It's Monday, What are You Reading?

Sheila over at Book Journey  sponsors this weekly meme. There is great participation, so go to her blog and visit the others participating  - be warned 

though… this meme tends to add to your reading list!

This week I am working on several books. Usually I don't read more than one book at a time, but occasionally I venture into that chaos.

I finished my book club's November read, so decided to start The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty on my Kindle. It was recommended by a close friend and the title really caught my interest. What is his secret? An affair, did he murder someone, is he really someone else?? So many options. It is really the story of 3 women in Australia whose live converge later in the story. So far, there has been a letter found accidentally that read" read on the event of my death", a confessed affair with her cousin, and another secret yet to be revealed.

I needed to work on completing the last leg of the Mega Mix Challenge from the Love of Reading Group at Goodreads, so I started #10 in the Benni Harper series by Earlene Fowler.  Benni and Gabe have moved into a new house, her best friend has recently been married and bought the local bookstore, her grandmother Dove is newly married too, and now her favorite mystery writer, Emma Baldwin has moved back to San Celina.  Gabe's friend Luke, from his LAPD days, has arrived in town on a mysterious assignment. What will Benni get herself into this time?

And my husband and I took a short road trip to attend a friend's daughter's wedding in a neighboring state, so we always try to do an audio book. I try to pick one that will hold his interest while he drives, so I usually opt for a David Baldacci, or Clive Cussler, or John Grisham. Not my regular authors, but I like them OK. Our trip did not take enough time to listen to the whole book, so we will finish it this week instead of watching Sitcom TV, which he hates. I will work on some hand embroidery and that way, get 2 things done at the same time!

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Saturday Snapshot Last Leaves of Autumn

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at  http://westmetromommy.blogspot.com/. To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky (at West Metro Mommy). Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

Last Saturday was beautiful, so my DH finished cleaning up our yard after Winter Storm Atlas. You can see there are more leaves yet to rake, but if the future goes like the past, there will be snow and wet after they
 fall and we won't be able to rake them up til spring.  Isn't that Crab apple tree in the background pretty?



Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

The Friday 56 - #1 for me

• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an ebook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

"Come in, come in. Sorry I took so long coming to the door. 

I had no idea crutches were so damned tricky. "

Today's selection:

From Goodreads:

At the heart of The Husband’s Secret is a letter that’s not meant to be read

My darling Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died...

Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. ...

Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.

Acclaimed author Liane Moriarty has written a gripping, thought-provoking novel about how well it is really possible to know our spouses—and, ultimately, ourselves.(less)


I have just started reading this book. It is on my Kindle and so I just went to page 56 rather than 56%. I did not want to read too far ahead. It was recommended to my by a close friend, so far I am enjoying it.

Until next time
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Wondrous Words Wednesday 10-30

Wondrous Words Wednesday is hosted by BermudaOnion each week. It's an opportunity to share new words you've encountered in your reading, or highlight words that you particularly enjoy.

Here are some words I ran across in my reading this week. 

VASCULUM - noun   A covered metal case, often cylindrical, used by botanists to carry specimen plants. 

This is from The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. I would share the exact sentence here, but I returned the book to the library. I found these two images on the internet. One is very beautiful, the other, obviously more utilitarian. 

Also from The Kitchen House , "supercilious abandon".  I had seen this word before, but could not remember it's definition.

SUPERCILIOUS - adj.  disdainful or contemptuous; full of or characterized by pride or scorn, haughty.

I liked  The Kitchen House very much. I recommend it highly.


And from a completely different kind of book:   Four to Score by Janet Evanovich.  This is #4 in the Stephanie Plum series and I like them a lot too!

" Connie's domain was this one room where friends and relatives of miscreants came to beg money."


MISCREANTS - noun.  an evil person or a person who behaves badly, gets into trouble, breaks the law.

Four to Score is about the adventures of Stephanie Plum, a bungling bounty hunter or bond enforcement office as she likes to say when trying to look like an upstanding citizen.

What new words did you discover this week?


Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday - Four to Score

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.

Four to Score - Janet Evanovich

St Martins Press - 1998

"Living in Trenton in July is like living inside a big pizza oven. Hot, airless, aromatic. 

Because I didn't want to miss any of the summer experience I had the sunroof open on my Honda CRX. My brown hair was pulled up into a wind-snarled, curls-gone-to-frizz ponytail. The sun baked the top of my head, and sweat trickled under my black spandex sports bra. I was wearing matching spandex shorts and a sleeveless oversized Trenton Thunders baseball jersey. It was an excellent outfit except it gave me no place to stick my .38. Which meant I was going to have to borrow a gun to shoot my cousin Vinnie. "

I just started this 4th in the series. I had been looking for this copy for awhile and all of a sudden it is on the library shelf. Might have been a donation, anyway I am glad to get my hands on it.

How about you?  Have you read this series?  Does this intro grab you?


Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday, What are you Reading #3

Last night I started reading,

Publisher's synopsis from the back cover:

Stephanie Plum, Trenton New Jersey's favorite pistol-packing, condom-carrying bounty hunter is back - and on the trail of a revenge-seeking waitress who's skipped bail. With the help of 73-year-old Grandma Mazur, ex-hooker Lula, a transvestite musician named Sally Sweet , and the all-too-hospitable, all-too-sexy Joe Morelli, Stephanie might just catch her woman. The again, with more mishaps than there are on the New Jersey Turnpike - including murders, firebombs and Stephanie's arch-rival bounty hunter chasing after the same fugitive - Stephanie better watch her back big-time if she wast to live to crack this case. 

This fun filled faced-paced thriller is just what I needed after finishing Rebecca by Daphen DuMaurier and The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.  You can read my reviews of Rebecca and The Kitchen House on Goodreads, HERE.

I am also listening to Skipping Christmas by John Grisham and Split Second by David Baldacci. 

Until next time, 

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

W...W...W... Wednesday - my 1st!

To play along just answer the following three (3) questions:

What are you currently reading?

What  did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you'll read next?

Then pop on over to Should Be Reading and leave a comment or a link to your post in the comment section.

 

Currently I am reading:  I am about 1/2 way through and enjoying it very much. It is the November selection for my F2F bookclub.

I recently finished: 

This is not the cover of the edition that my library had, but it is close. 

Goodreads Synopsis:

Rebecca, a dark psychological tale of secrets and betrayal, is Daphne du Mauriers best-loved work and was named Best Novel of the 20th Century at the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention. After a whirlwind romance and a honeymoon in Italy, the innocent young heroine and the dashing Maxim de Winter return to his country estate, Manderley. But the unsettling memory of Rebecca, the first Mrs. de Winter, still lingers within. The timid bride must overcome her husbands oppressive silences and the sullen hostility of the sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers, to confront the emotional horror of the past.

I loved this book. Everyone said I would and they were correct. The writing is so descriptive, so colorful,
so almost poetic. I think it is strange that we never know the heroine's name. Rebecca is the book's namesake and she is definitely a major presence in the story. When Mrs Danvers suggested that the timid young bride dress in the white dress and hat of the late Caroline de Winter, her new husbands great grandmother for the upcoming fancy dress ball,  I screamed, "no no don't do it!".  Turns out I was right!.  Evil Mrs, Danvers! From that point on the story escalates to include secrets, murder, blackmail and destruction. And the ending.............?

Next I will read:
Which I checked out at the library when I picked up The Kitchen House. I want to read them all and I am waaaay  behind!.


Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

JUDY