First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros Wildflower Hill

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.

Touchstone /Simon & Schuster

July 2011

ONE

Beattie:  Glasgow 1929

Beattie Blaxland had dreams. Big dreams.
Not the confused patchwork dreams that invade sleep. No, these were the dreams with which she comforted herself before sleep, in her trundle bed rolled out on the floor of her parents' finger-chilling tenement flat.  Vivid, yearning dreams. A life of fashion and fabrics; and fortune, of course. A life where the dismal truth about her dismal family would fade and shrink and disappear. One thing she had never dreamed was that she would find herself pregnant to her married lover just before her nineteenth birthday. 

Would you read on?  The copy I have on my nightstand has a different cover than the one I show here, but it has been on my TBR list for a couple of years.  I will read it as part of the Mega Mix II Challenge on Goodreads Love of Reading group. I hope to start it this week.



Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? Comfort Food

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It's a good way to check out what others are reading and maybe find a gem you have missed in the past. Some are reading new titles, some of us are reading older titles that we missed the first time around. Come join  the fun, but be warned.....your TBR stack may grow to toppling over!

This week I finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbrosky. You can read my review here. 

Mr Busy and I finished listening to the Camel Club by David Baldacci, but not before returning it to the library to have the discs polished or cleaned or whatever they do to them. They suggested it was our reader by I  don't think so. We did get it finished and now have started on the next in the series.

In Washington, D.C, where power is everything and too few have too much of it, four highly eccentric men with mysterious pasts call themselves the Camel Club. Their mission: find out what's really going on behind the closed doors of America's leaders.

The assassination of the U.S. Speaker of the House has shaken the nation. And the outrageous iconoclasts of the Camel Club have found a chilling connection with another death: the demise of the director of the Library of Congress's rare books room, whose body has been found in a locked vault where seemingly nothing could have harmed him. 

A man who calls himself Oliver Stone is the groups unofficial leader. Staying one step ahead of his violent past and headquartered in a caretaker's cottage in Mt. Zion Cemetery, Stone, drawing on his vast experience and acute deductive powers, discovers that someone is selling America to its enemies one classified secret at a time. When Annabelle Conroy, the greatest con artist of her generation, struts onto the scene in high-heeled boots, the Camel Club gets a sexy new edge. And they'll need it, because the two murders are hurtling them into a world of high-stakes espionage that threatens to bring America to its knees.

From an ingenious con in Atlantic City tho the possible forgery of one of the rarest and most valuable books in America history, to a showdown of epic proportions in the very heart of the capitol, David Baldacci weaves a brilliant, white-knuckle tale of suspense in which every collector is searching for one missing prize: the one to die for...

The one is a bit different, but promises to be a true Baldacci thriller. 

I also read and finished the April read for my book club. I did post a short review. But I am anxious to see what the rest of my book club thinks.

I started reading a book that I have had on my shelf for almost a year. It is one that a fellow book club member brought to a meeting to share. It also will fulfill part of the Mega Mix II challenge that I am doing on Goodreads.

Shortly before turning the big 5-0, boisterous party planner and Cooking with Gusto personality Augusta "Gus" Simpson finds herself planning a birthday party she'd rather not-her own. She's getting tired of being the hostess, the mother hen, the woman who has to plan her own birthday party. What she needs is time on her own with enough distance to give her loved ones the ingredients to put together successful lives without her.

Assisted by a handsome up-and-coming chef, Oliver, Gus invites a select group to take an on-air cooking class. But instead of just preaching to the foodie masses, she will teach regular people how to make rich, sensuous meals-real people making real food. Gus decides to bring a vibrant cast of friends and family on the program: Sabrina, her fickle daughter; Troy, Sabrina's ex-husband; Anna, Gus's timid neighbor; and Carmen, Gus's pompous and beautiful competitor at the Cooking Channel. And when she begins to have more than collegial feelings for her sous-chef, Gus realizes that she might be able to rejuvenate not just her professional life, but her personal life as well. . . .

I am about 1/3 of the way through it and I am enjoying it. I can see Gus and her daughters quite clearly. I have a daughter just her age, almost 5-0. 

I should be busy with these two selections and of course, I am still working through The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I know it seems like maybe this is a chore to read, but the real reason it is taking me so long is the format, not that this book is not a great read. 

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

A Sure Sign of Spring!

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at  West Metro Mommy Reads  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.

This picture was taken by my sister in South Dakota last week. She loves her flowers and has an amazing garden. I know she is looking forward to getting out and digging in the dirt. 

Then 3 days later she took this picture...... alas, spring is not here yet.  Just outside her patio window, sat a lonely robin, looking like he may want to come inside. 

We are all anxiously awaiting warmer temperatures and sunny skies. 

Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Review: The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel NF challenge #8

Title: The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story

Author: Lilly Koppel

Genre: Biography Memoir, Non Fiction

Publisher/Publication Date: Grand Central Publishing, June 2013

Rating: I liked it

Did I Finish: Of course, I did. 

Buy. Borrow, or Avoid?: Borrow or buy, the pictures at the back are worth the buy option.

Why did I read this book?:  It was the monthly selection for my F2F book club. 

Review:  The Astronauts Wives Club tells the real story of the women who stood by their men, some of America's biggest heroes.

Beginning with the Mercury Seven astronauts, the wives were thrust from the bleak living conditions on various military bases to almost royalty status. They were given clothes, makeovers, new homes and then expected to accept the press, Life Magazine in particular, into their lives and homes , all the while smiling, never showing fear, anger or ordinary stress.

From Annie Glenn, with her picture-perfect marriage to Trudy Cooper, who had a secret to hide from NASA, the wives came together to support each other through their husbands absences, infidelities, and then their husbands epic flights into space.

This memoir is written with candor and comedy and  with compassion and realism. You will come away with a different perspective of NASA, the astronauts and  the world of 1957 ( when Russia trumped the US with the first launch of a man-made satellite) to 1972 ( when Apollo 17, the final flight to the moon and the first night launch).

The space program continued into 2010, but this book only covers the beginning of the program up through the Apollo program. I lived that time period, as a teenage and a young wife and mother. I had no idea the government was so active in their day to day lives, and I had no idea of the tenuous marriages that mostly did not survive.

The one issue I did have with the writing, was that it seemed not to tell a story, but to recount happening after happening. It all seemed a bit mundane and I know the space program and the surrounding events were anything but mundane. I mean all this happened during the Cuban Missile crisis, JFK's assassination, the Vietnam War, the murders of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. our world was changing minute by minute.

the perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbrosky

Synopsis from bookclubreader.com:

First published in 1999, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a modern classic that captures the aching, confusing, and glorious experience of being a teenager—all through the eyes, ears, and letters of the book’s narrator, Charlie. We don’t know where Charlie lives and we don’t know to whom he is writing. But Charlie’s haunting letters, addressed only to “Dear Friend,” bring readers straight to the heart of his struggles to fit in, to find the will to “participate” in life, and to cope with the realities of the larger world as he learns how to grow up.

My thoughts : 

This is one of several books I have read lately that use the epistolary format. I usually enjoy the format and in this instance I think it really fits well. At first I wondered who Charlie was writing to and then near the end, I decided it did not matter. Maybe he was writing to no one. I wonder if it was his way of "talking to someone", sharing what he couldn't share with his family or friends. Sometimes, it just helps to put your thoughts and feelings on paper.

I really liked Charlie and Sam and Patrick. Their characters were well thought out and developed. I understood the feelings of each of the characters.

I was really surprised at the ending. I did not see that coming, though as I look back it makes sense. No wonder Charlie had trouble asserting himself. The Perks of Being a Wallflower grapples with a universally complex and difficult part of growing up. It made me stop and try to remember all those years ago, and wonder what I should or could have done differently. 

Reading this book as a grandparent, I hope I listen to my grandchildren and encourage them to be present and to participate in life. To stand up for yourself and what you believe is right and above all to be honest with yourself and others.


I highly recommend this book to all parents or grandparents of adolescents. 

As an afterthought:  My first impression of the cover was that it was odd. Tiny font, in lower case on a basically blank background. Now I think it is inspired.


Until next time

Stay Busy and Stay Happy

Though this book does not tell us where it's setting is, Charlie refers driving 2 hours to Ohio for Christmas. The author is from Pennsylvania so I am going to use Pennsylvania as it's setting.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros: Heaven is for Real

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. Or in my case, just finished!

Title: Heaven is for Real
Author: Todd Burpo with Lynn Vincent
Publisher: Thomas Nelson 2010


Prologue

The Fourth of July holiday calls up memories of patriotic parades, the savory scents of smokey barbecue, sweet corn, and night skies bursting with showers of light. But for my family,
 the July Fourth weekend  of 2003 was a big deal for other reasons. 

My wife, Sonja, and I had planned to take the kids to visit Sonja's brother, Steve, and his family in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It would be our first chance to meet our nephew, Bennett, born two months earlier. Plus, our kids, Cassie and Colton, had never been to the falls before. (Yes, there really a Sioux Falls in Sioux Falls. )  But the biggest deal of all was this: this trip would be the first time we'd left our hometown of Imperial,  Nebraska, since a family trip to Greeley, Colorado, in March had turned into the worst nightmare of our lives.  

Have you read this book?  Would you read on from this prologue if you knew nothing of the subject of the book?  I had, of course, heard of this book, read some excerpts and it was again recommended by members of my book club. Since the movie comes out the 17th of April, I decided I should read it.



Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 4-7-14 Tartt, Baldacci, Chebosky, Burpo

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journey. It is a great way to see what others are reading. So link up to Sheila's blog and join in the fun. Fair warning......it will add to your reading lists by leaps and bounds.!

This week I am still listening to The Goldfinch. I am enjoying it, but am finding it hard to find some alone time to listen to it. It is the audible version on my Kindle and my DH does not want to listen to it. "Sigh"

I read  Heaven is for Real in 2 days. Find my review here  on Goodreads. 

Mr. Busy and I started listening to The Camel Club . It is the first in a 6 part series I think. The second one is The Collectors. We borrowed both of these from our library this week. 

And because I finished Heaven is for Real in such a short time, I started on the perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. This one had such hype surrounding it several years ago. I found it on sale late last year at our local bookstore, and decided to buy it. I am participating in a Mega Mix II challenge that is part of the Love of Reading group on Goodreads. The first item in the challenge is to read 3-4 actual print books off your personal bookshelf. So this qualifies as one of those selections. It is a small quick read, I am almost finished. Then I hope to start on the next selection for my F2F bookclub,

Well, that should keep me occupied, plus I am working on a personal challenge to finish a quilt top that I started in 2011. Pictures to follow when finished.

Until next time,
Stay Busy and Stay Happy