Back Porch Reading Take 2

The back porch/deck is where I read all summer.  Me, my Kindle and a glass of green ice tea.  It's the life. 

****-4 star review

I finished last weeks read,Lot's Return to Sodom: A Liv Bergen Mystery and it kept me up all night.  Sandra Brannan is defiantly an Indie writer to watch.
Here's a little blurb from Amazon:

"The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is no place for button-downed citizens--unless they're trying to hide a murder. Sharp-witted Liv Bergen can't avoid becoming embroiled in murders, it seems. Her family's hometown of Sturgis, South Dakota, is quickly becoming the Sodom of the Black Hills during the dog days of summer as it hosts the infamous rally of grizzled hard-core motorcycle bikers--half a million of them. Crime comes too close for comfort when Liv must solve the mystery of a beautiful young townie to clear her brother's name."

I am weirdly interested in the 1% motorcycle club ideology, thanks 'Sons of Anarchy.'  Loyalty in those types of clubs is astonishing and fascinating.  Getting a little fictional glimpse into this world satisfies my curiosity.
If you like mysteries you will love Lot's Return to Sodom.  Don't forget to read In the Belly of Jonah, the first book in the Liv Bergen Mystery Series.
And PSST!  If you are a Kindle reader Lot's Return to Sodom is free for a short time!

I am just wrapping up Water for Elephants for my book club and than I can start:

Smokin' Seventeen

and than I have the pleasure of previewing :

 

Fatal Consequences 

Marie Force is my guilty pleasure author of the moment.  Fatal Consequences has not been released, I received an advanced copy from the publisher.  Stay tuned next week and I will let you know what I think!

What are you reading this week?

More fun summer reads:

The Help 

The Mudlark

Skipped Parts

Alice at Heart

*All links are through the Amazon Associate Program.  If you click on the link and purchase the book I receive, VERY small, compensation.   

Don't Breathe a Word

Don't Breathe a Word by: Jennifer Mcmahon
Release Date: May 17, 2011
Rating: ****

I am totally one of those people that totally commits to a book, I dive right in and become totally invested in the story.  I can suspend reality for a brief time and swim in the pool of make-believe.  Then I leave the water and come back to reality where everything is real and explainable.  Where everything has a reason and a place...

Okay I am not that delisional.  Not everything is explainable.  Not everything is cut and dry. 

Fantasy has really become a booming genre.  Fantasy is fun and not your everyday.  Don't Breathe a Word embraces the idea of what if your normal, real life holds an element of fantasy.  Our those stories that seem un-real real?  Can you easily explain them away?   What do you do when a fantasy becomes your reality?

This book is not to be read in the dark, the subtle suspense leaves your heart racing and your palms sweating.  If you like the fantasy genre but want to read a more thought-provoking book this ones for you.

Book summary from publisher Harper Collins:
They say if you pass by on the right night of the year, you'll hear the devil whisper your name . . . 

Once upon a soft, summer night in a small New England town, a 12-year-old girl named Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother Sam about a door—hidden among the ruins of an old town long forgotten—that led to a magical place.

A series of eerie occurrences—beginning with a mysterious phone call—begins to challenge Sam's hard-headed realism. Could there be a world beyond their own and is Lisa somehow a part of it? As events spin out of control, the couple finds themselves falling deeper into a vortex of evil and  terror. And suddenly Sam is reminded of a terrible promise he made years ago . . . a promise that could destroy them all.

Semi-Sweet: A Sweet Story

Semi-Sweet by Roisin Meaney
Release date: April 25, 2011
Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Just in time for that self-induced sugar Peep coma you will so wonderfully enjoy this Easter Holiday I bring you more sweet sweet goodness.  No worries this little treat will not add those dreaded "L.B.s."  It's a book.  A good, super sweet book.  But not super syrupy sweet.  It's a subtle sweet.  Like a nice little sea-salt caramel truffle.  Sweet and salty melt in you mouth goodness...mmmm sea salt caramel.*

Top 5 reasons why I love this book:

5. The little sugary sweet stories that were sprinkled throughout the book.  As much as the main character's story was important, so too were the supporting cast of characters.  Every character played a role in the story and in a way each person's actions directly effected the next character. The author did a great job pulling you into everyone's story and weaving all the characters' story together.

4. CUPCAKES.  Keep a few on hand while reading this book.  Okay, you might add a few pounds, but it's all in good fun.

3. You will stand and cheer for the main character, Hannah.  It's a perfect boy leaves girl, girl kicks boy's arse in game of life kinda story.  I love when girl kicks arse.
Hannah didn't really kick guys arse, but she did overcome a HORRIBLE break-up while starting her own business.
See kick arse.


2. It takes place in Ireland.  I love stories that take place in Ireland, they make me feel all happy and stuff, and Irish people love to say arse.  Thank you Frank McCourt for introducing me to that wondrous word.


1. CUPCAKES.  Oh dear lord the diet starts tomorrow.
Funny thing about cupcakes, they go right to my arse.  Sorry, it couldn't be helped....

You can go to the author's website to find out more information on Semi-Sweet and her other books.  Pre-order at Amazon here.

*If you would like more information on sea-salt caramel truffles go here.

Summary from Amazon.com:

Hannah Robinson is just about to open the doors to her new shop Cupcakes on the Corner when out of the blue her boyfriend Patrick announces that he's leaving her for another woman. Faced with starting a business on her own, Hannah begins to wonder if her life-long dream has just turned into a nightmare. So her best friend Adam sets his birthday as a deadline - seven months to make her shop a success, or walk away from it all. And as Hannah immerses herself in her new business, she soon discovers that she's too busy to think about Patrick and his now pregnant girlfriend ...or to notice an increasingly regular customer who has recently developed a sweet tooth for all things cupcake. But while Hannah is slowly piecing her life back together, family friend Alice's is falling apart. Her husband Tom's drinking is getting out of control and things are about to get a whole lot worse. As the seven-month milestone approaches, Hannah must decide her future. And while she's figuring out what's really important, it becomes clear to everyone that happiness in life, and in love, is all in the making.

Fury: Take Two

I was given the opportunity to review the book Fury: A Memoir by Koren Zailckas, author of the best-selling book Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood.  I seized the chance to be able to, not only to read Koren's story but to possibly have the inspiration to share my own.
A secret that I carried, and briefly wrote about here, is that I am an angry person.  I carry it with me everywhere I go.  I smile with the best of them, but deep down my blood boils.  Sometimes my anger causes me to lose my breath.  The room spins.  My anger turns into festering anxiety.  It's a vicious cycle.
I grew up in two households filled with leftover anger of divorce.   I do blame my parents as well as the circumstance.  I enjoyed the days of love and caring and happy picture perfect life.  And I prayed and lived in fear during the nights of yelling and rage filled disagreements. 
I know that I carry that with me.  I know when I spout off over a dirty dish or a sock on the floor, that it is never about that dirty dish or sock.  It is about something else.  Because I hold it in, the important things that need to be said that are never said.
And as much as my past lends itself to the anger I have today I know it is something I have to learn to control.  Anger in itself is not bad, it is an emotion that everyone has to face.  What truly matters is what you do with that anger, how you work to resolve it in a healthy way.  As I continue my journey I promise to write about it here.  One of the many thing's I took from Fury was that we should not shame our  anger, that is when we get ourselves in trouble.
Although Fury: A Memoir is not a cure all, or a self-help book, Koren's story, infused with real research and fact, lends itself as a starter to a path of understanding and acceptance.  If you are working on your anger issues and are ready to dive head first, I recommend reading Fury: A Memoir.

Disclosure:  I received a copy of Fury: A Memoir to read and review, no other compensation was given.  The thoughts and stories are my own.  Links to the Amazon site are a part of the Associate program, if you click on the link and purchase the book I get a very small %.

My Name is Not Isabella

I don't make a point, as a mom, from hiding my daughter from the dreaded "Princesses" that come under fire a lot.  I get why people have their aversions from the knight and shiny armor, damsel in distress mentality that seem to plague these stories.  I allow my daughter to watch these movies.  She pretends she is a princess often enough.
But could you imagine how I beamed with pride, after watching one of those Princess movies, my darling daughter looked at me with displeasure and firmly announced, "THEY GOT MARRIED!?! YUCK, I HATE MARRIED!" 
Proud mommy moment.
I think as a mom it is all about balance.  Allow your children to have the fantasy but in turn share a reality.
My reality is that I want to shine positive female role models on my daughter.  That women can be strong independent thinkers, creators and activists.   It can be a hard sell.
It can be hard to find among the stacks of fairy tales.

Could you imagine my excitement when I was asked if I wanted a copy of  "My Name Is Not Isabella"


You haven't met Isabella yet??

Isabella is a little girl with big dreams. She spends her day pretending to be women of great character.
*Sally Ride
*Rosa Parks
*Annie Oakley
just to name a few.
Jennifer Fosberry, the author of "My Name Is Not Isabella" introduces these wonderful women to a young reader in the perfect way.  The pictures and story are a great jumping point to the small biographies, of each of the featured women, in the back of the book.
The most beautiful part of the story was when Isabella pretended to be "Mommy."  Embracing motherhood as a important job, right up there with doctor and astronaut, touched me deeply.
If you have a daughter, niece, granddaughter or a special little girl in your life "My Name Is Not Isabella" is the perfect gift.

Disclosure: I received a copy of "My Name is Not Isabella" and was given no further compensation. The thoughts and opinions are my own. All pictures and video were given to me by Sourcebooks Publicity.
All links to Amazon store are associate links and I get a very small percentage of the book sale from Amazon, not the books publisher.

Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes

 I had to pick up the same puzzle pieces five times, only to discover pieces were missing.
The cat knocked over my dried eucalyptus, breaking a stem and tearing some leaves off.
I found my "Spring Tea" hat only to discover it was smushed and the green beads that decorated the hat were falling off.
I had to pick up Meg's gem collection again.
I found a craft brad with "Route 66" on it and I remembered "gettin' my kicks" on it when we were in Springfield.
I am always cleaning up messes.
Messes are ugly.
or are they?

My mess, remade.

All the things I had stepped on, lost and found, drove me crazy, made me sad and made me remember all on this tree.  It felt good.

My stapler loves to jam leaving me with crooked staples.  They litter my counter tops and fall to the floor. 

Glue and throw.

No rhyme or reason. It just happened like that. I added the bottle top: it reminded me of Carl and Ellie.  
They always make me smile.

So does he.

You should have seen him before, he was such a drab.
All these pictures were done in the, soon to be released, book "Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes" by Keri Smith.
I received an advance copy of "Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes"  to preview: please note I would not write anything about it here if I didn't love it.
And I love it.
The idea that life is messy so enjoy is something every person should embrace.  Take a second glance at the things that don't go the way you plan.

Find beauty in the random.

 Disclosure: "Mess: The Manual of Accidents and Mistakes" will be available in bookstores Sept. 7 2010, but is available for pre-order at Amazon and other online book stores.
  I received an advance copy of the book to read and do, the opinions and pictures above are my own.  I was given no money to write this post.