MONDAY POTPOURRI: MUSING ABOUT A BOOK I HAD TO BUY! — APRIL 1

Good morning and welcome to another Monday Potpourri, in which we must about bookish things.  Click on over to Should Be Reading to find the other participants.

Here’s our list of topics:

Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! 
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

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Today I’m going to chat about a book I recently purchased.  I’ve been drawn to it for awhile, and even requested it from the library, but even after several other books came in for me, this one still eluded me!  So when I saw it on Kindle on Saturday, I downloaded it onto Sparky.

The Good House, by Ann Leary, has a tantalizing blurb.  And I have read and enjoyed this author in the past.

Now a New York Times Bestseller!

How can you prove you’re not an alcoholic?

You can’t.

It’s like trying to prove you’re not a witch.

Hildy Good is a townie. A lifelong resident of an historic community on the rocky coast of Boston’s North Shore, she knows pretty much everything about everyone. Hildy is a descendant of one of the witches hung in nearby Salem, and is believed, by some, to have inherited psychic gifts. Not true, of course; she’s just good at reading people. Hildy is good at lots of things.  A successful real-estate broker, mother and grandmother, her days are full. But her nights have become lonely ever since her daughters, convinced their mother was drinking too much, staged an intervention and sent her off to rehab.  Now she’s in recovery—more or less.

Alone and feeling unjustly persecuted, Hildy needs a friend. She finds one in Rebecca McCallister, a beautiful young mother and one of the town’s wealthy newcomers. Rebecca feels out-of-step in her new surroundings and is grateful for the friendship. And Hildy feels like a person of the world again, as she and Rebecca escape their worries with some harmless gossip, and a bottle of wine by the fire—just one of their secrets.

But not everyone takes to Rebecca, who is herself the subject of town gossip. When Frank Getchell, an eccentric local who shares a complicated history with Hildy, tries to warn her away from Rebecca, Hildy attempts to protect her friend from a potential scandal. Soon, however, Hildy is busy trying to cover her own tracks and protect her reputation.  When a cluster of secrets become dangerously entwined, the reckless behavior of one threatens to expose the other, and this darkly comic novel takes a chilling turn.

THE GOOD HOUSE, by Ann Leary is funny, poignant, and terrifying. A classic New England tale that lays bare the secrets of one little town, this spirited novel will stay with you long after the story has ended.

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How could I resist it?  Come on by and share your thoughts….

HUMP DAY POTPOURRI: TAKING INVENTORY — MARCH 20

 

Okay…it’s Hump Day again.  And at this midweek point, I like to take inventory.  Sort of.

Like today, over at Story Corner, I’m celebrating another great book I’m waiting for.  And I created a new blog header there today, too.

The book I’m excited about?  Well, it’s He’s Gone, by Deb Caletti.

 

A woman named Dani wakes up with a headache and discovers that her husband is gone.  What happens next is a twisty-turny kind of journey that should keep me excited as I turn those pages.  I like this part of the description:

Dani searches frantically for a clue as to whether Ian is in fact dead or alive. And, slowly, she unpacks their relationship, holding each moment up to the light: from its intense, adulterous beginning, to the grandeur of their new love, to the difficulties of forever. She examines all the sins she can—and cannot—remember. As the days pass, Dani will plumb the depths of her conscience, turning over and revealing the darkest of her secrets in order to discover the hard truth—about herself, her husband, and their lives together.

The book is coming on 5/14 to Sparky, my new best friend.  Here’s a photo of Sparky:

 

It’s been a frustrating couple of days.  I’ve been trying to read, blog a bit, and distractions keep interfering.  Like poor Noah is sick with a fever and I’ve been playing nurse.  I don’t think it’s my best role.  But his temperature is down right now…and he ate lunch.  So that’s good.

The book I’m reading today is Messenger of Truth, a Maisie Dobbs book: my first one.  It took me a bit to get into it, but I think the problem was my distractions rather than the book itself.  I’m now starting to connect with the characters.

 

So how is your Hump Day going?  Making progress in your reading, etc.?

 

 

THURSDAY POTPOURRI: RANDOM THOUGHTS & BOOKISH THINGS — MARCH 7

As I sit at my desk in my little office, I almost don’t notice my surroundings.  But today, over at Booking Through Thursday, I thought about certain aspects of the room…and all of my rooms.

Especially my clock collections.  Like the one in the photo above, which is just a quirky little thing I bought years ago in one of those crafting shops.  Here are some more of my collections.

 

Why am I pondering my clock collections?  Well, our post at BTT today is about the “spring forward” aspect to this Sunday.  Yes, daylight savings time returns.

It used to be in April…and in the fall, it was October.  But now it has changed around so much that I can’t keep track of it!

Some states do not participate in this event….and one year, I was in Arizona during the time change…but the time didn’t change there.  Or that’s what I thought happened.  But then I got home and the time wasn’t changing until November!  The first time that had happened.

While we’re really looking at my collections, however, take a closer look at the top photo:  my clock, and to the right, my bulletin board, with assorted photos.  Notice the top one?  That’s an autographed photo of Victoria Rowell (from Diagnosis Murder and Young and the Restless).  I met her at her book signing in 2008.  When I was also signing my book Chasing Stardust.

 

My post has taken some random twists and turns today, but while I’m on that path, I have some more not-so-random stuff going on today.  Signing my tax returns.

And yes, for the first time in forever, I am probably getting a wee refund.  Which is so much better than paying extra!

I’m also reading a book on Sparky that was one of the first ones I downloaded in 2010:  Half Broke Horses, by Jeannette Walls.  Intriguing so far.

What are you reading and pondering today?  What twists and turns (if any) have taken over your day?  I’m also missing my granddaughter Fiona…sigh.  She moved a few hundred miles away.  1400 or so.

Missing Fiona & Her Music

SUNDAY POTPOURRI: EXPLORING THE TO-BE-READ STACKS — JAN. 20

Welcome to another Sunday Potpourri, my “other” Sunday post.  Why have a separate one?  Well, the Sunday Salon is a more formal blogging post, with its own Facebook group and all, and my thoughts here are totally random.

I wasn’t even planning to write a post here today, but then I gave up on a library book that I had thought I would read today, and came back to my stacks to search for something else.

What you cannot see in this photo is the table behind the bookcase…and there you’ll see other stacks.  Those are the OLD stacks, the books I bought before 2007.  That stack dwindled to seven books that I plan to read…someday.  But they are all pretty chunky and they’re primarily memoirs.  So I have to be in the mood.

You can see them in this photo…to the extreme right.

Today’s search led to this book, which has been on my newer stacks for awhile, but not a long, long time.

Last Light Over Carolina, by Mary Alice Monroe, explores a vanishing feature of the southern coastline, the mysterious yet time-honored shrimping culture, in a convincing and compelling tale of an enduring marriage.

I’m hoping to be captivated by it, because once I’ve set down a book without finishing it, I feel spooked.  As if I’m destined to be bored by everything I pick up.  But that is unlikely.

And the book I put down would probably have intrigued me at another time in my life…or even on another day of the week.

Does that ever happen to you?  Pick up a book and expect to like it and then give up in disappointment?  I’m glad it was a library book.

As for library books, I have requested a few more, and one of them is available now.  I’m picking it up tomorrow…or maybe this afternoon.

Goodnight Nobody, by Jennifer Weiner, is a semi-accidental mother of three, suburbia has been full of unpleasant surprises. Her once-loving husband is hardly ever home. The supermommies on the playground routinely snub her. Her days are spent carpooling and enduring endless games of Candy Land, and at night, most of her orgasms are of the do-it-yourself variety.

When a fellow mother is murdered, Kate finds that the unsolved mystery is the most exciting thing to happen in Upchurch, Connecticut, since her neighbors broke ground for a guesthouse and cracked their septic tank. Even though the local police chief warns her that crime-fighting’s a job best left to the professionals, Kate launches an unofficial investigation — from 8:45 to 11:30 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, when her kids are in nursery school.

As Kate is drawn deeper into the murdered woman’s past, she begins to uncover the secrets and lies behind Upchurch’s picket-fence facade — and considers the choices and compromises all modern women make as they navigate between marriage and independence, small towns and big cities, being a mother and having a life of one’s own.

I thought I had already read all the books out there by this author, but I guess I missed this one.  Or I totally forgot it, since nothing about it sounds familiar.  And I don’t have it on my shelves!

Do you ever question whether or not you’ve read a book after glancing at the blurb?

SUNDAY POTPOURRI: LOST IN BOOKS — JAN. 6

Welcome to another Sunday Potpourri!  As usual, I’ve been enjoying reading and movies today, and just finished a book I couldn’t put down:  There Was an Old Woman, by Hallie Ephron. (Click title for review)

 

Perhaps I enjoyed it so much because I’m getting older and can relate to some of the issues.  Or maybe because I’ve always had a soft spot for the elderly because of my very special grandmother who was such a wonderful advocate in my life.

I guess you just have to click with the characters in a book in order to love it.

In any case, I’m glad I chose this one from the Amazon Vine newsletter.  It’s kind of hit and miss whether or not I’m going to love a book I’ve chosen.

Next I’m reading another Vine selection called A Thousand Pardons, by Jonathan Dee.

What are you reading today?  Or if you’re not reading, what is capturing your thoughts and attention?

Be sure to check into my An Interior Journey post tomorrow to see what I’ve been reading this week, and what’s coming up next.

MONDAY POTPOURRI: FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR — DEC. 24 — MERRY CHRISTMAS!

As the year draws to a close, I like to ponder the lovely books I’ve read throughout the year.  And, as always, I find it hard to choose just ten favorites.

To make my task easier, however, I do choose a favorite each month as I’m doing my wrap-ups.

So here goes:  Some favorites, listed in no particular order. (Click titles for reviews)

1.  Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan

2.  The Bungalow, by Sarah Jio

3. Blue Monday, by Nicci French

4.  11/22/63, by Stephen King

5.  Ninepins, by Rosy Thornton

6.  Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn

7.   Blackberry Winter, by Sarah Jio

8.   You Are the Love of My Life, by Susan Richards Shreve

9.   Forgotten, by Catherine McKenzie

10.  Windfall, by Penny Vincenzi

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What were your favorite reads this year?  What is on your list for the New Year?

Let’s curl up and read!

Enjoy your holiday season, and fill up your days with fabulous books!

FRIDAY POTPOURRI: TIDBITS ABOUT LIFE & BOOKS — DEC. 21

Desk – Close-up

As I opened my bleary eyes this morning, I first saw my desk in the corner.  Then the light on the alarm clock, followed by all the other details of my room.  And I thought:  we’re still here!

I’d had the usual potpourri of dreams that populate my nights.  A mix of past, present, and future served up with a large dose of unreality.

And filtering its way through all of it was that “end of the world” thing hovering overhead.

I guess it’s inevitable that, even when we don’t believe weird predictions (Y2k, Rapture…remember those?), a part of us wonders.  Could it be?

Nevertheless, I continued with my day yesterday, staying up rather late to finish Windfall, a richly layered story set in 1930s England…and wrote my review. (Click title).

Don’t you love a book that is so full of wonderfully flawed and interesting characters, threaded with plots and subplots that keep you guessing and turning those pages?

Now that I’ve closed the book on that story, I’m thoroughly enjoying Jeanne Cooper’s memoir, Not Young, Still Restless.

I am intrigued by many of the background details of her life, like growing up just south of where I now live; spending time in other cities where I have a history; and living with some rules and regulations that governed my childhood, too.

Of course, the similarities end there.  But the details, along with my years-long admiration for her as the centerpiece of one of my favorite soaps, have me eagerly turning those pages.

I am sure I’ll be finished very quickly.  And then on to the next book.  What’s next?

Well, I’m thinking of a book on Sparky that’s been patiently waiting:  a nonfiction story written by two of the authors with whom I share a group blog, Dames of Dialogue.

Whistling Woman, by C. C. Tillery (pseudonym for Caitlyn Hunter and Christy Tillery French).

What are you planning for your Pre-Christmas weekend?

TUESDAY POTPOURRI: WHAT CURES THAT RESTLESS FEELING? — DEC. 11

Feeling restless again, I changed up the blog header over at Rainy Days and Mondays. 

And, of course, I changed the header here, with a few more Christmas images, along with the one on the right that shows my Curl up with Books Reading Room.  Head on over to check out the giveaway!

Then I went over to Snow Sparks and changed everything:  theme, background colors and text, and header, too, of course.  This blog is dressed for the holidays.  Today I’m excerpting over there from a book I’ll be reading this week.  Check it out!  In Name Only is a story about a woman running from her past.  I’ll be reading this one near the end of the week.

 

 

Today’s read is Sugar Springs, an Amazon Vine read.

I’ve just begun, but it promises to be intriguing and different, with plenty of drama.

What are you reading or messing with today?  What do you do when you get that restless feeling?

 

HUMP DAY POTPOURRI: A DAY THAT WENT FROM BAD TO WORSE — DEC. 5

Okay, it’s kind of late in the day to do a Hump Day Potpourri post.

But it’s been one of those days.  Early this morning, I was shouting out about an upcoming release I’m excited about:  Jodi Picoult’s upcoming book called The Storyteller.

Coming on or about 2/26/13, it promises to deliver the best ingredients of a book by this author:

Sage Singer becomes friends with an old man who’s particularly beloved in her community after they strike up a conversation at the bakery where she works. Josef Weber is everyone’s favorite retired teacher and Little League coach. One day he asks Sage for a favor: to kill him. Shocked, Sage refuses…but then he tells her he deserves to die.What do you do when evil lives next door? Can someone who’s committed a truly heinous act ever redeem themselves with good behavior? Should you offer forgiveness to someone if you aren’t the party who was wronged? And most of all—if Sage even considers his request—is it murder, or justice?

Then my day continued, with the kinds of chores that I detest:  scrubbing floors and general cleaning.

Next I finished reading Bonnie, by Iris Johansen:  click for review.

I went for a few drinks at the bar around the corner, where my daughter works.  And came home to start reading a book that wasn’t on my list for the week.

Midwives, by Chris Bohjalian.  An Oprah Book Club pick that I missed when it first came out.

And now I’m frustrated, because Word Press is not letting me put the images in the correct place in this post!

I’m quitting!

Hope your day is going better than mine….Usually, it’s Blogger that messes with my images!  Do you have days like this?

MONDAY POTPOURRI: MUSINGS — SNEAKING A PEEK — NOV. 19

 

Welcome to another Monday Potpourri.  It’s time to explore our bookish world in Musing Mondays, hosted by Should Be Reading.

Our prompt today:

Do you read the ending before you start a book? Do you ever skip ahead to read the ending?

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I am so afraid of accidentally discovering what happens at the end of the book that I do everything in my power to avoid those last pages…or even just a few pages ahead.  It’s much easier to do on Sparky, my Kindle.

 

 

When doing a Friday 56, I’m almost afraid to slip ahead that much, but I do it with my inner eyes closed.  You know….where you try to avoid feeling anything about the excerpt you’re spotlighting.

No…I don’t even read reviews ahead of time.  Those without spoilers would probably be okay, but I don’t want to lose the joy of anticipation.

What about you?  How do you feel about sneaking a peek at the ending?