Mary Beth Latham lives with her Opthamologist husband, Glen, and their three children: twin boys, Max and Alex, 14, and Ruby, 17. Mary Beth has prided herself on building her life around that of her family's. She owns a landscaping company and can be around whenever the kids need her.
At the beginning of the story, Ruby is dating Kiernan and busy trying to find a dress for the high school prom but it's proving to be a much more difficult task than her mother ever thought it would be. With so many dress choices Ruby just can't make up her mind. Ruby is finding Kiernan to be somewhat of a pain in neck lately and doesn't want to date him anymore or attend the prom with him, although Kiernan has other plans and he intends on hanging onto Ruby for as long as humanely possible. Ruby is snubbing him, giving him the cold shoulder, sitting in her bedroom alone doing homework while Kiernan sits in the kitchen waiting. Kiernan is not taking the hint.
In the meantime, Alex and Max are busy with school and sports until one afternoon Max arrives home with a note from his music teacher expressing his concern that Max appears to be deeply depressed. Mary Beth and Glen feel he is mistaken and chalk it up to typical teenage moodiness.
Kiernan continues to be a permanent fixture in the Latham household as his own home is anything but the "typical" he craves. He doesn't see his Dad much due to a divorce, doesn't talk much to his mother and has no brothers or sisters. He NEEDS Ruby and everything that she represents: an intact family, parents who love each other and their children, siblings, confidence, and happiness. Kiernan parks himself at the Latham home even when Ruby isn't there or upstairs bathing, listening to music, or completing homework assignments. Max and Alex keep pestering Beth as to why Ruby is being so mean to Kiernan.
Life is continuing on day-after-day until another teacher expresses their concern over Max's seemingly depressed mood so Mary Beth and Glen decide there could be more to it and arrange for Max to begin counselling with Dr. Vagelos when suddenly tragedy strikes and Mary Beth is blindsided by a: "...shocking act of violence."
This is such a normal family in every way and just goes to show that even though we think we are comfortable in our lives and that we're invincible, bloodshed can happen to ruin what we thought of as our own perfect little worlds. It's always the OTHER people in the newspaper, not us!
May 9, 2011
THE BOOKBAGLADY REVIEWS BOOKS FOR YOU!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Saturday, May 7, 2011
THE FINAL CONFESSION OF MABEL STARK (ROBERT HOUGH)
NOTE****Robert Hough is a Canadian author.
Written as a fictional autobiography in the first person, 'The Final Confession of Mabel Stark' is a true life historical account of Mabel Stark who made a name for herself by becoming the world's greatest female tiger trainer during the early to mid-1900's when the circus was the most popular form of entertainment. Stark was a centre-ring act for the famous Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus.
Now 80-years-old, Mabel recounts her life and confesses to the proud and not so proud moments and events of her life, from a rebellious teenager growing up in Kentucky as Mary Hanie, through five marriages, and at least a dozen severe maulings by the very tigers she become world famous for training. Through the colourful and descriptive narration you feel as though you've been transported back in time and are there, with Mabel, observing from somewhere underneath the Big Top! You can almost smell the oil from the tiger's skin, breathe in the heady scent of the straw bales set out as seats for circus goers, and hear the crack of the tiger trainer's whip, and shouts of instruction to the animals!!
Mabel, a woman filled with love, courage, strength, tragedy, and adventure is not reluctant to show her abrasive sides. She is not a woman to hold her tongue or pussy-foot her way around etiquette and manners, and is not adverse to projecting her tough-as-nails persona, creating antagonism, or speaking about her sexually promiscuous exploits.
Robert Hough proves to us in this great piece of writing that even us imperfect flawed human beings can contribute to society in positive and remembered ways. Mabel's quick wit, sharp tongue and indelible stubbornness will leave you wanting to hear more of little Mary Hainie's life. I couldn't put this book down and didn't want it to end. I will certainly remember Mabel Stark for some time to come.
May 7, 2011
Written as a fictional autobiography in the first person, 'The Final Confession of Mabel Stark' is a true life historical account of Mabel Stark who made a name for herself by becoming the world's greatest female tiger trainer during the early to mid-1900's when the circus was the most popular form of entertainment. Stark was a centre-ring act for the famous Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus.
Now 80-years-old, Mabel recounts her life and confesses to the proud and not so proud moments and events of her life, from a rebellious teenager growing up in Kentucky as Mary Hanie, through five marriages, and at least a dozen severe maulings by the very tigers she become world famous for training. Through the colourful and descriptive narration you feel as though you've been transported back in time and are there, with Mabel, observing from somewhere underneath the Big Top! You can almost smell the oil from the tiger's skin, breathe in the heady scent of the straw bales set out as seats for circus goers, and hear the crack of the tiger trainer's whip, and shouts of instruction to the animals!!
Mabel, a woman filled with love, courage, strength, tragedy, and adventure is not reluctant to show her abrasive sides. She is not a woman to hold her tongue or pussy-foot her way around etiquette and manners, and is not adverse to projecting her tough-as-nails persona, creating antagonism, or speaking about her sexually promiscuous exploits.
Robert Hough proves to us in this great piece of writing that even us imperfect flawed human beings can contribute to society in positive and remembered ways. Mabel's quick wit, sharp tongue and indelible stubbornness will leave you wanting to hear more of little Mary Hainie's life. I couldn't put this book down and didn't want it to end. I will certainly remember Mabel Stark for some time to come.
May 7, 2011
ATTACHMENTS (RAINBOW ROWELL)
Jennifer Schribner-Snyder and Beth Fremont are best friends who work for "The Courier" newspaper, and wile their days away typing emails back and forth to each other although company policy absolutely prohibits this. Lincoln O'Neill is a young IT guy who has been hired to snoop into company computers to ensure no employees are breaking this rule. Although Lincoln realizes that it's too late because he's already got the job, but the newspaper ad was rather misleading: "Full-time opportunity for Internet Security Officer. $40k. Health. Dental." Lincoln was under the impression that he'd be scanning company computers looking for hackers and protecting the company, not reading boring "prohibited" emails between co-workers and friends. Instead, he found himself sending out memos every time somebody in: "Accounting sent an off-colour joke to the guy in the next cubicle."
The program the company installed: "WebFence "flagged nasty words, racial slurs, supervisors names, words like secret and classified." It also flagged large attachments suspiciously long messages, and frequent messages between the same people. Poor Lincoln, for everyday hundreds and hundreds of these illicit emails were sent to a secure mailbox, and it was his job to read and follow-up on every one! Lincoln hated it. He felt it was wrong and that he was eavesdropping, which of course he was. The worst part of this whole crazy job for Lincoln was that all the staff knew he was hired to do this and they all despised him which made him feel terrible because lets face it; Lincoln was a heck of a nice guy but he needed the job just like anyone else. And, pretell, what did Lincoln do during slower periods? Surf the internet of course!!
Now, the only problem Jennifer and Beth have with this whole new office policy is that they are "journalists", "free speech warriors" who don't fall under the radar of this so-called new company policy so their fingers fly, nine to five without a care in the world!!
Jennifer was a "Features Copy Editor" and Beth was an "Entertainment Copy Editor" writing about upcoming movies, which ones to see, which ones to steer clear of and which were good, bad, or otherwise.
Lincoln liked Beth and hadn't bothered sending the half dozen, at least, warning memos he should have, and now that he's let it go this long, how can he do that now?
Lincoln has also recently moved back into his Mom's house and she is insisting on babying him. She makes fairly elaborate meals for his dinner like tandoori chicken and chicken paprikash because he works nights, not days "like normal people." And according to her, interfering with his sleep because he's not out in the sun during the day soaking up the vitamin D for his good health. And, for heaven's sake, she reminded Lincoln, she didn't even allow him a night-light on when we was a kid because it messed with his levels of melatonin which regulated his sleep!
This was a quick, light-hearted, witty read with unimaginable quirky characters. And with just the right touch of sarcasm and wit, this makes for a pleasant afternoon read!
May 7, 2011
The program the company installed: "WebFence "flagged nasty words, racial slurs, supervisors names, words like secret and classified." It also flagged large attachments suspiciously long messages, and frequent messages between the same people. Poor Lincoln, for everyday hundreds and hundreds of these illicit emails were sent to a secure mailbox, and it was his job to read and follow-up on every one! Lincoln hated it. He felt it was wrong and that he was eavesdropping, which of course he was. The worst part of this whole crazy job for Lincoln was that all the staff knew he was hired to do this and they all despised him which made him feel terrible because lets face it; Lincoln was a heck of a nice guy but he needed the job just like anyone else. And, pretell, what did Lincoln do during slower periods? Surf the internet of course!!
Now, the only problem Jennifer and Beth have with this whole new office policy is that they are "journalists", "free speech warriors" who don't fall under the radar of this so-called new company policy so their fingers fly, nine to five without a care in the world!!
Jennifer was a "Features Copy Editor" and Beth was an "Entertainment Copy Editor" writing about upcoming movies, which ones to see, which ones to steer clear of and which were good, bad, or otherwise.
Lincoln liked Beth and hadn't bothered sending the half dozen, at least, warning memos he should have, and now that he's let it go this long, how can he do that now?
Lincoln has also recently moved back into his Mom's house and she is insisting on babying him. She makes fairly elaborate meals for his dinner like tandoori chicken and chicken paprikash because he works nights, not days "like normal people." And according to her, interfering with his sleep because he's not out in the sun during the day soaking up the vitamin D for his good health. And, for heaven's sake, she reminded Lincoln, she didn't even allow him a night-light on when we was a kid because it messed with his levels of melatonin which regulated his sleep!
This was a quick, light-hearted, witty read with unimaginable quirky characters. And with just the right touch of sarcasm and wit, this makes for a pleasant afternoon read!
May 7, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
RAIN VILLAGE (CAROLYN TURGEON)
Little Tessa Riley is a tiny, diminutive twelve-year-old girl who barely stands four feet tall. She was born with hands the size of small plums and fingers like star fish. She is far too small to help on the family farm harvesting potatoes and corn. Tessa can't even hold one large potato with both hands. Her mother, father, sister, and two brothers, all think she is a freak. They call her mean and cruel names like: munchkin, tramp, and black-haired Jezebel. Her mother forces Tessa to hang from a curtain rod for hours on end in the hope it will somehow stretch her body so she'll be less of a freak.
Her father is a loud, gigantic man who likes to Lord his power over those who are weaker than he is. Her meek mother runs around clutching rosary beads but isn't Catholic and spends each evening bent over the table reading her Bible.
Tessa had heard there was a new librarian in town who seemed to have a strange affect on the men, including her own father. After lunch one day, Tessa decided to climb down from her stretching rod and run her way to town in the hope of seeing the woman without getting caught by her father.
Sitting on the front steps of the Oakley, Kansas City library, Tessa was trying to decide whether she should go inside or not. She looked up and there was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen and the woman was staring right at her! The woman had striking blue eyes, brown freckled skin, and long, black, wavy, shiny, hair. Mary Finn the librarian turned her cat like eyes on Tessa and invited her inside the library with her. Tessa was thrilled. Once inside, Tessa thought Mary smelled of: "...the spices my mother baked oranges in." Her wrists were adorned with jingly bracelets and she wore a long flowing skirt.
Mary chatted with Tessa for a bit and Tessa was so endeared to Mary that she ended up spilling her guts about her terrible home life and body stretching. Mary felt so sad for Tessa and made her a special blend of her tea and promised to teach her how to read and write. Before she left that day, Mary had taught Tessa how to spell her name. Tessa watched various women come into the library in disguise to talk secretly to Tessa about their various problems. Tessa would read the Tarot cards and send them home with a little cloth bag filled with special herbs and spices. The woman believed she was witch with special powers. When Tessa left the library that day, Mary was beside herself with worry what her father would do if he found out that Mary had been there.
The following day, Mary told Tessa that she used to be part of of a circus which made Tessa's eyes go wide. She was part of the "Velasqueze Circus" from Mexico, and they were famous! This new news only endeared Tessa all the more to Mary, especially when she learned that Mary flew on the trapeze!!
That evening in bed Tessa was bursting at the seams just dying to share this new knowledge with someone. As she lay in her bed she decided to confide in her sister, Geraldine, after making her promise that she would tell no one. Geraldine was totally excited as she knew who the "Velasqueze Circus" was because they had come to Kansas City the previous year. Geraldine told Tessa that she thought Mary looked like a Princess. Tessa replied that she did too and wanted to be just like her! Geraldine began a cruel laugh, a horrible guffaw, telling Tessa that she could never be like Mary Finn because she was far too ugly and a freak. Feelings of shame enveloped little Tessa and she hid under her bed covers for the rest of the night listening to Geraldine still snorting in laughter.
Mary and Tessa became fast friends well into Tessa's teenage years. They shared their joys, their sorrows and secrets until a terrible tragedy occurred changing the course of Tessa's life forever as she runs off to join the circus!
You simply won't believe what happens to little Tessa Riley from Oakley, Kansas once she finds the circus. A world filled with wonder and awe like following the yellow brick road. This debut novel is simply a masterpiece.
May 6, 2011
Her father is a loud, gigantic man who likes to Lord his power over those who are weaker than he is. Her meek mother runs around clutching rosary beads but isn't Catholic and spends each evening bent over the table reading her Bible.
Tessa had heard there was a new librarian in town who seemed to have a strange affect on the men, including her own father. After lunch one day, Tessa decided to climb down from her stretching rod and run her way to town in the hope of seeing the woman without getting caught by her father.
Sitting on the front steps of the Oakley, Kansas City library, Tessa was trying to decide whether she should go inside or not. She looked up and there was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen and the woman was staring right at her! The woman had striking blue eyes, brown freckled skin, and long, black, wavy, shiny, hair. Mary Finn the librarian turned her cat like eyes on Tessa and invited her inside the library with her. Tessa was thrilled. Once inside, Tessa thought Mary smelled of: "...the spices my mother baked oranges in." Her wrists were adorned with jingly bracelets and she wore a long flowing skirt.
Mary chatted with Tessa for a bit and Tessa was so endeared to Mary that she ended up spilling her guts about her terrible home life and body stretching. Mary felt so sad for Tessa and made her a special blend of her tea and promised to teach her how to read and write. Before she left that day, Mary had taught Tessa how to spell her name. Tessa watched various women come into the library in disguise to talk secretly to Tessa about their various problems. Tessa would read the Tarot cards and send them home with a little cloth bag filled with special herbs and spices. The woman believed she was witch with special powers. When Tessa left the library that day, Mary was beside herself with worry what her father would do if he found out that Mary had been there.
The following day, Mary told Tessa that she used to be part of of a circus which made Tessa's eyes go wide. She was part of the "Velasqueze Circus" from Mexico, and they were famous! This new news only endeared Tessa all the more to Mary, especially when she learned that Mary flew on the trapeze!!
That evening in bed Tessa was bursting at the seams just dying to share this new knowledge with someone. As she lay in her bed she decided to confide in her sister, Geraldine, after making her promise that she would tell no one. Geraldine was totally excited as she knew who the "Velasqueze Circus" was because they had come to Kansas City the previous year. Geraldine told Tessa that she thought Mary looked like a Princess. Tessa replied that she did too and wanted to be just like her! Geraldine began a cruel laugh, a horrible guffaw, telling Tessa that she could never be like Mary Finn because she was far too ugly and a freak. Feelings of shame enveloped little Tessa and she hid under her bed covers for the rest of the night listening to Geraldine still snorting in laughter.
Mary and Tessa became fast friends well into Tessa's teenage years. They shared their joys, their sorrows and secrets until a terrible tragedy occurred changing the course of Tessa's life forever as she runs off to join the circus!
You simply won't believe what happens to little Tessa Riley from Oakley, Kansas once she finds the circus. A world filled with wonder and awe like following the yellow brick road. This debut novel is simply a masterpiece.
May 6, 2011
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
THE KITCHEN DAUGHTER (JAEL MCHENRY)
Please Note*** There are NO spoliers. The recipes/ghosts is given away in the synposis on the dust jacket.
Ginny Selvaggio is twenty-six-years-old and attending the funeral of both her parents on a cold December day in Philadelphia. She lives alone in the family home, now that both her parents are gone. Her older, domineering sister, Amanada and her husband, Brennan, and their two daughters, Shannon and Parker, live in Jersey. Ginny has Asperger's Syndrome which is a rare and relatively mild autisitc disorder characterized by an awkwardness in social interaction and by the development of restricted interests and activities.
The house is now crammed full of family and friends who have come to pay their respects to the two sisters who are now left alone with no parents. Ginny is feeling very uncomfortable and she cannot handle crowds of people, large or small and sneaks away to her safe place - the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Ginny can be who she is and feel what she feels when she feels it away from the scrutinizing eyes and words of her sister, Amanda. The kitchen provides for Ginny a safe place, the only space that she is very comfortable with. Along with that comes the cooking she does. "The methodical chopping, slicing, stirring soothe her anxiety and the rich aroma of ribollita, painstakingly recreated from her Italian grandmother's handwritten recipe, calms her senses.
Ginny is in the kitchen drowning out the sounds and chatter of the guests in the other room. Ginny pulls her grandmother's recipe for "ribollita" from its place and begins preparations to make the soup. She has the onions and garlic simmering, and she's gathering cans of tomatoes, beans, and rice among other things. Finally everything is in the pot and smells simply divine. As Ginny opens the silverware drawer to extract a spoon, she notices her. It's Nonna, sitting on the step stool next to the refrigerator! But Nonna has been dead for twenty years. Nonna is definitely there, not a figment of Ginny's imagination and Nonna is wearing what she wore in 1991, and Ginny wonders if she's hallucinating.
"Hello uccellina." she says. Uccellina means "Little Bird" and that is what Nonna called her.
"You are surprise?" says Nonna. "But you bring me here. Don't be afraid." she says.
"Nonna, what's going on? Why are you here?"
"You bring me with the smell of ribollita, and I bring message. I come to tell you: Do not let her!"
"Her? Who?" Ginny inquires.
Suddenly the folding doors to the kitchen flew open and in stomps Aunt Connie. But Nonna is gone. Ginny starts running through the crowds in the living room, feeling people touch her skin as she passes by. On the opposite side of the room she grabs the door handle to the closet, whips it open and jumps inside, slamming the door behind her. She sits on the floor and puts her hands inside her deceased father's rubber boots. Amanda storms to the cupboard and tells Ginny how silly this is and how bad it looks with all the guests present. But Ginny doesn't care and she's not coming out, at least not right now.
The next morning Ginny wakes up in her bed and the first thing that comes to her mind is Nonna's appearance in the kitchen yesterday and she's having a hard time coping with that. Poor Ginny, now she's worried that Grandpa Damson might appear on his front porch, or that her Dad's cousin, Olivia, the "rumoured suicide" will be waiting for her when she gets out of the shower, or that she'll meet Ma in the hall in the middle of the night, and she'll scold her and send her back to bed. Thinking a bit more, Ginny decides she must think of Nonna's appearance as a hallucination but Nonna's warning: "Do not let her." plays in the back of her mind.
While deciding what she should do, Ginny accidentally finds an old letter stuffed behind a lose brick written by her father to her mother - apologizing? The note looked to be about 30 years old and was very delicate. Now Ginny is doubly stumped, a message from Nonna "Do not let her" and now this letter from her Dad. What would her Dad ever have to apologize to her mother for and why would her mother think it necessary to keep this note for 30 years? These are far too many questions for Ginny's over-crowded brain so she decides she needs to go the kitchen and cook something to de-stress and calm her self down. This time she decides to make a martini to calm her nerves and picks up a recipe called: "The Georgia Peach" and there is no name on this recipe card so she feels safe. She assembles everything together, shakes the drink and pours it into a martini glass but it begins to over-flow. Just as Ginny is bending foward to take a sip before attempting to pick it up when a voice behind her booms:
"That doesn't look entirely dignified, but I admire your spirit!"
Ginny is stunned and flips the recipe card over and there IS a name on the back!
"Mrs. John Hammersmith?" asks Ginny.
"Oh, call me Necie please, she says.
Turns out Necie was one of her mother Caroline's best friends but she's been dead for many, many years. When Ginny tells Necie her mother too is dead, Necie begins to laugh saying:
"...it doesn't sound like such a tragedy to me, I'm dead too, a long time now."
Then she quickly faded as quickly as she had appeared. Ginny was a bit surprised that Necie didn't leave her a message like Nonna had done. However, Ginny has now discovered she can call ghosts from the past by making their recipes as long as they were written by hand. Whoever wrote the original recipe by hand, is the person who will appear from the past. Now poor Ginny is off and running, who else could she see? What else can she learn? She is so excited to have discovered this that she wants to run around the kitchen in circles, but doesn't because she is so awed at what she has learned about the recipes.
From here the story just keeps getting better and better with other various characters from the past appearing and a terrible tragedy occurs which will rip your heart strings out. Amanda and Ginny continue to bash heads over the sale of the house and Ginny discovers something about herself that she also believes has been passed down to one of Amanda's daughters, but Amanda refuses to hear anything about it and won't speak to Ginny.
Jael McHenry's debut novel is a blast from the past, so to speak and a lesson in what it means to accept the magic in our lives and to never, ever give up on what we know to be true, and above all, to honour who we are and where we came from. I recommend this book for anyone. This is definitely going in my permanent collection!
May 4, 2011
Ginny Selvaggio is twenty-six-years-old and attending the funeral of both her parents on a cold December day in Philadelphia. She lives alone in the family home, now that both her parents are gone. Her older, domineering sister, Amanada and her husband, Brennan, and their two daughters, Shannon and Parker, live in Jersey. Ginny has Asperger's Syndrome which is a rare and relatively mild autisitc disorder characterized by an awkwardness in social interaction and by the development of restricted interests and activities.
The house is now crammed full of family and friends who have come to pay their respects to the two sisters who are now left alone with no parents. Ginny is feeling very uncomfortable and she cannot handle crowds of people, large or small and sneaks away to her safe place - the kitchen.
In the kitchen, Ginny can be who she is and feel what she feels when she feels it away from the scrutinizing eyes and words of her sister, Amanda. The kitchen provides for Ginny a safe place, the only space that she is very comfortable with. Along with that comes the cooking she does. "The methodical chopping, slicing, stirring soothe her anxiety and the rich aroma of ribollita, painstakingly recreated from her Italian grandmother's handwritten recipe, calms her senses.
Ginny is in the kitchen drowning out the sounds and chatter of the guests in the other room. Ginny pulls her grandmother's recipe for "ribollita" from its place and begins preparations to make the soup. She has the onions and garlic simmering, and she's gathering cans of tomatoes, beans, and rice among other things. Finally everything is in the pot and smells simply divine. As Ginny opens the silverware drawer to extract a spoon, she notices her. It's Nonna, sitting on the step stool next to the refrigerator! But Nonna has been dead for twenty years. Nonna is definitely there, not a figment of Ginny's imagination and Nonna is wearing what she wore in 1991, and Ginny wonders if she's hallucinating.
"Hello uccellina." she says. Uccellina means "Little Bird" and that is what Nonna called her.
"You are surprise?" says Nonna. "But you bring me here. Don't be afraid." she says.
"Nonna, what's going on? Why are you here?"
"You bring me with the smell of ribollita, and I bring message. I come to tell you: Do not let her!"
"Her? Who?" Ginny inquires.
Suddenly the folding doors to the kitchen flew open and in stomps Aunt Connie. But Nonna is gone. Ginny starts running through the crowds in the living room, feeling people touch her skin as she passes by. On the opposite side of the room she grabs the door handle to the closet, whips it open and jumps inside, slamming the door behind her. She sits on the floor and puts her hands inside her deceased father's rubber boots. Amanda storms to the cupboard and tells Ginny how silly this is and how bad it looks with all the guests present. But Ginny doesn't care and she's not coming out, at least not right now.
The next morning Ginny wakes up in her bed and the first thing that comes to her mind is Nonna's appearance in the kitchen yesterday and she's having a hard time coping with that. Poor Ginny, now she's worried that Grandpa Damson might appear on his front porch, or that her Dad's cousin, Olivia, the "rumoured suicide" will be waiting for her when she gets out of the shower, or that she'll meet Ma in the hall in the middle of the night, and she'll scold her and send her back to bed. Thinking a bit more, Ginny decides she must think of Nonna's appearance as a hallucination but Nonna's warning: "Do not let her." plays in the back of her mind.
While deciding what she should do, Ginny accidentally finds an old letter stuffed behind a lose brick written by her father to her mother - apologizing? The note looked to be about 30 years old and was very delicate. Now Ginny is doubly stumped, a message from Nonna "Do not let her" and now this letter from her Dad. What would her Dad ever have to apologize to her mother for and why would her mother think it necessary to keep this note for 30 years? These are far too many questions for Ginny's over-crowded brain so she decides she needs to go the kitchen and cook something to de-stress and calm her self down. This time she decides to make a martini to calm her nerves and picks up a recipe called: "The Georgia Peach" and there is no name on this recipe card so she feels safe. She assembles everything together, shakes the drink and pours it into a martini glass but it begins to over-flow. Just as Ginny is bending foward to take a sip before attempting to pick it up when a voice behind her booms:
"That doesn't look entirely dignified, but I admire your spirit!"
Ginny is stunned and flips the recipe card over and there IS a name on the back!
"Mrs. John Hammersmith?" asks Ginny.
"Oh, call me Necie please, she says.
Turns out Necie was one of her mother Caroline's best friends but she's been dead for many, many years. When Ginny tells Necie her mother too is dead, Necie begins to laugh saying:
"...it doesn't sound like such a tragedy to me, I'm dead too, a long time now."
Then she quickly faded as quickly as she had appeared. Ginny was a bit surprised that Necie didn't leave her a message like Nonna had done. However, Ginny has now discovered she can call ghosts from the past by making their recipes as long as they were written by hand. Whoever wrote the original recipe by hand, is the person who will appear from the past. Now poor Ginny is off and running, who else could she see? What else can she learn? She is so excited to have discovered this that she wants to run around the kitchen in circles, but doesn't because she is so awed at what she has learned about the recipes.
From here the story just keeps getting better and better with other various characters from the past appearing and a terrible tragedy occurs which will rip your heart strings out. Amanda and Ginny continue to bash heads over the sale of the house and Ginny discovers something about herself that she also believes has been passed down to one of Amanda's daughters, but Amanda refuses to hear anything about it and won't speak to Ginny.
Jael McHenry's debut novel is a blast from the past, so to speak and a lesson in what it means to accept the magic in our lives and to never, ever give up on what we know to be true, and above all, to honour who we are and where we came from. I recommend this book for anyone. This is definitely going in my permanent collection!
May 4, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
ABANDONED (CODY MCFADYEN)
Smoky Barret is a tiny four-foot-ten with a huge nasty scar on her face from an attack a few years before as a consequence of her job. For the past 12 years she has headed up a team of four, including herself, at the NCAVC (National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime) based in Quantico, Virginia. They're a special group called out to deal with the worst of the worst of the human race: child murderers, molesters, rapists, and the like.
Smoky lives with her boyfriend Tommy, a drop dead gorgeous Latin man who is an ex-secret service man, and her 13-year-old adopted daughter, Bonnie. Smoky and Tommy are in Hawaii for a team members beautiful outdoor wedding when suddenly squealing tires are heard and a woman is quickly shoved out of a car dressed only in a white nightgown. Now isn't it odd, or is it coincidence, that this woman would be dropped into the middle of a wedding attended by all FBI agents?
"A fingerprint check determines that she's been missing for nearly eight years. Her coldly efficient captor toyed with her mind and body, imprisoning her, depriving her of any contact with the outside world. As Smoky fits together the pieces of what remains of the victim's fractured life, a chilling picture emerges of a cerebral psychopath who doesn't take murder personally, never makes a mistake, follows his own sinister logic, and has set the perfect trap."
At one point, Smoky herself, becomes his captor and what happens in this story will blow your mind wide-open!! This was the most twisted, convoluted, page-turner I've read in quite some time. It's both thriller and mystery all rolled into one. You will physically feel the pressure building, your blood pressure will rise, you'll begin to sweat, chew on the bottom of your lip, and if you're reading, alone...your eyes will be flicking around your room. This novel was written with such confidence that it is almost blaring into your face. Don't miss this one, please!
May 3, 2011
Smoky lives with her boyfriend Tommy, a drop dead gorgeous Latin man who is an ex-secret service man, and her 13-year-old adopted daughter, Bonnie. Smoky and Tommy are in Hawaii for a team members beautiful outdoor wedding when suddenly squealing tires are heard and a woman is quickly shoved out of a car dressed only in a white nightgown. Now isn't it odd, or is it coincidence, that this woman would be dropped into the middle of a wedding attended by all FBI agents?
"A fingerprint check determines that she's been missing for nearly eight years. Her coldly efficient captor toyed with her mind and body, imprisoning her, depriving her of any contact with the outside world. As Smoky fits together the pieces of what remains of the victim's fractured life, a chilling picture emerges of a cerebral psychopath who doesn't take murder personally, never makes a mistake, follows his own sinister logic, and has set the perfect trap."
At one point, Smoky herself, becomes his captor and what happens in this story will blow your mind wide-open!! This was the most twisted, convoluted, page-turner I've read in quite some time. It's both thriller and mystery all rolled into one. You will physically feel the pressure building, your blood pressure will rise, you'll begin to sweat, chew on the bottom of your lip, and if you're reading, alone...your eyes will be flicking around your room. This novel was written with such confidence that it is almost blaring into your face. Don't miss this one, please!
May 3, 2011
Sunday, May 1, 2011
MILES TO GO (RICHARD PAUL EVANS)
NOTE*** This is the second journal of "The Walk Series". The first was titled: "The Walk". "MILES TO GO" continues where "The Walk" left off. Book #3 will be released in April, 2012.
Alan Christoffersen, thirty-two-years old, is writing the second journal of his walk from a hospital bed. His plan to walk to Key West, Florida from Seattle, Washington was interrupted when he was mugged, stabbed, and left to die on the side of the road in Spokane, Washington. Sixteen weeks earlier, within a 5-week period, Alan lost his precious wife, McKale, his home, and his business. He decided to leave everything behind and go on a cross country journey - walking! He chose to walk to Key West, a 3,500 mile walk as it was the furthest spot on his map. But the unexpected attack has interrupted Alan's journey. He is facing months of hard recovery and has nowhere to live until he meets a woman, Angel, who is sitting beside his bed when he wakes up.
Alan had previously lived in a 2 million dollar home, was a highly successful advertising executive, and was married to his gorgeous and beloved wife, McKale. Alan's partner in his advertising business, Craig, stole his clients while he was at the hospital caring for McKale. After his business went under and he lost everything, he had his assistant, Falene, liquidate office furniture and other items and deposit the money in a bank account to finance his journey. In order to survive, he just packed up his belongings and started his trek.
This is a story of contrasts: "...about living and dying, about suffering and pain, about loss and emotions, and hope, despair, and healing." Alan doesn't know yet whether he's walking away from his past, or into his future.
Come with me on this walk as we follow along with Alan for this is truly an unbelievable walk and he learns important life lessons from the people he meets, and leaves them with a bit of his own wisdom.
May 1, 2011
Alan Christoffersen, thirty-two-years old, is writing the second journal of his walk from a hospital bed. His plan to walk to Key West, Florida from Seattle, Washington was interrupted when he was mugged, stabbed, and left to die on the side of the road in Spokane, Washington. Sixteen weeks earlier, within a 5-week period, Alan lost his precious wife, McKale, his home, and his business. He decided to leave everything behind and go on a cross country journey - walking! He chose to walk to Key West, a 3,500 mile walk as it was the furthest spot on his map. But the unexpected attack has interrupted Alan's journey. He is facing months of hard recovery and has nowhere to live until he meets a woman, Angel, who is sitting beside his bed when he wakes up.
Alan had previously lived in a 2 million dollar home, was a highly successful advertising executive, and was married to his gorgeous and beloved wife, McKale. Alan's partner in his advertising business, Craig, stole his clients while he was at the hospital caring for McKale. After his business went under and he lost everything, he had his assistant, Falene, liquidate office furniture and other items and deposit the money in a bank account to finance his journey. In order to survive, he just packed up his belongings and started his trek.
This is a story of contrasts: "...about living and dying, about suffering and pain, about loss and emotions, and hope, despair, and healing." Alan doesn't know yet whether he's walking away from his past, or into his future.
Come with me on this walk as we follow along with Alan for this is truly an unbelievable walk and he learns important life lessons from the people he meets, and leaves them with a bit of his own wisdom.
May 1, 2011
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