Saturday Snapshot: A Few More from NYC!

January 17, 2015January 14, 2015 / drbethnolan / 9 Comments

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to New York City for New Years:

The decorations are amazing at this time of year! Here are the kids standing by a random beautiful wreath!

Here’s the Empire State Building all lit up at night!

We always to go to Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral – here’s the kreche – almost lifesize – at St. Pat’s.

The Empire State Building had a whole lot of great displays for the holidays!

The infamous tree at Rockefeller Center!

Speaking of St. Pat’s — it has been under reconstruction for a while — looking good, but still a long way to go!

Decorations!

We love NYC!

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at westmetromommy.blogspot.com

Check her site for participation details!

Saturday Snapshot: New Years 2015 in NYC

January 3, 2015January 3, 2015 / drbethnolan / 13 Comments

This week we spent a few days in NYC. If you know me, you know we love NY and go several times a year.

As I am using my phone app for WordPress, I have to add all the pictures at the end of this post (or I delete them). Probably a glitch with me and not the program!!

First, here’s some shots from the Empire State Building. I hadn’t been up it since I was a little girl. We got the Express Pass and it was SO worth it – just like a fast pass at Disney! It was a beautifully clear!!

While we didn’t go to Times Square for the ball drop (too crowded and too crazy!), we did go the next day. The kids ended up on the Jumbotron! You can see them by Elmo in the red and blue coats.

We love the MET ( art museum) and belong there so it’s often a stop. The beautiful Christmas tree was up still.

Finally, my son who loves trains begged us to bring him to Grand Central Terminal so that he could see the trains. Pure joy!

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda of Westmetromommy.blogspot.com.
See her site for full participation details.

Three for Christmas — from the Ho Ho Ho Readathon

November 12, 2014April 22, 2019 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I had a great time reading and participating in the Ho Ho Ho Holiday Readathon this past week! I set a goal of three books for myself, and I easily reached it (I also finished two more to review and started a third – guess I had time to read!).

The first book I read was A NEW YORK CHRISTMAS by Anne Perry. In this novel (and apparently Anne Perry writes a Christmas novel every year) it is 1904 and Jemima Pitt has accompanied her friend Phinny to New York from England for Phinny’s marriage. Poor Phinny doesn’t have much family and her mother left her while she was quite young under what seems to be mysterious and unfavorable circumstances. Jemima is hardly there when a dead body shows up – Phinny’s long-lost mother – and Jemima appears to be the main suspect in her killing (though with little motive). Determined to prove her innocence, Jemima joins forces with local policeman Patrick Flannery to figure out who the real killer is.

This was a fun read – and very quick for me (a few hours – less than 200 pages). Call me stupid but I never could figure out exactly WHY the murder took place and what it served. It seemed to stir up a lot of trouble, that’s for sure.

This was my first Anne Perry book, but she has a legion of fans and several other Christmas stories.

Thanks, Net Galley, for my copy!

Next I read CHRISTMAS TRUCE by Aaron Shepard. This was a children’s picture book that I got a pdf of from Net Galley. It tells the story of the WWI Christmas truce in fighting between the front lines of British and German men. This was a beautiful (and true) tale, with lovely illustrations by Wendy Edelson. Great for a read aloud to children!

Finally, from Blogging for Books, I got The 13th Gift: A True Story of a Christmas Miracle by Joanne Huist Smith. I just loved this book. This author lost her husband unexpectedly in the fall of 1999. They had three children, aged 10 to 17. That Christmas was incredibly painful and difficult for them. This true story tells how some unknown “true friends” delivered to them small surprise gifts each day leading up to Christmas and, in essence, helped them to feel the spirit of Christmas again. Not only was this a heart-wrenching read, especially because the grief was so poignant on these pages, but it was so inspiring to read the end and how the whole 13 gifts tradition got started, why, and how. What a beautiful and inspiring story — truly a favorite Christmas read for me.

Review: I’ve Got You Under My Skin by Mary Higgins Clark

August 18, 2014 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I had missed the fact that Mary’s written another mystery lately, and I was surprised to see it out on the new release shelf at the library (usually there are about 300 people in the queue ahead of me for a MHC new release!). I read the book over last weekend, then had a thought: Am I saying the same thing about all these latest MHC mysteries? It feels like my gut reaction: “It was all right – rather far-fetched – not my favorite MHC” has been the same for the last several books. A quick glance through my blog showed me I was right: my theme of “it was okay, I like her older stuff better” runs throughout my reviews. And this is coming from someone who has read all of Mary’s adult books, including the Mount Vernon love story (which I enjoyed!).

This latest installment has two plot lines which intersect: a young doctor is shot and killed while playing in a NYC park with his 3-year-old son. The killer threatens to kill the little boy and his mother. The 3-year-old can only say: “Blue eyes killed my daddy!” (Time out for second — to anyone who’s read this story – is it just me, or do you picture the killer looking like Frank Sinatra “Old blue eyes killed my daddy!” Anyway, I digress…). Five years later the widow is making her living as a reality television show producer and pitches the idea of re-enactment of cold cases with the original people involved (not really a new idea, right?). She chooses the “Graduation Gala” murder: a socialite is suffocated during the night of a gala given at their estate for their daughter and her three close friends as they graduate from college. Basically, EVERYONE had a means and a motive for murdering this woman (who is revealed to be only one step better than a purely evil harridan). Will the killer strike again to protect his/her identity? Will old Blue Eyes surface and kill off the little kid and his mother? Will I be able to read until the end??

Sometimes I have to stop and say, “WHY do I read this stuff??” This book was not well-written (too many characters and way too much exposition by the characters to fill in back story; the chapters are very short and choppy and jump around; the premise is far-fetched; a few reveals at the end seemed to come out of left field, etc.); in fact, it almost seemed like the writing at the beginning and end was different from the writing in the middle (just my observation). But here’s the thing: I’ve read MHC since I was in high school. I loved her books and I just have these happy memories of finishing one after being up half the night reading and thinking, “Wow! That was great!” I keep hoping/wishing that I will rediscover the MHC of old. To be honest, I think I’m not alone in this. MHC has a legion of loyal fans. We know she can turn out a book that will keep up all night and keep us guessing until the final reveal. Unfortunately, this one wasn’t it for me.

So – going forward, I’m not sure I will read MHC’s latest. I may instead REread her older books (like “Where Are the Children?”). Or at the most, I will be sure it get it from the library.

PS – Did I miss something? Where did the title come from? Usually it’s from a song or something in the story. No clue. Please comment if you know.

Stop the presses — I just saw this book on Amazon. It is the first in a series? MHC will be co-authoring a series spinning off on the reality tv show idea and these characters. It comes out in November.

Review: GRAND CENTRAL: Original Stories of Postwar Love and Reunion

August 13, 2014April 27, 2019 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I purchased a kindle edition of GRAND CENTRAL when I saw that it was short stories by some of my favorite authors. The author list includes (a la Amazon):

Melanie Benjamin, New York Times bestselling author of The Aviator’s Wife

Jenna Blum, New York Times bestselling author of Those Who Save Us

Amanda Hodgkinson, New York Times bestselling author of 22 Britannia Road

Pam Jenoff, bestselling author of The Ambassador’s Daughter

Sarah Jio, New York Times bestselling author of Blackberry Winter

Sarah McCoy, New York Times bestselling author of The Baker’s Daughter

Kristina McMorris, New York Times bestselling author of The Pieces We Keep

Alyson Richman, bestselling author of The Lost Wife

Erika Robuck, bestselling author of Call Me Zelda

Karen White, New York Times bestselling author of The Time Between

Each story takes place in Grand Central Station in NYC just after WWII and happens on the same day. One thing I loved was the overlap of stories – characters in one story will see or hear characters from another story. Some of these stories I liked more than others. Some I felt left you hanging, which is never how I want to end a story. Most though, were interesting little microcosms of life at that time, my favorites being the first story and the last one!

One of the best things about short stories is that you can read them in a short period, so they are perfect for an office visit wait, a wait in the airport, etc. I chose to read one each night before bed.

You can see this book on Amazon where I got mine.

Review: BLOGGER GIRL by Meredith Schorr

August 7, 2014April 27, 2019 / drbethnolan / Leave a comment

I recently received a copy of BLOGGER GIRL to review from the publisher. This story is about a twenty-something legal secretary and book blogger, named Kim, who lives in NYC and spends a lot of time worrying about her blog, her hot co-worker, her clothes, and who she will sleep with next. Kim blogs reviews about “chick lit” (I term I admittedly don’t care for) and has a big following. Then her high school nemesis writes a book and asks her to review it. Kim is determined to hate it and trash it on her blog, but to her dismay, she ends up enjoying it and finding it well-written. What is an honest blogger to do?

This was a light and fun read. I wanted to see how Kim would end up – would she post an honest review? Would she end up with Nicholas? Would she ever grow up and be a bit less self-centered and immature? I enjoyed it, though I have to admit that I felt rather “old” reading this book. While I’m not old enough to be Kim’s mother, I felt like I could be. I grew a bit tired of her inner voice rambling on about her short stature and her large chest, what she should wear, how to attract Nicholas, etc etc. I also found it rather fascinating that Kim blogged regularly while at work, something her co-workers and boss not only knew about but seemed to respect – nice work if you can get it! When I was Kim’s age I was in a very different place in my life, so while it was entertaining, I couldn’t truly relate to Kim. Instead I wanted to make her do some community service for those less fortunate in the hopes that she would become less self-absorbed. What I could relate to, though, was Kim’s blogging life. Schorr does a good job in portraying the sometimes thankless but always busy life of a book blogger.

If you enjoy romantic comedy and twenty-something heroines who are still discovering themselves, you should pick up BLOGGER GIRL by Meredith Schorr!

Thank you for my review copy!

Saturday Snapshot: NYC – Times Square, Manhattenhenge, and more!

June 7, 2014June 3, 2014 / drbethnolan / 16 Comments

This past week I attended the Book Expo America publishing event in New York City. It was HUGE and very exciting since I’m a book blogger. During the week, it was “Manhattenhenge” — one of the two days all year that the setting sun lines up perfectly with the street grid in Manhatten. Of course, the exact day of Manhattenhenge, there was cloud cover, so my picture looked like nothing much. However, two days later, it was pretty nice out and I caught this attempt:

Not the greatest, but it gives you some idea of the event.

At the time we were eating at our fave place for our family: Junior’s on Broadway. Here is a shot of my son’s grilled cheese (New York style):

Seriously, that was one great grilled cheese!!

Times Square is one of those places that you can hardly grow tired of, so I took a few shots:

I love to look at my NY pictures and think: who ARE all those people??

And of course there’s Rockefeller Center:

All in all, it was a great conference and a fun day in the city with my family when they came to pick me up! 🙂

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda of http://www.westmetromommy.blogspot.com. Check her site for info on participating!

Book Expo America 2014

May 31, 2014 / drbethnolan / 2 Comments

This week I’ve been in NYC to attend Book Expo America (BEA) and the Bloggers’ Con. Today is the last day of events, so soon I will have a full report on what I did, who I saw, and what great books I got.

Just a few highlights:

Four days in NYC – one of my favorite places!
Meeting lots of new blogging friends and seeing “old timers”!
Interesting sessions!
Networking!
Exhibits – Exhibits – Exhibits!
Lots of FREE books that I will be reading and reviewing and also maybe holding a few giveaways! (I managed to meet the authors of and get signed copies of both “Convergence” and “We Were Liars” – major squee! – sorry, but I have to keep those)
Wonderful authors that I got to meet in person!
Theater friends take note: Author Breakfast hosted by Neil Patrick Harris!! (that warrants two exclamation points)
Timing that coincided with “Manhattenhenge”!
All in all, a great few days!

Look to this space in the near future to see what I learned and what I came home with this year.

Also I had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with Marybeth Zeman, author of TALES OF A JAILHOUSE LIBRARIAN, which I finished shortly before leaving for NYC. I’ll be reviewing her book and writing about our chat together.

Nothing like a few days away to rejuvenate this blogger!

Saturday Snapshot: Three More of NYC

January 18, 2014January 17, 2014 / drbethnolan / 6 Comments

Here are a couple more pictures from NYC.

In this one Jack has climbed a big rock hill in Central Park. (Shortly after this picture, his sister tried to join him, but tumbled down instead!).

Notice he’s eating that most New York of treats: the soft pretzel from a lunch cart!

Next the kids watched others ice skating on the pond on Central Park West:

Mean Mom and Dad would not rent them skates or skate with them (mainly because none of us have ice skated and it was quite crowded!).

Then the next morning I ran down to NBC Studios as I’ve always wanted to be on the Today Show in the background. Alas – the weekend hours were different and they were already gone:

I pictured a cute pic of me and Al Roper standing around chatting about the weather – but unfortunately, you get a dark stage set with drizzle. Maybe next year!!

Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Melinda at http://www.westmetromommy.blogspot.com. See her site for participation and linking!

Review: ORPHAN TRAIN by Christina Baker Kline

October 25, 2013June 26, 2019 / drbethnolan / 1 Comment

During a recent one day sale on Amazon, I bought ORPHAN TRAIN for only a few dollars for my Kindle. I have read other books about the real orphan trains: trains full of NYC street urchins that brought them to the Midwest for “adoption” and a new life in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.

In ORPHAN TRAIN, the story flips between current day foster kid, Molly, who is doing community service at an elderly woman’s house, and the Irish immigrant girl Niamh, whose family perishes in a fire in the late 1920’s. Molly is part Native American and while not an orphan (her mother is alive), she is in the foster care system and has moved about many times. She is almost eighteen and hopes to stay out of trouble until then. Unfortunately, she chooses to steal a copy of “Jane Eyre” from the library and has to do community service to make up for her theft. The elderly woman she works for (they are cleaning her attic) is named Vivian. She is a wealthy widow and she tells Molly the stories behind the items in her attic. Vivian is really Niamh, though – a young Irish girl who leaves NYC after her family supposedly all dies in a tenement fire. Niamh’s tenacity to survive and her integrity to be the best she can be given her circumstances is mirrored in modern day Molly. Over time the two stories connect and we see how each character has become who she is at the end.

I loved reading this story. I always find historical fiction interesting, and Niamh’s story held my attention. My only dislike in the book was the character of Molly’s foster mother, whom I found to be almost a caricature. Also the ending wrapped up quickly and neatly – I would have loved to follow Niamh’s earlier life a bit longer.

In all, I’d recommend it if you like to read about this period in history.

Never heard of the orphan trains? Check out the PBS documentary (or see the references on their page) at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/orphan/