Through Blogging for Books, I received a free download of “Wildflowers from Winter” to review.
In “Wildflowers from Winter”, Bethany Quinn returns to her home (which she vowed to leave behind forever) when her childhood friend’s husband dies. Bethany is uncomfortable with her mother, her friend, and her town. She hasn’t spoken to her friend in years. She relishes the time she spends with her grandfather, who owns a farm where she spent many happy childhood hours.
Evan Price is her grandfather’s farmhand, and her friend’s brother-in-law. Bethany and Evan clash from the start. Bethany is a high-powered city architect who is tough and seemingly careless. Evan is a hard-working farmer and a Christian. He’s somewhat disgusted by Bethany self-centeredness. Bethany is derisive of his faith. When a further tragedy and then a work crisis strike, Bethany is drawn to stay at home and begins to rebuild and rethink her life’s decisions.
I really enjoyed reading this book! At first I wasn’t sure if it was going to be a good fit for me as I thought I might find it predictable. I liked the story and character development. It was well-written. I also found the discussions of faith realistic.
I received the new No. 1 Ladies book for Mothers’ Day (and I’m seriously delinquent in posting about it!). This thirteenth addition to the series is just as enjoyable as its predecessors. This time Fanwell, the apprentice, is in trouble and Precious is determined to help him; Grace and Phuti are building a house, which has issues of its own; and Mma Potokwane has been mysteriously dismissed from her position at the orphanage. In addition, the very illustrious Clovis Andersen shows up and helps Precious and Grace with their work.
I recently signed up with “Blogging for Books” and this is the first book I’ve received to review. “Finding Our Way Home” tells the story of two women: Sasha Davis, a prima ballerina injured in a tragic accident, and Evelyn Burt, her kind-hearted but bumbling and very naive assistant. Both women are on a journey to self-discovery and healing, where they learn that God’s grace is what they need to get them through their troubles. This book is part of Ms. Baumbich’s “Snowglobe” series.
After Sasha Davis is seriously injured in a dancing accident, she leaves her dancer husband and returns to her childhood home in Wisconsin to begin the process of healing. Evelyn Burt, a larger than life nineteen-year-old, is hired as her personal assistant. Sasha is angry, bitter, and scared. Evelyn is newly engaged, naive, and enthusiastic. Her engagement, however, has strained her relationship with her parents. Both women are seeking to repair important relationships and find new freedoms. This story is their journey.
While I enjoyed reading this novel (which reminded me a bit of my beloved Mitford books), I did have some trouble keeping with it. I felt the pacing was slow and the characters were a bit unbelievable. Would Sasha really turn her back completely on her beloved husband who only wants to be there for her? Could Evelyn really be that incredibly naive? I found it stretched my imagination a bit too much. That said, I did enjoy the story and felt that Ms. Baumbich draws in God’s presence with a light touch that is simple yet very effective.
I loved, loved, loved this unique novel I picked up today at the library on the new releases shelf. Told in pictures and memorabilia from the 1920’s, Frances “Frankie” Pratt is a young woman newly graduated from high school in 1920 and planning the rest of her life. Her mother gives her a scrapbook for her high school graduation, and she finds her deceased father’s Corona typewriter in the barn (Frankie dreams of being a writer). What follows is an engaging look at a young girl becoming a woman in a time that now almost 100 years ago. Told entirely through Frankie’s scrapbook, we follow her from high school, to her first job, to her first fling, to college, to Europe, and beyond.
I really enjoyed this book! I read it in an afternoon.
Fitting in with my YA supernatural powers reading kick was this novel by first time author Sophie Littlefield. “Hanging by a Thread” is the suspense story of Clare Knight: new teen in town with the power to capture people’s emotions and memories from the clothes they wore. Clare has a gift for fashion and starts her own business designing and making over second-hand fashions. However, the town has a few dark secrets – such as what happened to Amanda Stavros, a teen who disappeared without a trace. Is Amanda dead? And if so, who killed her? When Clare discovers Amanda’s jacket in a bin of used clothes and starts getting emotions from it, she becomes determined to unravel the mystery – even if it means uncovering a murderer.
I really enjoyed this story, which was a quick read for me. The mystery was well-plotted and Clare was a likable character. It won’t release for a few months yet, but you can pre-order it on Amazon. I look forward to more from this author!
Thank you, Net Galley and Delacorte Books, for my copy to review!
I’ve been on a YA supernatural reading kick lately, and got this one from Net Galley last month.
“The Unquiet” is the story of Corinne – or Rinn – Jacobs, a teen who moves with her mom to a new town and new school and is looking to start over. Rinn has some serious mental health issues, and is relieved to make new friends who are accepting and understanding. Not only are these friends popular and fun to be with, the boy across the street is also amazingly cute and interested in her. All is going well until strange things start happening down a deserted hallway at school. The teens are convinced that a ghost is haunting them and Rinn decides that she will get to the bottom of all the happenings.
I really enjoyed this novel, which I would recommend for high school and up (due to mature themes). I also felt Garsee, who is a psychiatric nurse by day, did a sensitive and thoughtful job in writing of the complexities of teens on medication and of mental health.
In this story, the ghost is haunting a deserted pool area which is fenced off, but the students still pass through this dark and deserted walkway to get to class as they are not allowed to “cut through the gym”. I found this rather hard to believe until I read in the afterword that Garsee bases this story on a walkway she had in her own school as a little girl. It, too, had a disused and deserted part over to the side that totally creeped her out and stayed with her, lending itself to this ghost story now.
This book trailer – set to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata – might even be creepier than the novel!
Thanks, Net Galley and Bloomsbury USA, for my copy!
I grabbed this last week from the new release shelf at the library. I found the length – over 800 pages – completely daunting, but figured my love of King’s writing would see me through.
This tome follows the adventure of Jake Epping- single, high school English teacher- as he warps through time in an attempt to save the life of John F. Kennedy on that fateful day in Dallas.
Oh, how I love the concept of time travel! Ever since I was a little girl I have been fascinated with the construct of parallel worlds and moving between them through time and space. I always thought it seemed logical that if you could just go fast enough – and backwards – you could revisit something that had already taken place. Anyhow, when Jake’s dying friend Al shares his secret with him (there’s a “rabbit-hole time warp” in the basement of his diner), he entrusts Jake with the task of going back and changing history, presumably for the better.
This story brings up the question of the butterfly effect again and again, and the most basic questions: if you change one thing in the past, how does it affect the future and how can you know it will affect it for the better?
If you read me regularly, you know I’ve recently read The Hunger Games trilogy because: 1) I was possibly the only blogger who hadn’t, and 2) countless friends who hadn’t read it were asking me if they should let their children read it. With the movie opening last weekend, this series is EVERYWHERE right now. Full Disclosure: I haven’t seen the movie yet due to my odd personal need to avoid crowded movie theaters. I like to wait until the crowds have petered out, or watch at home. However, I heard on NPR that the movie was not graphically violent so that it could garner a PG-13 rating as opposed to R, which supposedly it would have been if it had been filmed as written. So parents, keep that in mind.
Here’s my opinion – and PLEASE know this is MY OPINION, your own may vary. The bottom line is: YOU, the parent, are the expert on your own child (and believe me – it really is okay to say “no” or “not yet” to reading it, even if everyone else is saying “yes”).
EVERY CHILD IS DIFFERENT. Ask yourself: is my child less than 13? Are they troubled by things they see on the news? Do they have nightmare easily? Then waiting to read these books is suggested. Believe me, they are not going anywhere. On the other hand, a parent friend asked me about her son reading them: 6th grader, interest in military history and military maneuvers, not easily scared or troubled, very “grounded” and mature, a good reader. I suggested she go ahead – and optimally read it with him (or at the same time as him) so that they could discuss it. Several of my friends have told me that if they had the times to read the Hunger Games themself, then they wouldn’t be asking me. If this is your situation, then may I suggest you read the very short (less than 4,000 word) story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson as a starter and ask yourself if your child could handle the themes and implications of it. Read it free online at:
This piece is conceptually similar to The Hunger Games, but Hunger Games is obviously longer, futuristic, and has graphic violence.
One of my points here is that reading Hunger Games, or any book for that matter, is more than a matter of reading level. It is more than getting through the pages. It is understanding the concepts behind the novel and being able to reflect on them. A well-written book can change the way you think about life. If your child reads this book at ten years old, will they glean as much from it as they would if they were fourteen or fifteen?
As for my thoughts on “Mockingjay”, while I found it sad and disturbing (similar to “Deathly Hallows”), it was very good and I enjoyed it. The story is continued and concluded with the rebels fighting the government with Katniss as their mockingjay. Peeta is recovered to them, but has been mentally “hijacked”. Katniss continues to fight for her family, while trying to decide just who it is she loves. It was a very satisfying conclusion to the series.
I got my copy from the Amazon Prime borrow-for-free program.
That’s the question at the heart of this novel, coming out in early June from Crown Publishers. I got my early galley from Net Galley and I’m so glad I did! I just loved this book and couldn’t put it down. In this novel, Kate “inherits” the journals of her close friend Elizabeth, who died in a plane crash shortly before the tragedy of 9/11. Elizabeth left behind a grieving husband and three young children. Kate is forced to re-examine her own marriage and family life as she examines Elizabeth’s through her writing. What was Elizabeth doing on that final trip alone? What secrets was she hiding? How well did any of them really know Elizabeth, her past, her wants and desires? How well do we ever truly know someone? Kate ponders these questions as she somewhat obsessively reads through Elizabeth’s life, from girlhood to her untimely end, all the while dealing with her own post 9/11 anxieties.
I really really enjoyed this novel. The writing is solid and the characters developed and easy to relate to. It felt a bit like a Jodi Picoult or Anita Shreve novel in that once I started, I was completely absorbed and couldn’t put it down! I am excited to read that Ms. Bernier lives in a nearby town, so my chances of hearing her speak in the future are pretty good. This is her first novel.
Thanks, Net Galley and Crown Publishers for my copy!
I got a preview copy of “At Season’s End” by Eric Hendershot through Net Galley. This story, releasing from Sweetwater Publishers in May, tells the story of the an itinerant family of farm workers, trying to survive during the Depression. Sal, a teen, and her brother Tim and their parents travel throughout the US, looking for work as fruit pickers. Sal and Tim befriend the children of other workers and Sal falls in love with a young boy whose life her father saves. However, tragedy strikes and Sal and Tim must use their wits to survive, while Sal worries that she’ll never see her beloved Ben again.
I really enjoyed reading this novel, which seems geared towards YA but is billed for “all ages”. The family at the heart of this story is so committed to each other. Their faith is obvious as well (this book has a strong Christian bent). What I found so interesting was how much they enjoyed their migratory existence and how they pretty much went from month to month, not always knowing where money would come from, yet happy nonetheless.
Hendershot’s resume lists several family-friendly books and movies, and I would consider this novel to be among his family-friendly works. It has an emphasis on strong morals and values, and, as noted, an emphasis on Christianity.
It will be coming out in May. Thank you to Net Galley for my copy!
Beth's Book-Nook Blog 