Ten-year-old Daria, was walking along the beach beside her North Carolina home in the town of Kill Devil's Hill, on the morning of her eleventh birthday. She was busy marvelling at all the crab shells when she thought she saw the biggest crab shell ever. Gingerly, she flipped it over with her bare foot and realized it was a baby covered in blood with the placenta still attached!! She screamed, ran, stopped, ran some more, then realized she had to go back to see if the baby was alive. It was! She quickly took off her tank top, wrapped it around the baby and then realized she'd have to carry this bloody mountain of goo with her. She ran to the beach house, put the baby on the kitchen table and ran upstairs to wake her parents. They were awestruck to say the least. Daria's Mom, once a nurse, sprang into action. She boiled a pair of scissors to cut the umbilical cord and washed the baby. With that done she called 911. When the EMS people arrived they had to pry the baby from Daria's Mom's arms.
From here, the story advances 22 years and it's Daria's 33rd birthday and Shelly's 22nd birthday. Shelly is the baby who Daria found on the beach all those years ago. Daria's Mom ended up adopting her and raising her as one of her own but her parents are now dead and Daria watches over her. Daria had been a volunteer EMT until a seaplane went down in the water near her home and everyone blamed Shelly for killing the 18-year-old pilot!
Next, Rory Taylor comes to town for the summer with his 15-year-old son, Zack. Rory is the host of the television show in California called 'True Life Stories' and he's in Kill Devil's Hill to investigate who is really Shelly's mother. Who was it that left that newborn baby to die on the beach 22 years ago? The townspeople are protective of Shelly and Rory runs into roadblock after roadblock until one particular evening at an end-of-summer barbecue and bonfire.
This book had me hooked right from beginning to end. It was my first Diane Chamberlain novel and I've ordered 3 more of her books as this one was so good.
May 28, 2011
THE BOOKBAGLADY REVIEWS BOOKS FOR YOU!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK:MY YEAR IN A WOMEN'S PRISON (PIPER KERMAN)
Ten years ago, Piper Kerman was a young, reckless, carefree college graduate. Not knowing what else to do with her life she made some decisions and those choices have finally caught up to her. Ten years prior she delivered a suitcase of drug money to Europe never dreaming she'd be caught, especially after all this many years.
Sentenced to 15 months in the Danbury, Connecticut prison for women she was now prisoner #111187-424, just one of the millions of people incarcerated in the United States each year.
On February 4, 2004, 10 years after she committed her crime, Piper's boyfriend, Larry, drove her to the prison and kissed her goodbye for the final time. Together they walked inside, took a seat and waited. It wasn't long until a guard with a nasty scar down the side of her face and neck barked out: "KERMAN!" and thus began Piper's first day of incarceration where she'll meet women from all walks of life, experience her first strip search, and learns how to navigate her strange new world.
Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman's story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison.
May 24, 2011
Sentenced to 15 months in the Danbury, Connecticut prison for women she was now prisoner #111187-424, just one of the millions of people incarcerated in the United States each year.
On February 4, 2004, 10 years after she committed her crime, Piper's boyfriend, Larry, drove her to the prison and kissed her goodbye for the final time. Together they walked inside, took a seat and waited. It wasn't long until a guard with a nasty scar down the side of her face and neck barked out: "KERMAN!" and thus began Piper's first day of incarceration where she'll meet women from all walks of life, experience her first strip search, and learns how to navigate her strange new world.
Heartbreaking, hilarious, and at times enraging, Kerman's story offers a rare look into the lives of women in prison.
May 24, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
I AM NUJOOD, AGE 10 AND DIVORCED (NUJOOD ALI WITH DELPHINE MINOUI)
NOTE**** I have typed this review in a different colour in the hope that it will make people read this "important" review, for the sake of one little girl and the many others that the proceeds from her short autobiography of 178 pages will help! If you have purchased this book and read it, THANK YOU!!
The country of Yemen lays at the southernmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula, washed by the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Yemen is steeped in years of history where "adobe turrets perch on the peaks of settled mountains. Yemen is also the realm of the "Queen of Sheba" who was a woman that inflamed the heart of King Solomon with her strength and beauty. Yemen is beautiful and well-known for its oil; they say their honey is worth its weight in gold; and archaeologists come to Yemen to study the architecture of its ruins. Yet Yemen has suffered through a series of civil wars and unified in 1990, but the nation still suffers from the old wounds left by these many conflicts. It leaves one to ponder just who makes the laws in this strange land, where many girls and boys beg in the streets instead of going to school.
The President of Yemen often has his photograph displayed in windows of shops, but power also "lies with tribal chiefs in turbans who wield enormous authority in the villages, whether its a question of arms sales, marriage, or the commerce of khat (a drug like substance chewed by the men)". But in Yemen homes, the law is laid down by fathers and brothers. And, so it was in this remarkable, turbulent country, barely 10 years ago, that a little girl named Nujood was born. She is a very tiny girl with parents and lots of brothers and sisters. Nujood loved to draw and colour and "fantasizes about being a sea turtle because she has never seen the ocean, and she shows her dimples when she smiles.
But, in February 2008, her dimples suddenly disappeared when her father told her she "was going to marry a man three times her age!" Nujood was married off a few days later at the tender age of 9. The man who married her had promised NOT to have sexual relations with her until she reached puberty and had her first period, but of course, he did NOT keep that promise. As a result the torture, abuse, and constant rapes Nujood withstood is utterly heartbreaking at best.
This is Nujood's story. A story of unbelievable sadness, pain, guilt, shame, and the courage of one little girl to change the future for herself and other girls her age. The proceeds from her book are going to finance her education in school, starting back in Grade 5. Please purchase this book and give this little girl what she truly deserves. The right to be educated and protected from those who seek to abuse her.
May 20, 2011
The country of Yemen lays at the southernmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula, washed by the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. Yemen is steeped in years of history where "adobe turrets perch on the peaks of settled mountains. Yemen is also the realm of the "Queen of Sheba" who was a woman that inflamed the heart of King Solomon with her strength and beauty. Yemen is beautiful and well-known for its oil; they say their honey is worth its weight in gold; and archaeologists come to Yemen to study the architecture of its ruins. Yet Yemen has suffered through a series of civil wars and unified in 1990, but the nation still suffers from the old wounds left by these many conflicts. It leaves one to ponder just who makes the laws in this strange land, where many girls and boys beg in the streets instead of going to school.
The President of Yemen often has his photograph displayed in windows of shops, but power also "lies with tribal chiefs in turbans who wield enormous authority in the villages, whether its a question of arms sales, marriage, or the commerce of khat (a drug like substance chewed by the men)". But in Yemen homes, the law is laid down by fathers and brothers. And, so it was in this remarkable, turbulent country, barely 10 years ago, that a little girl named Nujood was born. She is a very tiny girl with parents and lots of brothers and sisters. Nujood loved to draw and colour and "fantasizes about being a sea turtle because she has never seen the ocean, and she shows her dimples when she smiles.
But, in February 2008, her dimples suddenly disappeared when her father told her she "was going to marry a man three times her age!" Nujood was married off a few days later at the tender age of 9. The man who married her had promised NOT to have sexual relations with her until she reached puberty and had her first period, but of course, he did NOT keep that promise. As a result the torture, abuse, and constant rapes Nujood withstood is utterly heartbreaking at best.
This is Nujood's story. A story of unbelievable sadness, pain, guilt, shame, and the courage of one little girl to change the future for herself and other girls her age. The proceeds from her book are going to finance her education in school, starting back in Grade 5. Please purchase this book and give this little girl what she truly deserves. The right to be educated and protected from those who seek to abuse her.
May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
UNDER AN AFGHAN SKY:A MEMOIR OF CAPTIVITY (MELLISSA FUNG)
Mellissa Fung, thirty-five-years-old, has been a long time journalist for CBC's 'THE NATIONAL' in Canada. As she was reporting on the effects of war in Afghanistan, she was leaving a refugee camp outside Kabul when she was grabbed by armed men saying they were Taliban. After stabbing her, stuffing her into the back of a car, she was driven to the desert and then forced to walk through mountains, bleeding profusely. Finally her kidnappers stopped and forced her into a hole in the ground where she lived for the next "28" days! The hole was hardly big enough to stand up or lie down in and she had her serious injuries to contend with as well. The only thing she had to eat was cookies and juice.
Mellissa, a brave young woman felt her best bet was to keep her captors engaged in some sort of dialogue thinking they'd come to know her better and take pity on her. She felt by endearing herself to them, they would come to think of her as a good friend, or even family as one of her captors eventually regarded her as "sister". She asked how to pronounce each of their names correctly, asked if they had families, taught them English words, and finally convinced them to promise her that they wouldn't shoot her!
This was an amazing memoir of one woman's courage, strength, and resilience to remain calm during a gruelling 28 day captivity. The writing is both compelling and deeply moving. I couldn't put this one down until I'd turned the last page.
May 19, 2011
Mellissa, a brave young woman felt her best bet was to keep her captors engaged in some sort of dialogue thinking they'd come to know her better and take pity on her. She felt by endearing herself to them, they would come to think of her as a good friend, or even family as one of her captors eventually regarded her as "sister". She asked how to pronounce each of their names correctly, asked if they had families, taught them English words, and finally convinced them to promise her that they wouldn't shoot her!
This was an amazing memoir of one woman's courage, strength, and resilience to remain calm during a gruelling 28 day captivity. The writing is both compelling and deeply moving. I couldn't put this one down until I'd turned the last page.
May 19, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
DON'T SING AT THE TABLE: LIFE LESSONS FROM MY GRANDMOTHER (ADRIANA TRIGIANI)
Life lessons indeed! Adriana Trigiani's Grandmothers, Viola and Lucy, were bright, intelligent, hard-working, sensible, but no nonsense women who taught Adriana lessons about life that will sustain her for many years to come. These two women were entrepreneurs who knew how to take risks and win. Even in the face of tragedy in their own families, the courage and immense strength these women shared is an inspiration to all who will read this book.
The morals and values learned from these two gracious women and the way in which they taught them is a testament to the indomitable spirit both women possessed. Their lessons reminded me of 'logical consequences', that is, if you don't wear a coat on a cold and snowy day then you're going to freeze to death but have no one to blame but yourself. If you forget to make your lunch before heading off to school or work then come lunchtime, you're going to be starving and drooling while watching your classmates and co-workers dive into their lunch boxes.
These two grand women carved a path for their beloved granddaughter, Adriana, to follow behind and glean from them their daring approach to life, family, love, work and overcoming tragedy and obstacles. This is the kind of book a lot of us wish we had the talent to write about our own grandmothers and the lessons they taught us. I know that I for one would love to have the gift of pen and word to write about my one very special Gramma.
Adriana has given us women a gift, she has shared her Grandmothers with us and allowed us to peek into their lives and listened to what she has learned along the way. EVERY WOMAN needs to read "LIFE LESSONS...!" Thank you, Adriana, for sharing your beloved Viola and Lucy with us, I feel truly humbled.
May 18, 2011
The morals and values learned from these two gracious women and the way in which they taught them is a testament to the indomitable spirit both women possessed. Their lessons reminded me of 'logical consequences', that is, if you don't wear a coat on a cold and snowy day then you're going to freeze to death but have no one to blame but yourself. If you forget to make your lunch before heading off to school or work then come lunchtime, you're going to be starving and drooling while watching your classmates and co-workers dive into their lunch boxes.
These two grand women carved a path for their beloved granddaughter, Adriana, to follow behind and glean from them their daring approach to life, family, love, work and overcoming tragedy and obstacles. This is the kind of book a lot of us wish we had the talent to write about our own grandmothers and the lessons they taught us. I know that I for one would love to have the gift of pen and word to write about my one very special Gramma.
Adriana has given us women a gift, she has shared her Grandmothers with us and allowed us to peek into their lives and listened to what she has learned along the way. EVERY WOMAN needs to read "LIFE LESSONS...!" Thank you, Adriana, for sharing your beloved Viola and Lucy with us, I feel truly humbled.
May 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
MEN AND DOGS (KATIE CROUCH)
According to the author, this work of fiction was actually born out of a true story. Her great-grandfather "went fishing in North Carolina in 1913 and never came back. There was no bad weather or anything, but all his family found was his little fishing boat floating in the river. He didn't seem depressed and wasn't an unreliable person in any way. He just disappeared."
Eleven-year-old Hannah Legare and her forty-one-year-old father, Buzz, are out fishing on her Dad's flat bottomed aluminum boat. Even Tucker, the family dog, is on board for this excursion. Buzz was a doctor and always quizzing Hannah on little facts: "How many bones are in the human body?" "206", Hannah would reply. "How many cells?" "One hundred trillion", answered Hannah. She was a smart girl, a studious student and planned to become a doctor just like her Dad.
Daisy, Hannah's mother, is a responsible woman and mother to Hannah and her brother, Palmer, after their father, Buzz, disappeared 20 years ago. Everywhere Hannah goes she searches the crowds for her Dad but all she ever sees is different people with different body parts resembling her Dad. A man with his shoulders, another with his gait, and another with his nose, but she never finds "him" in one person.
Both Daisy and Pamer have let go, given up and moved on. After therapy and counselling her mother remarried within the year. Hannah has never quite forgiven her for that.
Hannah just has too many unanswered questions like: "How does one fall off a boat on a calm Spring evening? Why did no one else see her father out in the harbour, and why was he fishing on a Monday at twilight? And if he drowned, why was no body ever found, and why was the dog still there?" Hannah's persistence and constant looking caused a riff in the family so after high school Hannah felt it best to just leave. She has only been back to Charleston four times for Christmas and a funeral. She eventually met and married, Jon, but theirs isn't a perfect marriage by far.
This was a hilarious, affecting and wholly original tale of siblings trying to reckon with their flaws, featuring a heroine as exasperating, magnetic, and breathtakingly real as family itself. You'll love it!!
May 17, 2011
Eleven-year-old Hannah Legare and her forty-one-year-old father, Buzz, are out fishing on her Dad's flat bottomed aluminum boat. Even Tucker, the family dog, is on board for this excursion. Buzz was a doctor and always quizzing Hannah on little facts: "How many bones are in the human body?" "206", Hannah would reply. "How many cells?" "One hundred trillion", answered Hannah. She was a smart girl, a studious student and planned to become a doctor just like her Dad.
Daisy, Hannah's mother, is a responsible woman and mother to Hannah and her brother, Palmer, after their father, Buzz, disappeared 20 years ago. Everywhere Hannah goes she searches the crowds for her Dad but all she ever sees is different people with different body parts resembling her Dad. A man with his shoulders, another with his gait, and another with his nose, but she never finds "him" in one person.
Both Daisy and Pamer have let go, given up and moved on. After therapy and counselling her mother remarried within the year. Hannah has never quite forgiven her for that.
Hannah just has too many unanswered questions like: "How does one fall off a boat on a calm Spring evening? Why did no one else see her father out in the harbour, and why was he fishing on a Monday at twilight? And if he drowned, why was no body ever found, and why was the dog still there?" Hannah's persistence and constant looking caused a riff in the family so after high school Hannah felt it best to just leave. She has only been back to Charleston four times for Christmas and a funeral. She eventually met and married, Jon, but theirs isn't a perfect marriage by far.
This was a hilarious, affecting and wholly original tale of siblings trying to reckon with their flaws, featuring a heroine as exasperating, magnetic, and breathtakingly real as family itself. You'll love it!!
May 17, 2011
Sunday, May 15, 2011
THE YEAR OF THE FOG (MICHELLE RICHMOND)
I had no idea what to expect from this novel as I'd never heard of the author and didn't pick it out myself. My husband happened to be going through Costco on Friday and picked me up two books, one of which was this one. I'm pleased to say I was very pleasantly surprised. The book just captivated me and held my attention page after page after page.
Abby Mason and 6-year-old Emma Balfour were walking along Ocean Beach on a cold July morning in San Francisco. Emma was intently searching for sand dollars. Abby would soon marry Emma's father, Jake. Emma begged Abby to let go of her hand so she could better search for her precious sand dollars. With a promise to stay close-by, Abby let go. She picked up her camera from around her neck and took one shot, looked down to rewind and advance the film, looked up again to take Emma's picture, but she was gone! Just disappeared.
Jake was away for the weekend visiting old friends and returns immediately to face police questions, a polygraph exam, television reporters, and Abby. All he could say to her was: "How could you?"
Abby and Jake had met a year before when Abby was doing a slide-show at the high school where Jake taught philosophy, soccer, and American History. They made a date to meet the following evening at a Giants game.
Teachers, friends, neighbours, and complete strangers are frantically printing posters, manning telephone tip lines, organizing and participating in official and unofficial search parties with one common goal - to find Emma! Jake is barely holding himself together and Abby's feelings of guilt are physically, emotionally, and spiritually all consuming.
Desperate to try anything, Abby goes to see a hypnotherapist after a friend tells her someone aided in the capture of Ted Bundy, a real-life serial killer by seeing one.
"This is a riveting drama of how life can change in an instant, of a family torn apart by the search for the truth behind a child's disappearance, and of one woman's unwavering faith in the power of love."
May 15, 2011
Abby Mason and 6-year-old Emma Balfour were walking along Ocean Beach on a cold July morning in San Francisco. Emma was intently searching for sand dollars. Abby would soon marry Emma's father, Jake. Emma begged Abby to let go of her hand so she could better search for her precious sand dollars. With a promise to stay close-by, Abby let go. She picked up her camera from around her neck and took one shot, looked down to rewind and advance the film, looked up again to take Emma's picture, but she was gone! Just disappeared.
Jake was away for the weekend visiting old friends and returns immediately to face police questions, a polygraph exam, television reporters, and Abby. All he could say to her was: "How could you?"
Abby and Jake had met a year before when Abby was doing a slide-show at the high school where Jake taught philosophy, soccer, and American History. They made a date to meet the following evening at a Giants game.
Teachers, friends, neighbours, and complete strangers are frantically printing posters, manning telephone tip lines, organizing and participating in official and unofficial search parties with one common goal - to find Emma! Jake is barely holding himself together and Abby's feelings of guilt are physically, emotionally, and spiritually all consuming.
Desperate to try anything, Abby goes to see a hypnotherapist after a friend tells her someone aided in the capture of Ted Bundy, a real-life serial killer by seeing one.
"This is a riveting drama of how life can change in an instant, of a family torn apart by the search for the truth behind a child's disappearance, and of one woman's unwavering faith in the power of love."
May 15, 2011
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