Tag: Books

Teaser Tuesday – The Awakening by Kate Chopin

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teasertuesdays31Teaser 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!

It sometimes entered Mr. Pontellier’s mind to wonder if his wife were not growing a little unbalanced mentally.  He could see plainly that she was not herself.  That is, he could not see that she was becoming herself and daily casting aside that fictitious self which we assume like a garment with which to appear before the world.

The Awakening by Kate Chopin, Chapter XIX

Just finished this – review tomorrow. Visit MizB for more teasers.

You will choose 50 of the books I will read next year.  If you help me you could win a $20 gift card to Barnes & Noble.  Go here to vote. (Right now the top vote getter is She’s come Undone By Wally Lamb)

Help Me Help Myself and Win a Gift Card Quiz

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UPDATE – Voting Closed.  Click here to see results.

I’m going to be signing up for the Read Your Own Books challenge again next year.  Last year I committed to 50 and finished the challenge in October.  This year I have even more books in my house so I’m going to make my goal 55.  That’s where you come in.  I’ve taken a new picture of my tbr pile.  Some of these I’ve had more than 10 years, some were gifts, some I bought, a few I won from you, some were free from when I worked for Barnes & Noble, but all of them are waiting to be read.  So, here’s where you come in.  I’m letting you pick 50 of the books I will read from my stacks next year and you’ll be entered to win a $20 B&N Gift Card. 

Here’s how it works – Look at my tbr stacks, choose 1-5 titles you think I need to read in 2010, leave a comment telling me which one(s) and for each title you will receive one entry for the $20 B&N Gift Card.  You don’t have to tell me why I should read it unless you want to, but in the event of a tie I will use the comments to help me decide.  I’ll leave the voting open for two weeks (until December 29).  Limit 5 titles per person.  If I’ve never sent you anything in the mail, please leave your email.

Feel free to make fun of any of the titles – I am clueless how some of them made it into this house!

I think you can click on the picture to see it better.  Here are some of the piles closer up so they are easier to read.  If you double-click on these they will be easier to read.

Scandalous Love, by Brenda Joyce

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Scandalous Love by Brenda Joyce: Book CoverFinished 12-9-09, rating 3.5/5, historical romance, pub. 1992

“You are the one with no morals, you are the one who would stop at nothing to get what you want.”

Anger flared.  “Wrong.  I warned you not to return here, and you did so at your own risk.  If you did not  come back for what I can give you, then why did you return?”

She gasped, crimson color suffusing her cheeks.  “How arrogant you are!  I came back to tell you what I think of you now that I know  the truth!”

Chapter 4

Nicole Bragg is a free-spirited lady living in relative seclusion in Victorian England after she had the audacity of crying off of her wedding.  On her wedding day.  The scandal has ruined her reputation, but not her independence.  When a rival practically dares her attend a party for the Duke of Clayborough, she arrives and immediately catches the eye of the Duke.  The Duke is looking for a mistress, Nicole a husband.  Nicole always seems to make the situation worse and the Duke is charmed by it.

I love historical romances when they are done well.  I like romance and sexual tension and don’t need sex described to me in detail every other chapter and I can  always count on Brenda Joyce to provide a comfort read for me.  The first half of this one was great and I loved getting lost in it, but he second half not so much.  Nicole never seemed to stop making stupid choices and the Duke turned very stuffy, ruining a great romance for me.  This is still an above average historical romance, but it did have the potential to be so much better.

This was from my personal library.

Girl with a Pearl Earring, by Tracy Chevalier

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Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier: CD Audiobook CoverFinished audio 12-07-09, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 1999

Griet is a 16-year-old girl living in 1660’s Holland.  Her father has been blinded by his work and it is up to Griet to live at the house of the painter Johannes Vermeer as a maid.  Here she is accepted by Vermeer himself and his mother-in-law Maria Thins, but despised by the lady of the house, Catharina, and one of the daughters, Cornelia.  Cornelia is out to do real damage to Griet, while Vermeer is her champion.

The relationship between Vermeer and Griet is a complicated one.  Griet is being sought by the butcher’s son, but her sexual awakening is due to Vermeer.  Vermeer allows Griet to become his assistant and the two spend their days together in the studio.  When Griet is forced to sit for a painting she knows it will ruin her, but she appreciates the hours she and Vermeer spend staring at one another, the longing filling the small studio.

I saw the movie when it came out in 2003 and thought it was a bit slow, so I was in no hurry to read the book, but I was wrong not to have read it first.  The book was wonderfully done.  It is the story of Griet and what life was like for a girl in her time.  She had so few options, if any, and she still managed to maintain her independence in small ways.  It is also an imaginative tale of the story behind the girl in the painting.  I love art museums,  looking at a painting and trying to take myself back to when it was painted and this book did that for me.

I do admit that while I liked Griet she really did frustrate me at times.  People in the house mentioned on many occasions how smart and cunning she was and yet I didn’t feel that.  The author told me she was special, but I was never really convinced.  She was a young girl caught up in a life out of her control and that is enough, no need to tell me I should think she is the most misunderstood maid ever. 

I liked it and now I may have to watch the movie again even though I didn’t love it the first time.

This audio was from the library.

When Christmas Comes, by Debbie Macomber

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Cover ImageFinished 12-7-09, rating 3.5/5, romance, pub. 2004

Why, oh why, couldn’t her sons be like her friends’ children, who were constantly causing them heartache and worry?  Instead, she’d borne two sons who had to be the most loving interest sons on God’s green earth, but… The problem was that they didn’t understand one of the primary duties of a son-to provide his parents with grandchildren.

Chapter 6

Emily is a widow and the prospect of spending Christmas without her daughter is too much to bear.  Charles is a college professor who wants to avoid Christmas at all costs.  The two strangers agree to switch houses for two weeks.  Emily is headed to Boston to surprise her daughter and Charles to Washington state to finish writing the textbook he’s working on.

Emily’s daughter is not happy to see her mother and Charles is horrified to find himself stuck in a small town that adores all things Christmas.  Both face disappointment and surprise and discover that trading places may have been the best thing for them.

This is a sweet holiday romance.  If you have seen the 2006 move The Holiday where Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet switch houses you get the gist of the plot.  I thoroughly enjoyed it for what it is and it did put me in the holiday spirit.  There are no big surprises, but I loved Faith and Charles’s brother, Ray. Perfect light-hearted reading for this busy time of year.

I borrowed this book from my mom.

Teaser Tuesday – When Christmas Comes

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teasertuesdays31Teaser 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!

Emily was bored and sad and struggling not to break down.  There was only one thing left to do-what she always did when she got depressed.

Bake cookies.

 Chapter Eight, When Christmas Comes by Debbie Macomber

So, what are you cooking up today?  Head on over to MizB for more teasers.

Dumb Witness, by Agatha Christie

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Cover ImageFinished audio 12-4-09, rating 4/5, mystery, pub. 1937

Belgian detective Hercule Poirot receives a letter from a dead woman and he and his friend Captain Hastings try to find out if this woman died of natural causes or was murdered.  There is no shortage of suspects – nieces, a nephew, a companion, servants, and two doctors.  Hercule must find a way to get answers without alerting anyone to his true purpose and his talent for skillful lying takes him far. 

This was my first Agatha Christie novel (my husband too) and we really enjoyed it.  Neither of us figured out what really happened til the end and our favorite character was Bob the dog.  I usually hate when animals talk or we read their thoughts, but Bob was wonderfully charming and he made me laugh every time.  This could have been due to the talented narrator, Hugh Fraser.

This was a great audio for a road trip because it appealed to both of us.  Since we have more travels ahead this month (I’m leaving in 7 1/2 hours) I will have to stock up on more Agatha Christie.

I checked this out of the library.

Until Now…, but Denise Skelton

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Until Now...Finished 12-2-09, rating 3.5/5, romance, pub. 2009

It was only 7:30 am, but if today was going to be anything like yesterday, she knew that her Saturday was not going to be good.  If finding only ninety-eight cents when she needed almost three dollars in order to get a half-gallon of milk was any indication, she knew that this was going to be a great start to another shitty day.

Chapter 4

Terry is having a tough time.  Her ex-husband has knocked up his new wife for the third time while completely ignoring their two sons and bills are past due, basics like electricity and telephone are in danger of being shut off.  Terry is desperate to provide for her kids without resorting to taking her ex to court for money, and decides that starting a day care at her house would pay the bills.

Wade is an undercover  FBI agent  moving back to Chicago to work as a teacher while investigating a drug problem at the school.  He must also confront his abusive father while still maintaining a relationship with his saintly mother.  And then he keeps running into Terry in the most unfortunate situations and he starts to appreciate this brash and sexy mom.

Terry is a main character that I in turn was exasperated with and in love with.  She seems to always do the wrong thing, but she is a loving mother.  She does things that make me understand why she found herself in a bad situation, like smashing her phones when she doesn’t even have enough money for a carton of milk and I just wanted to shake her (and tell her to quit using the word ass in so many creative ways)I like a character who isn’t perfect and Terry is definitely that.  Wade is pretty much a saint and I figure that he’ll tame her a bit.  Eventually.

The story and writing kept me reading and I finished it in a day.  It isn’t so much a romance as a family drama with two people who need to find each other.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.  I did not really like the cover, but that certainly didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book.  Skelton wrote two other books with characters from this story and I would certainly read them.

I received this book from the author.

The Jane Austen Book Club, by Karen Joy Fowler

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The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler: Book CoverFinished 12-1-09, rating 4/5, fiction, pub. 2004

“It does bother me that Austen wouldn’t make up a good man who finds Charlotte worth having.  The Brontes would have told her story very differently.”

“Charlotte on Charlotte,” Allegra said. “I will always love the Brontes best.  But that’s just me – I like a book with storms in it.”

discussing Pride & Prejudice

Jocelyn is the heart of this small book group.  She has personally asked five women and one man to meet monthly to discuss the six Jane Austen novels.  Jocelyn, a 50 something spinster of sorts, Sylvia, her best friend who was recently left by her husband,  Allegra, Sylvia’s lesbian daughter, Bernadette  a talkative eccentric, Prudie a married French teacher, and Grigg, a man who loves science fiction, all experience their own Austen-like life changes in the course of their six month book club.

Each monthly meeting focused on one member of the group and what was going on in their lives in relation to the book they were reading.  I’m not sure I loved any of the members, but I did like Grigg and maybe Allegra.  I loved the individual stories, but the plot moving the book along and tying the chapters together was a little slow for me.

Beautifully written and less discussion of the Austen books than I expected.  Actually, I thought I would have to be more familiar with the Austen books before reading this (I’ve only read two), but I think this would be good for someone thinking about trying a Jane Austen novel for the first time.

I should say that if I had stopped when the story was over I would have given this book a 3.5, but Fowler included additional information that I loved.  My favorite part was the pages and pages of criticism and praise for Austen.  There is the response from family and friends to each of the books and there are the comments on Austen from literary greats such as Charlotte Bronte, Mark Twain, Willa Cather, and Virginia Woolf, to name a few.  There was also a recap and questions for each book.  It was these additional parts that I loved best.

This was from my personal library.

Free Books (and a Puzzle) for December

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Leave a comment, tell me which book or puzzle you want and I’ll get it to you for FREE either by mail or personally if I’ll see you soon.  The first one to request each book or puzzle wins.  Once you’ve ‘won’ I can get your shipping address if I need it.  Also, you can come back and get a free book every month if you want.  These have all been read a few times.

1. Silent Partner by Jonathan Kellerman – Alex Delaware novel.  Mass Market. Published 1989. 484 pages. Review here.  for Word Lily

2. Kiss Them Goodbye by Stella Cameron. Mass Market. Published 2003. 461 pages. Review here. for Calila

3. Comfort Woman by Nora Okja Keller. Trade Paperback. Published 1997. 213 pages. Review here.  for Em

I love jigsaw puzzles.  I’ll probably offer one a month through the winter months.  I chose this one for December because I think it would be a great one to do with kids home on break.  It has all of the Presidents, even our current one 🙂

4. United States Presidents jigsaw puzzle.  1000 pieces. 24 x 30 inches.  It’s been put together once.  for Jenny