Had some wonderful book events this Fall! Started with the wonderful Writer’s Workshop at Page158 Books in Wake Forest. Terrific group of writers with facilitator, Suzanne Beaumont! I also picked up some new wonderful fiction and non-fiction books to read! Next, I was lucky enough to return to Page158 Books for an author talk with the very, talented author – Angela Anderson. What a dynamic lady! I love her book, The Power of I Am. It gets me started in the morning. Great to see my local friends show up and celebrate with me. In October, Teri M Brown, (https://www.terimbrown.com/) and I presented Feisty Deeds at the Southwestern Branch of…
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Looking for Jane touched me in so many ways. Heather Marshall did a great job with this story of motherhood and everything that it entails. She introduces us to Angela Creighton, Dr. Evelyn Taylor, and Nancy Mitchell. Each of their story lines begin disconnected, but poignant in their own lives. In 2017, Angela and her wife are going through invitro, trying to have a baby. In 1960, Evelyn is an unwed teenager, sent to St. Agnes, to hid her baby from the world and give it up for adoption. In 1979, Nancy is a young adult meeting her cousin who plans to have an illegal abortion. All these women’s stories…
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Are you part of a book club? Do you like to read books? Can you commit to reading at least one book a month? Those are some of the things you need to consider before joining a book club. Although, most book clubs meet once a month, some meet less often. Some pick their books for the whole year at one time and some pick one month ahead. Some read only fiction, some read only non-fiction. What sounds good to you? That’s what you must decide. Size is important, too. Do you want an intimate small group, a medium size group with a chance for discussion, or a large group…
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I’ve been to Moonshine Distilleries and sampled a few flavors here and there. They make everything from Apple Pie to Salted Caramel, and many more. I discovered while researching information for my current book that the origins of moonshine produced today started with the first Scot-Irish people who immigrated here in the 1700’s. Fast forward to today and there are large operations like Copper Barrel in North Wilkesboro, Howling Moon in Asheville, and Call Family Distillery in Wilkesboro. Moonshine got its name from bootleggers who made their product under “the light of the moon. In the book I’m currently writing, one of my characters is a young moonshiner. He falls…
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by Nikki Erlick
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by Diane Chamberlain I’ve been trying to get to this book for a long time. I love to read Diane Chamberlain’s books. I love how she weaves her stories with details that reveal what’s coming, how she gives you the woman’s point of view, and how she solves her mysteries by the end of the book. I want an ending that satisfies the build-up and boy, does she know how to build a story. Anna Dale, a young artist, was chosen to paint a Post Office mural in 1940 for Edenton, NC. Being from New Jersey, was an obstacle right away for her in this insular Southern town. She didn’t…
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by Teri M. Brown Teri M. Brown has written a timely novel that started with a conversation between her and a family friend. That friend was Ukrainian and the rest is history, so to speak. As the story opens, you meet Ivanna and her husband, Lyaksandro. Turmoil is pulling their lives apart. Ukraine was a dangerous place to be in the 1970’s. It was under Soviet rule, but the rumblings of independence were growing. All Ivanna knows is that her husband is dead and now she and their young daughter, Yevtsye, are alone. Ivanna works hard to provide for the two of them. Yevtsye excels in school and is…
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There are some books you are just meant to read at a certain time in your life. The pandemic has left me waiting, I realized today. Waiting to do so many things and this book helped me see that I shouldn’t wait any longer. Not that my head and heart had not been telling me the same thing for quite a while. Sometimes you need beautiful words written by someone else to figure it out. “Faye, Faraway” is more than a time travel book. I was skeptical at first about the whole idea of her falling through a cardboard box and falling back in time to meet herself as a…
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This intense thriller focuses on motherhood, being a mother, being a good mother. As we get to know several generations of mothers, we see what damage one bad soul can do to their children. We read through examples of good mothers who take care other people’s children and bad mothers who can’t mother at all. And then there is a child, Violet. Blythe Connor gives birth to her first child, a daughter she and Fox, her husband, name Violet. As the exhausting days of motherhood overwhelm Blythe, she begins to think there’s something wrong. Something terribly wrong with her child. She prefers the touch of her father almost from the…
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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…
