I have been working through a well-known writing book called, Writing the Breakout Novel by Donald Mass. His writing exercise was too hard for me. Three favorite books of all time? That’s an impossible task! I have too many favorite books to choose only three. I tried my best and came up with the three in the picture – The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. Three is unrealistic, many others are clamoring to be included in this group. I would also choose A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman along with…
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This book started off with me asking who grows up in an insane asylum? Dove Jarrod escaped from Pritchard Hospital in 1934 where she was born. After she dies, Eve goes back to film the donation that her grandmother left to revitalize the asylum. Eve is ready to move on with her life and stop propping up her mother and brother, but she needs to take care of this task first. She knows her grandmother, the well-known faith healer was a fake and she wants out of the web of lies that she has to pretend are true. Lured outside before the event starts, Eve is attacked and threatened. Someone…
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I really didn’t get to read as much as I thought I would this year. With the pandemic, I started off in the Spring tearing into my TBR pile, consuming books right and left. That’s how I managed to get through the entire Outlander Series by May, while still managing to read the selections for my book club each month. I did read the best ARC that you don’t want to miss when it publishes in 2021 – The Rose Code by Kate Quinn! Sorry that I don’t have all the books for the picture, but I’ve lent some out to friends that I trust with my books. (Cue –…
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I read this book for my book club’s November meeting, but it was already sitting on my TBR list. There’d been a lot of buzz about it on my social media feeds and I couldn’t wait to dig in. Although, I haven’t read a book by Barbara Davis before, this will not be my last. Also, I’d missed the sweet magical tales written by Sarah Addison Allen and this book promised to give me my fix. Lizzy Moon came from a long line of gifted women who owned a lavender farm in a small New England town. She escaped her family’s legacy by running away after college and never returning.…
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This story started with Jolene. A child left by her drug-addicted mother on the front steps of her aunt’s home. She was a good person that struggled her whole life to overcome her personal insecurities. One mistake cost her a lot, but she still found a way to make it work against big odds. Step in Chuck & Cash and a score of other people to help her pick up the pieces. These good people strive hard to beat the world as it’s stacked up against them. Difficult and rocky days are ahead for these group, but they fight on and work to find a happy ending for their situation.…
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Wow! What do you say about an author that keeps you coming back to read their books one after the other! I luckily won an ARC (advanced reading copy) of this wonderful historical fiction book from Goodreads. I tore open the package the minute I received it and have been devouring it since. The Rose Code is another World War II based book with strong female characters who are recruited to break German codes for England during the war at a secret place called Bletchley Park. We soon meet Osla, Mab, and Beth and are drawn into the world they inhabit at the facility. Osla is a debutante who came…
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This book started off with Audrey Thorpe heading to an art exhibit with her granddaughter. At 90+ years old, she has her challenges. But we quickly realize that she has a secret and this exhibit will test her in ways she could not foresee. As it transitions between Audrey’s life now and her experiences as a nurse during World War II, we see her life and the things that shaped her. But as the tension grows, she will be forced to travel to see an old friend before she destroys everything Audrey has worked for. I really enjoyed the telling of a section of World War II in the Pacific…
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I had ran into this book all over my internet feeds and had it on my TBR list. When my book club chose it to read a month ago, I couldn’t wait to dive into it. It didn’t disappoint. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane digs deep into the lives of two families, the Gleasons and the Stanhopes, that live side-by-side as their children grow up. When tragedy strikes, it examines how each family handles what comes after. Francis Gleeson and Brian Stanhope became NYC police officers for different reasons. They ended up being rookies together and then neighbors when they both moved to a quiet suburb outside of…
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Sisterland is written by best-selling author Curtis Sittenfeld who also wrote American Wife and Prep. It is about twin sisters by birth, Daisy and Violet. Daisy later changes her name to Kate in order to avoid her past filled with whispers of ESP, witches, and the cruel rumors told in high school by the Queen Bee of their class. Kate and Vi go their own ways, each struggling with her gift of premonition and her past history, together and apart. Their Mother spends hours in her room from the girl’s elementary years forward and their Father tries to make a normal life for them – as normal as he is…
