Easton Island series by Hope Callaghan

 I am just starting book 6 of the Easton Island series by Hope Callaghan.  I have read two of Callaghan’s other series — Made in Savannah and The Garden Girls — and I really enjoy her writing.  This series is no different and I am enjoying it.  It is about a fractured family that finally comes together, lavish houses, disgruntled relations, mystery and romance.  These are quick reads as Callaghan’s writing is very straightforward and you don’t have to muddle around in lofty language.  I like that.

I any event, I can’t say much without giving it away but I definitely recommend this series as well as the other two mentioned above.  I know there are a lot of books out there with more sophisticated plot lines, settings and characters, but this is exactly what I need right now in this season of my life.  I read for escape and pleasure and these books fill the bill.

I am also set to start the second in the Betsy-Tacy series.  Of course they are children’s books but I am not too old for the genre and really do enjoy many of the titles that would be classified as children’s.  I will report on that one later.

Oh, and before I go — a couple of posts back I talked about the demise of video stores.  WELL, on last night’s news there was a whole segment on how the video stores are coming back!  I am a visionary! Anyway, upon further sleuthing I am cautious to report that Blockbuster has revived it’s website — yes, indeed, there it is, getting ready to be up and running.  So, yeah!

It is Friday! Have a wonderful weekend!

Musing Mondays (Apr. 21)

April 21, 2014

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• What book are you currently desperate to get your hands on? Tell us about it! 
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

 Confession of a Bookaholic --

Honestly there should be a twelve step program for people like me.  I am a hopeless, weak individual completely taken in by the glitz of a cover or the promise of an alluring dust jacket synopsis.  I should be ashamed of myself.  Really.

Here we are, on the morning of the day we are planning to build yet more book shelves for our ever growing collection and I just can't help myself.  I have had one of each generation of Nook -- each bought with the idea that the new one had more upgrades and features and by using an e-reader I would somehow purchase fewer physical books to add to our ever-expanding library which could be considered a public library branch in size.  So, considering that we are planning this bookcase for the last remaining piece of free wall space in our little house, I thought I should possibly pay closer attention to the e-reader so I went exploring Barnes and Noble's Nook Book section and much to my horror -- there it was --a  virtual sale table.  OMG -- there is a page of books under $2.99 --- some free.  

Have you ever had a moment that you lost control and couldn't stop it, somewhat like Alice falling down the rabbit hole?  Yes, there I was.   I now have about a half dozen new books on my Nook.  Wellllll, I whine, isn't that was it was for? To reduce the number of physical books?  Ugh.

I have come to the conclusion that there is no help for people like me, no solution.  I just have to accept myself as I am, a weak individual, a wimp, when it comes to printed material.  It is part of who I am, right?  Is it really so bad, though?  I could have a weak desire for other things much worse, right?  Designer handbags or shoes.  Jewelry, Yachts and houses in the Hamptons?  Ok, not quite the same thing but you see what I mean -- having too many books, too little space to put them and not enough time to read them is hardly the worst of the problems that I could have.  

So I guess it isn't such a terrible affliction after all.   I mean, too many books could be useful -- to share with others, to use as decoration, to prop up table legs -- or to keep me current, to keep my mind sharp and to give me something to fill the hours and take me to places/situations that I would never dream of being.  Such a wonderful escape -- books.  

Yes, I don't think I feel bad at all about my lack of control in procuring books of any sort -- physical or virtual.   They bring such pleasure -- if even just looking at the cover art.   What have I learned from this?  That if I talk to myself long enough, I just justify almost anything!  

And this one time -- at the grocery store --


Since Hubs retirement, we have been sort of tap dancing through our days trying to sort out our roles.  He seems to be under the impression that because he is no longer working at a job outside of the home that all his time is playtime and that my job goes on without a hitch -- clearly no "retirement".   It seems that we have traded places -- he is home and I am babysitting the Bean and so I am gone and he isn't.  When I came home a couple of weeks ago I was more than a little miffed to find him sitting in the same chair watching the same television that I left him at in the morning.  We are working on this little hiccup and, in an attempt to mend his evil ways, he decided to do the grocery shopping one day.  We frequent a grocery store that is a spin off of the store that he worked at when we were teenagers.  It is different than the regular chain and has different things and a huge wine section and many organic fruits and veggies.  They also have a large bakery which, honestly, I am not all that taken with.  I tend to prefer my homemade bread machine bread.  But, I digress.  The day he went they had put out a lot of muffins that can be bought individually so he called and asked me if I wanted one.  He gets really excited about these muffins because they do have some sugar-free varieties. So, I said yes and to get me one of the white chocolate apricot  ones.  I couldn't wait for the evening to get here to sit down with my tea and my muffin and watch "Parenthood".  Well, I took a bite from the top and it was really salty but I thought I was just an odd bite and I dove into the middle.  It was all good until I got a piece of the edge -- VERY salty and a little chemical tasting.  I gave a bit to Hubs to taste and he couldn't swallow it and the next bite -- I know, why was there even a next bite -- I figured it was poisoned.  If the store hadn't already been closed I would have returned it but instead I sat there wondering if rat poison tastes salty.  I figure somebody either got the sugar and salt mixed up or put too much of some additive in it but whatever happened it was exceptionally bad and I spent the rest of the evening trying to decide if I should look for the ipecac or call a lawyer.  In the end, I did nothing and I was fine but I have pretty much decided to eat only my own food from now on.

I have finished Aunt Dimity's Good Deed  and, as with the other's I have read in this series, enjoyed it thoroughly.  In this "episode", if you will, we were introduced to the extended Willis family which builds on the previous two books.  While these books can be read alone, it is great fun reading them in order and learning how all the  people fit together without just going on a brief back story description.  I will be starting the next one, Aunt Dimity Digs In, tonight.

I have also just finished When the Light Goes by Larry McMurtry.  It is the sequel to Duane's Depressed.  It is just as funny and poignant and quite a bit shorter than the other books in the series and it was a quick read.  The book begins with Duane's return to Thalia from Egypt, only a two week span of time from the end of the previous book, but things have changed and not for the better.  He makes some major life decisions, has some major surgery, and starts his life over for the second time.  When I began the book, I figured that it would end with Duane's end but I was very wrong -- didn't see THAT one coming! Yep, not gonna tell you -- you will have to read it yourself.

I have also been working at reading a book entitled "Leaving the Saints" by Martha Beck.  I have had it on my shelf for a long, long time and I think I bought it because of a tv interview.  Well, I decided to give it a go and now I am going to give it a toss.  It is about a woman, the author, who is the daughter of a high ranking leader of the LDS church.  It chronicles her major health problems as well as her quest for some sort of spiritual understanding and peace.  The book started out a bit disturbing but when she started discussing flashbacks and describing the horrible abuse she was subjected to by her father from the age of 5 to 8, well, I was done.  The book is frank, graphic and horrific and I cannot continue to read it.  I am sorry, Martha, for what you went through and for your dysfunctional family and I really hope you regained your health and found peace but I will never know because I cannot read your book.  Had I known the contents of this book I would never have purchased it but it won't have a place in my personal library.  I am sorry.

And, on a sad note, the last remaining member of my dad's circle of friends has passed away, night before last.  I cannot remember a time when Jim Houston was not involved with our family. He was a character with a good heart and he will be missed. I was invited to his 90th birthday party but couldn't go so I sent him some chocolate covered strawberries and balloons and he put the balloons on his wheel chair! He apparently got a real kick out of them. As I told his daughter, as long as he was still around I felt like part of my dad was still around but now he is gone.  I told his grandson that I can just picture him and his wife and my folks sitting around catching up -- I am sure my dad was there to meet him on the other side -- him talking remote control airplanes while my dad doodled cartoons on a paper napkin.  Yep, that's what they are doing. Rest in peace, Big Guy.

4 October 2011

It is time for another Teaser Tuesdays.  My teaser is from Aunt Dimity's Good Deed by Nancy Atherton.

They say that three wishes are never enough, and maybe what they say is true.  There'd  been a time when, given a genie and a lamp, I'd have wished for nothing more than a job I didn't hate and a rent-controlled apartment in the part of Boston that reminded me of England, a country I'd loved since childhood.  My third wish -- the result, no doubt, of a dreary first marriage and an even drearier divorce -- would have been for a more or less stable relationship with a guy who wasn't a total creep, who would tell me the truth at least as often as he picked up his socks.

Musing Mondays  3 October 2011


The question of the day is -- What are you most excited about reading, right now?

I would have to say that I am most excited about reading the book I am currently working on.  It would be Aunt Dimity's Good Deed, the third in the Aunt Dimity series.  I have only just started this book but it had me hooked right away.  The first two books develop the back story of Lori and Emma and this book blends those two books to create the current environment.  It is just as charming, so far, as the first two and am sure it is going to be a completely engaging read.

Duane's Depressed by Larry McMurtry


I just finished reading Duane's Depressed by Larry McMurty and I have to say that I couldn't have enjoyed a book more.  In the first place, I love McMurtry and have read several of his works.  This book is the third in the series of The Last Picture Show.  In this book, Duane Moore is now sixty one years old and at a crossroads of his life.  He makes one monumental decision involving his pick-up truck and that decision leads to a chain of events that changes his, and others, lives forever.


Had I read this book ten years ago, or even five for that matter, I don't think I  would have identified with it quite like I have now.  So many things that Duane worked through are things that I have thought about myself.  McMurtry seems to have a great working knowledge of human nature so I suppose the situations that the main character had to work through are sort of universal but I still thought it to be very timely for me.  Also, it is amazing to see how one simple, personal decision by one individual can impact so many people in so many different ways.  The range of emotion expressed in this book is broad -- it is funny, it is poignant, it is straight up sad, hopeless yet hopeful and, in the end, peaceful.

It is a great book and I would recommend it, mostly to people of a similar age.

Tripping Back in Time -- Tonight!

I just love Netflix! It allows me the guilty pleasure of watching all my favorite old movies whenever I want!

I first learned about "Marjorie Morningstar" when JLSHall was reading the book when we were kids. Of course, where Joy went so went Melissa and I eventually read the book as well. Then, I managed to catch the movie during one Saturday afternoon matinee on television. I have never seen it again but I have acquired a copy of the book for my own library -- thank you Ebay. So, as I was making my queue for Netflix, I had to include this movie. It came up, it came in the mail and tonight I am going to just sit back and enjoy!

JLSHall -- you always did have good taste in books/movies -- thanks!

Booking Through Thursday

Ok, I recognize that it is no longer Thursday. I am slow, ok? Here goes.

"Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what is the difference between a book and a movie?"

Well, yes and no. Both books and movies are forms of entertainment so, in that regard, yes, I want to be entertained by both.

Both books and movies have the capability of being thought provoking, insightful, mood altering, shocking, and emotional.

Movies, however, are instant gratification and require very little "participation" from the watcher. They are relatively quick so there isn't much time to languish in the mood, scenery, language, etc. They can be very stimulating visually, obviously, and with today's movies that can be very powerful. I do think that movies based on books are generally lacking -- especially if you read the book first.

Books, on the other hand, are slower and the reader has the ability to linger over passages, re-read sections and visualize the characters and settings -- make his/her own "movie" in the mind, if you will. With books, the impact unfolds over the course of the read rather than have it "in your face" so to speak.

So, I would have to say that I want both to entertain me but my mood, available time, and situation would dictate which form would be more appropriate at certain times.

"The Amber Cat" by Hilary McKay

I have just finished my first book for the Young Readers Challenge. I chose "The Amber Cat" by Hilary McKay. My copy was obtained from a public library sale and still had the dust jacket which stated that the age group it was suitable for was 9 -12. I would have to say that I think it would be better enjoyed by the older of that group.

The book takes place in contemporary England and is a story within a story. The primary story is that of a women raising her son alone after the death of her husband. She and the son live in a large semi-detached house, the other half which is occupied by her husbands best friend and his family. The primary story is complete on its own. The secondary story takes the form of flashbacks but not just momentary flashbacks for the sake of clarification or plot progression, but rather a complete story on its own.

Both stories contain elements of mystery, ghosts, human fraility and understanding. Both stories are good works alone but the way the author blends them is very good. It would hold a child's interest, I think, but the child would have to read carefully in order to grasp the nuances throughout the book, therefore, I think it would be more suitable for an older reader.

My favorite character was Sun Dance -- he seemed to be an old soul. I could envision Kevin Corcoran (Moochi of Walt Disney fame) playing this role.

I won't give away the plot. It is simple and obvious to an adult but the way the web was woven was still charming and interesting.