The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore

The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat by Edward Kelsey Moore

Synopsis from Goodreads: Meet Odette, Clarice, and Barbara Jean in the New York Times best-selling novel . . .

           

Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat is home away from home for this inseparable Plainview, Indiana, trio.  Dubbed “the Supremes” by high school pals in the tumultuous 1960s, they weather life’s storms together for the next four decades. Now, during their most challenging year yet, dutiful, proud, and talented Clarice must struggle to keep up appearances as she deals with her husband’s humiliating infidelities. Beautiful, fragile Barbara Jean is rocked by the tragic reverberations of a youthful love affair. And fearless Odette engages in the most terrifying battle of her life while contending with the idea that she has inherited more than her broad frame from her notorious pot-smoking mother, Dora.

Through marriage, children, happiness, and the blues, these strong, funny women gather each Sundayat the same table at Earl’s diner for delicious food, juicy gossip, occasional tears, and uproarious banter.

With wit and love, style and sublime talent, Edward Kelsey Moore brings together four intertwined love stories, three devoted allies, and two sprightly earthbound spirits in a big-hearted debut novel that embraces the lives of people you will never forget.

My Review:

This was an interesting story it had me laughing at times and crying at others. These 3 women, friends since they were teens have gone through a lot, each dealing with their circumstances in their own way, yet knowing that the other women were there for them no matter what. I loved Odette she handled her circumstance gracefully and I loved her ghosts, which included her pot smoking mama and a drunken Mrs. Roosevelt these scenes had me laughing hard. Barbara Jean was a sad case but I loved seeing her grow throughout the book into a much stronger woman than she had been. Clarice has a philandering husband and finally gets up the guts to leave him but the consequences and outcome of that makes for a very interesting story too.

I enjoyed this book I think it’s a good one if you are a fan of southern fiction, or friendship stories. What is shocking is that this book is written by a man because he nailed these friendships and the women’s “voices” which isn’t easy for a male author to do and he does it very well. Also for a first novel this book is very well written I look forward to another book by this author, I think he is a rising star!

4 Stars

Looking For Me by, Beth Hoffman

Looking For Me by, Beth Hoffman

This book grabbed me from the first paragraph I thought it was a memorable start:

“Some people run towards life, arms flung wide in anticipation. Others crack open the door and take a one-eyed peek to see what’s out there. Then there are those who give up on life long before their heart stops beating- all used up, worn out, and caved in, yet wake each morning and shuffle their tired legs through another. Maybe they’re hoping for change—a miracle, even—but runaway dreams and lost years hang heavily in their backs. It’s the only coat they know how to wear.”

I also thought this was a great quote to:

“I thought about the old saying, how we can never go home again. But I think it’s more like a piece of us stays behind when we leave- a piece we can never reclaim, one that awaits our next visit and demands that we remember.”

Teddi is a great character she is so down to earth yet driven artistically, we share her life in present day and flashbacks and her journey is not always a happy one. The descriptions of the furniture that Teddi restores sound so amazing you can see them clearly in your head (I want a chest made by her). The people Teddi meets in her life that help on her path to her dreams are great, especially Mr. Palmer he sees her amazing talent in her first piece and later he takes her in and gives her so much support to live out her dream, he’s a great character. Also in the shop are Albert & Inez who I also fell in love with and also her best friend Olivia and Granny Belle  I also loved that Teddi let people be themselves she never judged her friends (her mother may be a different story but I am not going to spoil that for you). But these are the people in her adult life and the two people that believed in her are gone, her father and her brother Josh but Josh isn’t dead at least not to Teddi he walked away from the farm one day and was never seen again but Teddi has always believed he is out there in the woods living in nature and with the animals he loves. Josh is also an amazing character written with such feeling and conviction, and makes me want to believe what Teddi believes!

Towards the end of the book I slowed reading, I got to a certain point and didn’t want to know what happens because that would mean the end of the book...I've picked it up and set it down about three times I don't want to leave yet! Done now, I miss these characters already!

Beth Hoffman is a great storyteller she makes you care about each and every person, there is no bad guys just people who make choices on how to act that affects others in ways they may not realize until it is too late. She made me want to go to Charleston to see the amazing architecture and to go to every antique shop until I find one of Teddi’s chests. Also we have a few of Charleston’s more colorful characters in Mrs. Poteet and Zelda who make life interesting.

I adored this book, it is very different from CeeCee yet gives you major feels like CeeCee did, but really that and it being set in the south are the only similarities, I thought this was a unique book with a hint of magical realism coming from the Native American beliefs held by Josh. I say this is unique because there isn’t really a lot going on, it is just Teddi’s life, yet I couldn’t put it down and as I said I didn’t want to stop when I got to the end. Beth Hoffman made me feel like the people in this book could be my friend, that is the magic of her writing, she makes you care. I will read anything she puts on paper!

5 Stars

I received this book from the author for an honest review.

Orphan Train by, Christina Baker Kline

Orphan Train by, Christina Baker Kline

What a fabulous read! The author mixed the historical and present day story so seamlessly I was completely hooked.

The story of the orphan train is so sad, these children were herded up like cattle and sent away from everything they knew, sent to a strange land with people who may or may not take care of them. For some it was indentured servitude, others were free labor that came with beatings. Some, the lucky ones found homes with people who truly cared about their well-being, and then ones like Niamh/Dorothy/Vivian had to go through a few bad ones to find the good one. These children lost their heritage, their names, and their religion. I felt the author’s research was very thorough and this book like historical fiction should be makes me want to read more and more about the orphan trains.

In the present day we meet Molly a Penobscot Indian in foster care after her father dies and her mother is in no shape to take care of her, she bounces from one bad home to another. When she gets in trouble her boyfriend sets it up for her to do her community service with his mother’s boss Vivian a 91 year old woman who needs help cleaning out her attic. As the two go through the boxes of Vivian’s life they realize they have much more in common than anyone would have ever guessed.

I loved the relationship between Vivian & Molly how both are wary because of what they have been through and to see this relationship grow through the stories Vivian tells as they unearth her life that has been tucked away in boxes.

I truly enjoyed this story and I think Molly and Vivian will stay with me for a while. This was my first book by this author but she has piqued my curiosity and I will be looking for her other books.

I highly recommend this book but be warned it is hard to put down and will stay with you long after you finish!

4 ½ Stars

Sync YA Literature to Your Earphones-Free Young Adult & Classic audiobook

SYNC offers free Young Adult & Classic audiobook downloads in the summer months to introduce the listening experience. these download right into your Overdrive App.

Mermaids, monsters, and mistaken identities start the summer of free audiobook downloads from SYNC YA Literature Into Your Earphones off with a splash.

Teens and other readers of Young Adult Literature will have the opportunity to listen to bestselling titles and required reading classics this summer.   Each week  from now until August 15, 2013, SYNC will offer two free audiobook downloads.

Click here for  This Week’s Audiobooks:

Available to download free May 30 – June 5, 2013

Of Poseidon

By Anna Banks

Read by Rebecca Gibel

Published by AudioGO

“Gibel’s flirty banter will make

a big splash with listeners.”

–AudioFile Magazine

Galen, prince of the Syrena, is sent to land to find a girl he’s heard can communicate with fish and after several encounters with her Galen becomes convinced Emma holds the key to his kingdom.

Listen to a clip:

The Tempest

By William Shakespeare

Performed by a Full Cast

Published by AudioGO/ BBC Radio

A storm rages. Prospero and his daughter watch from their desert island as a ship carrying the royal family is wrecked. Miraculously, all on board survive. Plotting, mistaken identities, and bewitching love follow as the travelers explore the strange place of spirits and monsters.

Listen to a clip:

Full schedule here:

June 6 – June 12, 2013

The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place, Book 1: The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood, read by Katherine Kellgren (HarperAudio)

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, read by Wanda McCaddon (Tantor Audio)

June 13 – June 19, 2013

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, read by Will Patton (Scholastic Audiobooks)

Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya, read by Robert Ramirez (Recorded Books)

June 20 – June 26, 2013

Once by Morris Gleitzman, read by Morris Gleitzman (Bolinda Audio)

Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr., read by Dion Graham (christianaudio)

June 27 – July 3, 2013

Rotters by Daniel Kraus, read by Kirby Heyborne (Listening Library)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, read by Jim Weiss (Listening Library)

July 4 – July 10, 2013

Carter Finally Gets It by Brent Crawford, read by Nick Podehl (Brilliance Audio)

She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith, read by a Full Cast (L.A. Theatre Works)

July 11 – July 17, 2013

The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann, read by Peter Altschuler (HarperAudio)

Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, read by Simon Vance (Tantor Audio)

July 18 – July 24, 2013

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers, read by Erin Moon (Recorded Books)

Hamlet by William Shakespeare, read by a Full Cast (L.A. Theatre Works)

July 25 – July 31, 2013

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielsen, read by Charlie McWade (Scholastic Audiobooks)

The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, read by Steve West (Blackstone Audio)

Aug 1 – Aug 7, 2013

Death Cloud by Andrew Lane, read by Dan Weyman (Macmillan Audio)

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, read by Ralph Cosham (Blackstone Audio)

Aug 8 – Aug 14, 2013

Enchanted by Alethea Kontis, read by Katherine Kellgren (Brilliance Audio)

Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll, read by Miriam Margolyes (Bolinda Audio)

Aug 15 – Aug 21, 2013

Sold by Patricia McCormick, read by Justine Eyre (Tantor Audio)

Let Me Stand Alone by Rachel Corrie, read by Tavia Gilbert (Blackstone Audio)

The Next Time You See Me By, Holly Goddard Jones

The Next Time You See Me By, Holly Goddard Jones

Synopsis from Goodreads: Thirteen-year-old Emily Houchens doesn’t have many friends. She finds more comfort playing make-believe in the woods near her house in Roma, Kentucky, than with her classmates, who find her strange and awkward. When she happens upon a dead body hidden in the woods one day, she decides not to tell anyone about her discovery—a choice that begins to haunt her.

Susanna Mitchell has always been a good girl, the dutiful daughter and wife. While her older sister Ronnie trolled bars for men and often drove home at sunrise, Susanna kept a neat house, a respectable job, a young daughter. But when Ronnie goes missing, and Susanna realizes that she’s the only person in Roma who truly cares about her sister’s fate, she starts to question her quiet life and its value.

The Next Time You See Me is the story of how one woman’s disappearance exposes the ambitions, prejudices, and anxieties of a small southern town and its residents, who are all connected, sometimes in unexpected ways. Emily; Susannah; Tony, a failed baseball star-turned-detective, aspiring to be the county’s first black sheriff; and Wyatt, a fifty-five-year-old factory worker tormented by a past he can’t change and by a love he doesn’t think he deserves. Their stories converge in a violent climax that reveals not just the mystery of what happened to Ronnie but all of their secret selves.

My Review:

Susanna’s sister Ronnie has gone missing but since she’s kind of the town bad girl no one but Susanna seems to care which gets Susanna wondering if the life she has is the life she wants. Then there is her students Emily & Christopher, Emily is a shy girl from the wrong side of the tracks and Christopher little rich boy with attitude…Ugh Christopher is such a little puke and I don’t understand how Emily can even think of being friends with him. Emily truly needs some serious counseling between her insecurities, self esteem, being bullied and what happened in the woods I hope her parents will get her some help!

Then there is Wyatt a 55 year old overweight factory worker, I liked Wyatt I also felt sorry for him, I felt he’d been bullied his whole life, pretty sure the night at the bar wasn’t the first time he’s been bullied he fell for it all too easily. Thought it was sweet that he and Sara got together and was rooting for them both to find love.

The prayer service for Ronnie made me wonder how often those are done; a prayer for a missing person who wasn’t well liked and didn’t attend church. I agree with Susanna that it all just felt wrong but I can understand that she was feeling like finally people were starting to take her sisters disappearance seriously.

This book was very hard to put down it has bullying of kids and adults, a missing person, a murder,  old loves returning and some very, very flawed people but it comes together in a fabulous story. I don’t want to give any spoilers but there was a certain storyline that I hoped would be a red herring and am amazed that the author made me feel bad for a murderer but I was emotionally invested and it was a great twist well an emotional twist for me. All these different characters with nary a thing in common all find themselves thrown into the drama of Ronnie’s disappearance some in ways that will leave you shaking your head in wonder.

4 Stars

Library2Go Audiobook Spotlight #9~Calling Me Home: A Novel by Julie Kibler Narrated by, Bahni Turpin & Lorna Raver

Most of you know our new Library2Go service makes it easy to download ebooks but what some might not know is there is also a great selection of audiobooks available for download too. I will spotlight some of my favorite audiobooks and narrators.

This book is also available in hardcover at the library

Calling Me Home: A Novel by Julie Kibler Narrated by, Bahni Turpin & Lorna Raver

Synopsis from Goodreads: Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler is a soaring debut interweaving the story of a heartbreaking, forbidden love in 1930s Kentucky with an unlikely modern-day friendship

Eighty-nine-year-old Isabelle McAllister has a favor to ask her hairdresser Dorrie Curtis. It's a big one. Isabelle wants Dorrie, a black single mom in her thirties, to drop everything to drive her from her home in Arlington, Texas, to a funeral in Cincinnati. With no clear explanation why. Tomorrow.

Dorrie, fleeing problems of her own and curious whether she can unlock the secrets of Isabelle's guarded past, scarcely hesitates before agreeing, not knowing it will be a journey that changes both their lives.

Over the years, Dorrie and Isabelle have developed more than just a business relationship. They are friends. But Dorrie, fretting over the new man in her life and her teenage son’s irresponsible choices, still wonders why Isabelle chose her.

Isabelle confesses that, as a willful teen in 1930s Kentucky, she fell deeply in love with Robert Prewitt, a would-be doctor and the black son of her family's housekeeper—in a town where blacks weren’t allowed after dark. The tale of their forbidden relationship and its tragic consequences makes it clear Dorrie and Isabelle are headed for a gathering of the utmost importance and that the history of Isabelle's first and greatest love just might help Dorrie find her own way.

My Review:

This is such a great story! But be careful where you read it and have tissues ready especially towards the end, I happened to be driving at the end of this one!

I fell in love with both of these characters Miss Isabelle and Dorrie were true friends even though such different people. Dorrie is an African American single mother and hairdresser who has been doing 89 year old Isabelle’s hair for over a year and they have grown close but when Isabelle asks Dorrie to drive her from Texas to Ohio for a funeral, Dorrie jumps at the chance to get away from her own troubles for awhile and help the old lady out.

This book is told in alternating chapters by Dorrie and Isabelle, Dorrie dealing with her own problems at home in the present day and Isabelle telling the story of her life; that when she was 17 in Kentucky in the 1930’s she fell in love with a black man and the consequences that occurred due to her actions. Isabelle’s story is so heartbreaking but beautiful and the friendship that grows between these two women is one of the best friendships out there. I adored this book and couldn’t put it down I didn’t want to stop listening I needed to know how the story played out because with each bombshell Isabella would drop you could see so many ways the story could go and most of them had very dire consequences.

I received the ebook galley of this book from netgalley then I heard that it was going to be narrated by, Bahni Turpin & Lorna Raver so of course I waited for the audiobook and I am so glad I did. These two are perfect for the characters Bahni as Dorrie and Lorna as Isabelle bring the emotion of this book bubbling to surface in waves of emotion that will make you feel everything these characters are going through. Lorna Raver’s telling of Isabelle’s story is at times pure raw emotion that conveys so beautifully the heartbreak of her long life and Bahni Turpin’s Dorrie is smart yet has this soft vulnerable side that Turpin brings to life without flaw.

I highly recommend this book on audio with these two narrators how can you go wrong! This is one the best books I’ve read this year. If you like southern fiction and beautiful friendship stories give this book a try you won’t be disappointed!

5 stars

PS After reading the book the cover will about break your heart!

Six Years by, Harlan Coben

Six Years by, Harlan Coben

Synopsis from Goodreads: Six years have passed since Jake Sanders watched Natalie, the love of his life, marry another man. Six years of hiding a broken heart by throwing himself into his career as a college professor. Six years of keeping his promise to leave Natalie alone, and six years of tortured dreams of her life with her new husband, Todd. But six years haven't come close to extinguishing his feelings, and when Jake comes across Todd's obituary, he can't keep himself away from the funeral. There he gets the glimpse of Todd's wife he's hoping for . . . but she is not Natalie. Whoever the mourning widow is, she's been married to Todd for more than a decade, and with that fact everything Jake thought he knew about the best time of his life ? a time he has never gotten over ? is turned completely inside out. As Jake searches for the truth, his picture-perfect memories of Natalie begin to unravel. Mutual friends of the couple either can't be found or don't remember Jake. No one has seen Natalie in years. Jake's search for the woman who broke his heart ? and who lied to him ? soon puts his very life at risk as it dawns on him that the man he has become may be based on carefully constructed fiction. Harlan Coben once again delivers a shocking novel that deftly explores the power of past love and the secrets and lies that such love can hide.

My Review:

This book will grab you, throw you back in your seat and make you hang on for dear life because it is going to be a heck of ride! This was so hard to put down because it didn’t let up for a minute. It is very hard to write a review with no spoilers and not so much gushing.

Six years ago Jake watched the love of his life Natalie marry another man (Todd) she made him promise to leave them alone but now six years later Jake sees an obituary for her husband and decides to go to the funeral and at the least catch a glimpse of Natalie but the wife is not Natalie it is someone else, someone who Todd has been married to for over 16 years. Jake sets out to find Natalie and discover what is going on, but some things are not that easy especially when you are trying to find someone who doesn’t want to be found and Jake soon learns the hard way that he is not the only one looking for her.

This is my favorite Harlan Coben book yet this had so many twists and turns that when you think you know what is going on it changes, yes, I was right on a few things but there were more aspects that left my jaw dragging on the ground. There were times when you have to roll your eyes at Jake, or maybe that’s just me because I am about as unromantic as they come. And there were times when you wanted to yell NOOOO at him as he charged from one dangerous situation to another (I actually did yell this once luckily I was by myself!).  I really liked that Coben even had me wondering about Jake’s sanity for awhile I was beginning to wonder myself if Natalie was real or if it was a figment of his imagination, but that is what made this book so great even the reader starts questioning Jake. Okay I need to stop here because everything else I am thinking of writing is spoilerific but man do I want to discuss this book with someone who has read it!

If you haven’t figured out yet I loved this book, if you are looking for a thrill ride full of twists and turns you need to read this book!

4 ½ Stars

Library2Go Audiobook Spotlight # 8~The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew narrated by, Karen White

When deciding which book to read next most people know what they are looking for in print form what this column will highlight is a different form of reading, and that is listening to the audiobook. I love audiobooks whether it be traveling in the car, cleaning the house or working I listen to audiobooks all the time.

Most of you know our new Library2Go service makes it easy to download ebooks but what some might not know is there is also a great selection of audiobooks available for download too. I will spotlight some of my favorite audiobooks and narrators.

Library2Go Audiobook Spotlight # 8~The DryGrass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew narrated by, Karen White (Also available as an ebook)

My Review:

Since this book is set in the south in the 50’s and the Watts family has a “colored girl” you know something bad is going to happen to change everyone’s life, But this book was so much more than the story you are expecting.

Jubie Watts is 13 years old the summer everything in her life changed, even though her family employs “a girl” she is more like family to her and she doesn’t really understand the racial tensions that are rising around her. She really has no idea what kind of people her parents are, especially her father but that is all about to change as Jubie’s coming of age story unfolds you can’t help but want to reach out and give her a hug.

This book has shades of The Help which you can’t help compare it to but it is much more than just about the help it is about how you see your family, how you deal with seeing wrongs done to people and what you decide to do about them.

This is good 50’s southern fiction I say if you liked The Help or The Secret Life of Bees give this one a go!

Audio Production: Karen White narrates this one and I must say how impressed I was, I’ve listened to other books narrated by Karen but this was the first southern fiction and I will admit to being pleasantly surprised at how well she shifted between the different ethnicities. I highly recommend this book in audio because Karen’s narration is spot on!

4 Stars

The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan

The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan

Synopsis From Goodreads: A gripping novel set in Belle Époque Paris and inspired by the real-life model for Degas’s Little Dancer Aged Fourteen and a notorious criminal trial of the era.

Paris. 1878. Following their father’s sudden death, the van Goethem sisters find their lives upended. Without his wages, and with the small amount their laundress mother earns disappearing into the absinthe bottle, eviction from their lodgings seems imminent. With few options for work, Marie is dispatched to the Paris Opéra, where for a scant seventy francs a month, she will be trained to enter the famous ballet. Her older sister, Antoinette, finds work—and the love of a dangerous young man—as an extra in a stage adaptation of Émile Zola’s naturalist masterpiece L’Assommoir.

Marie throws herself into dance and is soon modelling in the studio of Edgar Degas, where her image will forever be immortalized as Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. Antoinette, meanwhile, descends lower and lower in society, and must make the choice between a life of honest labor and the more profitable avenues open to a young woman of the Parisian demimonde—that is, unless her love affair derails her completely.

Set at a moment of profound artistic, cultural, and societal change, The Painted Girls is a tale of two remarkable sisters rendered uniquely vulnerable to the darker impulses of “civilized society.”

My Review:

This was an interesting story with very well done, fully fleshed out characters , and with what I love about historical fiction, it made me go do research so I had Degas’ Ballerina portraits and the little dancer sculpture on my computer so I could look at them while reading. These characters are all very flawed but really just trying to survive the world the best they know how.

The story of these girls was fascinating and I loved the liberty the author took to combine Emil’s story with Antoinette & Marie’s I think it added such a great layer of depth to the story, where if it hadn’t been there, this book would have had less “meat” to it. There is a third sister in this story but to me she was just a secondary character to Antoinette & Marie, yet even though their mother is a smaller part of the story too I really felt her presence whenever she was in a scene, like when she was visiting Antoinette but really she wasn’t there to see her daughter it was just an excuse for a few extra hours off work. I thought this epitomized who this woman was.

This is also a great look at life especially for the poor in the late 1800’s and how once their father dies they have to find work somewhere, there were much worse “professions” than being a dancer or even a nude model for an artist and we all know what that is. These girls don’t have it easy and go through some pretty tough times and tough men. Also the insight into the paintings of Degas that I think everyone has seen even if they don’t realize who the artist is was fascinating, he seems to be one of the few artists that actually had a modicum of success while he was still alive. I have always found his work fascinating because of its day in a life aspects’ so that made his part in this book extra interesting to me.

I highly recommend this book it is good historical fiction with a little look into the world of Degas, a little mystery and the daily life of the downtrodden of the late 1800’s.

4 stars

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson: March Bookclub Pick

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson: March Bookclub Pick

Our library bookclub was chosen to receive advance copies of this book from the publisher but we didn’t expect a 500+ page book so that was off-putting right away for some but once I got past the first 100 pages it was a fast read, some didn’t make it that far and gave up, some finished and liked it almost as much as I did and others finished and only found it a 3 or less star read. Our average Star Rating for this book was 3.5 so still pretty good. Our Library bookclub would like to thank the publisher Little Brown for choosing us to receive an advanced copy of this book. The review below is from our Librarian. 

This book started out slow for me the first 100 pages I was confused then all of a sudden I couldn't put this book down and I think it took me as long to read the last 400 pages as it did to read the first 100. There are times this book is confusing and I can see how people would give up on it but I am really glad I had to read this for bookclub so I didn’t give up after my usual 50-100 pages because that is when it gets good!

I really liked Ursula in all her different “lives”. She didn’t always make the wisest decisions but that is the crux of this book it is the different paths your life can take, if you do this then this is how your life will go and if you turn the other way and change that decision then this is what could happen. I also liked the family story we get to know the Todd’s is so many different ways because of the different decisions made by Ursula, and how her decisions affect what happens to others. I also got a kick out of Aunt Izzie she was a fun character.

The storyline’s about England during WWII are amazing you really get a feel of what it was like while the bombs are going off, the dust and dirt and coming around a corner to find a familiar street totally unrecognizable, when she was working as a relief worker helping find and identify the victims were heartbreaking and had such a real feel.  Ursula never really has very good taste in men no matter if it is a husband, lover or passing dalliance, I felt she was actually her happiest when she was living on her own.(Well most of the time, there is the gas incident).

As Ursula goes through life again and again she does have hazy memories more a déjà vu at times, other times just a feeling of dread, and sometime a straight up knowing of what will happen if certain events take place, yes I’m looking at you Bridget please don’t go to the fair! (Or her let’s kill Hitler phase) But she never fully realizes what is happening or why she sees the things she does or feels what she does about certain events. Each of her “lives” is varied some she dies young, some she has a husband and children, some she lives out a longer life and some of her “deaths” will shock you when the repeats start you almost feel like you are the one having déjà vu. I will say though that some of the stories start and it’s almost suspenseful as you wait to see how she dies this time.

I actually liked that the author didn’t fully explain what was happening to Ursula, be it reincarnation, déjà vu, past life or whatever you think it may be. I also am left wondering if her mother Sylvie wasn’t going through a similar “life”.

This book is one that I think will stay with you long after you read it, I am done now but still thinking of Ursula. I would recommend hanging in there if the first 100 pages are getting you down because once you get over that hump then it will really grab you! Kate Atkinson has written a fascinating, unique book that I think is deserving of all the buzz it is getting, just know this is very different than the Jackson Brodie series.

4 stars 

Audie Award Nominees on Library2Go

Audie Award Nominees on Library2Go

The Audie Awards are the Oscars for audiobooks those of us that are audiophiles follow these more closely than the Oscars these are awards for great narration and as anyone who has listened to an audiobook knows how important a great narrator is. These awards are put out by the APA - Audio Publishers Association (APA) is a not-for-profit trade organization dedicated to creating a public awareness of the audio publishing industry as well as providing industry professionals with educational opportunities to develop their businesses. To learn more about APA, please click here.

Full list of nominees from Audiofile Magazine here

So here is a list of the nominees that are available through Library2Go.

AUDIO DRAMA

Die, Snow White! Die, Damn You!, by Yuri Rasovsky, Narrated by a full cast, Blackstone Audio

Also nominated in ORIGINAL WORK

Die, Snow White! Die, Damn You!, by Yuri Rasovsky, Narrated by a full cast, Blackstone.

BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR

My Cross to Bear, by Greg Allman and Alan Light, Narrated by Will Patton, Harper Audio

The Seamstress, by Bernstein, Sara Tuvel; Thornton, Louise Loots; Samuels, Marlene Bernstein, Narrated by Wanda McCaddon.

BUSINESS/EDUCATIONAL

Spy The Lie, by Philip Houston, Michael Floyd, Susan Carnicero, Don Tennant, Narrated by Fred Berman, Macmillan Audio.

CHILDRENS 8-12

The Cheshire Cheese Cat, by Carmen Agra Deedy and Randall White, Narrated by Katherine Kellgren and Robin Sachs, Listening Library/Books on Tape.

CLASSIC

The Mark of Zorro, by Johnston McCulley, Narrated by Armando Durán, Blackstone.

              

            The Prime Minister, by Anthony Trollope, Narrated by Simon Vance, Blackstone.

HUMOR

The Cursing Mommy's Book of Days, by Ian Frazier, Narrated by Cynthia Nixon, Macmillan Audio.

INSPIRATIONAL FAITH NON-FICTION

Anna and the King of Siam, by Margaret Langdon, Narrated by Anne Flosnik, eChristian Inc.

Fearless, by Eric Blehm, Narrated by Paul Michael, eChristian Inc.

LITERARY FICTION

Bring Up the Bodies, by Hilary Mantel, Narrated by Simon Vance, Macmillan Audio.

MYSTERY

And When She Was Good, by Laura Lippman, Narrated by Linda Emond, MacMillan Audio.

The Beautiful Mystery, by Louise Penny, Narrated by Ralph Cosham, MacMillan Audio.

NARRATION BY AUTHOR OR AUTHORS

Most Talkative, by Andy Cohen, Read by Andy Cohen, Macmillan Audio.

Yes, Chef, by Marcus Samuelsson, Read by Marcus Samuelsson, Random House Audio/Books on Tape.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT

It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership, by Colin Powell, Narrated by Colin Powell, Harper Audio.

SCIENCE FICTION

The Age of Miracles, by Karen Thompson Walker, Narrated by Emily Janice Card, Random House Audio/Books on Tape.

SHORT STORIES

I Am An Executioner, by Rajesh Parameswaran, Narrated by Neil Shah and Lina Patel, Dreamscape media, LLC.

Astray, by Emma Donoghue, Narrated by Khristine Hvam, James Langton, Robert Petkoff, Suzanne Toren, Dion Graham, Hachette Audio.

SOLO NARRATION-MALE

Beautiful Ruins, by Jess Walter, Narrated by Edoardo Ballerini, Harper Audio. This is not available on Library2Go but we do has the CD’s in house.

          The Absolutist, by John Boyne, Narrated by Michael Maloney, Tantor Media.

SOLO NARRATION-FEMALE

The Boy in the Suitcase, by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis, Narrated by Katherine Kellgren, AudioGO.

Also Nominated in THRILLER/SUSPENSE

The Boy in the Suitcase, by Lene Kaaberbøl and Agnete Friis, Narrated by Katherine Kellgren, AudioGO.

Call the Midwife, by Jennifer Worth, Narrated by Nicola Barber, HighBridge. This one is not available on library2go but is available on CD in house.

         Juliet in August, by Dianne Warren, Narrated by Cassandra Campbell, Tantor Media.

TEENS

Dodger, by Terry Pratchett, Narrated by Stephen Briggs, Harper Audio.

     The Diviners, by Libby Bray, Narrated by January LaVoy , Listening Library/Books on Tape

Inheritance, by Christopher Paolini, Narrated by Gerard Doyle, Listening Library/Books on Tape.

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

The Orchardist by Amanda Coplin

Synopsis from Goodreads: At the turn of the twentieth century, in a rural stretch of the Pacific Northwest in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains, a solitary orchardist named Talmadge carefully tends the grove of fruit trees he has cultivated for nearly half a century. A gentle, solitary man, he finds solace and purpose in the sweetness of the apples, apricots, and plums he grows, and in the quiet, beating heart of the land-the valley of yellow grass bordering a deep canyon that has been his home since he was nine years old. Everything he is and has known is tied to this patch of earth. It is where his widowed mother is buried, taken by illness when he was just thirteen, and where his only companion, his beloved teenaged sister Elsbeth, mysteriously disappeared. It is where the horse wranglers-native men, mostly Nez Perce-pass through each spring with their wild herds, setting up camp in the flowering meadows between the trees.

One day, while in town to sell his fruit at the market, two girls, barefoot and dirty, steal some apples. Later, they appear on his homestead, cautious yet curious about the man who gave them no chase. Feral, scared, and very pregnant, Jane and her sister Della take up on Talmadage's land and indulge in his deep reservoir of compassion. Yet just as the girls begin to trust him, brutal men with guns arrive in the orchard, and the shattering tragedy that follows sets Talmadge on an irrevocable course not only to save and protect them, putting himself between the girls and the world, but to reconcile the ghosts of his own troubled past.

Writing with breathtaking precision and empathy, Amanda Coplin has crafted an astonishing debut novel about a man who disrupts the lonely harmony of an ordered life when he opens his heart and lets the world in. Transcribing America as it once was before railways and roads connected its corners, she weaves a tapestry of solitary souls who come together in the wake of unspeakable cruelty and misfortune, bound by their search to discover the place they belong. At once intimate and epic, evocative and atmospheric, filled with haunting characters both vivid and true to life, and told in a distinctive narrative voice, The Orchardist marks the beginning of a stellar literary career.

My review:

This is a quiet book about flawed people, what your upbringing can turn you into and why even when given a fighting chance some people can’t get over what was done to them. This isn’t a great drama, or a thrill ride it is really just Talmadge’s story told in a sad way, rueful and regretful.

Talmadge is a quiet man working his orchards and still not over the disappearance of his sister years ago, when one day 2 young girls dirty, hungry and pregnant have wandered onto his property looking for food. The girls Jane & Della & Talmadge finally come to tentative understanding that he will leave them food and he will not try to touch them or talk to them. When the girls go into labor only one baby lives; Angeline, who becomes a huge part of Talmadge’s life, but there is a man looking for these girls and the events of that day will haunt all their lives forever.

This is not a happy story but there is something about it that grabs at your heart plus the imagery of the orchard and the time period is done so beautifully. I am finding it very hard to put into words the emotions this book evoked.

I think this is one of those books that will stay with me awhile and the sad people in it, yet this books is so beautiful , lyrical and flowing. What amazes me is this is a first novel I think Amanda Coplin will be an author to watch and I look forward to more from her!

4 Stars

My One Square Inch of Alaska: A Novel by Sharon Short

My One Square Inch of Alaska: A Novel by Sharon Short

I was expecting a 1950’s coming of age story and I got that but I also got so much more with this great story. Donna a high school senior and her little brother Will live in Ohio their mother is dead and their father has taken up drinking and isolates himself from his children and the world. Donna takes care of everything around the house including cooking and taking care of Will plus going to school, working at her grandmothers diner and doing alterations at a dress shop where she dreams of getting out of Ohio and becoming a seamstress or a designer.  Will is trying to win a cereal/TV Show contest eating as much cereal as he can to send in his box tops to win his very own one square inch of Alaska, but Donna starts noticing that Will’s health is deteriorating and so begins their amazing journey.

This book was so much more than I expected it to be, it is about grief and friendship, family, dreams and first loves and this all comes together to become a great story. It is hard to review this book because there is so much going on in Donna’s life and I don’t want to give anything away to harm your enjoyment of how the story unfolds. You will fall in love with Will, with his kind heart and naiveté and his outlook on life even through the difficulties. My other favorite character is MayJune who brings this light and calm to both Donna & Will. There is also the story of Will and the junkyard dog he rescues which is a great story on its own. Least favorite characters would have to be their simpering father, the never happy grandmother and Hank (who I wish we could have found out finally got his in the end!).

I really enjoyed this book and finished it in 2 days it will grab at your heart and make you feel for the characters. This book has a similar feel to books like Saving CeeCee Honeycutt or The Homecoming of Samuel Lake it is very well written and I will be looking for other books this author has written.

I would highly recommend this book to young adult and adults alike and could also see it becoming a bookclub book because it will have some interesting discussions with a myriad of topics this book evokes.

4 ½ Stars

Full Disclosure I received this book from the Librarything Early Reviewer Program and the publisher for a fair and honest review.