tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63444987099203744482024-03-14T03:57:47.580-05:00Eddy-New Rockford LibraryWelcome to the Eddy-New Rockford Library Blog.Here you will find what new books we have, new services offered,reviews and spotlights on our Library2Go offerings.
Library Hours:Monday 12-6 Tues.-Fri 11-6MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.comBlogger410125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-38527851071529031572017-01-24T13:50:00.000-06:002017-01-24T13:50:24.065-06:00The One That Got Away by, Simon Wood<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-H45bG3P7fTT-YFC9MfL5hYM7JeVE4G0J3V_yfaVnjZvAXk2mSKk8n25uPO6_f-RBvMpSuVfVklCxNeucNRSJrl7Q9wBbBeJ77mubAPZDcaq3BUzg3kjpjtF2xuEK1TGZBeVXhNQn4k/s1600/the+one+that+got+away.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-H45bG3P7fTT-YFC9MfL5hYM7JeVE4G0J3V_yfaVnjZvAXk2mSKk8n25uPO6_f-RBvMpSuVfVklCxNeucNRSJrl7Q9wBbBeJ77mubAPZDcaq3BUzg3kjpjtF2xuEK1TGZBeVXhNQn4k/s320/the+one+that+got+away.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
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<b><u>The One That Got Away by, Simon Wood</u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18319823-the-one-that-got-away" target="_blank">Synopsis from Goodreads:</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>Graduate students Zoë
and Holli only mean to blow off some steam on their road trip to Las Vegas. But
something goes terribly wrong on their way home, and the last time Zoë sees
her, Holli is in the clutches of a sadistic killer. Zoë flees with her life,
changed forever.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>A year later and still
tortured with guilt, Zoë latches on to a police investigation where the crime
eerily resembles her abduction. Along with a zealous detective, she retraces
the steps of that fateful night in the desert, hoping that her memory will
return and help them find justice for Holli. Her abductor—labeled the “Tally
Man” by a fascinated media—lies in wait for Zoë. For him, she is not a survivor
but simply the one that got away.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>With an unforgettable
heroine, a chillingly disturbed psychopath, and a story that moves at breakneck
speed, The One That Got Away is thriller writer Simon Wood at his finest.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<b>My Review:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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I wrote this review a while ago but just bought the book for
the library. I know you will enjoy it as much as I did!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I received this book from the Kindle Program, this was a new
to me author and the description intrigued me, so I thought I’d give it a
chance and I was not disappointed. I really liked this book this was a great
thriller. Zoë and her friend Holli take a road trip to Las Vegas but something
terrible happens on the way home; Zoë wakes up in a shed naked and handcuffed
with Holli screaming in the next room but Zoë is able to get loose but can’t
see any way to save Holli other than going for help. The problem is she has
been drugged and by the time she finds help she can’t remember any details, she
has no idea how she got to the place, she doesn’t know what the man looked like
or where he took them from and can’t remember the route she took to get away.
The cops in the small town aren’t really buying her story.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A year later Zoë is still suffering from PTSD and Holli has
never been found after Zoë got home she dropped out of school took a job as a
mall security guard and is taking self-defense classes . She’s also seeing a
shrink for her PTSD and her impulse control because she seems to keep putting
herself in situations that may put her back in danger and has had a few run ins
with the cops because the littlest touch sets Zoë into a rage. Then there is
another murder that sounds like what she remembers seeing Holli go through. But
can the cops believe her? Is she a victim
or a killer or just a nutcase they should be wary of?<o:p></o:p></div>
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I had trouble putting this book down; I needed to know what
happens next and when we see the story from the killer’s point of view we
realize Zoë is not safe and this guy is a whack job. I liked that the story was told from both
sides for me it upped the tension because Zoë kept putting herself out there
even after she realized the man who took her was right in her own town. I also
understood in some way where Zoë was coming from she wanted this guy caught she
wanted to find Holli and that catching him might ease some of the survivors
guilt she feels the guilt of leaving Holli there. Yes there are times you have
to shake your head and say oh Zoë. However that just adds to the tension
because she is working on pure adrenaline and in the back of head knows she is
putting herself in danger again but seems to not be able to stop herself.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Ok I’ll stop now, as you can tell I really liked this one
and would highly recommend it. I will also be reading more from this author
because I liked his style.<o:p></o:p></div>
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4 Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-69133945380181994802016-08-16T16:02:00.000-05:002016-08-16T16:02:07.429-05:00The Royal Nanny by Karen Harper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Bujg2R4VduCPqrnorlDk5amZXtA80PKXA8Vx7hmLQ-giuTHhNY8YEAt5QiITNR-J_c_rWwaMdEQ0i3aOWgxF6pyO2FBxnHANO2rAMCXRUM3LM5RS12Fi6748fewJ8DDDPvUP_rcJmvY/s1600/royal+nanny.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Bujg2R4VduCPqrnorlDk5amZXtA80PKXA8Vx7hmLQ-giuTHhNY8YEAt5QiITNR-J_c_rWwaMdEQ0i3aOWgxF6pyO2FBxnHANO2rAMCXRUM3LM5RS12Fi6748fewJ8DDDPvUP_rcJmvY/s320/royal+nanny.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<b>The Royal Nanny by Karen Harper</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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The Royal Nanny by Karen Harper<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26795367-the-royal-nanny" target="_blank">Synopsis from Goodreads</a>: </b><i>Based on a seldom-told
true story, this novel is perfect for everyone who is fascinated by Britain’s
royal family—a behind the scenes look into the nurseries of little princes and
the foibles of big princes.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>April, 1897: A young
nanny arrives at Sandringham, ancestral estate of the Duke and Duchess of York.
She is excited, exhausted—and about to meet royalty. . . .<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>So begins the
unforgettable story of Charlotte Bill, who would care for a generation of
royals as their parents never could. Neither Charlotte—LaLa, as her charges dub
her—nor anyone else can predict that eldest sons David and Bertie will each one
day be king. LaLa knows only that these children, and the four who swiftly
follow, need her steadfast loyalty and unconditional affection.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>But the greatest
impact on Charlotte’s life is made by a mere bud on the family tree: a misunderstood
soul who will one day be known as the Lost Prince. Young Prince John needs all
of Lala’s love—the kind of love his parents won’t…or can’t…show him.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>From Britain’s old
wealth to the glittering excesses of Tsarist Russia; from country cottages to
royal yachts, and from nursery to ballroom, Charlotte Bill witnesses history.
The Royal Nanny is a seamless blend of fact and fiction—an intensely intimate,
yet epic tale spanning decades, continents, and divides that only love can
cross.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<b>My Review:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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I really enjoyed this book, I know I had heard of Lala before,
I believe it was in The Kings Speech so it was neat to see this family from her
perspective.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Of course we all know who David and Bertie are but there
were a few royals I knew nothing about not only Prince John or Johnnie as he
was known but I also knew very little about Queen Alexandra and King Edward so
this was a very interesting glimpse into their lives and the lives of their
family.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Charlotte Bill or Lala as the boys dubbed her came to the
household at a very opportune time and was able to save the boys from a nanny
that wasn’t good to them at all. She became indispensable to the family and
helped David & Bertie immensely in recovering from the trauma. Lala stayed
with the family through 3 more children and until the all the children had
grown she took special care of Johnnie who had epilepsy and possibly was somewhere
on the autism spectrum, and in that day and age that he wasn’t carted away
after his first seizure says so much about the wonderful Lala and the care she
gave these children.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This was such an interesting look at the Windsor’s home life
from 2 kings before Bertie and the mess with David, I found it interesting that
David even as a boy had no interest in being King and was a womanizer even
during the 1<sup>st</sup> World War. When he was barely 21. Also since the
majority of this book takes place before 1918 there were royal visits from
their cousins the Tsar & Tsarina and their beautiful girls and even little
Alexey it was sad because of knowing what happens to them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end and
thought the author did a great job of combining the fiction with the real and
melding them into a great story. This is my first book by this author and I would
definitely read another historical fiction by her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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4 Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here are a few Links I found interesting after reading this
book<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.karenharperauthor.com/Royal_Nanny.html" target="_blank">The Authors website</a> with some pictures and some more back
ground<o:p></o:p></div>
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The <a href="http://www.gogmsite.net/queen-alexandra/1902-alexandra-wearing-her-.html" target="_blank">Gold Dress </a>Alexandra wore to the Coronation in 1902<o:p></o:p></div>
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And This Video</div>
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<h1 class="watch-title-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top; width: 457.5px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="watch-title" dir="ltr" id="eow-title" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Prince John: The Windsors Tragic Secret">Prince John: The Windsors Tragic Secret</span></h1>
<h1 class="watch-title-container" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 20px; font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top; width: 457.5px; word-wrap: break-word;">
<span class="watch-title" dir="ltr" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Prince John: The Windsors Tragic Secret"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/peKGD48yqTk" width="560"></iframe></span></h1>
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<span class="watch-title" dir="ltr" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Prince John: The Windsors Tragic Secret"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="watch-title" dir="ltr" style="background: transparent; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" title="Prince John: The Windsors Tragic Secret"><br /></span></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-83728090896423147042016-05-03T11:41:00.000-05:002016-05-03T11:41:20.432-05:00Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly Narrated By Cassandra Campbell, Kathleen Gati, Kathrin Kana<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOBPKBJFTptrnnMRMybzOpMYFMy3-v1zz9tQOdLOAsh3wMs4ajsWV1kQ_-ZnHPbo0QKEMEwy3jgHOrGcX7NRKX2F7pFFSD9NdX0Up_nBCICupw-NMmSEHgfXoW5tcHTZckpmiLQ-5Gt1Y/s1600/lilac+girls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOBPKBJFTptrnnMRMybzOpMYFMy3-v1zz9tQOdLOAsh3wMs4ajsWV1kQ_-ZnHPbo0QKEMEwy3jgHOrGcX7NRKX2F7pFFSD9NdX0Up_nBCICupw-NMmSEHgfXoW5tcHTZckpmiLQ-5Gt1Y/s320/lilac+girls.jpg" width="274" /></a></div>
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<b>Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly </b><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Narrated By Cassandra Campbell, Kathleen Gati, Kathrin Kana</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Available in house and from
<a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/0D3A9FDD-8E2E-4C1E-AEBC-48FCE04902F5/10/50/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=41683425s&SortBy=Relevancy" target="_blank">Library2Go in both Ebook and Audiobook<o:p></o:p></a></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25893693-lilac-girls?from_new_nav=true&ac=1&from_search=true" target="_blank">Good Reads:</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Inspired by the life of a real World War II
heroine, this debut novel reveals a story of love, redemption, and secrets that
were hidden for decades.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her
hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon.
But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in
September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a
Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper
into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense
atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have
dire consequences.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta
Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a
desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a
male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The lives of these three women are set on a
collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück,
the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross
continents—from New York to Paris, Germany</span></i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">, <i>and Poland—as Caroline and Kasia
strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><u>Susie’s Review of the
Audiobook</u></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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This book is fabulous and I highly recommend the audio
version to truly bring these women to life!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I have read a lot of books on concentration camps and have
even visited a few but this was a learning experience for me I had never heard
of the Ravensbruck Rabbits, you hear so much about Mengele’s experiments on
twins but I never knew about the experiments these women went through in
Ravenbruck.<o:p></o:p></div>
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As with any book on concentration camps this one is
heartbreaking; however there is so much hope in this book because a large part
of the book is about the survivors and the after effects that there is hope and
hope’s name is Caroline Ferriday. She
truly saved these women years of pain by getting them to the US and getting
them surgery to fix the atrocious things that were done to them.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I enjoyed the
different storylines told by Caroline, Kasia one of the survivors and Herta one
of the doctors at the camp which was an interesting storyline because you just
couldn’t like her no matter if she felt bad for what she was doing or not. I
also enjoyed the addition of Kasia’s sister Suzanna (sp audio) who is a doctor
and also a survivor of Ravenbruck.<o:p></o:p></div>
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CAROLINE, read by Cassandra Campbell…KASIA, read by Kathleen
Gati….HERTA, read by Kathrin Kana the narration on this book was so fantastic I
can’t even come up with enough words to tell you to listen to the audio version
of this book. These 3 narrators brought these women to life for me and I
believe enhanced my enjoyment of this book.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I could go on and on about this book and I think this will
be in my top books of the year this year. So I’ll just say if you enjoy
historical fiction or WWII fiction you need to read this book!<o:p></o:p></div>
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5 Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
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The Authors website<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.marthahallkelly.com/therabbits/"><span style="background: white;">http://www.marthahallkelly.com/therabbits/</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #181818;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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A little background on Caroline Ferriday<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://connecticuthistory.org/a-godmother-to-ravensbruck-survivors/"><span style="background: white;">http://connecticuthistory.org/a-godmother-to-ravensbruck-survivors/</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #181818;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Author Elizabeth Wein has a comprehensive page about the
Ravensbruck Rabbits<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://www.elizabethwein.com/ravensbrueck-rabbits">http://www.elizabethwein.com/ravensbrueck-rabbits</a><o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-88320783008589653022016-03-17T17:31:00.001-05:002016-03-17T17:31:30.788-05:00America's First Daughter: A Novel by Stephanie Dray & Laura Kamoie narrated by, Cassandra Campbell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOd12BU48_VbnrMzM9XVUDuCo2FhVmN3fg7f4KgxCG5AxmoFiJDSPXzDX218aomOgyZcrddyrqEHKHpC7J47rwv8Pr-YMTnvlZks7HESejc0iMOeOpqmNlPxVZuI8PsI2S26KLNi2GYXE/s1600/americas+first+daughter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOd12BU48_VbnrMzM9XVUDuCo2FhVmN3fg7f4KgxCG5AxmoFiJDSPXzDX218aomOgyZcrddyrqEHKHpC7J47rwv8Pr-YMTnvlZks7HESejc0iMOeOpqmNlPxVZuI8PsI2S26KLNi2GYXE/s1600/americas+first+daughter.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>America's First Daughter: A Novel by Stephanie Dray & Laura
Kamoie narrated by, Cassandra Campbell</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Available in house and on Library2Go in <a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/50B2BBCA-FF80-49AD-ACC2-20962585A81E/10/50/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=40302344s&SortBy=Relevancy" target="_blank">Ebook and Audiobook</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26795381-america-s-first-daughter" target="_blank">Goodreads:</a> In a compelling, richly researched
novel that draws from thousands of letters and original sources, bestselling
authors Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie tell the fascinating, untold story of
Thomas Jefferson’s eldest daughter, Martha “Patsy” Jefferson Randolph—a woman
who kept the secrets of our most enigmatic founding father and shaped an
American legacy.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
From her earliest days, Patsy Jefferson knows that though
her father loves his family dearly, his devotion to his country runs deeper
still. As Thomas Jefferson’s oldest daughter, she becomes his helpmate,
protector, and constant companion in the wake of her mother’s death, traveling
with him when he becomes American minister to France.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is in Paris, at the glittering court and among the first
tumultuous days of revolution, that fifteen-year-old Patsy learns about her
father’s troubling liaison with Sally Hemings, a slave girl her own age.
Meanwhile, Patsy has fallen in love—with her father’s protégé William Short, a
staunch abolitionist and ambitious diplomat. Torn between love, principles, and
the bonds of family, Patsy questions whether she can choose a life as William’s
wife and still be a devoted daughter.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Her choice will follow her in the years to come, to Virginia
farmland, Monticello, and even the White House. And as scandal, tragedy, and
poverty threaten her family, Patsy must decide how much she will sacrifice to
protect her father's reputation, in the process defining not just his political
legacy, but that of the nation he founded.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>This is a review of the Audiobook</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I learned so much about this family and the time period from
this book, I enjoyed the excerpts from actual letters it added such an
authenticity to this fiction novel. As to the time period first and foremost
there are slaves, and secondly the women are such second hand citizens, even
though Thomas Jefferson did treat his daughters better than some. The abuse
towards women was horrifying, that it was just commonplace made it worse to me.
You could be hanged for stealing a horse but beating up your wife or mother in
law or daughter was fine.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course we all know
about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings relationship and I do feel like
that’s what it was, I think Sally truly helped the Jefferson out of his deepest
despair and I believe he was grateful for that. It did make me mad that he
didn’t free her and their children upon his death. I think that is the least he
could have done for all she went through.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I really like Martha’s husband Tom at first but boy oh boy
as this book went on he became just like his own father. This woman had 11
children in an age where a lot of women died in childbirth including her own
mother and her sister. But the alternative to not doing your wifely duties was
to have your husband bed a slave so I guess if you wanted to keep your husband
you just kept popping out babies.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The hardships and losses she went through were tough but
they made her a very tough woman and I was very impressed with her.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was also fascinated with the fact that the women were much
more “political” than their husbands they were the ones that got the right
people to the right dinners and parties and advanced their men’s careers, but
of course got no credit for it<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cassandra's narration was fabulous will be surprised if this
doesn't get an earphones award and possibly a Audie nomination next year so
very well done! I enjoyed that Patsy’s (Martha) voice aged with her and became
stronger as she became sure of herself. So well done! This book was 23 hours
and I was never bored or distracted and was sad when it ended.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We read this for book club and there were some that felt the
Paris section in the beginning was a little romancey but don’t let that put you
of, she’s a young girl at the start and this section sets up events later in
the book and also shows the lengths she will go for her father.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I see these two authors are writing another book together
and I look forward to reading it! I highly recommend this book and even higher
recommend it on audio!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
4 ½ Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Interview/podcast
with the authors<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://soundcloud.com/harperaudiopresents/americas-first-daughter">https://soundcloud.com/harperaudiopresents/americas-first-daughter</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Thomas Jefferson’s
letters here<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://founders.archives.gov/">http://founders.archives.gov/</a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A lot of good info on
the family and Monticello<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://www.monticello.org/">https://www.monticello.org/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-33855336210054494952016-03-04T15:10:00.001-06:002016-03-04T15:10:25.906-06:00A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by Sue Klebold<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkDgKoGUU7JFzSWJsV5Z6rNC9Oa0mioYvHKGop-7b-JusM5lgYM0Cx6mYaJPt5sbl1Qsol7xjf6L_0aAx40oBcF4bswyIt2aqW15yKNbM9oKGCnKUymGgz-zCQNjffmIUbXywj369WH4/s1600/a+mother+reckoning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkDgKoGUU7JFzSWJsV5Z6rNC9Oa0mioYvHKGop-7b-JusM5lgYM0Cx6mYaJPt5sbl1Qsol7xjf6L_0aAx40oBcF4bswyIt2aqW15yKNbM9oKGCnKUymGgz-zCQNjffmIUbXywj369WH4/s320/a+mother+reckoning.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy by
Sue Klebold</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://crownpublishing.com/feature/living-aftermath-tragedy/#.Vtn4PvkrL_w" target="_blank"> Crown Publishing</a>-
click to see a clip from one of Sue’s interviews<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This book is an absolute must read; especially if you are a
person who thinks it must be the parents fault when a child does this kind of
horrible act. She makes no excuses and lays bare her grief and guilt for all to
see but in laying it all out there is healing and at least some understanding
of what was happening in her child, the signs she missed the things she would
have done different but hindsight is 20/20 and can any of us say we would have
done anything differently. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This book is so powerful I could not put it down, I couldn't
help but feel her pain in every word, Sue & Tom were good parents but Dylan
was adept at hiding from them what he didn't want them to see. Think for a
minute what you hid from your parents when you were a teen…..<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It also wasn't just from his parents that he hid this other
side of himself , his friends were just as shocked and he had been let out
early of a diversion program because they thought he had learned his lesson and
probably wouldn't commit another crime and they are professionals there is also
his school counselor who read a violent story he had written and didn't see
anything to be alarmed about, and as Sue says but she was his mother and she
should have seen the signs but he was very good at hiding his inner turmoil
there is no guarantees that if she had gotten him help if it would have changed
anything. Also from everything I've seen and read including this book I believe
Dylan would have committed suicide by himself and not gone on the rampage he
did without Eric Harris, no I am not putting all the blame on Eric I am just
saying they fed off of each other Eric was more murderous while Dylan was
suicidal.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My heart breaks for the grief and hatred she has endured, as
she says yes her son was a murderer but he was still the baby she bore and the
sweet boy she raised, that is who she mourns, not the stranger who walked into
Columbine school that April morning.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As she wrote in her journal on the day she saw the horrible
“basement tapes”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRqHCaEbRsO781sw7lyydiHxovPPJzrXOB6F46WqLGaSwnXVqN-QAjwx-Rw1MViQm77sjtG6ZoNXEfrZ9XFat8Bs6o_MYgp5D5j8wivbSQSaMeDzQFy5J7KwgJx9sEQMVh2Y89i8LnzY/s1600/Klebold+quote+01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="251" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKRqHCaEbRsO781sw7lyydiHxovPPJzrXOB6F46WqLGaSwnXVqN-QAjwx-Rw1MViQm77sjtG6ZoNXEfrZ9XFat8Bs6o_MYgp5D5j8wivbSQSaMeDzQFy5J7KwgJx9sEQMVh2Y89i8LnzY/s400/Klebold+quote+01.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Page 125</div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4g_JSi5BJbumNCC1EvHXYVOY2RVzDRQxxtUlr647Q5ZzY4N8P9e_qUbMSheI_tVHWb0qi_P0JIg4wRS6bry95CCOQQ3b8UmPIxZC78B8DHB8aUn43cBG1kpaB20l5H6zLTvw-xraKPz0/s1600/Klebold+quote+02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4g_JSi5BJbumNCC1EvHXYVOY2RVzDRQxxtUlr647Q5ZzY4N8P9e_qUbMSheI_tVHWb0qi_P0JIg4wRS6bry95CCOQQ3b8UmPIxZC78B8DHB8aUn43cBG1kpaB20l5H6zLTvw-xraKPz0/s400/Klebold+quote+02.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Page 133</div>
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<br /></div>
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I learned so much about how a suicidal mind works and how so
many times the signs are so subtle that it is hard to distinguish between
something to be worried about and just normal teenage angst. Not every troubled
person acts out some suffer in silence.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think every High School Counselor, Suicide Prevention
Groups, Teachers, and Parents, well really just anyone who deals with young
people should read this book, Sue Klebold searched for answers and what she
found is truly frightening her child hid so much pain from her and that is
heartbreaking. She never stops apologizing to the victims and their families
and no matter how much they blame her I honestly don’t think anyone could blame
her as much as she blames herself.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So the next time there is a school shooting, please be
kinder to the parent of that child.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
5 Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cross-posted to <a href="http://www.misssusiesreading.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">MissSusie's Reading & Observations</a></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-64754550310549054442016-01-22T12:42:00.001-06:002016-01-22T12:43:41.798-06:00The Dressmaker's War by Mary Chamberlain narrated by, Susan Duerden<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6RcLXt9w7CWoMLuIE1L1jxWJ91EFPFPNNWqpL8IihP30SgWqmIoG0RF6dcnoRWSCre1bDwC464YNUQuzRkg3cS3gmf1iPiX8TrIIlddS59sm40S4etpke5flkJqmvjFEW83qXiWk6KT4/s1600/dressmakers+war.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6RcLXt9w7CWoMLuIE1L1jxWJ91EFPFPNNWqpL8IihP30SgWqmIoG0RF6dcnoRWSCre1bDwC464YNUQuzRkg3cS3gmf1iPiX8TrIIlddS59sm40S4etpke5flkJqmvjFEW83qXiWk6KT4/s1600/dressmakers+war.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>The Dressmaker's War by
Mary Chamberlain narrated by, Susan Duerden<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Available on <a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/E41032F1-4FAA-4072-B492-47583A8BF5FD/10/50/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=38628210s&SortBy=Relevancy" target="_blank">Library2Go in Ebook and Audiobook</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Soon to be available in house.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Synopsis from
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25434438-the-dressmaker-s-war" target="_blank">Goodreads:</a><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Spanning the intense
years of war, The Dressmaker's War is a dramatic tale of love, conflict,
betrayal and survival. It is the compelling story of one young woman’s resolve
to endure and of the choices she must make at every turn – choices which will
contain truths she must confront.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>London, spring 1939.
Eighteen-year-old Ada Vaughan, a beautiful and ambitious seamstress, has just
started work for a modiste in Dover Street. A career in couture is hers for the
taking – she has the skill and the drive – if only she can break free from the
dreariness of family life in Lambeth.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>A chance meeting with
the enigmatic Stanislaus von Lieben catapults Ada into a world of glamour and
romance. When he suggests a trip to Paris, Ada is blind to all the warnings of
war on the continent: this is her chance for a new start.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Anticipation turns to
despair when war is declared and the two are trapped in France. After the Nazis
invade, Stanislaus abandons her. Ada is taken prisoner and forced to survive
the only way she knows how: by being a dressmaker. It is a decision which will
haunt her during the war and its devastating aftermath.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>My Review of the
audiobook:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This book hooked me right away and I had a very hard time
putting it down. This was a different war story as the majority of the book is
set after the war is over and it is an English woman who was a prisoner in
Dachau, she was not in the camp she was in the commandant’s house but she was a
prisoner none the less. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yes, there were times when Ada’s choices made you want to
grab her and shake her but then you think of how young she was when Stanislaus
took her to Paris and then what she went through in Dachau, I’m sure stunted
her growth. Even after all she went through she was still so naïve. But I truly
think she still only wanted someone to love her and that is why she fell for
these men that were definitely not good for her. And you have to remember this
was a different time for women even though this isn’t that long ago women were
still the weaker sex and could still be lied about and to easily by men. And
when you are a young girl just out of captivity with nowhere to go and no one
to turn to you are an easy mark for these slime balls.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Susan Duerden’s narration was as always wonderful and added
to my enjoyment of this book.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the ending gutted me, I
would definitely read more from this author.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
4 ½ Stars <o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-67780201911418802162015-12-11T14:50:00.000-06:002015-12-11T14:50:06.455-06:00Back To Christmas by Dennis Canfield<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibrTzEo_VMsS8ouUNhlp-RKGg5P-L1R-mOwwycxchZ5i1nfDXeclHhrSX3N0Am7qvsxjF6uWreovlZth1rGkjrrcxpj-eB9oyslzhaxvG9zLvlJ2OWsdN2hAfJfXtujoaoVl2Ueo3G2zI/s1600/back+to+christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibrTzEo_VMsS8ouUNhlp-RKGg5P-L1R-mOwwycxchZ5i1nfDXeclHhrSX3N0Am7qvsxjF6uWreovlZth1rGkjrrcxpj-eB9oyslzhaxvG9zLvlJ2OWsdN2hAfJfXtujoaoVl2Ueo3G2zI/s320/back+to+christmas.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Back To Christmas by Dennis Canfield</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19324912-back-to-christmas" target="_blank">Goodreads:</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Twelve-year old Amanda
Krumwerth has just two days to save her dysfunctional family from going onto
Santa's Permanent Naughty List. Marmel the elf, head of Santa's Department for
Labeling People Naughty or Nice, would like nothing better than to see her
fail; he's told Amanda there is no hope for her family, and no evidence of love
in her family either. Can she prove him wrong? Find out in this story about an
unhappy elf, an unpleasant family, and the magic of Christmas.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My Review:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This book was so cute! A great Christmas story, that I can
see being made into a movie. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Marmel, head labeling elf he is in charge of labeling the
naughty and nice and he is in a tizzy because Santa changed the rules and now
no one is on the naughty list but Marmel has found a whole family (The
Krumwerth’s) that he thinks should be on the permanent naughty list, no more
chances they are just bad, bad, bad, at least according to Marmel. However
Santa wants to give them a chance to redeem themselves, much to Marmel’s
chagrin. According to the rules Marmel must inform the family they are in
danger of being on the naughty list forever, so he heads to the house and
informs teenaged Amanda of the family’s fate. We also get to see Santa’s
brother RC (Reverse Claus) who lives on the South Pole and wears green and has
green and white candy canes, which I will never look at without thinking of RC
again!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I enjoyed the Krumwerth family too they used to have fun on
Christmas but have somehow forgotten their Christmas spirit, but they aren’t
the only ones Marmel seems to be having a problem with this himself and for and
Elf that is a very bad thing to happen.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The story is told by Marmel & Amanda in alternating
chapters as you see how they try to get their Christmas Spirit back. I enjoyed
the family stuff and know what it is like when Christmas becomes more of a
chore than the fun and family it is supposed to be. I also enjoyed the scenes
in the South Pole and hope maybe RC will get his own book one of these days!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I truly enjoyed this book and can so see it as movie **Hello
Hollywood… Do You Hear Me?**<o:p></o:p></div>
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I highly recommend this fun book!<o:p></o:p></div>
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4 ½ Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-13494093314487449272015-08-21T11:59:00.001-05:002015-08-21T11:59:23.702-05:00Black-Eyed Susans by, Julia Heaberlin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6WrMuB-sWVjAMzhZLx2lk_4stqbcawnViJOO8HnHiXQjCzpNDX0N_-XZYTySXzyfbDxx0TidBY8z9A1k3NtPWsG84QFXtNm37ckjzGOMxxqkVm5o6UzKJsu0gFLwGy_i3KvR-Svistw/s1600/black+eyed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6WrMuB-sWVjAMzhZLx2lk_4stqbcawnViJOO8HnHiXQjCzpNDX0N_-XZYTySXzyfbDxx0TidBY8z9A1k3NtPWsG84QFXtNm37ckjzGOMxxqkVm5o6UzKJsu0gFLwGy_i3KvR-Svistw/s320/black+eyed.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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<b>Black-Eyed Susans by, Julia Heaberlin<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Available in-house in hardcover and coming soon to
Library2Go</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23746004-black-eyed-susans" target="_blank">Synopsis from Goodreads:</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>I am the star of
screaming headlines and campfire ghost stories.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>I am one of the four
Black-Eyed Susans.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>The lucky one.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>As a sixteen-year-old,
Tessa Cartwright was found in a Texas field, barely alive amid a scattering of
bones, with only fragments of memory as to how she got there. Ever since, the
press has pursued her as the lone surviving “Black-Eyed Susan,” the nickname
given to the murder victims because of the yellow carpet of wildflowers that
flourished above their shared grave. Tessa’s testimony about those tragic hours
put a man on death row.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Now, almost two
decades later, Tessa is an artist and single mother. In the desolate cold of
February, she is shocked to discover a freshly planted patch of black-eyed
susans—a summertime bloom—just outside her bedroom window. Terrified at the
implications—that she sent the wrong man to prison and the real killer remains
at large—Tessa turns to the lawyers working to exonerate the man awaiting
execution. But the flowers alone are not proof enough, and the forensic
investigation of the still-unidentified bones is progressing too slowly. An
innocent life hangs in the balance. The legal team appeals to Tessa to undergo
hypnosis to retrieve lost memories—and to share the drawings she produced as
part of an experimental therapy shortly after her rescue.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>What they don’t know
is that Tessa and the scared, fragile girl she was have built a fortress of secrets. As the clock ticks
toward the execution, Tessa fears for her sanity, but even more for the safety
of her teenaged daughter. Is a serial killer still roaming free, taunting Tessa
with a trail of clues? She has no choice but to confront old ghosts and
lingering nightmares to finally discover what really happened that night.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Shocking, intense, and
utterly original, Black-Eyed Susans is a dazzling psychological thriller,
seamlessly weaving past and present in a searing tale of a young woman whose
harrowing memories remain in a field of flowers—as a killer makes a chilling
return to his garden<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My Review:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Wow this book was so hard to put down. I did not even come
close to figuring out who the monster was; she put in just enough red herrings
to keep me guessing all the way to the reveal.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For the longest time I wondered if Lydia was imaginary,
maybe one of the Susan’s.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This book is told from 2 perspectives Tessa present day and
Tessie in 1995 still trying to come to grips with almost dying and being
prepared for the trial of the man she is told did this to her. They are the
same person yet not. These jumps in time made for an interesting way to tell
the story of what happened to Tessa. Especially since she only remembers what
happened just before she was taken and waking up in a grave with the other
Susan’s. Who did this to her and what happens in between is just blackness but
they told her the man Terrell did it and he was put on death row for the
crime , but did he? Now she's not sure.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Bringing this entire thing up again is really tough on Tessa
especially since she has a teenage daughter of her own now and she doesn't want
her daughter dragged down by this, but there is a man on death row that might
be innocent and his execution is coming up fast. Tessa already lives with so
much survivors’ guilt that she's not sure she can handle the guilt of her part
of sending an innocent man to his death.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The forensics were a huge part of this book and you can tell
the author did a lot of research for these parts which made this story feel
like true crime, I believed it all.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was so absorbed in this book and as I said it was so hard
to put down I needed to know just as Tessa needed to know, what happened to
her, who did this to her? The journey to get there was filled with sometimes
manic decisions on Tessa's part but you could understand where she was coming
from, she wouldn't be able to live with Terrell’s death on her conscience.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This book was amazing so well written; I don’t want to give
too much away so I will just say…<o:p></o:p></div>
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Read This Book Now!<o:p></o:p></div>
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5 Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-87356279805711826532015-08-19T11:03:00.001-05:002015-08-19T11:03:36.328-05:00The Truth According to Us by, Annie Barrows <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSS1zvOhY1WM8zcCKlmygMkDeg5LfNVTPs9wIZJQFz50VxOGz6AVQ0HA2vsmMgkezbtAepBXbVevKe_Z4A4M09JFlyrC-9MfVWFoHodVTamHryUIgii-Sig4T8zF0ms-Zi2ba6z-eWp4/s1600/truth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcSS1zvOhY1WM8zcCKlmygMkDeg5LfNVTPs9wIZJQFz50VxOGz6AVQ0HA2vsmMgkezbtAepBXbVevKe_Z4A4M09JFlyrC-9MfVWFoHodVTamHryUIgii-Sig4T8zF0ms-Zi2ba6z-eWp4/s320/truth.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
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<b>The Truth According to Us by, Annie Barrows narrated by, Ann
Marie Lee & Tara Sands (and various)</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Available in-house in hardcover and on <a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/D1396DF5-0004-4B25-B630-555436A09AE6/10/50/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=33593434s&SortBy=Relevancy" target="_blank">Library2Go in Ebook& Audiobook</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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From the Author of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie
Society<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Synopsis from<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22551743-the-truth-according-to-us" target="_blank"> Goodreads:</a></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<i>In the summer of 1938,
Layla Beck’s father, a United States senator, cuts off her allowance and
demands that she find employment on the Federal Writers’ Project, a New Deal
jobs program. Within days, Layla finds herself far from her accustomed social
whirl, assigned to cover the history of the remote mill town of Macedonia, West
Virginia, and destined, in her opinion, to go completely mad with boredom. But
once she secures a room in the home of the unconventional Romeyn family, she is
drawn into their complex world and soon discovers that the truth of the town is
entangled in the thorny past of the Romeyn dynasty.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>At the Romeyn house,
twelve-year-old Willa is desperate to learn everything in her quest to acquire
her favorite virtues of ferocity and devotion—a search that leads her into a
thicket of mysteries, including the questionable business that occupies her
charismatic father and the reason her adored aunt Jottie remains unmarried.
Layla’s arrival strikes a match to the family veneer, bringing to light buried
secrets that will tell a new tale about the Romeyns. As Willa peels back the
layers of her family’s past, and Layla delves deeper into town legend</i>, <i>everyone involved is transformed—and their
personal histories completely rewritten.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My Review of the audiobook:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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It’s funny I never even read the description for this book I
just knew I wanted to read it because I loved her Guernsey book so much, so
imagine my surprise when this book was not set in Britain but in the American south,
I know authors don’t write about the same place all the time but I guess I
assumed the authors of Guernsey were British. I also didn’t realize the author
writes the children’s series Ivy & Bean, so now that I’ve admitted to being
a bad librarian I will get on with my review of this fabulous book.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Layla Beck a senator’s daughter is being taught a lesson and
is sent away by her father to work for the WPA, a writer’s project that is part
of the New Deal, she is sent to write a history of the town of Macedonia, West
Virginia. She ends up in a rooming house run by Jottie Romeyn who lives there
with her nieces Willa and Bird and their divorced father Felix.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Between Layla’s research for her book and Willa’s snooping
no secret is safe in this small town and those secrets will affect everyone at
the Romeyn boarding house and beyond. When Layla starts falling for Felix,
Willa gets involved because she wants her parents to get back together and no
one is good enough for her father, but is Felix as good of a man as these two
think he is? <o:p></o:p></div>
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The characters in this book are at times eccentric and some
are sad and lonely ( Jottie) but she keeps that sadness bottled up so everyone
thinks she is just fine and when you come to understand the reasons for that
sadness you will wonder why she let it go on as long as she did. But, family
loyalty is important to the Romeyn’s even though some members of the family are
holding back important details of the night that changed their entire life it
seemed like the right thing to do. Ah, but secrets have a way of wiggling to
the surface and when these secrets come to light this family will never be the
same.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I really enjoyed this story and the characters and will read
anything this author puts to paper!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Read by Ann Marie Lee, Tara Sands, and Julia Whelan, with
additional readings by Cassandra Campbell, Danny Campbell, Mark Deakins,
Kimberly Farr, Kirby Heyborne, Lincoln Hoppe, Paul Michael, Linda Montana, and
Arthur Morey. The narration was very well done with the main narrators being
Ann Marie Lee and Tara Sands who both did a fantastic job at bringing this book
to life. The other narrators read letters and histories which I found
interesting and thought it added credence to the letters. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I highly recommend this one on audio.<o:p></o:p></div>
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5 Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
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<a href="http://deepsouthmag.com/2015/08/the-truth-according-to-annie-barrows/" target="_blank">Here is a great interview with the Author</a> from Deep South
Magazine<o:p></o:p></div>
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MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-39629098817462615822015-08-17T15:59:00.001-05:002015-08-17T15:59:47.660-05:00Those Who Wish Me Dead by, Michael Koryta <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizTxDqzMHdqwSn6vjzU4jKvvEETry7V06lUqdCtsNaKJ4fitnYAeENs21Qsn_VE7vpY00GstMnI9-HryAe0sC3Ygp76LJO886eWQjCywlp-QhCZgV7vtNY4PMDpaSHLa4Lyps74stvqHo/s1600/those+who+wish+me+dead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizTxDqzMHdqwSn6vjzU4jKvvEETry7V06lUqdCtsNaKJ4fitnYAeENs21Qsn_VE7vpY00GstMnI9-HryAe0sC3Ygp76LJO886eWQjCywlp-QhCZgV7vtNY4PMDpaSHLa4Lyps74stvqHo/s320/those+who+wish+me+dead.jpg" width="206" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Those Who Wish Me Dead by, Michael Koryta Narrated by,
Robert Petkoff</b></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Available in-house in hardcover and in Audio on <a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/26AF87C1-F2A6-44AF-8366-901E7F30F235/10/50/en/ContentDetails.htm?id=1B836A2F-7D9F-4C95-A5A5-B5DA1EC18FA8" target="_blank">Library2Go</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18587089-those-who-wish-me-dead?ac=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>When 13-year-old Jace
Wilson witnesses a brutal murder, he's plunged into a new life, issued a false
identity and hidden in a wilderness skills program for troubled teens. The plan
is to get Jace off the grid while police find the two killers. The result is
the start of a nightmare.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>The killers, known as
the Blackwell Brothers, are slaughtering anyone who gets in their way in a
methodical quest to reach him. Now all that remains between them and the boy
are Ethan and Allison Serbin, who run the wilderness survival program; Hannah
Faber, who occupies a lonely fire lookout tower; and endless miles of desolate
Montana mountains.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>The clock is ticking,
the mountains are burning, and those who wish Jace Wilson dead are no longer
far behind.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Review of the audiobook:</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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This was a great thriller; you could cut the tension with a
knife! Jace Wilson is in the wrong place at the wrong time and witnesses two
men getting rid of a body and to make matters worse the men know he saw them
and now he must die. Jace’s parents decide to send him to a mountain camp for
troubled kids, under an assumed name, he hides from the hit men but they know
he’s there somewhere and will stop at nothing to find him no matter who gets in
their way or who has to die. Ethan, the man running the camp knows he has a
witness in the group but doesn’t which boy it is. But the Blackwell brothers do
and these are two of the freakiest, creepiest killers I’ve read about in a long
time I would not want to be hunted by these men they scared the bejeezus out of
me, they were so well written!<o:p></o:p></div>
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This was my first book by Koryta but sure won’t be my last,
this book was very hard to stop listening because from beginning to end it was
fraught with tension and you just had to know if Jace and the people helping
him were going to make it out of these mountains alive.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This book is set in Beartooth Pass between Wyoming and
Montana I have been through this pass on the back of Harley in August and it
was snowing at the top so I could imagine what it was like hiking through there
and how steep it is and all the switchbacks coming up one side and down the
other. So was kind of fun to be able to picture this location in my head as I
was reading.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I thought Robert Petkoff’s narration was amazing and very impressive especially the narration
of the 2 psycho hit men The Blackwell Brothers that are after Jace/Conner then
when one of the characters describes how these men talk, it was even more right
on because he narrated them exactly how the author describes them. Every
character has a distinct voice and his female voices were well done. I will be seeking out other books Petkoff has
narrated. I see he narrates quite a few of Koryta’s books so; I will be
listening to more of this author & narrator combo.<o:p></o:p></div>
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If you hadn’t guessed I really enjoyed this book and would
highly recommend this thriller!<o:p></o:p></div>
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4 ½ Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-3466275060526898692015-08-07T14:23:00.000-05:002015-08-07T14:23:30.990-05:00The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL5qvIy2nCHQBo4wJ5pXio6gVEV4ptN13hlK9ERBfNkJe_N8lOgV1FxASZCXpJZKsjDQIqrjqWMU55qmRQzDj3GEwvV08spsg-l7npjUKjBZalNaXHbyrJTh6TYhtIHzawbsngOEc56O0/s1600/nightingale.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL5qvIy2nCHQBo4wJ5pXio6gVEV4ptN13hlK9ERBfNkJe_N8lOgV1FxASZCXpJZKsjDQIqrjqWMU55qmRQzDj3GEwvV08spsg-l7npjUKjBZalNaXHbyrJTh6TYhtIHzawbsngOEc56O0/s320/nightingale.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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<br />
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<b>The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah narrated by, Polly Stone</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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My review is of the Audiobook</div>
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<br /></div>
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Available in-house in Hardcover<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And on <a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/BAAB25CD-520E-4843-BC5C-3A8CDE2DBCB6/10/50/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=33250892s&SortBy=Relevancy" target="_blank">Library2Go in both ebook and audio format</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Synopsis from<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25006021-the-nightingale" target="_blank"> Goodreads:</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>In love we find out
who we want to be.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>In war we find out who
we are.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>FRANCE, 1939<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>In the quiet village
of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads
for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France...but
invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and
tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When
France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and
suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant
risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must
make one terrible choice after another. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Vianne’s sister,
Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with
all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the
unknown terrors of war, she meets the compelling and mysterious Gäetan, a
partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and
she falls in love as only the young can...completely. When he betrays her,
Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking
back or giving a thought to the real--and deadly--consequences.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>With courage, grace
and powerful insight, bestselling author Kristin Hannah takes her talented pen
to the epic panorama of WWII and illuminates an intimate part of history seldom
seen: the women’s war. The Nightingale tells the stories of two sisters, separated
by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on
her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied,
war-torn France--a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the
resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women. It is a novel for
everyone, a novel for a lifetime.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My Review:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was my first Kristin Hannah book and I was completely
captivated.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I didn't know much about how life was for the small towns in
occupied France and it was heartbreaking. Also to learn about the women left
behind and the conditions they had to live under, but how strong these women
were was awe-inspiring. These two sisters are very different Vianne is a wife
and mother, her husband is off at war her sister Isabelle is kind of a wild
child who has been neglected by their father since the death of their mother,
Isabelle is a jump first deal with the consequences later type of person and
during a Nazi occupation that may not be the best attitude to have.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Although it took me a little while to warm to Isabelle, I
did end up thinking she was more courageous than reckless by the end. And Vianne
whose house has been taken over by a Nazi , a half decent man for sure she was
very lucky with Beck he was, I believe, a kind soul who didn’t really believe
in everything the Nazi party stood for. But as things tend to happen in war she
ends up with a much meaner real Nazi staying at her home and that is when true darkness
sets into her home. Vianne also at times was naïve about the what the Nazi’s
were up to and gave a bit of information she later regretted very much,
especially since her best friend Rachel is a Jew.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
However Vianne and Isabelle both risk their lives for other people’s
freedom, all the while not realizing what the other sister is doing, Vianne
thinking Isabelle ran off to be with a man, and Isabelle feeling Vianne was a
traitor for having a Nazi in her home, when really both women were doing things
that could have gotten them killed.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, enjoyed might not be the
right word for a book like this but you know what I mean, and it is a tough
time period to read about but it is also important to know so it will not
happen again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Polly Stone’s
narration took a little getting used to but I ended up really liking her , the accents
and male and female voices were well done and I would listen to this narrator
again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was a very powerful book and well written and I am left
thinking of these sisters days after I have finished this book. I highly
recommend it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
4 ½ Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-22867273113228758502015-05-21T16:58:00.000-05:002015-05-21T16:58:27.644-05:00Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline narrated by, George Newbern<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPu9haXrc28kL9Y36LGLRAVZUFBS-GvPEuxks4kRQMrnU_WVeIOZDTM05YtGSD58UplU3yDY1qqgrxZJbHoxf0X9soX6sNlovt0ka2KJ7xG5y_cw1o04qfrsmGIQT14QNzfuZPEqcPj84/s1600/every+fifteen+minutes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPu9haXrc28kL9Y36LGLRAVZUFBS-GvPEuxks4kRQMrnU_WVeIOZDTM05YtGSD58UplU3yDY1qqgrxZJbHoxf0X9soX6sNlovt0ka2KJ7xG5y_cw1o04qfrsmGIQT14QNzfuZPEqcPj84/s320/every+fifteen+minutes.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline narrated by, George
Newbern<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/B6CE3A99-8520-493E-8D2A-7B716AD24250/10/50/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=30924515s&SortBy=Relevancy" target="_blank">Available on Library2Go in Audiobook and eBook</a><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Also in-house in Hardcover</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Synopsi<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24989558-every-fifteen-minutes" target="_blank">s from Goodreads:</a></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Dr. Eric Parrish is
the Chief of the Psychiatric Unit at Havemeyer General Hospital outside of
Philadelphia. Recently separated from his wife, Caitlin, he is doing his best
as a single dad to his seven-year-old daughter Hannah. His work seems to be
going better than his home life, however. His unit at the hospital has just
been named number two in the country and Eric has a devoted staff of doctors
and nurses who are as caring as Eric is. But when he takes on a new patient,
Eric's entire world begins to crumble. Seventeen-year-old Max has a terminally
ill grandmother and is having trouble handling it. That, plus his OCD and
violent thoughts about a girl he likes makes Max a high risk patient. Max can't
turn off the rituals he needs to perform every fifteen minutes that keep him
calm. With the pressure mounting, Max just might reach the breaking point. When
the girl is found murdered, Max is nowhere to be found. Worried about Max, Eric
goes looking for him and puts himself in danger of being seen as a "person
of interest". Next, one of his own staff turns on him in a trumped up
charge of sexual harassment. Is this chaos all random? Or is someone
systematically trying to destroy Eric's life?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>My Review:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Scottoline does it again with another great standalone
thriller. This one had me guessing all the way through and when the
reveal/reveals came I was caught completely unaware, never would I have guessed
who wanted to ruin Eric’s life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Eric Parrish doctor extraordinaire has a lot going for him
he was just named #2 psychiatric doctor but he also just got divorced and is
trying to spend a little more time with his daughter Hannah. When he gets a consult
about a young man, Max, with possible OCD and who may be a suicide risk Eric
agrees to take him on as a patient. But Max says some things that make Eric a
little nervous and when Max goes over the edge he seems to take Eric with him.
Eric’s life gets turned upside down but is it all a coincidence or is there
something more sinister going on? Is someone deliberately trying to take Eric
down?<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was a great edge of your seat thriller, there were
times though that I wanted to yell at Eric, Stay Home! Don’t Go! But that would
have made for a boring story and this was anything but boring. I really felt Eric’s
confusion and felt for him as he was trying to save not only himself but Max
too. I love Scottoline’s writing and
this one was hard to stop listening to. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
George Newbern has got a new fan in me this is the second
book in just a month or so I have listened to that he has narrated and I really
like his narrating style. He will be a go to for books if he is narrating I
will pick the audio version.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This book is for fans of a good thriller that keeps you
guessing.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
4 ½ Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-71804237403470719962015-05-06T17:08:00.001-05:002015-05-06T17:08:53.788-05:00Lacy Eye by Jessica Treadway<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHO123J4Kb9r45n8ZvSJgAFO3JpqPMGYKjTEYRzcIhXvJTNmjaPbkFnh3SZuIbgs55nwY4M6CRM2thzGn_-bIqjH6lw_vwjhdZKRMRxqVk5IP6jN8Yphehd6oyQIMSDW_VOFcofKRCP8/s1600/lacy+eye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMHO123J4Kb9r45n8ZvSJgAFO3JpqPMGYKjTEYRzcIhXvJTNmjaPbkFnh3SZuIbgs55nwY4M6CRM2thzGn_-bIqjH6lw_vwjhdZKRMRxqVk5IP6jN8Yphehd6oyQIMSDW_VOFcofKRCP8/s1600/lacy+eye.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Lacy Eye by Jessica
Treadway narrated by, Ellen Archer<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Available in-house in
Hardcover and on<a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/4C9C3789-56DF-41E7-8877-BCE2146A7A87/10/50/en/ContentDetails.htm?id=930A044A-62FD-426E-90CD-61C5114AD392" target="_blank"> Library2Go </a>on audio (this review is for the audiobook version)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Synopsis from<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22373913-lacy-eye?from_search=true&search_version=service" target="_blank">Goodreads:</a><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Hanna Schutt never
suspected that her younger daughter's happiness would lead to her husband's
death and the destruction of their family. When Dawn brings her new boyfriend
home from college for a visit, her parents and sister try to hide their doubts
because they're glad that Dawn - always an awkward child - appears to have
grown into a confident, mature young woman in her relationship with Rud. But
when Hanna and her husband, Joe, are beaten savagely in their bed, Rud becomes
the chief suspect and stands trial for Joe's murder.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Claiming her
boyfriend's innocence, Dawn estranges herself from her mother, who survived the
attack with serious injuries and impaired memory. When Rud wins an appeal and
Dawn returns to the family home saying she wants to support her mother, Hanna
decides to try to remember details of that traumatic night so she can testify
to keep her husband's murderer in jail, never guessing that the process might
cause her to question everything she thought she knew about her daughter.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>My Review: (of the audiobook)<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was quite a story it kept me on the edge of my seat,
especially when you listen to it as a mother and wonder what would you think
and feel? Would you also stand up for your daughter even when everyone else
thinks she’s guilty? There’s no way you could have raised a daughter who had a
hand in killing her father and left you severely beaten and left for dead. Yes,
your daughter has always been a bit odd and was bullied and teased as a child
because of a lazy eye but she isn’t a monster right??!!??<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had a hard time putting this one down, I needed to know if
Hanna was right or if she had just let one of her attackers back into her home.
Yes there were times when I thought Hanna open your eyes and listen to what
everyone is telling you but then when you look at it from a mother’s
perspective of always defending and protecting your child I could understand
where she was coming from.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I also liked the way this is written almost from inside
Hanna’s head who doesn’t remember anything about the night of the attack but
that night when a police officer asked her who did this she implicated her
daughter Dawn and her boyfriend Rud. Rud ends up in prison but Dawn is never
indicted because her roommate gives her an alibi. A lot of the book is Hanna
going through memories of Dawn’s life, I think in her own way trying to justify
why she said Dawn did it because she can’t come to terms with the possibility
that her daughter had anything to do with it. There are times in these memories
when you feel so bad for Dawn and how her classmates and even her own sister,
Iris, treated her but there are other times especially in the present day that
made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and wonder if Hanna is wrong
about everything.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Okay I will stop now before I give anything away; this is a
taut psychological thriller that I think would be fabulous for a book club
because right now I wish I had a friend who had also read this book so I could
talk to them about it. This is a powerful story and especially as a mother will
pull at your heartstrings and leave you with a lot of “What if this happened to
me?” questions.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ellen Archer’s narration was very well done I thought the
tones and sarcasm she gave Iris were perfect and also her narration of Dawn
showed us that she really never grew up and seemed stunted as a child/teen. And
with Hanna so much of the book is inside her head and I liked that I could tell
when she was speaking to someone or just remembering things. I would definitely
listen to this narrator again.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was my first read by this author and I am now curious
about her other books and will search them out.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
4 ½ Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-44822370401704542602015-04-23T11:32:00.004-05:002015-04-23T11:32:53.937-05:00A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott narrated by Cassandra Campbell<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9FfGFW2M7ExZoh-7EqwSdJg6KAeo30skME3CaO7NEB85hMU3u9uxtFw_TxpWe5D0R8JEtvU9W4OtlMoMhtDzE1Lpgb17ZC4Y6fpstq7nZ8ZNWILMXFwSpliG8GSnWQd2PKzq3Gu83VQ/s1600/touch+of+stardust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9FfGFW2M7ExZoh-7EqwSdJg6KAeo30skME3CaO7NEB85hMU3u9uxtFw_TxpWe5D0R8JEtvU9W4OtlMoMhtDzE1Lpgb17ZC4Y6fpstq7nZ8ZNWILMXFwSpliG8GSnWQd2PKzq3Gu83VQ/s1600/touch+of+stardust.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>A Touch of Stardust by Kate Alcott narrated by Cassandra
Campbell<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Available in-house in Hardcover<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>And on <a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/30E1B90A-6844-44CE-939A-7D843788A78C/10/50/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=30147663s&SortBy=Relevancy" target="_blank">Library2Go in E-book and Audiobook </a></b><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22318399-a-touch-of-stardust?from_search=true&search_exp_group=group_a&search_version=service" target="_blank">Goodreads:</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>When Julie Crawford
leaves Fort Wayne, Indiana for Hollywood, she never imagines she'll cross paths
with Carole Lombard, the dazzling actress from Julie's provincial Midwestern
hometown. Although the young woman has dreams of becoming a screenwriter, the
only job Julie's able to find is one in the studio publicity office of the
notoriously demanding producer David O. Selznick —who is busy burning through
directors, writers and money as he begins filming Gone with the Wind. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Although tensions run
high on the set, Julie finds she can step onto the back lot, take in the smell
of smoky gunpowder and the soft rustle of hoop skirts, and feel the magical
world of Gone with the Wind come to life. Julie's access to real-life magic
comes when Carole Lombard hires her as an assistant and invites her into the
glamorous world Carole shares with Clark Gable—who is about to move into movie
history as the dashing Rhett Butler. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Carole Lombard,
happily profane and uninhibited, makes no secret of her relationship with
Gable, which poses something of a problem for the studio as Gable is
technically still married—and the last thing the film needs is more negative
publicity. Julie is there to fend off the overly curious reporters, hoping to
prevent details about the affair from slipping out. But she can barely keep up
with her blonde employer, let alone control what comes out of Carole's mouth,
and--as their friendship grows - soon finds she</i> <i>doesn't want to. Carole, both wise and funny, becomes Julie's model for
breaking free of the past.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>This review is of the
audiobooks<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First off I need to tell you I am a huge classic movie fan;
I think movies made before 1950 are the best movies out there. That is why I
requested this book from edelweiss but then I saw that Cassandra Campbell
narrates it so I waited for the audiobook.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I loved all the insider info into the fights, casting,
script writing, censors and producers that went on during the filming of this
movie. I am so glad Louis B. Mayer didn’t get his way and that David O.
Selsnick filmed the ending he wanted because it was the best ending possible!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Julie Crawford a young writer from Indiana comes to
Hollywood to write for the movies, on her first job she doesn’t get a message
to one of the directors of Gone With the Wind fast enough and is fired on the
spot, however she has just met a beautiful woman who says she will help her
out. When someone asks if she knows who the lady is she admits she looks
familiar but can’t place her; the woman turns out to be Carole Lombard soon to
be wife of Clark Gable who stars and Rhett Butler in the film. What I found a
little weird about these scenes was if you are going to Hollywood to write for
the movies wouldn’t you at least know a little about the stars you hope to
write for? But she and Carole become very good friends and I loved all the
scenes of them together Carole seemed like a very down-to-earth person. Also on
that day she meets Hank Weinstein and they start a relationship even though he
is Jewish. This is 1938-39 so Hitler is starting his holocaust of the Jewish
people including Hanks grandparents so he is having a tough time of it.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was impressed with Gable’s civil rights ideals (I really
hope they were true) when he sees that the bathrooms and other places are
segregated he has a fit and fights for their rights of non-segregation.
Including almost not going to the premier because Hattie McDaniel and Butterfly
McQueen would have to use a back door and sit in the colored section, even
though it was Hattie who convinced Gable to go even when she boycotted the
event.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was a fun book it was such an insider’s look into old
Hollywood and especially Carole Lombard & Clark Gable’s relationship. I did
think Julie could be quite naïve but it was the 30’s and she grew up in Indiana
so … <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Cassandra Campbell’s narration was as always fabulous, I
like how she made Clark gruff but didn’t try to imitate his voice, every
character had their own cadence and tone and you were never left guessing as to
who was talking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you are a fan of old Hollywood, and /or Gone With the
Wind I think you will enjoy this book very much. I have enjoyed all of Alcott’s
books so if you haven’t read anything by her before give her a try you’ll be
glad you did!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
4 ½ Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-88705328961997741722015-04-20T19:44:00.000-05:002015-04-20T19:44:22.045-05:00At the Water’s Edge by, Sara Gruen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHub1XvZxyEhmjmoMWuqrgcvhPNeOsjd9thQSK2APVB-xTm20W3Up2kSe0OSRYnPrYthYEq_gJGp6j5Ps1j9pBPePoZYy8ZYqv1_ZMwzsMi0pVsKzBftvC2qocnqT6q0kdZ5fTd83iJ8/s1600/waters+edge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpHub1XvZxyEhmjmoMWuqrgcvhPNeOsjd9thQSK2APVB-xTm20W3Up2kSe0OSRYnPrYthYEq_gJGp6j5Ps1j9pBPePoZYy8ZYqv1_ZMwzsMi0pVsKzBftvC2qocnqT6q0kdZ5fTd83iJ8/s1600/waters+edge.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>At the Water’s Edge by, Sara Gruen</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23209927-at-the-water-s-edge?ac=1" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">In her stunning new novel, Gruen returns to the
kind of storytelling she excelled at in<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><em><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Water
for Elephants</span></em><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">: a historical
timeframe in an unusual setting with a moving love story. Think Scottish<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></i><em><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">Downton
Abbey</span></em><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></i><i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
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<span style="background: white;">After embarrassing themselves at the social event
of the year in high society Philadelphia on New Year’s Eve of 1942, Maddie and
Ellis Hyde are cut off financially by Ellis’s father, a former army Colonel who
is already embarrassed by his son’s inability to serve in WWII due to his being
colorblind. To Maddie’s horror, Ellis decides that the only way to regain his
father’s favor is to succeed in a venture his father attempted and very
publicly failed at: he will hunt the famous Loch Ness monster and when he finds
it he will restore his father’s name and return to his father’s good graces
(and pocketbook). Joined by their friend Hank, a wealthy socialite, the three
make their way to Scotland in the midst of war. Each day the two men go off to
hunt the monster, while another monster, Hitler, is devastating Europe. And
Maddie, now alone in a foreign country, must begin to figure out who she is and
what she wants. The novel tells of Maddie’s social awakening: to the harsh
realities of life, to the beauties of nature, to a connection with forces
larger than herself, to female friendship, and finally, to love.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">My Review:</span></b><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Rich party kids Ellis, his wife Maddie
and their best friend Hank could care less that there is a war going on, all
they want to do is party, but when a night of partying goes a bit too far and
Ellis causes his parents some embarrassment they are tossed from the family
home. To try to get back into his parent’s good graces the threesome decides to
travel to Scotland to find the great monster that caused quite a stir when
Ellis’ parents were involved in the search years ago. What starts out as a whim
turns into something completely different.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Both Ellis and Hank are exempt from
fighting in the military Ellis is color blind and Hank has flat feet so they
both seem so oblivious to the fact that there is a war going on that they
travel by ship into Nazi infested waters to the great Loch ness but what they
see on the ship and in Scotland still has no effect on the two men but Maddie
is starting to see the world, her husband and his friend with very different
eyes. Once in Scotland we see a very different side to Ellis and it is not a pretty
side he seemed like a happy-go-lucky party boy but there is a dark side a very
dark side and Maddie does not like what she sees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">I loved Maddie's journey throughout this
book from party girl without much will of her own to a strong woman on her own
two feet. I really enjoyed this book and read it very quickly, I enjoyed the
growing friendships Maddie made in Scotland and the side stories about the
locals.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The writing of this book, the
descriptions of Scottish countryside and how the war affected the locals were
so good it gave a bit of a day in life of these people so affected by the war.
Plus we have the loch ness monster and who doesn’t enjoy a loch ness story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">All in all I really enjoyed this story
and would recommend it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">4 Stars<o:p></o:p></span></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-40382830902382921202015-03-26T13:07:00.001-05:002015-03-26T13:07:38.091-05:00Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcuWaJOhhog1aV64k6-IQ3EYEj8o8e6UoBHSqIcvRYoU314irHqa9gM1mgnMVeSA2akWq1TEudNBHaKPqpn7nTcwUEc-3Pm02YHFeu5HMIPNyjR4PoOx5s3dDIu72Klu49IAPumUqeNJw/s1600/rebel+queen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcuWaJOhhog1aV64k6-IQ3EYEj8o8e6UoBHSqIcvRYoU314irHqa9gM1mgnMVeSA2akWq1TEudNBHaKPqpn7nTcwUEc-3Pm02YHFeu5HMIPNyjR4PoOx5s3dDIu72Klu49IAPumUqeNJw/s1600/rebel+queen.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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<b>Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Available In-House and on in Ebook from <a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/33802DF2-E361-48FC-A937-7C4647AF646B/10/50/en/ContentDetails.htm?id=0976198C-3E26-4E44-A71D-C2D5E33A3722" target="_blank">Library2Go</a></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22609433-rebel-queen?from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads:</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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When the British Empire sets its sights on India in the
1850s, it expects a quick and easy conquest. After all, India is not even a
country, but a collection of kingdoms on the subcontinent. But when the British
arrive in the Kingdom of Jhansi, expecting its queen to forfeit her crown, they
are met with a surprise. Instead of surrendering, Queen Lakshmi raises two
armies—one male, one female—and rides into battle like Joan of Arc. Although
her soldiers are little match against superior British weaponry and training,
Lakshmi fights against an empire determined to take away the land she loves.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Told from the perspective of Sita, one of the guards in
Lakshmi's all-female army and the queen’s most trusted warrior, The Last Queen
of India traces the astonishing tale of a fearless ruler making her way in a
world dominated by men.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>My Review:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Wow Michelle Moran does it again. Such an amazing story
about a time and place I really knew nothing about and am now completely
mesmerized with. I want to read anything else I can find about this time
period, even though they probably won’t compare to how this is written.<o:p></o:p></div>
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These were absolutely amazing women and as always with
Moran's books it made do more research the first thing I searched was images of
the clothing how gorgeous they must have been. The way they dressed was amazing
and seeing the pictures even made it more real. The freedom these women had in
Jhansi was extraordinary especially compared to the village women who could
never leave the house, which is how Sita grew up plus she had an overbearing
grandmother to add to the stresses of daily life. Having a girl child in India
in the 1800’s was not a happy occasion if it was not a son then it just didn’t
matter, girls were sometimes killed, given away to who knows where and kind of
horrible circumstance they would end up in. (prostitution, slavery, nunnery
etc.) But Sita was lucky her father loved her even after her mother dies her
father never thinks of getting rid of her in one of these horrible ways, though
his mother has other ideas (she is an awful person!), so to keep his mother
from doing anything bad to Sita he decides she should become a Durga Dal for
Queen Lakshmi or the Rani as she is called. The Durga’s are women soldiers and
guards of the Rani who dress in beautiful silks but fight better than most men.
This is such a fascinating chunk of history that I knew nothing about and if
you love books with strong female characters look no further than this one.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Every character in this book is drawn to perfection, there
are no one dimensional characters to be found, everyone has a distinct personality
and background. There are some great characters in this book even the ones you
don’t like; you will find you are still fascinated by their actions. Sita is
the person telling the story of what happened during those fateful times when
the British decided to just take over India and India and their culture and
traditions be damned they just wanted it. The end of the book is heartbreaking,
well, so are a few parts in the middle! <o:p></o:p></div>
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I of course had to love that Sita loved to read and because
in her Village women didn’t leave the house very rarely going outside this is
called purdah, but Sita lived many lives through books she read as she says,
“Even prisoners can escape if they have books.”<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was completely and thoroughly enthralled with this story,
I learned so much and felt completely immersed in the sights, sounds and
clothing of this time. Michelle Moran always writes so beautifully that you
feel like you are there with the characters and this book is no exception.<o:p></o:p></div>
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5 Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-21376339142700658272015-03-23T14:48:00.003-05:002015-03-23T14:48:33.304-05:00Mademoiselle Chanel by, C.W. Gortner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZl4EBPyqaSUpdwufpCPyY58gBrPWgblCvU4_9Wd1puyXpCUkAA3lQJyj03Z82FtLrWSEYdraj8O9XhFhiPE6nlq1M1mByt-wNlxh3tkkRUomzAmuTYR4Yuc8vZmDgRKUS42QZcBllMQ/s1600/mademoiselle+chanel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZl4EBPyqaSUpdwufpCPyY58gBrPWgblCvU4_9Wd1puyXpCUkAA3lQJyj03Z82FtLrWSEYdraj8O9XhFhiPE6nlq1M1mByt-wNlxh3tkkRUomzAmuTYR4Yuc8vZmDgRKUS42QZcBllMQ/s1600/mademoiselle+chanel.jpg" height="320" width="212" /></a></div>
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<b>Mademoiselle Chanel by, C.W. Gortner<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>Available in-House<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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</div>
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<b>And as an E-Book on<a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/F0CF4966-B9D6-477C-BC94-17EDC538B203/10/50/en/ContentDetails.htm?id=7499AC17-E2D4-4169-A378-DFBCD20B1337" target="_blank"> Library2Go</a></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Enthralled, captivated, fascinated, enamored, I'm not even
sure if these words come close to explaining how great this book was and how
captivated I am with this woman. This book was impossible to put down I needed
to know more and more and more. This is one of those books that when you get
finished you want to go back to the beginning and start again because you don't
want it to end.<o:p></o:p></div>
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She was definitely a woman before her time she was an
absolutely fascinating woman, what she did, not only as a designer but as a
single woman in France in the early 1900’s is awe inspiring, she did what she
had to do and look what she accomplished, and when you learn where the famous
trademark stems from and the origins of her famous perfume it is so
interesting. Her rise and how she got there and the people she met along the
way is so interesting I am just awe-struck by this woman. I am far from being a
fashionista but I want to go see these older dresses and see more of her life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This book also made me look up everyone she meets along the
way and to look at her styles and the scary lobster dress by her rival
Schiaparelli . I love Chanel’s more conservative simple dresses; really without
her we wouldn’t have the little black dress. And that she stopped women from
wearing fruit and birds on their heads that was a great thing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But above all she was a woman ahead of her time;
independent, opinionated, beautiful and rich, but she didn’t start out that way
and everything she had was from her hard work, yes, yes men helped her along
the way but she paid every one of them back and without her talent she would
have never become the icon that she became.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The life she lived and the people she knew is a who’s who in
the artistic world of the time, she was accepting of everyone from the snobs of
the British aristocracy, to gay men and women, to the drug addled artists,
dancers and musicians, she accepted everyone despite their flaws, she was also
a very caring woman though her outward attitude didn’t seem that way I believe
from this book that if Coco liked you she would do just about anything for you.
Some of the things she did during the war are tough but I believe this version
she never wanted to hurt anyone and a person had to survive. I do hope that she
was able to find some peace and love at the end of her life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Okay, I could go on and on about this book but I will stop
now and just say read this book the minute it comes out, you will not be
disappointed!<o:p></o:p></div>
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5 Stars (if I could give it more I would)<o:p></o:p></div>
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This review is crossposted on <a href="http://www.misssusiesreading.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">MissSusie’s Reading &Observations</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><i>As I have said in previous reviews I love a historical
fiction book that makes me want to do research and boy howdy did this book make
me want to look stuff up, everything from pictures of the clothes to learning
about the people she met along the way so here are some of the sites I found
with great picture of Coco and her crowd:</i></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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CW Gortner's--- <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/cwgortner/mademoiselle-chanel/" target="_blank">Pintrest page: </a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Pic of Chanel is from:
<a href="http://www.dmoda.uy/coco-chanel/">http://www.dmoda.uy/coco-chanel/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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This is a great site to see pictures of some of the people
and places you will meet in this book<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://5-culture.chanel.com/en/une_histoire_damour/">http://5-culture.chanel.com/en/une_histoire_damour/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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An article about Coco and the ballet with a picture of her
and Serge Lifar<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://themakingofmarkova.com/2013/05/01/coco-chanel-and-the-ballets-russes/">http://themakingofmarkova.com/2013/05/01/coco-chanel-and-the-ballets-russes/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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A neat tribute to Misia Sert as muse to so many artists in
the early 1900’s<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://theredlist.com/wiki-2-24-525-770-925-view-1900s-1-profile-misia-sert.html">http://theredlist.com/wiki-2-24-525-770-925-view-1900s-1-profile-misia-sert.html</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Picture of Boy<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://5-culture.chanel.com/en/une_histoire_damour/">http://5-culture.chanel.com/en/une_histoire_damour/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This is a great site to see some pictures of some of the
people and places you will meet in this book<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://5-culture.chanel.com/en/une_histoire_damour/">http://5-culture.chanel.com/en/une_histoire_damour/</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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Bendor<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Grosvenor,_2nd_Duke_of_Westminster">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Grosvenor,_2nd_Duke_of_Westminster</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-24965535155000445082015-02-09T15:07:00.001-06:002015-02-09T15:07:56.037-06:00Crash & Burn by, Lisa Gardner<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu09NZZY2reeSWIVjF98qClMam-O_z-9JKNBrVXBsRgbfyzkR5NvGYyn7uEPpPO6BuPc2mopFTFxNZVflBpURvMlc5_BEnKIWfDq8F1Q3vicakmJ9dcAYj-ECuhzZgT0isyWssZKOT7vw/s1600/crahs+and+burn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu09NZZY2reeSWIVjF98qClMam-O_z-9JKNBrVXBsRgbfyzkR5NvGYyn7uEPpPO6BuPc2mopFTFxNZVflBpURvMlc5_BEnKIWfDq8F1Q3vicakmJ9dcAYj-ECuhzZgT0isyWssZKOT7vw/s1600/crahs+and+burn.jpg" height="320" width="211" /></a></div>
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<b>Crash & Burn by, Lisa Gardner</b></div>
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<b>Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22571612-crash-burn?from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads:</a></b></div>
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<em><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"><br /></span></em></div>
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<em><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> My name is
Nicky Frank. Except, most likely, it isn’t.</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></i></span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Nicole Frank
shouldn’t have been able to survive the car accident, much less crawl up the
steep ravine. Not in the dark, not in the rain, not with her injuries. But one
thought allows her to defy the odds and flag down help: Vero.</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="background: white;">I’m looking
for a little girl. I have to save her. Except, most likely, she doesn’t exist.</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background: white;"> </span></i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Sergeant Wyatt
Foster is frustrated when even the search dogs can’t find any trace of the
mysterious missing child. Until Nicky’s husband, Thomas, arrives with a host of
shattering revelations: Nicole Frank suffers from a rare brain injury and the
police shouldn’t trust anything she says.</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="background: white;">My husband
claims he’ll do anything to save me. Except, most likely, he can’t.</span></em><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Who is Nicky Frank,
and what happened the night her car sailed off the road? Was it a random
accident or something more sinister given the woman’s lack of family and no
close friends? The deeper Wyatt digs, the more concerned he becomes. Because it
turns out, in the past few months, Nicky has suffered from more than one close
accident. . . . In fact, it would appear someone very much wants her dead.</span><br />
<br />
<em><span style="background: white;">This is my
life. Except, most likely, it’s not. Now watch me crash and burn</span></em></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>My Review:<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Man alive this woman knows how to write a I can't put this down,
edge of my seat thriller. I devoured this book in one day I could not stop
reading.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This book once again features Tessa Leoni and Wyatt and also
features DD Warren in an interesting side story which makes me anxious for the
next DD book to see where her life goes after this book. We also get an update
on Bobby Dodge & Annabelle.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This was such a different story, it kept me guessing even
though I was able to figure out a couple things that didn't stop my complete
enjoyment of this book.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Is it memory or delusion or a bit of both? What do you do
when you can't trust your own mind and what it is telling you about your life?
We have a completely and wholly unreliable narrator in Nicky Frank the book
starts out with a car crash and her complete belief that a little girl named
Vero needs saving and was with her but does Vero even exist? Nicky doesn’t seem
to know what is real, what is a memory or is it a delusion, she has had 3
concussions in a short amount of time and her brain is mixed up she keeps
looking for the girl Vero is she lost, gone, dead or just a figment of her
imagination. Was Nicky her savior or her killer? And what of Nicky’s husband
Thomas is he the caring husband he seems to be or is there more behind the 3
“accidents” that have happened to Nicky, her car crash being just the latest.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This case starts out with a bang and gets weirder and
weirder and poor Wyatt can’t seem to make heads or tails out of the information
he is being given by Nicky while he investigates her car accident. Hopefully
Tessa can help him out but she seems a little on edge and won’t tell Wyatt what
is going on however they do work well together as they did on the last case
that they have to put their personal feelings aside to try to get to the bottom
of this very odd case. They even bring DD in to help them out.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This book will grab on and not let you go but that’s okay,
just hang on, and enjoy the ride. Lisa Gardner does it again with another
fantastic thriller!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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5 Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-66716765648326839272015-02-04T11:58:00.000-06:002015-02-04T11:58:28.396-06:00What She Left Behind, by Ellen Marie Wiseman <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUX19B5JITYggomMxeY74Cbkx4i1RePIEaYg5umVNDjO3Iaf-aP_JpmQCpYpTr0x7Ja-Sdeeha2RUFyX03rsKasBO-T131_H8VM7_nYQoqfMa_IE1yTZihPJvH254CFQRg7FQXCs24LNI/s1600/what+she+left+behind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUX19B5JITYggomMxeY74Cbkx4i1RePIEaYg5umVNDjO3Iaf-aP_JpmQCpYpTr0x7Ja-Sdeeha2RUFyX03rsKasBO-T131_H8VM7_nYQoqfMa_IE1yTZihPJvH254CFQRg7FQXCs24LNI/s1600/what+she+left+behind.jpg" height="320" width="217" /></a></div>
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<b>What She Left Behind, by Ellen Marie Wiseman </b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Available on <a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/0D7E885E-5E79-45F6-8D1C-369B4123D981/10/50/en/ContentDetails.htm?id=DB56AE21-4369-4C16-BA2A-B6045D805FD8" target="_blank">Library2Go </a>in Ebook And in-house<o:p></o:p></div>
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Description from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17802747-what-she-left-behind?from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>: In this stunning new novel, the
acclaimed author of THE PLUM TREE merges the past and present into a haunting
story about the nature of love and loyalty—and the lengths we will go to
protect those who need us most.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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Ten years ago, Izzy Stone’s mother fatally shot her father
while he slept. Devastated by her mother’s apparent insanity, Izzy, now
seventeen, refuses to visit her in prison. But her new foster parents,
employees at a local museum, have enlisted Izzy’s help in cataloging items at a
long-shuttered state asylum. There, amid piles of abandoned belongings, Izzy
discovers a stack of unopened letters, a decades old journal, and a window into
her own past.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Clara Cartwright, eighteen years old in 1929, is caught between
her overbearing parents and her love for an Italian immigrant. Furious when she
rejects an arranged marriage, Clara’s father sends her to a genteel home for
nervous invalids. But when his fortune is lost in the stock market crash, he
can no longer afford her care—and Clara is committed to the public asylum.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Even as Izzy deals with the challenges of yet another new
beginning, Clara’s story keeps drawing her into the past. If Clara was never
really mentally ill, could something else explain her own mother’s violent act?
Piecing together Clara’s fate compels Izzy to re-examine her own choices—with shocking
and unexpected results.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Illuminating and provocative, WHAT SHE LEFT BEHIND is a
masterful novel about the yearning to belong—and the mysteries that can belie
even the most ordinary life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>My Review:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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Wow, just, wow, this book is great! I wasn’t expecting so
many holding my breath moments. It always fascinates and horrifies me to learn
of the treatment in some of these so called hospitals and the reasons so many
women were put into these places. Poor Clara all she did was fall in love with
a man her father didn’t approve of so she was locked up and lied about and left
there with no-one to turn to, in 1929 this was okay for a father to do to his
child. Clara starts out in a little better place at least she had one nice
nurse but when the crash hits and her father can no longer pay the bill Clara
ends up in Willard hospital a state run home that is an awful, awful place! In the present day we have Izzie, she is a
foster child whose mother is in prison for killing her father her foster
parents are doing a project on Willard for the local museum and when Izzie
finds Clara’s diary she becomes fascinated with learning more about this woman.
Both of these stories are interesting Clara’s more so but there are parts of
Izzie’s story that will break your heart too. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This book grabbed me right from the beginning and didn’t let
go till the end it was never boring and there were times I was yelling at my
ipod because of things that happened to Clara and Bruno. I was surprised at how
invested I got in these characters and that there were some really intense
scenes I wasn’t expecting. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Loved the ending …Oh Clara!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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If you are a fan of The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox I’d say
to give this one a try, you won’t be disappointed.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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5 stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-56945295686549801832015-01-21T13:44:00.001-06:002015-01-21T13:45:10.097-06:00The Girl on the Train: A Novel By Paula Hawkins Narrated By Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, India Fisher<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUZkfZoEwoLIm2vwQ3WFI43OtQbZ619c0vMC8x8SoV6bMDuazsePCWkw_mjGyqRjYkTUhNBaL9jZTXu_N7-FHKDt1q2awAhaDhIwdVNvLKU5h5PXtySxgq1ZpJPQATZqEmpID4SONXCaM/s1600/the+girl+on+the+train.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUZkfZoEwoLIm2vwQ3WFI43OtQbZ619c0vMC8x8SoV6bMDuazsePCWkw_mjGyqRjYkTUhNBaL9jZTXu_N7-FHKDt1q2awAhaDhIwdVNvLKU5h5PXtySxgq1ZpJPQATZqEmpID4SONXCaM/s1600/the+girl+on+the+train.jpg" height="320" width="275" /></a></div>
<br />
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<b>The Girl on the Train: A Novel By Paula Hawkins Narrated By
Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, India Fisher</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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Available in house in hardcover<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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And on <a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/B984399D-973C-4D05-8E52-9967C3FBB68B/10/50/en/SearchResults.htm?SearchID=27511391s&SortBy=Relevancy" target="_blank">Library2Go</a> in both e-book and audiobook format- This
review is based on the audiobook<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22529254-the-girl-on-the-train" target="_blank">Goodreads: </a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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<strong><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">A debut
psychological thriller about a woman who becomes emotionally entangled in a
murder investigation because of something she witnesses on her daily commute.</span></strong><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Rachel takes the
same commuter train every morning and every night. Every day she rattles over
the same track junctions, flashes past the same stretch of cozy suburban homes.
And every day she stops at the same signal and she sees the same couple,
breakfasting on their roof deck, living the perfect life that Rachel craves for
herself—a lifestyle she recently lost. She looks forward to observing this
household every morning, even makes up names and narratives for its residents.
Then one day Rachel sees someone new in their garden, and soon after, the woman
who lived there disappears.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Unable to keep this
information to herself, Rachel offers what she knows to the police, and in the
process is drawn into the lives of the couple she thought of as Jason and Jess
but whose names—she has learned from the news—are really Megan and Scott
Hipwell.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">But the police
accuse Rachel of being unreliable, and it’s true that her memories can’t always
be trusted. Plus there are the stories that her ex-husband’s new wife has been
spreading about her. By the time Megan’s body is found, Rachel is in over her
head, intricately entangled in the details of the investigation, as well as in
the lives of everyone involved. Has she put others in danger? Has she done more
harm than good?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">A compulsively
readable, emotionally immersive, Hitchcockian thriller that draws comparisons to<span class="apple-converted-space"><i> </i></span><em>Gone Girl</em>,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>The Silent Wife</em>, or<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Before I Go to Sleep</em>, this is an electrifying debut embraced by readers across
markets and categories.</span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>My Review:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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This book has had so much hype that I was honestly a little
worried that it wasn't going to live up to it but holy cow did it ever.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
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This was a twisty turny, keep you guessing to the end kind
of book, with completely unreliable narrator's all three of these women were
unreliable narrator's which is kind of fascinating because you never knew who
was telling the truth or the truth as they saw it or are just lying completely.
Every time I thought I had it figured out it would turn a different way, I
thought I had it figured out many times and I never did.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Told by 3 women:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rachel- alcoholic,
scorned woman, she is the girl on the train and honestly quite a mess.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Anna- Rachel’s
ex-husbands new wife and mother of his child, self-centered and paranoid of
Rachel.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Megan- missing, confused, self-centered and craves attention.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The three audiobook narrators Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey
and India Fisher all did such a fantastic job they truly brought these women to
life and endowed each with such emotion. These were all new to me narrators and
I will definitely be looking for other books any of these women have narrated! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This book was amazing, it was great from beginning till end
never bogged down and kept me guessing all the way through. I don’t want to
give any more away because this is one of those books where the wrong word
could be a spoiler, suffice it to say Just Read This Book! Now!<o:p></o:p></div>
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</div>
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5 stars<o:p></o:p><br />
Cross-posted on <a href="http://www.misssusiesreading.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">MissSusie's Reading</a></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-9801487679222561772014-12-18T14:15:00.002-06:002014-12-18T14:15:47.267-06:00The Nine Lives of Christmas by, Sheila Roberts narrated by, Kathleen McInerney<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oehSMs03-HsVDx1vkpGkI9FdGMztpNYGq-Vn9yl6tcXsb-xm_XSq2hULfqT3ewCQloQKdLrO_GzACgzkaZxnIkZI4M-2JFYU2OB0CFuth4D5bx-12iF5oeqf3RE7rCk-oUWEMZyDAic/s1600/nine+lives+of+christmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7oehSMs03-HsVDx1vkpGkI9FdGMztpNYGq-Vn9yl6tcXsb-xm_XSq2hULfqT3ewCQloQKdLrO_GzACgzkaZxnIkZI4M-2JFYU2OB0CFuth4D5bx-12iF5oeqf3RE7rCk-oUWEMZyDAic/s1600/nine+lives+of+christmas.jpg" height="320" width="195" /></a></div>
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This books is available on Audio through Library2Go click title to go to book page</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://ndlibrary2go.lib.overdrive.com/AE223CDA-8DA6-4B94-ADA2-8DF24D6F786E/10/50/en/ContentDetails.htm?id=CF1D480D-4E40-4A56-A626-BD32551F5528" target="_blank">The Nine Lives of Christmas</a> by, Sheila Roberts narrated by,
Kathleen McInerney<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
S<b>ynopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13030516-the-nine-lives-of-christmas" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>: </b> Two people are about to discover that when it
comes to finding love, sometimes Christmas magic isn’t enough…sometimes it
takes a pesky orange cat named Ambrose.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When a guy is in trouble, he starts making deals with his
Creator…and Ambrose the cat is no exception. In danger of losing his ninth and
final life, Ambrose makes a desperate plea to the universe. He’ll do anything—anything!—if he can just
survive and enjoy a nice long, final life. His prayer is answered when a
stranger comes along and saves him—and now it looks like he has to hold up his
end of the bargain.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The stranger turns out to be a firefighter named Zach, who’s
in need of some serious romantic help. If Ambrose can just bring Zach together
with Merilee, the nice lady who works at Pet Palace, it’s bound to earn him a
healthy ninth life. Unfortunately for
Ambrose, his mission is a lot harder than he ever thought. Merriliee is way too shy to make the first
move on a ladies man like Zach, and Zach thinks he’s all wrong for a nice girl
like Merrilee. Now it’s going to take
all of Ambrose’s feline wiles—and maybe even a good old fashioned Christmas
miracle—to make them both realize that what they’re looking for is right in
front of their eyes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>It has also been turned into a <a href="http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/the-nine-lives-of-christmas" target="_blank">Hallmark Movie</a> showing Thursday
December 25 1:30 PM / 12:30c </b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>My Review:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was a fun book, I loved the authors’ description of the
nine lives of a cat, the parts with Ambrose/Tom the cat were great, even his
little romance with Merilee’s cat the “conversation” between these two cats is
hilarious!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This was also a soft romance which is the only kind I like
heck there was only 2 kisses in the whole book. I liked the relationship
between Zach and Merilee and thought it was cute how the cat would react to things
Zach said about relationships. Zach is commitment-phobic but can’t seem to get
Merilee off his mind. Merilee is, in her mind, the ugly duckling of her family
and thinks no one will think she is beautiful like her sisters. When Zach &
Merilee meet there is chemistry but Zach wants to run for the hills, but
Ambrose the cat is going to try everything he can to get Zach to see Merilee
again even it means a hunger strike!<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is also a side story about Zach’s family and why he
isn’t a big fan of Christmas which I thought was very well done and didn’t get
too sappy. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I truly enjoyed this Christmas story it wasn’t too mushy,
sappy and wasn’t at all preachy so it hit the trifecta of what I love about Christmas
books.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Kathleen McInerney’s narration was very well done; I liked
her different character voices and the narration as a whole.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
4 Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-42909049589125069022014-12-04T15:28:00.000-06:002014-12-04T15:28:13.868-06:00Here are the top 20 books checked out at the Library in 2014<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXH8Rg4og2m28k3OYeyDdG3npxElqWGMo9uYikOiuGUcDNzXcLW5HmD4t9Gwhd-U8yP_FS68_lgToJuykMZoQxSqP1b2iCHEPhXGhaGL3Lo7keGOWaczidvCK1TLiA6tveOwzRciSzvCA/s1600/top+20-page-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXH8Rg4og2m28k3OYeyDdG3npxElqWGMo9uYikOiuGUcDNzXcLW5HmD4t9Gwhd-U8yP_FS68_lgToJuykMZoQxSqP1b2iCHEPhXGhaGL3Lo7keGOWaczidvCK1TLiA6tveOwzRciSzvCA/s1600/top+20-page-001.jpg" height="288" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>Here are the top 20 books checked out at the Library in 2014.
How many have you read?</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnIU76hdV2FX7CDWkqR4_OEZ8-GPx-uX1PK8OUq4iEm2ON1Zb-Z0N8e7NhsRd_kVjAHCICcCA6-PwjuHN0lIEvRcQB51gevlq8T-zfUE8BH3hi1dUhWKeeZ7gGaB2nFfSiNZRDIXbP-5Y/s1600/longest+ride.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnIU76hdV2FX7CDWkqR4_OEZ8-GPx-uX1PK8OUq4iEm2ON1Zb-Z0N8e7NhsRd_kVjAHCICcCA6-PwjuHN0lIEvRcQB51gevlq8T-zfUE8BH3hi1dUhWKeeZ7gGaB2nFfSiNZRDIXbP-5Y/s1600/longest+ride.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a></div>
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<b>The Longest Ride by, Nicholas Sparks</b>--<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Ira Levinson
is in trouble. At ninety-one years old, in poor health and alone in the world,
he finds himself stranded on an isolated embankment after a car crash.
Suffering multiple injuries, he struggles to retain consciousness until a
blurry image materializes and comes into focus beside him: his beloved wife
Ruth, who passed away nine years ago. Urging him to hang on, she forces him to
remain alert by recounting the stories of their lifetime together – how they
met, the precious paintings they collected together, the dark days of WWII and
its effect on them and their families. Ira knows that Ruth can’t possibly be in
the car with him, but he clings to her words and his memories, reliving the
sorrows and everyday joys that defined their marriage.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">A few miles
away, at a local rodeo, a Wake Forest College senior’s life is about to change.
Recovering from a recent break-up, Sophia Danko meets a young cowboy named
Luke, who bears little resemblance to the privileged frat boys she has
encountered at school. Through Luke, Sophia is introduced to a world in which
the stakes of survival and success, ruin and reward -- even life and death –
loom large in everyday life. As she and Luke fall in love, Sophia finds herself
imagining a future far removed from her plans -- a future that Luke has the
power to rewrite . . . if the secret he’s keeping doesn’t destroy it first.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ira and
Ruth. Sophia and Luke. Two couples who have little in common, and who are
separated by years and experience. Yet their lives will converge with
unexpected poignancy, reminding us all that even the most difficult decisions
can yield extraordinary journeys: beyond despair, beyond death, to the farthest
reaches of the human heart.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Missing You by, Harlan Coben--</b><o:p></o:p><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">It's a
profile, like all the others on the online dating site. But as NYPD Detective
Kat Donovan focuses on the accompanying picture, she feels her whole world
explode, as emotions she’s ignored for decades come crashing down on her.
Staring back at her is her ex-fiancé Jeff, the man who shattered her heart—and
who she hasn’t seen in 18 years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Kat feels a
spark, wondering if this might be the moment when past tragedies recede and a
new world opens up to her. But when she reaches out to the man in the profile,
her reawakened hope quickly darkens into suspicion and then terror as an
unspeakable conspiracy comes to light, in which monsters prey upon the most
vulnerable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As the body
count mounts and Kat's hope for a second chance with Jeff grows more and more
elusive, she is consumed by an investigation that challenges her feelings about
everyone she ever loved—her former fiancé, her mother, and even her father,
whose cruel murder so long ago has never been fully explained. With lives on
the line, including her own, Kat must venture deeper into the darkness than she
ever has before, and discover if she has the strength to survive what she finds
there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Orphan Train by, Christina Baker Kline</b>-- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Nearly eighteen, Molly Ayer knows she
has one last chance. Just months from "aging out" of the child
welfare system, and close to being kicked out of her foster home, a community
service position helping an elderly woman clean out her home is the only thing
keeping her out of juvie and worse. Vivian Daly has lived a quiet life on the
coast of Maine. But in her attic, hidden in trunks, are vestiges of a turbulent
past. As she helps Vivian sort through her possessions and memories, Molly
discovers that she and Vivian aren't as different as they seem to be. A young
Irish immigrant orphaned in New York City, Vivian was put on a train to the
Midwest with hundreds of other children whose destinies would be determined by
luck and chance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The closer
Molly grows to Vivian, the more she discovers parallels to her own life. A
Penobscot Indian, she, too, is an outsider being raised by strangers, and she,
too, has unanswered questions about the past. As her emotional barriers begin
to crumble, Molly discovers that she has the power to help Vivian find answers
to mysteries that have haunted her for her entire life - answers that will
ultimately free them both.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rich in
detail and epic in scope, Orphan Train is a powerful novel of upheaval and resilience,
of second chances, of unexpected friendship, and of the secrets we carry that
keep us from finding out who we are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Unlucky 13 by, James Patterson</b>-- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">San Francisco Detective Lindsay Boxer is loving her
life as a new mother. With an attentive husband, a job she loves, plus best
friends who can talk about anything from sex to murder, things couldn't be
better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then the FBI
sends Lindsay a photo of a killer from her past, and her happy world is
shattered. The picture captures a beautiful woman at a stoplight. But all
Lindsay sees is the psychopath behind those seductive eyes: Mackie Morales, the
most deranged and dangerous mind the Women's Murder Club has ever encountered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In this
pulse-racing, emotionally charged novel by James Patterson, the Women's Murder
Club must find a killer--before she finds them first.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Lost Lake by, Sarah Addison Allen</b>--- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Suley, Georgia, is home to Lost Lake Cottages and not
much else. Which is why it's the perfect place for newly-widowed Kate and her
eccentric eight-year-old daughter Devin to heal. Kate spent one memorable
childhood summer at Lost Lake, had her first almost-kiss at Lost Lake, and met
a boy named Wes at Lost Lake. It was a place for dreaming. But Kate doesn't
believe in dreams anymore, and her Aunt Eby, Lost Lake's owner, wants to sell
the place and move on. Lost Lake's magic is gone. As Kate discovers that time
has a way of standing still at Lost Lake can she bring the cottages—and her heart—back
to life?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sometimes
lost loves aren't really lost. They're right where you left them, waiting for
you to find them again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcqovYh7MuGBiC3bjXJ4JZ6Lwm7axU5m1sVHXPsLfe4tueMNOPS8g1dBGIci1DP1JDubFsWiXwyog5cjvLYxeis-8dXRMokUm-p2gvybGS4pLF5kXvTyTHaSMvDNcLaAxdQtHLG5y0WYI/s1600/power+play.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcqovYh7MuGBiC3bjXJ4JZ6Lwm7axU5m1sVHXPsLfe4tueMNOPS8g1dBGIci1DP1JDubFsWiXwyog5cjvLYxeis-8dXRMokUm-p2gvybGS4pLF5kXvTyTHaSMvDNcLaAxdQtHLG5y0WYI/s1600/power+play.jpg" height="200" width="130" /></a></div>
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<b>Power Play by, Danielle Steel</b>--- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Would you sacrifice your family to have it all?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Fiona Carson
has proven herself as CEO of a multibillion-dollar high-tech company, but she
still has to meet the challenges of her world every day. Devoted single mother,
world-class strategist, and tough negotiator, Fiona weighs every move she makes
and reserves any personal time for her children. Isolation and constant
pressure are givens for her as a woman in a man's world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Meanwhile,
Marshall Weston basks in the fruits of his achievements. At his side is his
wife Liz - the perfect, supportive corporate spouse - who has gladly sacrificed
her own law career to raise their three children. Smooth, shrewd, and
irreproachable, Marshall is a model chief executive, and the power he wields
only enhances his charisma. And to maintain his position, he harbors secrets
that could destroy his life at any moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Both must
face their own demons, and fight off those who are jealous of their success.
Their lives as CEOs of major companies come at a high price. But just how high
a price are they willing to pay? Who are they willing to sacrifice to stay on
top? Those they love, or themselves?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWd_wLMdtN88ccqZmiAn2j8L4h-t98x6Z7r8710j51vim7bfRgTelAoZho1tVP9hlx3U5dH1zvrCCTcDj9UcYIhGsgXqxA59V_0sCGblg76OAcc-iLwEDi37rJ8CGdoMWXsnBcwX4SMk/s1600/sycamore+row.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWd_wLMdtN88ccqZmiAn2j8L4h-t98x6Z7r8710j51vim7bfRgTelAoZho1tVP9hlx3U5dH1zvrCCTcDj9UcYIhGsgXqxA59V_0sCGblg76OAcc-iLwEDi37rJ8CGdoMWXsnBcwX4SMk/s1600/sycamore+row.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a></div>
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<b>Sycamore Row by, John Grisham</b>--- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Seth Hubbard is a wealthy man dying of lung cancer. He
trusts no one. Before he hangs himself from a sycamore tree, Hubbard leaves a
new, handwritten, will. It is an act that drags his adult children, his black
maid, and Jake into a conflict as riveting and dramatic as the murder trial
that made Brigance one of Ford County's most notorious citizens, just three
years earlier. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The second
will raises far more questions than it answers. Why would Hubbard leave nearly
all of his fortune to his maid? Had chemotherapy and painkillers affected his
ability to think clearly? And what does it all have to do with a piece of land
once known as Sycamore Row?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVB7sjw-wP-QIJTsCKTSaHvEjAVwKj96PGbOzY77gdzYW2nFHUttShRMxFNaxUGzJgUwpiXAXG8rMWs1QcedkuCtITbScHEH5V3gKPKO2jNPjqIojWJL3AtHt0cmcnNRI_QqpJR1t9h_o/s1600/keep+quiet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVB7sjw-wP-QIJTsCKTSaHvEjAVwKj96PGbOzY77gdzYW2nFHUttShRMxFNaxUGzJgUwpiXAXG8rMWs1QcedkuCtITbScHEH5V3gKPKO2jNPjqIojWJL3AtHt0cmcnNRI_QqpJR1t9h_o/s1600/keep+quiet.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a></div>
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<b>Keep Quiet by, Lisa Scottoline</b>--- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award winning
author Lisa Scottoline is loved by millions of readers for her suspenseful
novels about family and justice. Scottoline delivers once again with Keep
Quiet, an emotionally gripping and complex story about one man’s split-second
decision to protect his son - and the devastating consequences that follow.
Jake Buckman’s relationship with his sixteen-year-old son Ryan is not an easy
one, so at the urging of his loving wife, Pam, Jake goes alone to pick up Ryan
at their suburban movie theater. On the way home, Ryan asks to drive on a
deserted road, and Jake sees it as a chance to make a connection. However, what
starts as a father-son bonding opportunity instantly turns into a nightmare.
Tragedy strikes, and with Ryan’s entire future hanging in the balance, Jake is
forced to make a split-second decision that plunges them both into a world of
guilt and lies. Without ever meaning to, Jake and Ryan find themselves living
under the crushing weight of their secret, which threatens to tear their family
to shreds and ruin them all. Powerful and dramatic, Keep Quiet will have
readers and book clubs debating what it means to be a parent and how far you
can, and should, go to protect those you love.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcW2abLkZsFDLZH_SoT_MKKz6T7X4xQ5Ma3kDFkTAV0wxEaQDgwg5rHkz_YOHHEuCRD8p2fuQi5YPbtKhmMhRqwq5vLLWKNnS0q2JVxEW4B2j8GL3gwxc8_YstvbeOwgM4j6QUBIk3dco/s1600/fault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcW2abLkZsFDLZH_SoT_MKKz6T7X4xQ5Ma3kDFkTAV0wxEaQDgwg5rHkz_YOHHEuCRD8p2fuQi5YPbtKhmMhRqwq5vLLWKNnS0q2JVxEW4B2j8GL3gwxc8_YstvbeOwgM4j6QUBIk3dco/s1600/fault.jpg" height="200" width="128" /></a></div>
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<b>The fault in our stars by, John Green</b>--- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Despite the tumor-shrinking medical
miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but
terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot
twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group,
Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Insightful,
bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John
Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the
funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRzq8wo4I93E_PgKhabCgVvj9mah7HJhpdwJNspuAWdV1qwHTmoY1GaFsFsoSBZRiUb8ww3h8Kq_dWVuu3gsIbSkLQJ6EmG5zX_HdzW7Q_s1jT8aYljvqlvV7oT6FElawOyqTIwc_e3qk/s1600/hunger+games.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRzq8wo4I93E_PgKhabCgVvj9mah7HJhpdwJNspuAWdV1qwHTmoY1GaFsFsoSBZRiUb8ww3h8Kq_dWVuu3gsIbSkLQJ6EmG5zX_HdzW7Q_s1jT8aYljvqlvV7oT6FElawOyqTIwc_e3qk/s1600/hunger+games.jpg" height="200" width="128" /></a></div>
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<b>The Hunger Games by, Suzanne Collins</b>---<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> Winning will make you famous. Losing
means certain death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The nation
of Panem, formed from a post-apocalyptic North America, is a country that
consists of a wealthy Capitol region surrounded by 12 poorer districts. Early
in its history, a rebellion led by a 13th district against the Capitol resulted
in its destruction and the creation of an annual televised event known as the
Hunger Games. In punishment, and as a reminder of the power and grace of the
Capitol, each district must yield one boy and one girl between the ages of 12
and 18 through a lottery system to participate in the games. The 'tributes' are
chosen during the annual Reaping and are forced to fight to the death, leaving
only one survivor to claim victory.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When
16-year-old Katniss's younger sister, Prim, is selected as District 12's female
representative, Katniss volunteers to take her place. She and her male
counterpart Peeta, are pitted against bigger, stronger representatives, some of
whom have trained for this their whole lives. , she sees it as a death
sentence. But Katniss has been close to death before. For her, survival is
second nature.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Allegiant by,Veronica Roth</b>--- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The faction-based society that Tris Prior once believed in is
shattered—fractured by violence and power struggles and scarred by loss and
betrayal. So when offered a chance to explore the world past the limits she’s
known, Tris is ready. Perhaps beyond the fence, she and Tobias will find a
simple new life together, free from complicated lies, tangled loyalties, and
painful memories. But Tris’s new reality
is even more alarming than the one she left behind. Old discoveries are quickly
rendered meaningless. Explosive new truths change the hearts of those she
loves. And once again, Tris must battle to comprehend the complexities of human
nature—and of herself—while facing impossible choices about courage,
allegiance, sacrifice, and love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Top Secret Twenty-one by, Janet Evanovich</b>--- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Catch a professional assassin: top
priority. Find a failure-to-appear and collect big bucks: top score. How she’ll
pull it all off: top secret. Trenton, New Jersey’s favorite used-car dealer,
Jimmy Poletti, was caught selling a lot more than used cars out of his
dealerships. Now he’s out on bail and has missed his date in court, and bounty
hunter Stephanie Plum is looking to bring him in. Leads are quickly turning
into dead ends, and all too frequently into dead bodies. Even Joe Morelli, the
city’s hottest cop, is struggling to find a clue to the suspected killer’s
whereabouts. These are desperate times, and they call for desperate measures.
So Stephanie is going to have to do something she really doesn’t want to do:
protect former hospital security guard and general pain in her behind Randy
Briggs. Briggs was picking up quick cash as Poletti’s bookkeeper and knows all
his boss’s dirty secrets. Now Briggs is next on Poletti’s list of people to put
six feet under.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To top
things off, Ranger—resident security expert and Stephanie’s greatest
temptation—has been the target of an assassination plot. He’s dodged the bullet
this time, but if Ranger wants to survive the next attempt on his life, he’ll
have to enlist Stephanie’s help and reveal a bit more of his mysterious past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Death
threats, highly trained assassins, highly untrained assassins, and Stark Street
being overrun by a pack of feral Chihuahuas are all in a day’s work for
Stephanie Plum. The real challenge is dealing with her Grandma Mazur’s wild
bucket list. A boob job and getting revenge on Joe Morelli’s Grandma Bella can
barely hold a candle to what’s number one on the list—but that’s top secret.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Unfit by, Lara Clevland Torgeson</b>--- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Chrissy Rollings has a mountain of troubles to
overcome, one that would crush most other girls her age. She was born in a
small North Carolina town in 1952, into a poor but happy and loving family that
always managed to scrape by each month... until the night her father died in a
car crash, plunging the family into poverty. Chrissy’s mother is forced to take
low-paying jobs to supplement her meager welfare checks, leaving Chrissy to
raise her five siblings. But even these sacrifices are not enough.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">North
Carolina was among the states to practice eugenics — forcing sterilization
procedures on thousands of people deemed “unfit” to reproduce. When Chrissy’s
mother was faced with the choice of having 14-year-old Chrissy sterilized or
losing her welfare check, she makes the only choice she feels she can and signs
the consent form. That act of survival sets into motion a series of events that
shape the course of Chrissy’s life forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>The Husband’s Secret by, Liane Moriarty</b>-- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At the heart of The Husband’s Secret
is a letter that’s not meant to be read<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My darling
Cecilia, if you’re reading this, then I’ve died...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>The Winter People by, Jennifer McMahon</b>--- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">West Hall, Vermont, has always been a
town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of
Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house
just months after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie. Now, in present
day, nineteen-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice,
and her younger sister, Fawn. Alice has always insisted that they live off the
grid, a decision that suddenly proves perilous when Ruthie wakes up one morning
to find that Alice has vanished without a trace. Searching for clues, she is
startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary hidden beneath the
floorboards of her mother's bedroom. As Ruthie gets sucked deeper into the
mystery of Sara's fate, she discovers that she's not the only person who's
desperately looking for someone that they've lost. But she may be the only one
who can stop history from repeating itself.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIz1CV5ckuJCU445-LlbbK5HW9LAetic0CG7sPiM1LL3jAdH1bUQ2ob9kT_jxB4os_viu6sB-Wg-J-B4Q9hjQXGDhgaHJHk-_4sxZElI4g-vk1WN31aVjiHl4-sg_B7vD17q4KxFzBCVM/s1600/whole+enchilada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIz1CV5ckuJCU445-LlbbK5HW9LAetic0CG7sPiM1LL3jAdH1bUQ2ob9kT_jxB4os_viu6sB-Wg-J-B4Q9hjQXGDhgaHJHk-_4sxZElI4g-vk1WN31aVjiHl4-sg_B7vD17q4KxFzBCVM/s1600/whole+enchilada.jpg" height="200" width="131" /></a></div>
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<b>The whole enchilada by, Diana Mott Davidson</b>--- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Goldy Schulz knows her food is to die
for, but she never expects one of her best friends to actually keel over when
she's leaving a birthday party Goldy has catered. At first, everyone assumes
that all the fun and excitement of the party, not to mention the rich fare, did
her in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But what looks
like a coronary turns out to be a generous serving of cold-blooded murder. And
the clever culprit is just getting cooking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When a
colleague—a woman who resembles Goldy—is stabbed, and Goldy is attacked outside
her house, it becomes clear that the popular caterer is the main course on a
killer menu. With time running out, Goldy must roll up her sleeves, sharpen her
knives, and make a meal out of a devious murderer, before that killer can serve
her up cold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>Empty Mansions : the mysterious life of Huguette Clark and
the spending of a great American fortune by, Bill Dedman--</b>- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When Pulitzer Prize-winning
journalist Bill Dedman noticed in 2009 a grand home for sale, unoccupied for
nearly sixty years, he stumbled through a surprising portal into American
history. Empty Mansions is a rich mystery of wealth and loss, connecting the
Gilded Age opulence of the nineteenth century with a twenty-first-century
battle over a $300 million inheritance. At its heart is a reclusive heiress named
Huguette Clark, a woman so secretive that, at the time of her death at age 104,
no new photograph of her had been seen in decades. Though she owned palatial
homes in California, New York, and Connecticut, why had she lived for twenty
years in a simple hospital room, despite being in excellent health? Why were
her valuables being sold off? Was she in control of her fortune, or controlled
by those managing her money? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dedman has
collaborated with Huguette Clark’s cousin, Paul Clark Newell, Jr., one of the
few relatives to have frequent conversations with her. Dedman and Newell tell a
fairy tale in reverse: the bright, talented daughter, born into a family of
extreme wealth and privilege, who secrets herself away from the outside world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Huguette was
the daughter of self-made copper industrialist W. A. Clark, nearly as rich as
Rockefeller in his day, a controversial senator, railroad builder, and founder
of Las Vegas. She grew up in the largest house in New York City, a remarkable
dwelling with 121 rooms for a family of four. She owned paintings by Degas and
Renoir, a world-renowned Stradivarius violin, a vast collection of antique
dolls. But wanting more than treasures, she devoted her wealth to buying gifts
for friends and strangers alike, to quietly pursuing her own work as an artist,
and to guarding the privacy she valued above all else. The Clark family story
spans nearly all of American history in three generations, from a log cabin in
Pennsylvania to mining camps in the Montana gold rush, from backdoor politics
in Washington to a distress call from an elegant Fifth Avenue apartment. The
same Huguette who was touched by the terror attacks of 9/11 held a ticket nine
decades earlier for a first-class stateroom on the second voyage of the
Titanic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Empty
Mansions reveals a complex portrait of the mysterious Huguette and her intimate
circle. We meet her extravagant father, her publicity-shy mother, her
star-crossed sister, her French boyfriend, her nurse who received more than $30
million in gifts, and the relatives fighting to inherit Huguette’s copper
fortune. Richly illustrated with more than seventy photographs, Empty Mansions
is an enthralling story of an eccentric of the highest order, a last jewel of
the Gilded Age who lived life on her own terms.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>I've got you under my skin by, Mary Higgins Clark</b>--- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When Laurie Moran's husband was
brutally murdered, only three-year-old Timmy saw the face of his father's
killer. Five years later his piercing blue eyes still haunt Timmy's dreams.
Laurie is haunted by more: the killer's threat to her son as he fled the scene:
Tell your mother she's next, then it's your turn . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now Laurie
is dealing with murder again, this time as the producer of a true-crime,
cold-case television show. The series will launch with the twenty-year-old
unsolved murder of Betsy Powell. Betsy, a socialite, was found suffocated in
her bed after a gala celebrating the graduation of her daughter and three friends.
The sensational murder was news nationwide. Reopening the case in its lavish
setting and with the cooperation of the surviving guests that night, Laurie is
sure to have a hit on her hands. But when the estranged friends begin filming,
it becomes clear each is hiding secrets . . . small and large.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And a pair
of blue eyes is watching events unfold, too . . .<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b>The first phone call from heaven : a novel by, Mitch Albom</b>---
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The First Phone Call from
Heaven tells the story of a small town on Lake Michigan that gets worldwide
attention when its citizens start receiving phone calls from the afterlife. Is
it the greatest miracle ever or a massive hoax? Sully Harding, a grief-stricken
single father, is determined to find out. An allegory about the power of
belief--and a page-turner that will touch your soul--Albom's masterful
storytelling has never been so moving and unexpected. Readers of The Five
People You Meet in Heaven will recognize the warmth and emotion so redolent of
Albom's writing, and those who haven't yet enjoyed the power of his
storytelling, will thrill at the discovery of one of the best-loved writers of
our time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXuy7tWvJtqQvL5ZqVX0-ChRlDVo7iMPIQruBf6ihaZat7MOXrgmfZ4IdsDnZbJ8od-ki311FMC3Au32CZFF3ot16caqhGQTizjnylGH1YUw__s7HzzQDNNii-Nn1NdS2XU966FYBnjzM/s1600/fifteen+minutes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXuy7tWvJtqQvL5ZqVX0-ChRlDVo7iMPIQruBf6ihaZat7MOXrgmfZ4IdsDnZbJ8od-ki311FMC3Au32CZFF3ot16caqhGQTizjnylGH1YUw__s7HzzQDNNii-Nn1NdS2XU966FYBnjzM/s1600/fifteen+minutes.jpg" height="200" width="128" /></a></div>
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<b>Fifteen Minutes by, Karen Kingsbury</b>--- <span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Overnight, Zack is the nation’s most
popular contestant, a country singer with the looks and voice of a young Elvis.
As his star rises, Zack is asked to compromise and quiet his beliefs, and also
something more. Just as America is falling in love with Zack, just as he’s on
the verge of winning it all, his choices lead him to the brink of personal
disaster.At the same time, Reese Weatherly, a therapeutic horse instructor, is
no longer sure about her relationship with Zack, or the wedding they had
dreamed about. While Zack advances from one round of the competition to the
next, an offer comes to Reese--one that will take her to a home halfway around
the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then Chandra
Olson--reigning diva pop star and one of the Fifteen Minutes
judges--intervenes. Chandra has suffered so much public pain and private agony
since her days as a Fifteen Minutes contestant. Now she wants just one thing:
meaning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Can
Chandra's private losses help Zack find his way, or will his fifteen minutes of
fame cause him to lose the life he once loved? Fifteen Minutes is a story of
character, compromise, and the cost of having it all. A story that raises the
question: Who are the real winners?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-92183534595177246582014-11-06T13:10:00.000-06:002014-11-07T15:44:44.686-06:00Neverhome by, Laird Hunt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcZDKPopo7CgEBN-hpA9r2v26F1qLDKQJc738-c79I_lL9fl7uDTOS_4N0c-iJxnHN-JliEdhKxtQ9KU24lPnaGbilORigSfMx_P3NawmCKUvGZzFko2o42rG7jm0IxAfmHFzmRQiUD1s/s1600/neverhome.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcZDKPopo7CgEBN-hpA9r2v26F1qLDKQJc738-c79I_lL9fl7uDTOS_4N0c-iJxnHN-JliEdhKxtQ9KU24lPnaGbilORigSfMx_P3NawmCKUvGZzFko2o42rG7jm0IxAfmHFzmRQiUD1s/s1600/neverhome.jpg" height="320" width="202" /></a></div>
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<b>Neverhome by, Laird Hunt</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>Available in-house</b></div>
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Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20454109.Neverhome" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>: <o:p></o:p></div>
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An extraordinary novel about a wife who disguises herself as
a man and goes off to fight in the Civil War.<o:p></o:p></div>
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She calls herself Ash, but that's not her real name. She is
a farmer's faithful wife, but she has left her husband to don the uniform of a
Union soldier in the Civil War. Neverhome tells the harrowing story of Ash
Thompson during the battle for the South. Through bloodshed and hysteria and
heartbreak, she becomes a hero, a folk legend, a madwoman and a traitor to the
American cause.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Laird Hunt's dazzling new novel throws a light on the
adventurous women who chose to fight instead of stay behind. It is also a
mystery story: why did Ash leave and her husband stay? Why can she not return?
What will she have to go through to make it back home?<o:p></o:p></div>
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In gorgeous prose, Hunt's rebellious young heroine fights
her way through history, and back home to her husband, and finally into our
hearts.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>My Review:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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A fascinating, sad story. I read this book in a day I
couldn't stop reading I had to find out what happens next.<o:p></o:p></div>
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It's written like an oral history you truly hear her voice
in every phrase and story. At times she is an unreliable narrator but sometimes
you need to lie to yourself to get through the day.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This is historical fiction and Ash/Constance is a
compilation of many women who dressed as men during the Civil War to go fight
the war. All had different reasons and Ash’s reason was because her husband was
weak, he was the soft one in the family and she was wire so she decided that she
was the one who is going to go off to war. As she said I was strong he was not , so it
was me went to war to defend the Republic.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Parts of this book are very gory because this is a
no holds barred war story and you have to remember what medicine was like in those
days. Plus there is no Geneva Convention so prisoners of war were treated so
awfully that it’s hard for us to understand because there are rules about prisoner treatment now. The hardest part of this book to read is when she is
held prisoner, those scenes are horrific but it is what happened during the
civil war.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I loved the metaphor of the shave how it made you feel human
again and you could forget the things you’ve seen for a few minutes.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Constance/Ash kept up an inner monologue with her mother who
had been gone a long time but I think these conversations with her mother
helped keep her sane. But it also teaches us about Constance and why and how
she became Ash the reasons go so much deeper than just her husband is the soft
one.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I think more men than she knew were on to her but since she
was such a good soldier none of them said a word, like the Colonel I think he
knew for awhile. And in her journey home she learned so much about herself and
the Colonel. Speaking of her journey home, when she reached home things weren’t
as she hoped there either and this ending was so heartbreaking.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But as I said earlier yes this book is heartbreaking but it
is also beautiful and lyrical and I feel it is a must read.<o:p></o:p></div>
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4 ½ Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-18323810887738797342014-10-27T13:57:00.000-05:002014-10-27T13:57:14.651-05:00Frozen by, Mary Casanova<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGYUY7V_Yg_OW31f2QWgZBtmdLnRMSUU4l4BsqO0mgp10xI17DTXR0_I_i4MI0v9BAW-OArpwy24jMZ3sKvwqywvSXpC_nx92iojtHqIfLtyhDzSiEoxbqtkm-xeQZO170OwMbSo2k_8U/s1600/frozen.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGYUY7V_Yg_OW31f2QWgZBtmdLnRMSUU4l4BsqO0mgp10xI17DTXR0_I_i4MI0v9BAW-OArpwy24jMZ3sKvwqywvSXpC_nx92iojtHqIfLtyhDzSiEoxbqtkm-xeQZO170OwMbSo2k_8U/s1600/frozen.jpg" height="320" width="207" /></a></div>
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<b>Frozen by, Mary Casanova</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15938277-frozen" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>:<em><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> Sixteen-year-old
Sadie Rose hasn’t said a word in eleven years—ever since the day she was found
lying in a snowbank during a howling storm. Like her voice, her memories of her
mother and what happened that night were frozen.</span></em><i><span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></i><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Set during the roaring 1920s in the beautiful,
wild area on Rainy Lake where Minnesota meets Canada,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Frozen</em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>tells the intriguing story of Sadie
Rose, whose mother died under strange circumstances the same night that Sadie
Rose was found, unable to speak, in a snowbank. Sadie Rose doesn’t know her
last name and has only fleeting memories of her mother—and the conflicting
knowledge that her mother had worked in a brothel. Taken in as a foster child
by a corrupt senator, Sadie Rose spends every summer along the shores of Rainy
Lake, where her silence is both a prison and a sanctuary.</span><br />
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<span style="background: white;">One day, Sadie Rose stumbles on a half-dozen
faded, scandalous photographs—pictures, she realizes, of her mother. They
release a flood of puzzling memories, and these wisps of the past send her at
last into the heart of her own life’s great mystery: who was her mother, and
how did she die? Why did her mother work in a brothel—did she have a choice?
What really happened that night when a five-year-old girl was found shivering
in a snowbank, her voice and identity abruptly shattered?</span><br />
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<span style="background: white;">Sadie Rose’s search for her personal truth is
laid against a swirling historical drama—a time of prohibition and women
winning the right to vote, political corruption, and a fevered fight over the
area’s wilderness between a charismatic, unyielding, powerful industrialist and
a quiet man battling to save the wide, wild forests and waters of northernmost
Minnesota.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em>Frozen</em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is a suspenseful, moving testimonial
to the haves and the have-nots, to the power of family and memory, and to the
extraordinary strength of a young woman who has lost her voice in nearly every
way—but is utterly determined to find it again.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>My Review:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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I really liked the character of Sadie Rose, she is a tough cookie but I also
liked that we saw this softer side as her memories of when she was young came
crashing down on her, the memories of the night her mother died and she almost
froze to death in a snowbank but that night she not only lost her mother but
her voice too but that was eleven years ago and now Sadie is having flashes of
both memory and voice and the memories are not at all what she expected.<br />
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Of course you kind of have a little inkling of the truth behind what happened
to Sadie’s mother but I didn’t care I wanted to see how the story played out. I
liked Sadie’s journey from mute half prisoner to talking woman of the world.
The awful truths about herself and her mother and father could have easily done
a person in but not Sadie Rose they only made her stronger. I loved the other
characters in this especially Hans & Aasta they were my favorites. My only
small problem with the story is I’m not sure at the end if (hmm how do I saw
this without a spoiler) …if things would have worked out so quickly or would
more of a fight been put up or that that was enough “justice” for her parents.
( Read the book and hopefully that sentence will make sense to you).<br />
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This was a great young adult historical fiction set not that far from my home I
thought the author did a great job at evoking the time and place in this book I
just think the ending will be a problem for some people (I was a little iffy on
it myself) but overall I enjoyed this book and would read others by this author
as I very much enjoyed her writing. This would have been a solid 4 but the
ending felt a bit rushed and not as believable as I had hoped.<br />
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3 ½ stars</span><span style="color: #181818; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6344498709920374448.post-63869248126566906222014-10-21T11:17:00.001-05:002014-10-21T11:17:54.679-05:00Whimsey: A Novel by Kaye Wilkinson Barley<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXH2ICGnG63hF3RlXhBmLTGfQJej0WTPmoOTi9D21A1_zWVNC8Z5_qdpi6AaUv9cMHJnZqOVYOGfbqQgA-HiSKpGzpt4UMIQWGpNlASnEtGS6WuKXTph3R9_YQoOGdCahQp5dyljboMA/s1600/whimsey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguXH2ICGnG63hF3RlXhBmLTGfQJej0WTPmoOTi9D21A1_zWVNC8Z5_qdpi6AaUv9cMHJnZqOVYOGfbqQgA-HiSKpGzpt4UMIQWGpNlASnEtGS6WuKXTph3R9_YQoOGdCahQp5dyljboMA/s1600/whimsey.jpg" height="320" width="238" /></a></div>
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Synopsis from <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17466500-whimsey?from_search=true" target="_blank">Goodreads</a>: Whimsey is a novel of southern fiction with a splash of
magic and a touch of fantasy, topped with a sprinkling of humor.<br />
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The magic was already there when cigar-smoking matriarch
Elizabeth Calhoun established an artist’s colony on an island off the coast of
Georgia and named it Whimsey. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Elizabeth’s ghost still drops in from time to time to make
sure things are going as she planned. <o:p></o:p></div>
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There’s also a wicked pixie named Earlene who fancies
tight-fitting designer clothes and Louboutin stilettos. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Elizabeth’s grandniece, Emma Hamilton Foley, a
once-promising jewelry designer who moved away from the island, now fears her
talent has deserted her. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Along with her four best childhood friends, she has been
invited to be a resident artist at Whimsey’s new upscale gallery, Les étoiles.
To join them, she’ll need to regain her talent, face the demons from her past
and her feelings about Eli Tatnall, whom she loved as a girl. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Will moving back to the Island of Whimsey bring the magic
back? <o:p></o:p></div>
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WHIMSEY is a story of hope and affirmation, about families
and best girlfriends, connections and feelings. It’s about the things in life
that make us happy and the things that scare us to death. And the people who
walk through life with us.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>My Review:</b><o:p></o:p></div>
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I want to live in Whimsey! This book proves not only can you
go home again but that you should. Emma tried to leave Whimsey in the past but
when things go wrong in her life and her artistic jewelry line takes the hit ,
she eventually figures out she needs to find her inner magic again and with
some help from her long dead aunt Elizabeth the only place that it can be found
is on the island of Whimsey. I loved the scenes with Aunt Elizabeth and the
crayon and the story of finding you crimson, we all need this lesson! <o:p></o:p></div>
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I also enjoyed the pixie Earlene, I loved that she made
silver glitter fall off of Emma without her even realizing it. Oh who am I
kidding I loved every character in this book. The whole ensemble is there for a
reason each with their own set of advise to Emma and when she finally decides
to listen to all the people and island are trying to tell her things get much
better for. I also want to see her jewelry; I want to see these colors the
colors of a sunrise on Whimsey with colors no one has a name for.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This book is right up there with Sarah Addison Allen in
southern magical realism; in fact I think these two authors should get together
because the big grand opening of the gallery needs a caterer and who better
than the Waverly sisters!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I highly recommend this book to southern fiction lovers,
especially fans of Sarah Addison Allen. This book has the same feel good
aftereffect that Sarah’s books do. I was surprised to find this is Kaye’s first
novel; I look forward to reading anything else she writes!<o:p></o:p></div>
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5 Stars<o:p></o:p></div>
MissSusiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10246176127708603210noreply@blogger.com1