Taking a Posting Break

I will be taking a break from posting. You may have noticed that I have been absent already.

I will still review as I complete titles that fit my challenges.

Read the Books You Buy
Women's Fiction Challenge
What's in a Name 2016
Cruisin' Thru the Cozies

But not much else. I've hit a wall. I feel empty and inadequate. So until I recharge this blog will be a bit vacant.

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Wondrous Words Wednesday

Kathy at Bermuda Onion hosts Wondrous Words Wednesday. A chance to highlight words you find while reading or occasionally by listening. Share your words then link up with Kathy's blog so we can all learn a new wondrous word.

Nubian   noun  ( as an adjective: pertaining to the peoples of Nubia)

                                 This sentence is from page 31 of Chesapeake Song by Brenda Lane Richardson. 

' Just behind her, a nut-brown teenage girl with a Nubian face, lids heavily lined, stares toward the dark windows of the limo."

1. a native or inhabitant of Nubia

2. a member of one of the group of dark-skinned peoples that formed a powerful empire between Egypt and Ethiopia from the 6th to the 14th centuries.  (Modern day Egypt and Sudan)

I haven't found many wondrous and unknown words this week. I haven't been doing a lot of reading. So here is another from my Word-of-the-Day emails. 

stolid    adjective

 :  having or expressing little or no sensibility     

 :   unemotional

which let me to another word that I do not use regularly: 

phlegmatic    adjective

 :  not easily upset, excited or angered. 

What wondrous words did you find this week? 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

The Hurricane Sisters Dorothea Benton Frank Book Club May 2016 selection

The Hurricane Sisters 

 Dorothea Benton Frank

I am a fan of Dorothea Benton Frank. I have never visited South Carolina but for some reason the Lowcountry interests me. It could be because it seems so different from where I am from, dry high plains desert, Wyoming. Ya think?

In this story, we are introduced to three headstrong women each with a secret and each with a contentious relationship to the others. Maisie Pringle is 80 and a bit eccentric. She still lives alone. Well ,not exactly, her daughter and son-in-law, Liz and Clayton have hired a younger man (he is 65) to be her driver. Skipper has a llama farm. What could be more eccentric than that?  They seem to get along well.

Liz and Clayton’s marriage has stale-mated in a classic way. She is involved in an emotionally demanding career, and her stock broker husband is basically absent and self absorbed. They have two children who refer to them as The Impossibles.  Ashley is an aspiring artist, living in the family beach house and Ivy, their son, is a kind, caring successful young man living in California with his partner, James.

Ashley’s personal life this summer includes a budding relationship with an aspiring local politician. She can see herself as the next Jackie Kennedy.  Porter sees her as his next conquest. Trouble!! Even though her mother is an expert in the field of domestic abuse, Ashley misses all the signs in her effort to fulfill her dream of a future in Camelot.

As the summer storms keep brewing, the stormy relationship of these three women and their partners and friends comes to a dramatic conclusion. 

I liked this book for the most part. At times I felt it was a bit stilted as each Mother/daughter relationship played out. I have a bit of familiarity about the secrets revealed and felt a little of it did not ring true. I will reveal no spoilers here, but I found Liz and Clayton hard to grasp. That being said, I liked the book a lot and will wait to post this review until my book club has their discussion Tuesday. 5-17. Just to keep you informed, my book club did not much care for this story. Several  said they "couldn't relate to the characters" because they were wealthy??  Don't we sometimes read books to live the lives others live, to see how the other half gets by?  Oh, well!  Like I always say, "It is good we all don't have the same taste in books, food, or men!" I recommend this book. 

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Chesapeake Song

Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea hosts this Tuesday meme. It is a place to share the first paragraph in the first chapter of a book you are reading or hope to get to soon. It is a great place to see what others are reading and add to your ever growing list of title to explore. So let's share. Write a post and then go link up at Diane's blog.

Chesapeake Song
Brenda Lane Richardson  1993
Kensington Publishing Corp. 2001

1

Tamra

October 1990

On her bed a suitcase gapes eagerly on its spine.The interior, pink silk, like a petticoat, soft intimate space inside a box for travel. It has been used once only on her wedding night, then yielding gowns for sleep and loving, grunts and sighs. Today she strips a dress from a hanger, pulls cotton undies from a bureau, and rushing toward the suitcase, tries to remember the fullness of that night. Instead she recalls the harshness of a life lived together: thoughtless acts, missed cures, words of discord from the jaws of an angry marriage. 


Would you read on?


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Hurricane Sisters

Diane at Bibliophile By the Sea hosts this Tuesday meme. It is a place to share the first paragraph in the first chapter of a book you are reading or hope to get to soon. It is a great place to see what others are reading and add to your ever growing list of title to explore. So let's share. Write a post and then go link up at Diane's blog.

The Hurricane Sisters
Dorothea Benton Frank
Harper Collins April 2015


Prologue

According to Liz

My husband, Clayton, and I were at the police station getting my mother, Maisie, out of jail for brushing up against the wrong side of the law. Her actual charges were still unclear. She claims it is not against any law in the state of South Carolina to take a llama for a walk on the open road. He was, after all, on a leash. The local police beg to differ, saying it is an act of animal cruelty, endangerment, and reckless behavior. Legal or not, it wasn't normal. I was glad they brought her in to the police station until I could get there because her behavior surely demonstrates a lack of sound judgement. Or not. Maisie was crazy like a fox and we all knew it. So I sat and waited while Clayton made it right between the Town of Mount Pleasant and Maisie by writing a check. 


So have you read The Hurricane Sisters?  Would you read on?  Have you read any of Dorothea Benton Frank's other novels?  


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

April Month in Review

Again I am behind in my book reading goal. Goodreads says I am4 books behind. I have read a total of 16 books. Twenty would keep me on my goal of 5 books per month. Yikes. I had better kick it in gear, again!



APRIL:

13.  Bossypants by Tina Fey

     1. New to me author
     2. Libary print book
     3. Non-Fiction, Memoir
     4, What's in a Name 2016 challenge


14. The Chili Queen  by Sandra Dallas

    1. Women's Literary Fiction Challenge
    2. Libary print book
    3. What's in A Name 2016 challenge


15. Witch is When It All Began  by Adele Abbott

    1.  New to me author
    2.  E-book
    3.  Read the Books You Buy challenge
    4.  Women't Literary Fiction Challenge
    5.   Cruisin' Thru the Cozies Challenge


16.   Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

        1. New to me author
        2. Audio book
        3. Read the Books You Buy Challenge.


I am linking up with Kathryn's at Book Date for Month in Review.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy
Judy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 5-2-16

It's Monday What Are You Reading is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. Share what you are reading, what you read recently or what you hope to get to in the coming week and then link up with Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great place to see what is going on in the blogosphere and to add to your reading lists.

On my phone/Kindle: 

Goodreads:

Amy Poehler is hosting a dinner party and you're invited! Welcome to the audiobook edition of Amy Poehler's Yes Please. The guest list is star-studded with vocal appearances from Carol Burnett, Seth Meyers, Michael Schur, Patrick Stewart, Kathleen Turner, and even Amy's parents—Yes Please is the ultimate audiobook extravaganza.

Also included? A one night only live performance at Poehler's Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. Hear Amy read a chapter live in front of a young and attractive Los Angeles audience.

While listening to Yes Please, you'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll become convinced that your phone is trying to kill you. Don't miss this collection of stories, thoughts, ideas, lists, and haikus from the mind of one of our most beloved entertainers. Offering Amy's thoughts on everything from her "too safe" childhood outside of Boston to her early days in New York City, her ideas about Hollywood and "the biz," the demon that looks back at all of us in the mirror, and her joy at being told she has a "face for wigs"—Yes Please is chock-full of words, and wisdom, to live by.

Goodreads gives us credit for 8 pages yet I will spend 10 hrs listening to this audiobook. It seems a bit unfair to me.


Audiobook, Unabridged, 8 pages

Published October 28th 2014 by HarperAudio


Print Book:






Goodreads: 

Hurricane season begins early and rumbles all summer long, well into September. Often people's lives reflect the weather and The Hurricane Sisters is just such a story.

Once again Dorothea Benton Frank takes us deep into the heart of her magical South Carolina Lowcountry on a tumultuous journey filled with longings, disappointments, and, finally, a road toward happiness that is hard earned. There we meet three generations of women buried in secrets. The determined matriarch, Maisie Pringle, at eighty, is a force to be reckoned with because she will have the final word on everything, especially when she's dead wrong. Her daughter, Liz, is caught up in the classic maelstrom of being middle-age and in an emotionally demanding career that will eventually open all their eyes to a terrible truth. And Liz's beautiful twenty-something daughter, Ashley, whose dreamy ambitions of her unlikely future keeps them all at odds.

Luckily for Ashley, her wonderful older brother, Ivy, is her fierce champion but he can only do so much from San Francisco where he resides with his partner. And Mary Beth, her dearest friend, tries to have her back but even she can't talk headstrong Ashley out of a relationship with an ambitious politician who seems slightly too old for her.

Actually, Ashley and Mary Beth have yet to launch themselves into solvency. Their prospects seem bleak. So while they wait for the world to discover them and deliver them from a ramen-based existence, they placate themselves with a hare-brained scheme to make money but one that threatens to land them in huge trouble with the authorities.

So where is Clayton, Liz's husband? He seems more distracted than usual. Ashley desperately needs her father's love and attention but what kind of a parent can he be to Ashley with one foot in Manhattan and the other one planted in indiscretion? And Liz, who's an expert in the field of troubled domestic life, refuses to acknowledge Ashley's precarious situation. Who's in charge of this family? The wake-up call is about to arrive.

The Lowcountry has endured its share of war and bloodshed like the rest of the South, but this storm season we watch Maisie, Liz, Ashley, and Mary Beth deal with challenges that demand they face the truth about themselves. After a terrible confrontation they are forced to rise to forgiveness, but can they establish a new order for the future of them all?

Frank, with her hallmark scintillating wit and crisp insight, captures how a complex family of disparate characters and their close friends can overcome anything through the power of love and reconciliation. This is the often hilarious, sometimes sobering, but always entertaining story of how these unforgettable women became The Hurricane Sisters.

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline ( audio)

Ready Player One

Ernest Cline 

audio version: read by Wil Wheaton

Published: August 16, 2011  Random House Audio

Goodreads Synopsis: 

It's the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune--and remarkable power--to whoever can unlock them.

For years, millions have struggled fruitlessly to attain this prize, knowing only that Halliday's riddles are based in the pop culture he loved--that of the late twentieth century. And for years, millions have found in this quest another means of escape, retreating into happy, obsessive study of Halliday's icons. Like many of his contemporaries, Wade is as comfortable debating the finer points of John Hughes's oeuvre, playing Pac-Man, or reciting Devo lyrics as he is scrounging power to run his OASIS rig.

And then Wade stumbles upon the first puzzle.

Suddenly the whole world is watching, and thousands of competitors join the hunt--among them certain powerful players who are willing to commit very real murder to beat Wade to this prize. Now the only way for Wade to survive and preserve everything he knows is to win. But to do so, he may have to leave behind his oh-so-perfect virtual existence and face up to life--and love--in the real world he's always been so desperate to escape.

A world at stake.
A quest for the ultimate prize.
Are you ready? 


My thoughts:


I really enjoyed listening to this book. Fantasy and Science Fiction are not my usual reads. But I do watch some science fiction, Mr Busy and my kids and grand kids are fans. I did not grow up in the 80's, I was already an adult. I did enjoy the references made to movies and game consoles and music, though. I was raising teenagers in the 80's!

I was captivated by the narration by Wil Wheaton. He did a really great job separating the voices of the various characters. The setting has such a real feel. I think our future may be just like that, only I think (or hope) it will be longer than 28 years. Our younger generation already spends a lot of time in the virtual world. I would recommend this audio version to anyone who might be interested in this story of a world in the not too distant future and the young people that inhabit it. I cannot do a better review than this one already done by Sheila at Book Journey. Click on over and read her thoughts. Just FYI, she loved it and her recommendation played a large part in my decision to download this audio version.

Witch Is When It All Began by Adele Abbott

Witch Is When It All Began  
Adele Abbott

Jill Gooder is a P.I., because her father was and she took over the business. She is not very successful at the present time, and so decides to take on a job to find a “serial killer”. At least her client thinks a serial killer murdered his girlfriend, the police do not. As in most cozy mysteries, the protagonist sticks her nose where it doesn’t belong. She can’t help it however, she has a job to do.


Enter a quirky office assistant, an adopted one-eyed cat, a police detective who seems to hate her, and a sister who is trying to hook her up with just about anyone. As Jill deals with all these characters in her life, she discovers that her biological mother is a Witch. That means she too is a witch, at least that is what her mother says from her deathbed, “You’re a witch!”

This is a fun story. I grew up watching “Bewitched” on television and this books reminds me of Samantha and Darren and their exploits. I was a bit put off by the slang words I did not know, but because I read it on my Kindle, I could look up the meanings without too much trouble. If you are looking for a light easy read, this is one for you. There are more installments in the series and I will check them out as well. I am adding this to my “Cruisin’ Thru the Cozies” challenge, hosted by Yvonne at Socrate's Book Reviews.

This also will fit for Read What You Buy and Women's Fiction Reading Challenge. A three-fer!! 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 4/25/16

It's Monday What Are You Reading is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. Share what you are reading, what you read recently or what you hope to get to in the coming week and then link up with Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great place to see what is going on in the blogosphere and to add to your reading lists.

Finished but no review yet:

It was pretty good, but lots of terms and sayings that were unfamiliar. Luckily it was on my kindle, so looking them up was easy. 

Over 1/2 way : 

I have been listening on my phone ( a new deal to me) and carrying it everywhere. 5 hours left and I have it on 1.5 speed. I am loving Wil Wheaton's narration!! 

If I finish this one, I am not sure what to start next. Maybe - 

 It is the May book for my book club:

 This has been on my Kindle for a long time:

 I love Kristin Hannah and this is one that I have been wanting to start!

I borrowed ( or just took with her permission) this from my youngest granddaughter. She could not finish it, and I have not started it. But I want to read it before seeing the movie. 

Any suggestions as to which one I should read next?  

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

I am prepping for a Quilt Retreat the first weekend in May. Plus DH has out patient surgery on the 4th. Hoping to get some reading time in. Wish me luck. 

TBR Triple Dog Dare vs Read The Books You Buy -

       Either way I am a Winner!!





Yesterday, after reading Laurel-Rain Snow's post about Reading The Books You Buy, I had to double check a couple of the titles I included on my list. As it turns out, several of the books on my Kindle were purchased before June 2015. Thanks Amazon for keeping track for me. The titles will work to complete the TBR Triple Dog Dare of only reading books already owned from January 1st until April 1st. But they are too old to be included on Kathryn's Read The Books You Buy Challenge. So check the corrections on my pages tab, 2016 Challenges.


I am going to continue to read some of my old titles whether they fit a challenge or not. Some will work for Women's Fiction Challenge and maybe I can even find one that fits a category in What's In A Name 2016. Maybe I'll start my own personal EBook challenge!


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Of Moths and Butterflies by V.R. Christensen

Of Moths & Butterflies by V. R. Christensen

Goodreads Synopsis:

Archer Hamilton is a collector of rare and beautiful insects. Gina Shaw is a servant in his uncle’s house. Clearly out of place in the position in which she has been discovered, she becomes a source of fascination . . . and curiosity. 
A girl with a blighted past and a fortune she deems a curse, Gina has lowered herself in order to find escape from her family and their scheming designs. But when she is found, the stakes suddenly become dire. 

All Gina wants is the freedom to live her life as she would wish. All her aunts want is the money that comes with her. But there is more than one way to trap an insect. An arranged marriage might turn out profitable for more parties than one. 

Mr. Hamilton is about to make the acquisition of a lifetime. But will the price be worth it? Can a woman captured and acquired learn to love the man who has bought her? 
All Gina wants is the freedom to live her life as she would wish. All her aunts want is the money that comes with her. But there is more than one way to trap an insect. An arranged marriage might turn out profitable for more parties than one. 
Mr. Hamilton is about to make the acquisition of a lifetime. But will the price be worth it? Can a woman captured and acquired learn to love the man who has bought her? 

My Thoughts:

A bit slow at the beginning, I soon found this story hard to put down. Ms. Christensen has obviously done her homework regarding the restrained dialogue and the emotions of the 1880’s. The dialogue in this story frustrated me a lot. As was the times, no one spoke straightforwardly.

Women had no rights, and unless married were destined to a life “in service”.   Imogene Everard lived a life much like servitude in her uncle’s house. She was his bait, as he enticed unethical businessmen to his home. When he dies, his will surprises everyone, including Imogene. But she wants nothing of her uncle’s ill-gotten gains and makes a hasty decision regarding her future.

Her future seems destined for failure. No matter what decisions she makes, something always goes array.  This fact was a little disheartening. As the story progresses I began to root for Imogene or Gina as she was known to Archer Hamilton.  Archer treated Gina with care and respect. Like the insects he acquired and displayed, he too was caught up in a web of family secrets.  As their stories became more intertwined, the secrets threatened to be revealed and I couldn’t put the book down until I discovered the outcome.

The Liar's Club by Mary Karr

The Liars' Club by Mary Karr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Liar’s Club is an honest, gritty memoir written by Mary Karr. Parts of this book were hard to read, parts of it were funny and silly. My book club was divided. Three of them did not even finish it, 3 of us finished it, but only two of us liked it. I think it boils down to the life experiences of each of us. We did agree that the writing was superb. The subject matter is not unheard of, but when this book was first published in 1995 it was unique. Ms. Karr does not sugar coat her childhood experiences. She does not place blame or make us hate her parents. She just tells it like it was. And it was heartbreaking. How interesting that The Liar’s Club is such a rare, honest telling of her story.
Mary and her sister, Lecia ( pronounced Lisa) endured a childhood filled with emotional pain and unbridled expectation. Their mother, Charlie Marie, struggled to find her place in the world. Southeast Texas in a slumping economy was not where she thought her future lay. So she searched for the perfect place and the perfect person to share her future with. Their father, Pete, or J.P. was a hard working ordinary kind of guy, not really up to the standards of Charlie’s expected life. He was a sort of town celebrity as he wove stories of his past and the past of the area, for the enjoyment of his friends at the American Legion.
Do not read this memoir if you are expecting a rose garden. There are only thorns in this story. Well, maybe a few daisies and a bit of green grass, but mostly a tangle of briars and bushes.
I will read the other memoirs written by Mary Karr and I want to experience her poetry also. What a talented writer.




View all my reviews

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 3/14/16

IMWAYR is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. Share what you are reading, what you read recently or what you hope to get to in the coming week and then link up with Kathryn at Book Date. It is a great place to see what is going on in the blogosphere and to add to your reading lists or piles of titles to be read.

On my Kindle:    

I am still reading this one. I have had a bit of difficulty finding some reading time lately.  We have had company on Friday, Saturday we were away from home, and Sunday we had company again for several hours. Then, of course, there is laundry, food prep and trying to get my steps in. 

I did visit our library this week and got some direction on loading Overdrive and One Click Digital on that device. I finally got One Click loaded so now am able to listen to Emma while reading along. It is much better for me. 

I have the audio version for 10 more days, so I will give this my full attention. I also have been sewing some. I just about finished a table runner for my daughter's new-to-her house. She will move the end of May. I hope she likes it. I am putting together a placemat too. She is by herself now, so this is a sort of celebration. Her long fought divorce is finally (20 months) over. We are not celebrating the divorce necessarily, cause no one won. But the end of the stress of the negotiations  is a reason for a celebratory gift. 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

And for all of you in the US whose states participate, Happy Spring Forward to Daylight Savings Time. 

February Month in Review

Goodreads reports that I  am one book behind in reaching my goal of 60 books this year. Since I have only read 8 books that really means I am 2 books behind if I aim for 5 books per month. January is here.


February:

6. Here Today, GoneTamale by Rebecca Adler

    1. New to me author
    2. Women's Literary Fiction Challenge
    3. Cozy Mystery Challenge
    4.  Paperback
    5. Already Owned: TBR Triple Dog Dare
 

7. Deep Down Dark by Hector Tobar

    1.  New to me author
    2.  Non-fiction
    3.  E-book
    4.  Already Owned: TBR Triple Dog Dare
    5.  Read the Books You Buy Challenge


8.  The Liar's Club by Mary Karr

       1. New to me author
       2. Memoir  by a woman
       3. Paperback
       4. Already Owned:  TBR Triple Dog Dare
       5. Read the Books You Buy Challenge


I am linking this quick review with Kathryn at Book Date.

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Deep Down Dark by Hector Tobar

Deep Down Dark: The Untold Stories of 33 Men Buried in a Chilean Mine, and the Miracle That Set Them Free
Hector Tobar
2014  Picador Movie Tie-In  Ebook


On August 5, 2010, 33 of the men that make up the A shift, enter the San Jose Mine in Copiapo, Chile. One man, Mario Sepulveda is late. He is hoping that maybe he will be fired, and that will make it easier for a friend to get him a job at another mine. Most of the miners live in the Copiapo area. Mario commutes from Santiago. As he walks toward the mine, a friend gives him a life and he arrives in time to report for his shift, only the supervisor Luis Urzua notices but makes no mention. Now all 34 men are beginning their work day.

Raul Villegas, driving a dump truck of ore to the surface, passes all the other miners on his way out of the mine. He is the only one to escape as the blast and collapse happen behind him. It is 1:40 pm.
At first, the rumble and the dust catch everyone by surprise and then they realize what has happened. The next few minutes they try desperately to determine where their companions are and if they are all safe. As the dust settles and they start a head count, all are accounted for except for Raul, the driver of the dump truck. All are uninjured.

What happens in the next few hours, and the days and weeks that follow is nothing short of miraculous. As luck would have it they are trapped near the Refuge. A sort of break room, with reinforced walls and a small kitchen. They are able to move up and down several levels but their escape routes are all blocked or the chimneys have no ladders. Several vehicles are operable, have gas, batteries and there is a large tank of water used for servicing the equipment.

Hector Tobar continues to tell the story and intricately weaves the personal stories of the miners and their families, the townspeople of Copiapo and the government officials of Chili with the details of the mine and what happens when "the mine pancakes." I found the story impossible to put out of my mind and it caused me to wonder if I would have been able to deal with the hardship that occurred. I'm not sure that I would have.

I would suggest reading this book if you like non-fiction and even if you don't. I have a few friends that normally do not pick non-fictions, but because this was a book club selection, they read it and enjoyed it. It is well written with wonderful descriptions of the surrounding area and the time inside the mine. I am also anxious to see the movie   THE 33.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intro - The Liar's Club by Mary Karr

Every Tuesday Diane hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where she shares the first paragraph sometimes two from a book she is reading or thinking about reading soon. Share a book you are interested in reading and link up at Diane's blog, Bibliophile by the Sea. 

The Liar's Club

Mary Karr

Viking Press 1995

Chapter 1

My sharpest memory is of a single instant surrounded by dark. I was seven and our family doctor knelt before me where I sat on a mattress on the bare floor. He wore a yellow golf shirt unbuttoned so that sprouts of hair showed in a V shape on his chest. I had never seen him in anything but a white starched shirt and a gray tie.  The changed unnerved me. He was pulling at the hem of my favorite nightgown-a pattern of Texas bluebonnets bunched into nosegays tied with ribbon against a field of nappy white cotton. I had tucked my knees under it to make a tent. He could easily have yanked the thing over my head with one motion, but something made him gentle. "Show me the marks," he said. "Come on now. I won't hurt you." He had watery blue eyes behind thick glasses, and a mustache that looked like a caterpillar. " Please? Just pull this up and show me where it hurts," he said. He held a piece of hem between thumb and forefinger. I wasn't crying and I don't remember any pain, but he talked to me in that begging voice he used when he had a long needle hidden behind his back. I liked him but didn't much trust him. The room I shared with my sister was dark, but I didn't fancy hiking  my gown up with strangers milling around in the living room.

What do you think? Would you read on?  Have you already read this one?   It is the next read for my face to face book club.


Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Of Moths and Butterflies

Every Tuesday Diane hosts First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where she shares the first paragraph sometimes two from a book she is reading or thinking about reading soon. Share a book you are interested in reading and link up at Diane's blog, Bibliophile by the Sea.

Of Moths and Butterflies

V.R. Christensen

Captive Press Publishing 2011

Part One
People have very little idea how great are the injuries which imprudence draws on them, or they would not despise this homely virtue. Especially for young women is prudence required in the conduct of love affairs. There is no end to the tale of misery we could tell resulting from its want. Marriage would not be the lottery it is, if girls would exercise a little prudence. They should never engage themselves to a man of whom they know nothing - the past of their future husband ought to be clear to them.  

Laura, Valentine, The Young Woman's Book

Does this introduction to Part One intrigue you or are you turned off by the language?  I'll admit I really knew nothing about this book except it was by a Goodreads author, it was historical fiction set in the 1800's and the cover took my breath away.



Stay Busy and Stay Happy