Anglo-Saxon Protestant husband comes from one of the oldest families in New England, a fact that his aunt and friends don’t let him forget. When his aunt finds out about his marriage she changes her will so that the pair must stay married for a year to inherit.

I liked the New England setting and aunt Abigail. She was a hoot. As a ninety-year old woman who was at turns fruity as a loop and sharp as a tack, she was the real heart of the novel, even with her Waspish ideas. Luke was smart and quiet and sometimes nice. He wasn’t the most enigmatic hero I’ve encountered, but there was nothing terrible either. He was a solid guy.

It’s not the high brows I had a problem with it was Peggy. I found her a distasteful character. On weekends she’s in Connecticut playing married for money and during the week she’s in New York with a clueless Brock. She never really won me over, no matter how much I liked her friends.

I liked the story and the humor and the way that Lipton played on the stereotypes of the old, moneyed New England families. It’s only my dislike for Peggy that kept me from loving this one.

This is from my personal library.

Laughing Through Life, by Connie Corcoran Wilson w/ GIVEAWAY

December 13, 20116 Comments

Finished 12-12-11, rating 3/5, non-fiction stories, 170 pages, pub.2011

Wilson compiles stories from her life, from entertaining, to getting her ears pierced to politics. She’s not a good cook, which accounts for a few of the more amusing stories, nor is she a good golfer, which I can easily relate to, although she is much braver than I am by putting her skills on display. She is also unabashedly liberal, which is not a bad word in this house (I don’t consider myself a liberal, but detest it when some cable stations spit it out like it’s the worst of 4-letter words), and not shy about her anti-Bush sentiments.

The good news is that most of the stories were amusing, except the last chapter which really left the book hanging on a low note (if you are interested in hemorrhoids then this chapter is just for you). If you read part one of her interview yesterday you know she write in a very conversational style, just like she’s sitting right there and you two are having a coffee. The bad news is that I found the selection of stories disjointed and would have preferred a more careful consideration. Including a random story about the 1984 Olympics seemed weird. And the paper vs. plastic debate has pretty much been covered.

I didn’t mind the politics, the only reason I accepted the book for review is because I knew I probably agreed with her on most things, and I did, sort of. But rehashing the 2004 election rallies seems tired at this point, unless it’s a comprehensive collection and this wasn’t. It would have been better as a separate book, and beware she has nothing nice to say about Republicans, except that the women dress well.

Connie has graciously agreed to give away one copy to a lucky commenter. Just let me know you’re interested and I’ll throw your name into a hat. Open internationally (for an e-edition) or in the US for a paper or e-copy. I’ll draw a winner on December 27.

I accepted this book for review as part of the Premier Virtual Author Book Tours.

Here are a few other stops…

Nov. 28 Page Flipperz Nov. 30 Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers Dec. 1 She Treads Softly Dec. 5 Carabosses’s Library Dec. 6 Ruthi Reads Dec. 8 Joy Story Dec. 9 Read More Books Dec. 10 A Life Sustained Dec. 14 Book Zone Dec. 15 Emeraldfire’s Bookmark

The Chosen One, by Carol Lynch Williams

December 8, 2011December 9, 201110 Comments

Finished 12-1-11, rating 5/5, YA, 213 pages, pub. 2009

Okay. It’s not just the planning to kill Prophet Childs. There’s more. There’s lots more.

Squished between my sisters I try not to think of my sins but they are all in me. I know they are here.

First, there are the books.

Section One

Kyra is a 13-year-old girl living on a compound in Utah among the Chosen. She has 20 siblings with two more on the way and three mothers. Her father is a good man who treats his wives and children strictly but with moderate punishment. That’s not so among the other men on the compound. When Kyra’s family was visited by the Prophet Childs they were all stunned to discover that Kyra was a Chosen One, scheduled to marry Apostle Hyrum, her uncle, and become his 7th wife.

Father kisses both of us on the tops of our heads. He holds us secure. But his holding me like this is a lie. He can’t do anything to save me. And he’s my father.

Aren’t fathers supposed to save their daughters?

Section 3

Kyra loves her family and can’t imagine life without them, but she does manage to escape the compound once a week to hop on the book mobile. In books she discovers new worlds, worlds that lead her to believe that escape is possible, but not without a terrible cost. She is also in love with a boy her age and the two of them try to convince the Prophet to change his mind with disastrous results.

This book blew me away. I was angry, horrified, sad, scared and enlightened. I was shocked by the violence, it took me by surprise. I don’t read a lot of YA and this may be my first book about polygamy and I’m glad that the States challenge made me pick this one up, because I never would have otherwise. This was a short read and I wish it had been longer to address what happened after the end of the novel. I was amazed at how the thoughts of this teen were so close to the thoughts of any teen. Williams captured Kyra’s voice perfectly. I hope to check out more by Williams even though it’s not my normal genre.

There were some unbelievable scenes but none of them took away from my overall enjoyment of the book. It was compelling and I loved it.

I checked this book out of the library (Thanks for the suggestion, Sheree)

Killer Summer, by Ridley Pearson

December 8, 20117 Comments

Finished audio 12-1-11, rating 4.5/5, thriller, pub. 2009

Unabridged audio, 9 hours 12 minutes. Read by Phil Gigante

Book 3 in the Walt Fleming series

County sheriff Walt Fleming is a man on the verge of divorce, a presence in the life of his nephew, and the lawman in charge of securing the elite wine sale in Sun Valley. Millions of dollars will be paid for three bottles of wine once owned by John Adams. When Walt discovers a murdered man he detects his way to a complicated plan to steal the wine.

There were so many twists, turns and red herrings that this was a home run for me. There were a lot of interesting subplots that kept me interested on many levels. Not only was Walt a good investigator, but his personal relationships made for great storylines and I loved the way all aspects of his life came together for this mystery.

I picked this up because it was set in Idaho and I didn’t realize that this was part of a series until I was done. I loved this as a standalone, but if you are interested the first of the series is Killer Weekend.

I checked this audio out of the library.

Little Black Dress, by Susan McBride

December 5, 201115 Comments

Finished 11-27-11, rating 4/5, fiction, 295 pages, pub. 2011

Toni owns her own business planning celebrations, but on the night she expects a wedding proposal, she is disappointed. To make the night worse she also receives news that her mother has had a stroke and is in a coma back in Blue Hills, Missouri. Toni heads home to be with her emotionally distant mother and finds questions about her mother and family she’s never known.

The chapters alternate between Toni and her mother’s life. Anna grew up with family drama of her own, drama that led to the discovery of a little black dress that showed visions of the future. When Toni finds the dress and discovers its magic she needs her mother’s counsel.

I loved Anna’s story. It unfolded at just the right pace and there was enough mystery there to keep me interested. The dress itself was an interesting character- showing up in various scenes, mysterious and sexy. I actually found the dress a more compelling character than Toni, who was fine, but a bit bland compared to Anna and the dress.

I thought this was a fun read.

I won this during October’s 24 Hour Read-a-Thon 🙂

So, if you had a little black dress that gave you visions of the future would you keep it in your closet or get the temptatation out of your house?

Sundays with Gage – Book recommendations

December 4, 201110 Comments

Gage loves books. He especially loves to turn the pages, but sometimes he likes to listen too. We took this picture last night as we walked by our neighbor’s Christmas lights and Gage decided now would be a good time to tell you about some of his favorites so you might get a few ideas for those kids on your shopping list.

The first year and even now into his 13th month board books are still best, but we have started to branch out a little.

Simple First Words Let's Talk Simple First Words Let’s Talk This is a big book with fun, colorful pictures and sound and Gage loved it pretty early on. It’s one we look through together because the only drawback is that the buttons are hard to push and not really all that baby friendly. But it’s a great book to help them learn some basic words.

Product Details Cheerios Play Book is a huge hit at meal time. We finish every meal with Gage looking through it and picking out his favorite pages (the cars, the bears, and the mice) and then having mom or dad put Cheerios in the right slots so he can eat them with relish! This book has simple instructions on each page for the child to put the Cheerios in the spots and while Gage hasn’t really gotten that concept yet he still loves this book. Why wouldn’t he since his favorite food magically appears on the pages. There is also a holiday Cheerios play book that I’ve ordered for Gage’s stocking.

Signing Smart My First Signs is one that we just started using. I found this and a few others in the series at the library and they are awesome. It’s a picture book with an adult and a toddler both making the sign for each simple word (mom, dad, bed, cup…)with a caption that helps you make the sign. And there are things to touch and feel for the child so the book is more stimulating. If you know someone who is trying to teach their baby sign language I highly recommend this one. (Gage and I are taking a sign language class but that’s for another post)

Tails Tails was handed to me at Barnes & Noble by a mother who has a son a few months older than Gage. I love recommendations and brought it home for Gage. This is the only one on this list that is not a board book and it needs to be read with supervision, but it’s great and he and I love it. There are things to feel on every page and tabs to pull, tails that swish and swat. And the last few pages help the children learn the animals and numbers (we never get this far since he it too busy flipping back to his favorite tails.

These are all Gage tested and approved and would be a welcome addition to any child’s library. I could list 20 books, but these are both Gage and Mom favorites because they are fun and teachable.

Just Above a Whisper, by Lori Wick

December 2, 20117 Comments

Just Above a Whisper Finished unabridged audio 11-25-11, rating 2.5/5, inspirational fiction, pub. 2009

Listened via Playaway. 8 hours. Read by Barbara Rosenblat

Book 2 Tucker Mills trilogy

In 1839 Tucker Mills, Reese Thackery is an indentured servant to a man who has physically made advances toward her. When he dies she hopes she may be free, but the bank is owed money and the bank manager takes over her papers. It doesn’t take long until the bank president hears what’s been done and rides into town.

I don’t read inspirational fiction very often and I don’t think I’ve ever made it through one as church centered as this one. I’m sure I would have given up on it if I’d been reading, but the playaway did make my cleaning go faster, so I stuck it out. I can’t say that I really got enjoyment out of it, but it was passable. My biggest problem aside from the absence of a compelling storyline was Reese and the way everyone in town treated her (I think the author would say Christian, but I would say like she was made of glass).

It was well written and the reader was very easy to listen to. Having said that I can’t really say how this stacks up to other inspirationals since I don’t read them. Maybe they all spend considerable plot time having new believers ask biblical questions. This wasn’t my cup of tea, but I know from other reviews I’ve read that it is plenty of other readers genre of choice.

I checked it out from the library.

The Litigators, by John Grisham

November 28, 201113 Comments

Finished 11-24-11, rating 3.5/5, fiction, 385 pages, published 2011

Lawyer David Zinc spent the majority of his day overbilling clients at the very successful Trust Tower in downtown Chicago. One day as he takes the elevator to the 93rd floor he knows he cannot step off. He cannot go to work. He finds the closest bar and drinks enough alcohol to kill a normal person. When the taxi drops him at Finley & Figg instead of home to his wife his fate is sealed.

Finley & Figg are ambulance chasers. They’ve been hustling for 30 years and have nothing to show for it but a barely profitable law office. Inconceivably, David makes himself an office out of storage space and signs on with the two lawyers. When Wally Figg finds the next big tort case that will make them millionaires all three are thrown into a class action lawsuit that none of them are prepared for.

I’ve read Grisham here and there over the years and usually really enjoy them, but this one really did bore me until about 250 pages in and even then I didn’t love it, but at least I was more engaged. The problem might have been that I didn’t really enjoy Figg and Finley and whatever positive feelings I had toward David were tempered by confusion over why he’d saddle himself with such shady lawyers.

I did like David and the office manager Rochelle and was more interested in the smaller plot line involving children’s toys tainted with lead paint. Made me want to throw out all of Gage’s toys immediately. The end was good, but the book overall was just average for me.

I checked this book out of the library.

Shakespeare’s Landlord, by Charlaine Harris

November 21, 201116 Comments

Finished audio 11-19-11, rating 3.5/5 , mystery, pub. 1996

Unabridged audio. 6.75 hours. Read by Julia Gibson.

Book 1 in the Lily Bard mystery series

Lily has cleaned houses for four years in Shakespeare, Arkansas. She knows things no one else does, but is careful to guard her own scarred past. She has no friends, but is somewhat obsessed with her self-defense classes. When she sees someone dumping a body in the middle of the night she investigates, only to find her ex-landlord dead in a plastic bag. Not wanting to get involved she makes an anonymous tip to the police chief.

Lily was distant at first, not wanting the reader to know her own past secrets, but as she opened herself up to a few people in Shakespeare we saw a Lily that could have friends and could have a normal life. She remained feisty and no-nonsense and easy to like. A few months after Gage was born, after I realized that I might never have time to really clean the house again, we hired someone to come twice a month and give the floors, bathrooms and kitchen a good cleaning. I’ve always wondered what she thinks of us based on our dirt. Reading about Lily gave me some idea!

There were a lot of characters and that means many potential suspects. The mystery was good and it was told nicely with Lily’s personal life and back story. I thought Harris did an excellent job of creating a unique character and a plausible murder mystery.

That being said I am not sure it was memorable enough for me to continue on with the series. I’m already so behind in so many series that I love that one book with Lily will probably be enough.

I checked this audio book out of the library.

Foxfire Light, by Janet Dailey

November 19, 20119 Comments

Foxfire Light Finished 11-14-11, rating 2.5/5, romance, 250 pages, pub. 1982

Joanna is a rich girl from California. Linc is a ridge runner from the Kentucky Ozarks. When they meet sparks fly and not in a good way, but then Joanna surprises Linc by her kindness, and a different kind of spark ignites.

This is another 1980’s romance I found in an old box from my parents house and I needed a quick read for Kentucky. I liked the little bit of history about the Ozarks and some of the popular superstitions there. I’d never heard of foxfire before. (see the Wikipedia definition and photos here) I would like to see nature’s foxfire magic someday.

The actual story is fairly typical, although there was a secondary romance that was enjoyable. The problems with some of these older romances, especially by certain authors (Dailey included) is that they really seem dated. And the characters always seem to fall in love in what seems like the blink of an eye. Not much depth here, but a quick read.