Review - 11-22-63 by Stephen King

This is the first book that I downloaded on my Kindle after Christmas 2012. I wasn't sure what it was about other than the title and the cover depicting the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. I had read that it was not a typical Stephen King horror story. I have not read other Stephen King novels. All that being said, I did not get around to reading it until this month.

Mr. King takes a watershed moment in America's history and proposes what if that terrible tragedy on 11-22-63 could have been prevented? In this story we meet Jake Epping, a high school English teacher in 2011, an adult student in Jake's GED English class, Harry Dunning, and Al Templeton, owner of Al's Diner.

Jake is changed when Harry writes an essay about his childhood. How his father in a drunken rage murders his family. Jake is later approached by Al Templeton to explore the possibility of time travel. Al has discovered a "rabbit hole" and is set on changing the events of 11-22-63, but he is dying and cannot complete the task himself. Jake is intrigued and wonders if he can change the events in Harry Dunning's life.

Do we dare try if we could?  Will it open a Pandora's Box of more evil and other tragedies?  Jake's journey is a difficult one, but one he is intent on completing.

I liked King's writing. I am not alone there I am sure. There are no monsters under the bed, at least not really. King seems to write in a relaxed story-telling style, I found very believable. I cheered Jake and Al on as they began their adventure and I continued to be in Jake's corner as he battles the obdurate past.

I recommend this novel to all Stephen King fans, those readers who are not King fans, anyone who remembers this time in history and even young readers who only learned about the 60's and the 70's in history class.


I give it 5 stars.


Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

I am linking this review to 2014 Ebook Reading Challenge hosted by Sarah at Workaday Reads. I signed up at the DVD level which is 25 ebooks and I am no where near that number. I don't know exactly where I am , but will check it out. 

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros 11-22-63

Every Tuesday Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea shares the first paragraph or two of a book she is currently reading or plans to read soon. You can link up to her Tuesday posts with the first chapter and first paragraph of your current read. It is a great place to get a taste of a new book, or explore further one you may already have on your bookshelf and haven't yet opened. See what the rest of us are reading, come join us. 

This week I started, finally: 

11/22/63

Stephen King

Scribner a division of Simon and Schuster

I have never been what you'd call a crying man.
    My ex-wife said that my "nonexistent emotional gradient" was the main reason she was leaving me (as if the guy she met in her AA meetings was beside the point). Christy said she supposed she could forgive me not crying at her father's funeral; I had only known him for six years and couldn't understand what t wonderful giving man he had been (a Mustang convertible as a high school graduation present, for instance). But then, when I didn't cry at my  own parent's funeral - they died just two years apart, Dad of stomach cancer and Mom of a thunderclap heat attack while taking a walk on a Florida beach - she began to understand the nonexistent gradient thing. I was "unable to feel my feelings," in AA-speak. 

So, would you read on? Have you already read this one?  Are you a Stephen King fan?




Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading #7 Challenges met and challenges failed!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. As she says, it’s “a great way to plan out your reading week and see what others are currently reading as well… you never know where that next “must read” book will come from!”

I am writing this on Friday, so I can post it Monday morning before we climb in the car and drive to Colorado for Christmas with our daughter and her family.  

If all goes according to plan I will have finished reading:

 and returned it and State Fair by Earlene Fowler back to the library, and will be starting on 

   The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith. It is the January selection for my F2F book club. I am looking forward to reading it. I have not read any of the Harry Potter books, so this will be a first read for me of J.K. Rowling ( Robert Galbraith)

 It is on my Kindle and easier to transport and read as we travel. I haven't finished listening to The Book Thief on CD, but will finish it when I get home .  My DH tried to listen with me but kept falling asleep, that wouldn't be a good one to put into the car CD player, so I will listen on my own. 

I have signed up for several challenges for 2014. I hope to be as successful as I was in 2013. 

The only challenge I failed was the Goodreads Challenge to read 80 books. It looks like I will only reach 73.  I read 61 in 2012, 12 over my challenge of 50 and I was optimistic to jump to a goal of 80 for 2013. Guess I will stay with 80 again in 2014. 

Today, my plan is to "plan to pack" and make a few sweet treats to take to our Christmas gathering. I am going to try a recipe I found on Jodi Nelson's blog, Pleasant Home,  called Melt in your Mouth Crock-pot Candy. 

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

ps: this addendum is Sunday night while watching Sunday Night Football. I did not get started on The Cuckoo's Calling, but did start on  

A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines.  The Cuckoo's Calling is on my Kindle and when I crawled into bed to read last night, it was "dead".  I had it plugged in on Thursday, but ?????.  Anyway, I turned to the bookcase headboard on our bed, and A Lesson Before Dying was on top. It is a small book, but borrowed from a member of my F2F book club and she recommended it. So far I am liking the writing and the story line is compelling. So I will continue it and take my Kindle with me to Colorado.  

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? Benni #12

It's Monday! What Are You Reading is hosted by Sheila at Book Journey.  I love being a part of this and I hope you do too!  As part of this weekly meme I  encourage you all to go and visit the others participating in this meme. Fair warning… this meme tends to add to your reading list!

This week I am reading the 12th book in the Benni Harper Mystery series. 

It is my goal to finish #13 - Tumbling Blocks, #14 - State Fair & #15- Spider Web before the end of the year. I should be able to make that happen. I have nearly all my Christmas shopping done. I have to get them shipped off and our daughter has a birthday the 16th of December, so I need to get that remembrance sent too. 

I am looking forward to new book challenges in the new year. I especially like "What's in a Name" at Beth Fish Reads and I will continue to participate in the Ebook Challenge on Workaday Reads.Then there are all the challenges on Goodreads. Oh my, will I overdo again this year?  

Until next time, 

Stay Happy and Stay Happy

Another Ebook read, 9 more to go.

Caramel and Magnolias by Tess Thompson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn't know what to expect from this book. It was featured on Bookbub,either free or for .99 and I was drawn to the title. I guessed it was a love story, a chick lit kind of book. I was in for a surprise.

The prologue introduces us to a young girl named Alicia Johnson, who live in the Pacific Northwest in a small town and a woman with ice blue eye in purple glasses.We are meant not to like her.  In the locker room at the HS, Alicia's friend Lola says she has a way for Alicia to make some money for masseuse school but she has to keep it a secret.

As the book begins we meet Cleo Tanner, a Montessori teacher and a young woman who doesn't think much of herself. Her best friend Sylvia is married but unhappy. Sylvia want a baby and can't conceive. Malcom, her husband, could care less but goes along with in-vitro anyway. Cleo and Sylvia have a bestie named Nick. He has been their friend since HS.

This is a story of friendship, of love, of family. At first I was unhappy with the mystery of how the young girls were introduced to a way of making money to provide for their dreams. I wasn't sure where the story was taking me. But finally, the characters come to life, their lives intertwine to give us a great story.

I'll read Tess Thompson again.



This is my 16th ebook this year, on my way to 25 before the year is out. Last week when I posted my review of The Husband's Secret I wondered if Sarah at Workaday Reads was going to host this Challenge for 2014. Well, on her post dated 11-16-13, she announced that she was!  Hooray!  I will definitely do this one again. No pressure, just read the books on your electronic device, or download new ones!! Review and link when you can and go for your goal.  My kind of challenge!

Please join Sarah and the rest of us by signing up at Workaday Reads. This is the link to the sign up post. the instructions are there too.

Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Amy Einhorn Books Perpetual Challenge from Beth Fish Reads

A couple of years ago I happened on the blogging world. Completely by accident I found my first blog,  Beth Fish Reads. I was so captivated by Beth's love of books and her ability to review books. It is something I struggled with then and still struggle with so I decided to participate in some of her challenges. I chose the Amy Einhorn Books Perpetual  Challenge because I had already read The Help by Kathryn Stockett and because it wasn't timed there would be no pressure. So I ordered 6 selections from her lists and began. I have fallen woefully behind, but have read some of the selections.

The following is a recent review from the 2013 list of Amy Einhorn Books.

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Cecelia, Tess and Rachael have part of their lives in common. Cecelia happens upon a letter written many years earlier by her husband and address to her to open if he dies. As she ponders whether to open in now, her husband is very much alive but away on business, her life unfolds around her. It intermingles with Rachael's life, at her daughter's elementary school. The PE teacher at the school grew up in the area, even dated Rachael's daughter, Janie. Tess grew up there too and is now home while she sorts out the news of her husband's affair with her cousin and best friend Felicity. Tangled webs are woven and must surely destroy lives. Or must they?  

I loved this book. Liane Moriarty's characters were very real to me. They experienced feelings that we all have experienced at one time or another. They know of guilt and anguish, of love and hate, of ambivalence and abhorrence. They are human.


This was also an ebook on my kindle, so it satisfies another challenge that I participate in. I originally decided to try to read 10 EBooks. I completed that level so the next level was 25, I may not make the goal. But I have a lot of books on my kindle and seem to keep downloading more!  You can participate too, though you might just want to wait and see if this challenge in sponsored again in 2014.  I will look for it. If you want to check it out, just go to Sarah's blog  Workaday Reads and see what everyone else is reading on their electronic device.

Until next time, 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy,

2013 Ebook Challenge #12 & #13

Latter-Day Cipher by Latayne C. Scott
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I thought I was going to really like this book. The mystery of who was committing the murders, the interaction and the relationship that was building between Selonnah and Luke.  A good book was happening. Then suddenly there was no interaction between Luke and Selonnah, we switched to Roger and Anne. OK, so what's going on there?  And then we were suddenly away from the murders and were on a religious rant against the Mormon Church. Now I am not Mormon, but I do practice tolerance in all things, so this ranting in the book made me sad. I had the mystery figured out way early and it just wasn't very compelling to find out the reason this man was killing.

Swim by Jennifer Weiner

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This short story introduction to Jennifer Weiner's novel, The Next Best Thing introduces us to Ruth. She has left her job writing for a hit television show to do something anything else. Ruthie, as her grandmother calls her,  lives with her fun loving, vivacious grandmother, since losing her parents in a horrendous auto crash when she was just three years old. Her grandmother encourages her to "get out there", but Ruth finds herself hiding in the lap pool. She swims and swims and swims, rather than expose herself to others.

I want to know about her. I like her a lot and I want her to find a great job, fall in love and have a wonderful life.    

View all my reviews

Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

What Are You Reading #2

This is my second attempt to post to What Are You Reading? My last entry was last Monday, the 23rd . You can read it HERE.

Today I am still working on Winter of the World,

 and I just finished ....

The Journey by John A. Heldt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the third book in the Northwest Passage that I have read. I think I may have like this on the best of all. John Heldt introduces a new character who travels back in time, but not as far as Joel Smith did in The Mine. In this book, the character Shelly Richardson goes back to the time she was a teenager, names Shelly Preston. I love how Heldt developed Michelle as a grown up Shelly and yet allowed her to be a different person and affect the lives of others. It was important to my reading of the story, that he kept me focused on who I was reading about and when by heading each chapter with the characters name and the time frame. I am anxious to read the next book, The Fire.  I have it on my kindle program on my laptop. I will get to it very soon. This read is actually #14 on the 2013 Ebook Challenge sponsored by Sarah @Workaday Reads


View all my reviews

Tomorrow I plan to begin a buddy read with Ladies & Literature group on Goodreads. We will read

in October and discuss it on Goodread Thread. Spoilers will be included. Come join us. 

It has been on my TBR list for quite awhile. It is a big book, and of course I have my October read for my F2F book club to start also. I ordered  4 copies for myself and 3 friends, but the order hasn't arrived yet. I am hoping for today. My book club will be reading

Friends in Deed: The Story of Quaker Social Reform in America by Susan Sachs Goldman. 

So as you can see, I will be busy reading. I also will work a Quilt Show this weekend. That means making sure the vendors are set up and happy, making a crock pot of chicken soup to help feed the workers and the vendors and manning the booth as needed. It is a long tiring weekend, but it is something I volunteered to do. I am fighting off a cold or allergy attack, I haven't quite figured out which yet!. I hope I start to feel better in the next day or two. I can't afford to be sick!!!!!

Until next time, 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Into The Journey

                   
                                               

Every Tuesday, Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea posts the first paragraph or maybe two of her current read. Anyone can join in. Go to Diane's website for the image and share the first paragraph (or2) of the current book you are reading.

The Journey - Northwest Passage Series

by John A Heldt

on my Kindle, provided at no charge by the author

                           Chapter 1: Michelle      Bellevue, Washington - Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Michelle stared at the marble memorial and saw dead things.  

The dead husband went without saying. The man she had known more that half of her life was literally six feet beneath her designer flats. Or at least his body was. Where his enterprising mind was at the moment was anyone's guess. 

I have read The Mine and The Show in this series. You can read my reviews on Goodreads . View all my reviews
 I really enjoyed John's use of time travel in both these books. He makes it feel like, maybe just maybe, time travel is possible. I fell in love with the characters, Joel Smith and Grace Vandenberg and all the rest. I am looking forward to starting this next book, very soon.  This is another e-book for my Ebook challenge and it will be the "J" in my name for part of the Mega Mix Challenge on Goodreads.

So, would you read on?

Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

E Book Challenge #10 & #11 The Buggy List and The Show

The Buggy List by Courtney Rice Gager
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Libby and Drew seemed to have it all. Great careers, great family, and a real great love for each other. They hadn't really thought about starting a family but when Libby's sister warned to do "the things you want to now, because there won't be an after", they decided to make a list. Drew's items were fun but practical, Libby's items were fun and silly. Half way through the list, thinks start to change and come apart.
This book is cute and predictable, but fun and maybe just a little thought provoking as Drew and Libby struggle to complete their lists and maintain their love for each other.

The Show by John A. Heldt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a sequel to The Mine and though published after the 2nd book, The Journey, the author sent it to me to read and stated that it really was the book that transitioned from The Mine to The Journey. I loved meeting up with Grace and Joel again. I was so unhappy the way The Mine ended, I wanted more. With The Show, I got more and then some. Several incidents took me by surprise. I never thought I would like time travel stories, I didn't really care for The Time Traveler's Wife, but I like John Heldt's take on time travel. I am anxious to read The Journey. ( I would link it here, but Goodread's has made it a chore to find the link. There are over 100 pages to scroll through. I will include the link to the author, John A. Heldt and you can check out his books there.

I'm caught up for now and am still reading e-books.  So maybe I will up my level from the CD Level = 10 books to DVD Level = 25 books.  I hope I can complete that level. 

Ebook Challenge Twice Tempted.

Twice Tempted by Marquita Valentine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Zoe Ambrose is a spunky quick witted author, whose agent is also the agent of the most talked about and infamous movie actor in LA. You will not be surprised to find that their paths cross. Of course, the paparazzi have a hay day with the pictures and the underlying intrigue. You can feel the heat that radiates from the tablet screen (I read the Kindle edition). There is plenty of steamy sexy scenes, as well as a bit of mystery. A truly wonderful romance novel.
If you blush bright red at graphic nude sex scenes, this story may not be for you. If you just get a bit amorous and you have a partner by your side, enjoy!


View all my reviews

This is my review of the book I quoted in First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros on 8-13-13 here. It really was a cute story and I will read the next episode with pleasure.

EBook Challenge 8 of 10 CD Level

What Matters Most by Bette Lee Crosby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this story. It kind of hit home in a lot of ways. We are retired, my husband has selective hearing and I tend to be a worrier. Not to the extent that Louise is, but somewhat. We almost moved to a different part of the country at retirement, but luckily we visited the area first and discovered that we would not be happy there.

I think Louise and Clay both learned to give a little during their relocation and find that happiness is what you make it. That friends can be found in new places too, that sometimes what seems to be perfect is not, and love is the most important.

I have enjoyed Bette Lee Crosby's other titles and will continue to choose and read them.


View all my reviews

Mailbox Monday 7-8

E BOOKS ONLY THIS WEEK!!!!

 Mailbox Monday  is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week or weeks and to explore great book blogs. Mailbox Monday is hosted in July by Tasha at Book Obsessed

 Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

This week only 2 titles came to live at my house. Both were downloaded from Amazon via Book Bub. They are:

The titles and the covers drew me in. They may be "fluff" but sometimes I need a little fluffy read.  Do you ever feel like you just need to read to be somewhere else fun, no pressure to get into any analysis or critiquing? 

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

What's In a Name 6 : FIRE

Yesterday I finished reading Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan. This book will satisfy 3 challenges. What's in a Name 6:  a title with Fire or an equivalent, hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and 2013 Ebook Challenge hosted by Sarah at Workaday Reads and a Non-Fiction Reading Challenge hosted by Jen at The Introverted Reader.  I am excited to hit this 3 in 1 in my reading challenges.




Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book relates an amazing story of a young journalist's journey into madness and recovery. Susannah Cahalan was a promising young journalist for the New York Post. She had a supportive family, though her parents are divorced, an amazing boyfriend and a wonderful network of friends. The book is a memoir or as close to a memoir as she can get. Susannah does not remember much of her ordeal, but because she is a journalist she knows how to do her research. So as part of her recovery she researched her disease, she interview her doctors, she talked to family and friends. Her father kept a diary, and the hospital had video, so she could read about and see what she did not remember.
I felt that the author was truthful in her telling of her story. It certainly was an eye opener for me.


View all my reviews

This review is on Goodreads. I just recently figured out how to write one review and post it to my blog. Now I really need to get better at the reviewing part. I recommend this book as both an informative read and an enjoyable one. Not that is enjoyable reading about another's illness, but she writes with wit and humor and it is a great journey.

Until Next Time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

A Single Thread - Ebook Challenge #6 of 10

A Single Thread by Marie Bostwick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Evelyn Dixon finds a new life in a small Connecticut community after her husband's surprise divorce announcement sends her looking for a new beginning. Evelyn finds her new life in New Bern, and there meets 3 "angels" that come into her life to help her transition and she enters their lives as a new friend and provides each of them a new path in their lives. Yes this book is predictable, yes it has a storybook happy ending, yes maybe even a bit "sappy", but the author does explore the insecurities that happen to women at different crossroads in their lives in a sensitive caring way. As a breast cancer survivor and a quilter, I connected with Evelyn Dixon. I was not and am not as strong as she was/and is in the story, but still she gives me hope that life is out there to be lived in the most giving caring way you can.



This book is the 6th in my quest to read 10 ebooks this  year. I believe I will succeed.

Tonight is my F2F book club meeting. Our last before we break for the summer. Our May selection for discussion is Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky. I have a short review on Good reads.

Until Next Time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

A Summer in France - A Timed Book Challenge/ Ebook Challenge

Title:  The Summer of France
Author: Paulita Kincer
Published Date: 2012
Acquired:  Downloaded from Amazon
Recommend: Yes

The story captured me at the beginning with a possible work/vacation in France. Fia was a bit of a flaky character, but her motives were always in the right place. She got herself caught up in a family drama that unfolded in a mostly predictable way. I did not have the secret figured out until Fia finally figured it out. The only disappointment I felt, was the way she accepted her role as a doormat, while her family "vacationed". Also, did not like the way Fia so easily kicked her husband of 16 years to the curb. That is not the only answer when your partner is unfaithful.

Rating: 4/5 Happy Hands

This book was a download to my Kindle Fire and therefore used as part of my 2013 Ebook Challenge sponsored by Sarah at Work A Day Reads   I am a member of a group called Love of Reading on Goodreads, and the month of April there was a challenge to read 3 books with a destination in the title. This was the 2nd book I read for that challenge, the 1st being The House at Riverton, 4/5 hands and I am still reading The Mountain and the Fathers: Growing Up on the Big Dry. So far unrated, but I am leaning toward 4 hands also.


Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy