Book Beginnings - 2/27/15

*Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.  *Taken directly from Rose City Reader's Blog Page.

***************

This week's book beginnings comes from MIST OF MIDNIGHT by Sandra Byrd.

"Dusk had begun to smother daylight as we walked down the cool street, peering at the numbers above the doorways, one after the other, skirts gathered in hand to keep them from grazing the occasional piles of wet mud and steamy horse muck."

It isn't bad.  Nothing earth shattering yet.  :) Set in London. 

**********

This book is one I finished last week and used as my book beginnings.  Wanted to share again this week.

WHISPER HOLLOW by Chris Cander.

 

"Myrthen's mother and father had carried more hopes than means with them when they crossed the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of January 1910.  Rachel Engel was just sixteen when she left her home and family in Saxony, Germany, brave and willing and fiercely in love with Otto Bergmann, but nonetheless glancing over her shoulder all the way to the southern short of the river Elbe, the gateway to the world."

WHISPER HOLLOW was VERY good.  Historical fiction and women's fiction combined with strong female characters.

My review won't be posted until March 26.  I hope you stop back.

Love the cover.

 ***************

What are you reading?

Book Blogger Hop - 2/27 - 3/5

 Question of the Week: 

Do you like blog headers that are bookish or blog headers that are simply attractive?

My Answer:

Bookish blog headers are appropriate, but I would say as long as the header is attractive and turns out to be your "trademark," anything works for me.

I know many blogs don't have bookish headers, and it doesn't detract from the content.

How about you?   What is  your preference for a blog header?

Follow Friday Four Fill-In Fun - 2/27/15

 

Love this meme....I hope you can join in the fun.  

Each week, Feeling Beachie lists four statements with a blank for you to fill in on your own blogs.  

The statements:

1. Once I ____
2. ___ isn’t ____
3. One can __________________.
4. I have _________________ for the______

My Answers: 

1. Once I read a book I love, I may talk about it a lot, but I never re-read.  I never re-read any books.

2.  Winter isn't one of my favorite seasons. Right now I am entirely sick of it.

3.  One can read only so many books in a month.  Life gets in the way. :)

4.  I have sympathy for folks who don't like to read.  :)

 

Hush, Hush by Laura Lippman

Did she or didn't she?

Melisandre was found not guilty, but was the charge of insanity the correct charge?  How could anyone not be guilty of forgetting her child in a hot car?

After the trial, Melisandre left the country and lost custody of her other two children.

Melisandre returned years later, but when another murder occurred and she was present, she wasn't going to be going anywhere.​

The characters in HUSH, HUSH were an interesting mix and most were not likable.  Melisandre was evil and manipulative, and her ex-husband wasn't a nice person. The girls, Alanna and Ruby, were ok.  They were confused and were the way they were because of their crazy mother and their sneaky father.

HUSH, HUSH was set up in an interesting way. The book started​ out with an interview and had several throughout the book with people who knew Melisandre because Melisandre wanted to make a documentary about when she met her estranged daughters.  I didn't understand what the documentary was going to prove or the purpose of it.   HUSH, HUSH then went back and forth between Melisandre and Tess's life and actually all over the place.
 
​HUSH, HUSH was difficult for me to follow.  Not sure if it was the way it was set up or just the storyline.  I also couldn't keep the characters straight.  It did get a bit better toward the end but was still confusing even though the ending pages wrapped it all up.

​I was disappointed because I always enjoy Ms. Lippman's books. 3/5
​
This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review. 

The Truth And Other Lies by Sascha Arango

Here’s a crime thriller you won’t want to miss! It’s the perfect length to consume in one or two sittings and an enthralling story that will keep you turning the pages.

THE TRUTH AND OTHER LIES follows a famous author whose wife—the brains behind his success—meets an untimely death, leaving him to deal with the consequences.

This book sounds quite good - what do you think?

---

THE TRUTH AND OTHER LIES

“Evil is a matter of opinion…”

On the surface, Henry Hayden seems like someone you could like, or even admire. A famous bestselling author who appears a modest everyman. A loving, devoted husband even though he could have any woman he desires. A generous friend and coworker. But Henry Hayden is a construction, a mask. His past is a secret, his methods more so. No one besides him and his wife know that she is the actual writer of the novels that made him famous.

For most of Henry’s life, it hasn’t been a problem. But when his hidden-in-plain-sight mistress becomes pregnant and his carefully constructed facade is about to crumble, he tries to find a permanent solution, only to make a terrible mistake.

Now not only are the police after Henry, but his past—which he has painstakingly kept hidden—threatens to catch up with him as well. Henry is an ingenious man and he works out an ingenious plan. He weaves lies, truths, and half-truths into a story that might help him survive. But bit by bit the noose still tightens.

Smart, sardonic, and compulsively readable, here is the story of a man whose cunning allows him to evade the consequences of his every action, even when he’s standing on the edge of the abyss.

The Truth and Other Lies by Sasha Arango
Atria Books | 256 pages | ISBN 978-1-4767-9555-3 | June 23, 2015 | $24.99

Available for pre-order now

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sascha Arango is one of Germany’s most prominent screenplay writers and a two-time winner of the Grimme Prize, a prestigious award for German television, for his work on the long-running detective series Tatort. His first novel, The Truth and Other Lies, will be published in more than thirteen countries in 2015. He lives in Germany.

 

A Future E-mail For Your Children?

 I think this is an amazing idea.  I don't have any new born babies, but I definitely would do this.

What do you think?  Will you do this if you have young ones?

 Photo courtesy of:

https://www.facebook.com/929theBULL?fref=photo
 
 



 

Review and Giveaway of Doctor Death by Lene Kaaberbol

 

 REVIEW:

A disappearance, a dead body and then other dead bodies.  What caused the deaths? Was it murder, a natural death, or something else?

It is the 1800's, and medical procedures aren't very sophisticated, but Madeleine Karno wants to learn about medical procedures even though it was not lady-like to see or to take part in the medical field.

Meanwhile, someone was murdering town folks and mutilating them with human teeth bites. Madeleine was required to help even though her father wasn't happy, but she definitely was.

DOCTOR DEATH was a bit slow at first, but once the reader is taken to the convent and other murders happen, DOCTOR DEATH unveils hidden secrets of the town and the book's characters. I love secrets, doesn't everyone, though?

DOCTOR DEATH went from learning about medical procedures to solving multiple murders to an odd ending.

The book was very different in terms of content and a bit confusing.  Great characters, though.  Even though the ending was  odd, it did wrap things up.

I enjoyed the read, but it isn't a favorite just because of the slow beginning, confusion about who was who and what was going on, and the odd ending.  3/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review. 

GIVEAWAY:

The Contest has ended.   The two winners are:

Dorothy - #6
Susan - #12 

CONGRATS!!

TWO print copies for TWO lucky winners!!

February 16 - February 23

USA Only

Click here to enter the contest 

 

Do You Know How To Type?

If you do remember typing class, then you are one of the lucky folks who knows how to type correctly.

I definitely remember typing class in high school, and I also remember teaching typing.

During my first few years of teaching, I taught on manual typewriters with 40 students clicking and clacking, as they learned the valuable skill of typing back in the 70's.   Then we moved on to the Selectric Typewriters pictured above.  I loved how the ball turned around for the letters.  We even had similar desks.  Then of course we moved to learning typing on computers.

TYPING is ESSENTIAL.   I love how no one is looking at his/her fingers in this photo....I do see one young lady, though, but she is fixing the paper in the machine....that's ok.  :) 

It looks as if these students must have had an awesome business teacher.

Do you type correctly?  I do.  :)

Photo Courtesy of:

https://www.facebook.com/AntennaTV?fref=photo

 

War of The Wives by Tamar Cohen

 

My deepest sympathies, ​M​rs. Busfield.  What?  I am Mrs Busfield.  ​Everyone was confused, but the cat was out of the bag.
        ​
Mr. ​Simon Busfield ​had two lives and two wives, and he was the only one who knew. Well only he and his accountant and his financial advisor, but definitely not the two women he claimed to be in love with and married to...one for 28 years and one for 17 years.

Despite the serious situations in the book, THE WAR OF THE WIVES is entertaining and humorous. Once you think the surprises are over, another one pops up.

WAR OF THE WIVES moves back and forth between Selina and Lottie's life telling how Simon managed to lie and cheat and remain married to both women at the same time without their knowing it.  He must have been some major organizer to pull that off.

​I enjoyed WAR OF THE WIVES even though some parts were a bit hard to believe.  I actually didn't like ​the two wives, Selina and Lottie. They both were self-centered and if you ask me a bit naive.  How could they not know? Their children were a bit odd as well.
 
If you need a light, entertaining read, I suggest reading WAR OF THE WIVES.  The ending was heartwarming and one that had yet another surprise. 4/5  

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.

How To Be The Best Book Club Member

I thought this was pretty funny and wanted to share with everyone.  It is from Huffington Post.

Go here to see if you are THE BEST BOOK CLUB MEMBER!!

**Images courtesy of:

http://newburylibrary.org/for-readers/book-clubs/ 

and

http://www.mountvernonpubliclibrary.org/node/576
 

A Memory of Violets by Hazel Gaynor

Tilly, Flora, and Rosie...three characters connected by time, London, and flowers.

Flora, crippled and in care of her little sister since their mother died, lost her younger, blind sister Rosie on the street as they were selling flowers.  Flora made it her life's quest to find Rosie.  Tilly, a housemother at an orphanage where Flora stayed years before, makes a connection to both Flora and Rosie through a diary Tilly finds in the closet in her room​ at the orphanage.
        
Tilly feels she was destined to find the diary a​nd to ​find Rosie.  Tilly felt Flora's presence in her room through the smell of violets and cold breezes.  Could Flora really be in the room Tilly now occupied?  Could she and Flora together find Rosie,​ and could Tilly find what she was looking for in life and ease the sadness about her own life?​

Going back and forth in time and telling Flora and Rosie's story was intriguing and beautifully told.  A MEMORY OF VIOLETS is a book set in the time period and place that I thoroughly enjoy....the 1800's in London.  It also has a character based on a real person.

You will ​mingle with proper Victorian ladies as well as poverty-stricken children and families.  Descriptions of both ends of the economic scale make this book absolutely wonderful.  

The beautiful writing and descriptions keep you glued to the pages and ​give you ​the feeling that you are sharing every situation with the characters.  Tilly's story is as good as Flora's and Rosie's story and reveals a secret she finds out about herself.

The characters are warm and inviting.  A MEMORY OF VIOLETS is going to be a favorite for ​2015, and the characters will remain in my "memory" long after I turn the last page.  

A MEMORY OF VIOLETS has a marvelous writing style and storyline.  The book's beginning and ending make a full circle of life filled with love, understanding, and compassion.  

I loved A MEMORY OF VIOLETS.  The ending is chilling and oh so tender and beautiful.  You need to make room in your toppling TBR stacks for A MEMORY OF VIOLETS.  5/5​
    
This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.​



 

Giveaway of The Franciscian by WR. PARK

WR.PARK’s The Franciscan is the most internationally anticipated religious suspense-thriller since Dan Brown’s Angels & Demons and The Da Vinci Code. Written 14 years ago, The Franciscan eerily forebodes current events in the Vatican predicting the coming of the current Pope Francis and proves to be a timely novel more than a decade after it was penned.

Synopsis: 

“The pope is not infallible.” When the newly elected Pope Francis utters this bold and unprecedented statement, he captures the attention of the world’s population. His reforms leave no corner untouched as he strips away the mask so long held before the face of the papacy. Bringing with him and open-minded candor rarely seen by public figures – he’s an inspiration to his followers – and a threat to those who oppose him.

“This novel’s Pope Francis is a bold and courageous pope whose sweeping reforms reversing ancient Vatican edicts place his life in grave danger,” says WR.PARK.

Enter here to win a copy of The Franciscan

USA Entries Only

Good Luck

Review, Audio Giveaway, and Audio Clip of The Secrets of Midwives by Sally Hepworth

REVIEW: 

Three women, three generations, common interests, but mostly secrets.

Floss, Grace, and Neva are grandmother, mother, and daughter.  They all are midwives, and they have secrets that they have held a short time, secrets they have held for their entire lives, and most importantly secrets that they do not want to have to reveal.  The secrets are personal secrets and not secrets about midwifery.  These secrets bring the characters close together but also far apart.  

THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES is a wonderful book addressing family relationships and how the delivering of babies is something so personal and intimate that a midwife can't help but become involved with her patients.

You will love the wonderful mix of characters.  All the characters are loveable and all are characters you will want to get to know better, characters you will admire, and characters you will miss once the book has ended.​

Women's fiction fans won't want to stop reading THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES for many reasons.  The main reason being that you will find yourself bonding with every character and feeling as though you are sharing the pain and joy along with them.

If you are like me, you will have tears throughout the book as you become involved with the characters and enjoy the smooth, enjoyable, delightful writing style of Ms. Hepworth.  

Don't miss reading THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES.  4/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher in return for an honest review.

***************

GIVEAWAY:

CONTEST HAS ENDED.

THE TWO WINNERS ARE:

Susan #7

Katherine #15 

CONGRATS!!

USA Only

TWO WINNERS

Go here to enter the AUDIO Giveaway of THE SECRETS OF MIDWIVES

February 10 - February 17

 ***************

AUDIO CLIP:

Go here for the audio clip.

Meet Paddy O'Reilly and The Wonders

From the author of the “funny, irreverent, and highly entertaining” (Liane Moriarty, author of The Husband’s Secret) Fine Color of Rust comes a brilliant new novel about a misfit trio who become instant international reality stars, probing the nature of celebrity, disability, and the value of human life.

Perhaps every human being was a freak. Hadn’t he read somewhere that every person has at least a handful of damaged genes? That all humans embody a myriad of nature’s mistakes?

Meet Leon (stage name: Clockwork Man), a nervous, introverted thirty-year-old man with a brass heart; Kathryn (stage name: Lady Lamb), a brash, sexy woman covered almost entirely with black, tightly furled wool; and Christos (stage name: Seraphiel), a vain performance artist who plays a winged god with the help of ceramic implants inserted between his shoulder blades. 

These are The Wonders, three extraordinary people whose medical treatments have tested the limits of the human body. When they are brought together by a canny entrepreneur, their glamorous, genre-defying, twenty-first-century circus act becomes a global sensation. But what makes them objects of fascination also places them in danger.

With warmth, humor, and astonishing insight, Paddy O’Reilly has written a wonderful novel that will appeal to fans of Sara Gruen’s Ape House, Karen Joy Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, and Teddy Wayne’s The Love Song of Jonny Valentine—or anyone who’s ever questioned the nature of fame, our kinship with the animal kingdom, and the delicate balancing act of life and death.

On Sale, February 10, 2015

A Wonderful Idea From MY Spotlighted Book Club

The Daily Grind Book Club

This is my book club. I am in the pink sweater on the left side - I know curious minds will ask. :)

We won books from Reading Group Choices, were spotlighted, and came up with an idea that Mary Morgan from Reading Group Choices liked.  

We were featured in the Reading Group Choices February Newsletter.

The Daily Grind's Lending Library

After being featured in the Reading Group Choices’ Spotlight and receiving our books, our book club needed to come up with an idea on how to share the nine books we received. 

We brainstormed and decided that the best way to share our win would be to make a table with the book's title, the borrower's name, and the date the book was borrowed. At the following month's book club meeting, we return the borrowed book and choose a new book.

This lending idea gave us another wonderful idea. We brought in our own books and added them to the "lending" library list. As you can see from the photo, we have a wide variety of books to choose from and share. All members have enjoyed mystery, memoirs, general fiction, and historical fiction. 

One of our members is a book blogger and receives Advanced Reader Copies from publishers and authors. Those books are special treats since we can read them before the publication date. 

How does your book club share the books your Spotlighted Book Club has won?  

 Curious minds want to know. :)

Can you guess which member is the book blogger?  LOL!!  Thanks for stopping by.

~The Daily Grind Book Club