Llama Llama Gram and Grandpa; Anna Dewdney

Llama Llama Gram and Grandpa; Anna Dewdney

Viking Books for Kids - 2015

As a grandparent I'm a huge fan of Anna Dewdney's Llama Llama series books (the little ones love them too). So of course I had to immediately order this latest book when it was released earlier this month.

In this story little Llama Llama is going for his first overnight ever. He loves spending time with Gram and Grandpa even though he's probably a little nervous. He helps mom pack his overnight bag, and gets ready for the car ride. After mom leaves and Llama Llama goes to unpack his bag he realizes "fuzzy" Llama is missing and he can't stop thinking about him. However, he's still enjoying some nice  snacks and some new ways to keep busy and have new kinds of fun at Gram and Grandpa's, but when bedtime comes he is missing "fuzzy" llama.  Grandpa, however, manages to come to the rescue and makes everything all right. 

What is so nice about this book and the other Llama Llama books in the series is that they discuss a problem or issue and come up with a solution in the process. Each book is told in simple, rhyme verse which children (especially little ones) love and find easy to memorize as well.  The bold illustrations, pleasing colors and details make this book and this series a pleaser for kids, parents, teachers and of course grandparents.

5/5 stars

(purchased)

Coming Soon to a Book Store Near You - A Place We Knew Well; Susan Carol McCarthy

Having been a kid in the 1960's the 1962 timeframe of this soon to be released novel really appeals to me. What do you think?

A Place We Knew Well; Susan Carol McCarthy

Bantam - September - 2015

“Susan Carol McCarthy blends fact, memory, imagination and truth with admirable grace,” said The Washington Post of the author’s critically acclaimed debut novel, Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands. Now McCarthy returns with another enthralling story of a family—their longings, their fears, and their secrets—swept up in the chaos at the height of the Cold War.
 
Late October, 1962. Wes Avery, a one-time Air Force tail-gunner, is living his version of the American Dream as loving husband to Sarah, doting father to seventeen-year-old Charlotte, and owner of a successful Texaco station along central Florida’s busiest highway. But after President Kennedy announces that the Soviets have nuclear missiles in Cuba, Army convoys clog the highways and the sky fills with fighter planes. Within days, Wes’s carefully constructed life begins to unravel.
 
Sarah, nervous and watchful, spends more and more time in the family’s bomb shelter, slipping away into childhood memories and the dreams she once held for the future. Charlotte is wary but caught up in the excitement of high school—her nomination to homecoming court, the upcoming dance, and the thrill of first love. Wes, remembering his wartime experience, tries to keep his family’s days as normal as possible, hoping to restore a sense of calm. But as the panic over the Missile Crisis rises, a long-buried secret threatens to push the Averys over the edge.
 
With heartbreaking clarity and compassion, Susan Carol McCarthy captures the shock and innocence, anxiety and fear, in those thirteen historic days, and brings vividly to life one ordinary family trying to hold center while the world around them falls apart.

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros - Chamber Music; Doris Grumbach

Every Tuesday I host First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros where I share the first paragraph sometimes two from a book I am reading or thinking about reading soon.

Chamber Music; Doris Grumbach

Open Road Media

PART ONE

BEGINNINGS

"I HAVE DECIDED to write this account because, long as my life has been, it has given me no opportunity before this to say what I wish to put down here. Perhaps the time was not right to do so before.

When I was young, and even into my middle years, a scrim of silence surrounded what really happened in our lives.  If there was talk, it was quiet conjecture about the little discreet adulteries, the attic madnesses, and the pantry drinking of our friends and neighbors.  Rumor and gossip were conveyed in whispers.  Secrets were surely no better kept than they are now, but they lived quietly, under breath.  They never appeared in public print or were reported by professional gossips on the air waves.  They were confined to the inner coils of the private ear, a foot away, perhaps, no father.  We closeted our secrets, or forgot them.  This we called decorum, and we lived securely under its warm protection."

What do you think -- keep reading or pass?  

(Feel free to join in this week by posting your intro below?

The New Neighbor; Leah Stewart

The New Neighbor; Leah Stewart

Touchstone - 2015

I think I need to stop reading the product overviews for new releases, because lately I've been occasionally disappointed when the description for me ends up being a far stretch.  For example this book is described as " a chilling, page turner and a darkly sophisticated novel", I just didn't get that from this book.

In this story Margaret Riley is a 90 year old, educated, retired Army nurse who spent time in war zones.  Now her life is one of mostly isolation.  She lives in a mountaintop home in Tennessee and leaves her home only when necessity calls and for occasional trips to the library to stock up on mystery novels -- nothing frivolous - PD James is her favorite. One day Margaret is startled when she notices a young woman across the way in a house that had long been vacant.  She's curious about who the woman is and what brought her to the area.

Jennifer Young is the woman who lives across the way with her young son Milo.  She's had a troubled past that she hopes to leave behind and she's hoping for a fresh start in this somewhat isolated area. Margaret's loneliness and curiosity quickly brings the two women together and in the process the past of each woman is slowly revealed. 

Margaret lures Jennifer into her home with her own personal agenda which at times seemed suspect. Her amateur sleuthing never reveals anything earth shattering IMO, and the reveal is very very slow.  The story is told in alternate POV of the two women with a third POV added near the end.

I found this book to be more a women fiction genre rather than literary, or even suspense, as I had hoped. I liked the beginning of this book, but after a while I found it hard to stay interested in the story, which was too bad as I've enjoyed offerings by this author.  Reviews seemed mixed on this one, so by all means try it and see what you think. 

3/5 stars

(eGalley)

New Books

Yup, another week of new books. Just when I donate a bag of books more seem to find their way back inside.  The top picture are ones that arrived by mail, and the bottom picture is $3.50 worth from a library booksale yesterday~~ how could I resist?

• The Santa Claus Murder; Mavis Doriel Hay - Poison Pen Press (sent by publisher)
• Small Blessings; Martha Woodroof - St. Martin's Press (sent by publisher)
• An Accident in August; Lawrence Cosse - Europa Edition (purchase)
• Off Shore; Penelope Fitzgerald - booksale - Mariner Books
• The Tooth Fairy; Graham Joyce - booksale - Tor Books
• Indigo; Graham Joyce - booksale - Washington Square Press
• Red Leaves; Paulina Simons - booksale - St. Martin's Press

Have you read any of these titles or authors?

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest; Stieg Larsson

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest; Stieg Larsson

Random House Audio - 2010

(Narrated by Simon Vance)

By now I'm sure most of my readers have heard of, read, or saw some of the movies included as part of Stieg Larsson's Millennium series: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  Although I read the first two books pretty soon after they were released the last one I saved until now, a perfect fit for the RIP X challenge.

Without giving away too much, Book 3 in this series begins with Lisbeth Salander in critical condition in the intensive care unit from a bullet wound to the head.  She's under armed guard and will likely face murder charges once she's out. There are others who would love to see her back to the locked insane asylum that she spent time in a young girl. Her father Alexander Zalachenko, a Soviet intelligence defector is also recovering in the same hospital and each is plotting to kill the other as they convalesce.  Meanwhile,  journalist Mikael Blomqvist continues his investigative work, communicating virtually with Lisbeth and uncovers a vast conspiracy he calls, "The Section"in the process.

The first half of this book moved kind of slow for me, it rehashes the past and sets up the scene for the action which follows.  This installment has more international and political intrigue than the first two books and for the most part it is equally satisfying.  

This trilogy MUST BE read in order for maximum enjoyment. Each book deals with tough subject matter at times -- Lisbeth was abused as a child, confined to an insane asylum at age 12, raped as a young adult, but she remains one tough cookie.  She is bent on revenge now matter how long it takes and the risks involved.  Politics, corruption, sexism, this book has it all.  The author did a terrific job bringing the treads together to a somewhat satisfying conclusion.  As always, Simon Vance did a terrific job given the various characters and dialects.

4/5 stars

(audio and print version)

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You ~ Did You Ever Have a Family; Bill Clegg

I've read a lot of great reviews on this new release, but honestly it was the sad-sounding title that made me want to read this one even before I knew what it was about.  Does this one appeal to you?

Did You Ever Have a Family; Bill Clegg

Gallery - September - 2015

(Description)

LONG LISTED FOR THE 2015 MAN BOOKER PRIZE

The stunning debut novel from bestselling author Bill Clegg is a magnificently powerful story about a circle of people who find solace in the least likely of places as they cope with a horrific tragedy.

On the eve of her daughter’s wedding, June Reid’s life is completely devastated when a shocking disaster takes the lives of her daughter, her daughter’s fiancé, her ex-husband, and her boyfriend, Luke—her entire family, all gone in a moment. And June is the only survivor.

Alone and directionless, June drives across the country, away from her small Connecticut town. In her wake, a community emerges, weaving a beautiful and surprising web of connections through shared heartbreak.

From the couple running a motel on the Pacific Ocean where June eventually settles into a quiet half-life, to the wedding’s caterer whose bill has been forgotten, to Luke’s mother, the shattered outcast of the town—everyone touched by the tragedy is changed as truths about their near and far histories finally come to light.

Elegant and heartrending, and one of the most accomplished fiction debuts of the year, Did You Ever Have a Family is an absorbing, unforgettable tale that reveals humanity at its best through forgiveness and hope. At its core is a celebration of family—the ones we are born with and the ones we create.