It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

13 May 2013 23 Comments

The Its Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at Book Journey.

Life…

Ugh, I have been horribly sick this past week, I spent a few days in bed feeling revolting, barely able to move everything was aching so much and would have stayed there longer if I could except it was my oldest son’s 9th birthday during the week so I had to suck it up to host a family dinner, and then his birthday party for his friends on Saturday. And yesterday was Mother’s Day, I slept til noon, spent a hour reading the papers, rang my mother to wish her a happy day and then thought I better make an attempt to catch up on all the work I had let slide during the week. Not only the housework suffered but also the blog as though I had more time to read, when I wasn’t sleeping, I didn’t have the energy to sit at the computer and write reviews.

A mother’s work is never done!

The cake I made for Makyah’s birthday party – his favourite book series is Zac Power

What I Read Last Week

The Yearning by Kate Belle

Dead Man’s Deal (The Asylum Tales #2) by Jocelynn Drake

Wedding Night by Sophie Kinsella

Austenland by Shannon Hale

Witch Fire (Burn Mark #2) by Laura Powell

Wong Way To Marry by CA Poulter

Anthem for Jackson Dawes by Celia Bryce

New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

AWW Feature & Giveaway: Kate Belle and The Yearning

Review & Giveaway: The Yearning by Kate Belle ★★★★1/2

What I Am Reading Today

Evie and Nicole Glass share a last name. They also shared a husband. When a tragic car accident ends the life of Richard Glass, it also upends the lives of Evie and Nicole, and their children. There’s no love lost between the widow and the ex. In fact, Evie sees a silver lining in all this heartache—the chance to rid herself of Nicole once and for all. But Evie wasn’t counting on her children’s bond with their baby half-brother, and she wasn’t counting on Nicole’s desperate need to hang on to the threads of family, no matter how frayed. Strapped for cash, Evie cautiously agrees to share living expenses—and her home—with Nicole and the baby. But when Evie suspects that Nicole is determined to rearrange more than her kitchen, Evie must decide who she can trust. More than that, she must ask: what makes a family?

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

Welcome to Whitetail, Wisconsin, future home of Weddings that WOW! As acting mayor, Annika will do anything to revive the economy of the town that’s been her refuge ever since her art career imploded and her fiancé walked out. Even if it means crashing an engagement party to talk business with the bride’s billionaire father. But the evening starts with a kiss from a gorgeous stranger—and ends with a night in jail. Finn Callahan can’t believe his sister is getting married, not after their parents’ disastrous track record. And he’d rather be anywhere than working from his family’s vacation home. Until he catches a leggy blonde sneaking in the window, and suddenly telecommuting for the season is very appealing.
Unable to resist their mutual attraction, Annika and Finn are soon mixing business and pleasure—just for the summer. Too bad Annika’s heart missed the memo about not falling in love…

Kirsty Mitchell is ready to come home. After a tragic accident that left her scarred, she fled overseas. Now, three years later, she’s finally returning to Flame Tree Hill, her beloved family farm. But at twenty-five Kirsty isn’t prepared for the terrifying new challenge ahead: breast cancer.Kirsty’s never been a quitter and that’s not about to change. But can her budding romance with local vet Aden bear the strain? As she battles with chemotherapy and as her past threatens to overwhelm her, Kirsty realises you can never take anything – or anyone – for granted. Drawing strength from her family and the beauty of Far North Queensland, Kirsty finally understands what
she must do.

So, then. You want a story and I will tell you one…Afghanistan, 1952. Abdullah and his sister Pari live with their father and stepmother in the small village of Shadbagh. Their father, Saboor, is constantly in search of work and they struggle together through poverty and brutal winters. To Adbullah, Pari, as beautiful and sweet-natured as the fairy for which she was named, is everything. More like a parent than a brother, Abdullah will do anything for her, even trading his only pair of shoes for a feather for her treasured collection. Each night they sleep together in their cot, their skulls touching, their limbs tangled. One day the siblings journey across the desert to Kabul with their father. Pari and Abdullah have no sense of the fate that awaits them there, for the event which unfolds will tear their lives apart; sometimes a finger must be cut to save the hand. Crossing generations and continents, moving from Kabul, to Paris, to San Francisco, to the Greek island of Tinos, with profound wisdom, depth, insight and compassion, Khaled Hosseini writes about the bonds that define us and shape our lives, the ways that we help our loved ones in need, how the choices we make resonate through history, and how we are often surprised by the people closest to us

Her lineage is both a blessing and a curse… There is no mercy in the demon realm. No escape. In this place of desperation and conflict, anyone who is not pure bred is virtually powerless. Until an unlikely champion is born…

While you are here…

Congratulations to:

Winner of Peace, Love and Khaki Socks. Emma

Enter to Win The Yearning by Kate Belle. Closes May 19th

Thanks for stopping by, I’ll be along to visit you shortly!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

06 May 2013 17 Comments

by shelleyrae @ Book'd Out in Memes

The Its Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at Book Journey.

Life…

Yesterday my sons, who both play Auskick (a modified version of AFL) were lucky enough to be part of the teams chosen to play at half time at the SCG during the Sydney Swans vs Brisbane Lions game. My father – a huge AFL fan took them to the game and they had a wonderful time. I was hoping to spot them on the TV coverage but was disappointed as they didn’t show the Auskick teams even once

It’s the first Monday of the month so time update my challenge progress.

The Eclectic Reader Challenge 3/12

Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 46/50

Aussie Author Challenge 5/12

Monthly Keyword Challenge 4/12

What I Read Last Week

The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa

Into My Arms by Kylie Ladd

Taking A Chance by Deborah Burrows

The Rules of Conception by Angela Lawrence

Heartland by Cathryn Hein

New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Review: Antidote to Murder by Felicity Young ★★★★

Review: Oath Bound by Rachel Vincent ★★★★

Review: The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa ★★★

Review: Into My Arms by Kylie Ladd ★★★★

Review: Taking a Chance by Deborah Burrows

Stuff on Sundays: Thought of the day…

What I Am Reading Today

“I want to reveal myself to you… I need your eyes to see, your hands to touch, your spirit to acknowledge that which I hold most deeply and secretly in my heart. My yearning for you.” It’s 1978 in a country town and a dreamy fifteen year old girl’s world is turned upside down by the arrival of the substitute English teacher. Solomon Andrews is beautiful, inspiring and she wants him like nothing else she’s wanted in her short life. Charismatic and unconventional, Solomon easily wins the hearts and minds of his third form English class. He notices the attention of one girl, his new neighbour, who has taken to watching him from her upstairs window. He assumes it a harmless teenage crush, until erotic love notes begin to arrive in his letterbox. Solomon knows he must resist, but her sensual words stir him. He has longings of his own, although they have nothing to do with love, or so he believes. One afternoon, as he stands reading her latest offering in his driveway, she turns up unannounced. Each must make a choice, the consequences of which will haunt them until they meet again twenty years later.

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

Lottie is tired of long-term boyfriends who don’t want to commit to marriage. When her old boyfriend Ben reappears and reminds her of their pact to get married if they were both still single at thirty, she jumps at the chance. There will be no dates and no engagement-just a straight wedding march to the altar! Next comes the honeymoon on the Greek island where they first met. But not everyone is thrilled with Lottie and Ben’s rushed marriage, and family and friends are determined to intervene. Will Lottie and Ben have a wedding night to remember . or one to forget?

The dark and dangerous follow-up that continues the adventures of a magical tattoo artist begun in Angel’s Ink In a world where elves, faeries, trolls, werewolves, and vampires swim free in a sea of humanity, sometimes you need an edge. Looking for a little love? Need some luck? Desperate for revenge? Gage can give you what you need. The most talented tattoo artist in town, he knows the right symbol and the right mix of ingredients and ink to achieve your heart’s desire. One tattoo is all it takes. But remember, everything has its price. . . . Gage learned that lesson long ago, in ways he’d rather not remember. But the cruel and powerful wizards in the dreaded Ivory Towers he escaped aren’t about to let him forget. Though Gage has managed to stay out of sight, he can’t outrun the past forever. The wizards know Gage is using forbidden magic, and they intend to punish him for his transgressions. Too bad if innocent humans and monsters-entire cities-get in the way. They will quell a nascent magical uprising and Gage will be the sacrifice they need. First, though, they have to find him . .

Jane is a young New York woman who can never seem to find the right man-perhaps because of her secret obsession with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in the BBC adaptation of “Pride and Predjudice.” When a wealthy relative bequeaths her a trip to an English resort catering to Austen-obsessed women, however, Jane’s fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman suddenly become more real than she ever could have imagined. Is this total immersion in a fake Austenland enough to make Jane kick the Austen obsession for good, or could all her dreams actually culminate in a Mr. Darcy of her own?

Lucas and Glory are hard at work in WICA (Witchkind Intelligence and Covert Affairs). As part of their training, they learn more about the witch-terrorist organization Endor. It is believed that Endor has infiltrated a boarding school for young witches in Switzerland, so WICA sends their two youngest agents—Lucas and Glory—to the school undercover. There, they learn more about an experimental brain implant that blocks the power of the fae. It’s a dangerous procedure . . . more so than they could ever have imagined.

While you are here…

Congratulations to:

Winner Ask Me To Stay by Elise K Ackers: Annette

Winners of Out of the Silence by Wendy James: Amy and Kimberly

Winners of The Grand Adventures of Madeleine Cain by Emily Craven: Claire and Anne

Winner of The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway: Michael

Enter to Win Peace, Love and Khaki Socks. Australian readers only. Closes May 10th

Thanks for stopping by, I’ll be along to visit you shortly!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

29 Apr 2013 38 Comments

by shelleyrae @ Book'd Out in Memes

The Its Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at Book Journey.

Life…

Another busy week trying to keep the kids amused, they go back to school this coming Wednesday (hooray!)

I was very proud to watch my children march in the ANZAC Day parade on Thursday. They marched with their Scout troop and Aleah wore her grandfather’s medals.

What I Read Last Week

Dark Horse by Honey Brown

Peace Love and Khaki Socks by Kim Lock

Redstone Station by Therese Creed

Antidote to Murder by Felicity Young

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Review: Undertaking Love by Kat French ★★★

Review & Giveaway: The Grand Adventures of Madeleine Cain by Emily Craven ★★★1/2

Review: Dark Horse by Honey Brown ★★★★★

Review & Giveaway: The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway ★★★★

Review & Giveaway: Peace, Love and Khaki Socks by Kim Lock ★★★1/2

Review: Redstone Station by Therese Creed ★★1/2

Review: With All My Love by Patricia Scanlan ★★★1/2

What I Am Reading Today

In Allison Sekemoto’s world, there is one one rule left: Blood Calls to blood. Cast out of Eden and separated from the boy she dared to love, Allie will follow the call of blood to save her creator, Kanin, from the psychotic vampire, Sarren. But when the trail leads to Allie’s birthplace in New Covington, what she finds there will the change the world forever – and possibly end human and vampire existence. There’s a new plague on the rise, a strain of the Red Lung virus that wiped out most of humanity generations ago – deadly to humans and vampires alike. The only hope for a cure lies in the secrets Kanin carries. If Allie can get to him in time…

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

When Callie Reynolds arrives at Glenmore, the property she’s recently inherited, the last thing she wants is to be saddled with a warty horse, an injured neighbour and a mad goose. Haunted by her sister’s death and her fractured family, all she wants is freedom. But Callie hasn’t counted on falling for Matt Hawkins, an ex-soldier determined to fulfil his own dream of land and family. Nor could she predict the way the land, animals and people of Glenmore will capture her heart. Callie is faced with impossible choices. But she must find the courage to decide where her future lies, even if it costs her everything she holds dear.

When Skye meets Ben their attraction is instantaneous and intense. Niether of them has ever felt more in synch – or in love – with anyone in their lives. What happens next will tear them both apart. Into My Arms is a searing love story and a gripping family drama – a shocking, haunting novel in the tradition of Jodi Picoult and Caroline Overington. The kiss ignited something, blew it into being, and afterwards, all Skye could think about was Ben. One day a woman meets a man and falls instantly and irrevocably in love with him. It hits her like a thunderbolt, and she has to have him, has to be with him, regardless of the cost, of the pain of breaking up her existing relationship. She has never felt more in synch-or in love-with anyone in her whole life. So this is how it feels, she thinks to herself, this is what real love feels like. It’s like that for him too; he wants her in a way he’s never wanted anything or anyone before: obsessively, passionately, all-consumingly. She has found her one true love, her soulmate, and he has found his. What happens next will tear them apart and unleash havoc onto their worlds.

Rachel Richards is ready to be a mother. She’s got a great job, a good income, a beautiful inner-cityapartment, and a great group of supportive friends. All she needs is a father. But go-getter Rachel won’t let a little thing like that get in the way of her dreams. After investigating different options to become pregnant, co-parenting, adoption and anonymous sperm donors, Rachel finally settles on a method of conception – using a known donor. Making the decision to choose the biological father for her child, Rachel picks Digby. The single, softly-spoken Canadian with a complicated family background wants to have children, but not have a child. After a few attempts, Rachel is able to conceive and begins to dream about the kind of life she will create for her and her child. But the well-established foundation for her dream soon begins to develop cracks. Lyndall, her nightmare boss, is becoming even more obsessed with ruining Rachel’s career, a desirable, but undeniably married, colleague is beginning to show inappropriate interest and the stress of her impending new life is starting to take its toll on Rachel’s health. Now Rachel is beginning to question if she should have followed the rules of conception after all…

This historical romance/crime is set in Perth during the Second World War. Nell is an Australian journo, and quite the fashionable lady, and Johnny is a captain with the American Press Corps who has a bit of a shady romantic past. Johnny’s ex-lover, Lena Mitrovic, has been convicted of the murder of caddish artist Rick Henzell. Convinced of Lena’s innocence, Johnny ropes Nell in to help him find the truth. During their investigation, they uncover a seedy and unsavoury side to wartime Perth. British, Australian and American servicemen are in the city looking to have a good time and many of the local girls are seeking excitement and romance. What they find is less wholesome. Some of these young girls fall into prostitution and become “Lost Girls”. Nell hopes to improve conditions for these Lost Girls and for the women in Fremantle Gaol. Johnny hopes to find the true killer of Rick Henzell. The chemistry between the two main characters is immediate. They are both attractive, witty, sassy and willing to throw themselves into the fray. But Nell is “engaged” to an Australian lawyer and suspicious of Johnny’s reputation. As well she might be..

While you are here…

Enter to win Out of the Silence by Wendy James. Open worldwide. Closes April 30th

Enter to win The Grand Adventures of Madeleine Cain. Open worlwide. Closes May 5th

Enter to win The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway. Open worldwide. Closes May 5th

Enter to Win Peace, Love and Khaki Socks. Australian readers only. Closes May 10th

Last chance to vote for me! Voting closes April 30th, click the image below.

Thanks for stopping by, I’ll be along to visit you shortly!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

22 Apr 2013 32 Comments

by shelleyrae @ Book'd Out in Memes

The Its Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at Book Journey.

Life…

School holidays is keeping me busy in a vain attempt to keep the children busy doing something other than fighting, breaking things or destroying my sanity. So far I have not been entirely successful. This week we have plans for a day at the local swimming center, biscuit making and the children will be taking part in the ANZAC march on Thursday.

Bookish thought for today: Want some of these…

What I Read Last Week

Five Days by Douglas Kennedy

Undertaking Love by Kat French

The Grand Adventures of Madeleine Cain: Photographer Extraordinaire by Emily Craven

Ghost Money by Andrew Nette

The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway

New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Review: The Railwayman’s Wife by Ashley Hay ★★★

Review: Ask Me To Stay by Elise K Ackers ★★★

**AWW Feature & Giveaway: Elise K Ackers**

Review & Giveaway: Out of the Silence by Wendy James ★★★★

Blog Tour: From the Kitchen of Half Truth by Maria Goodin ★★★★

Review: Roll With It by Nick Place ★★★★

Review: Five Days by Douglas Kennedy ★★★

Stuff on Sunday: Bookshelf Bounty

Review: Ghost Money by Andrew Nette ★★★

What I Am Reading Today

It’s Christmas morning on the edge of the rugged Mortimer Ranges. Sarah Barnard saddles Tansy, her black mare. She is heading for the bush, escaping the reality of her broken marriage and her bankrupted trail-riding business. Sarah seeks solace in the ranges. When a flash flood traps her on Devil Mountain, she heads to higher ground, taking shelter in Hangman’s Hut. She settles in to wait out Christmas. A man, a lone bushwalker, arrives. Heath is charming, capable, handsome. But his story doesn’t ring true. Why is he deep in the wilderness without any gear? Where is his vehicle? What’s driving his resistance towards rescue? The closer they become the more her suspicions grow. But to get off Devil Mountain alive, Sarah must engage in this secretive stranger’s dangerous game of intimacy

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

One sultry October morning in Darwin, hemp-wearing army wife Amy Silva grips a trembling fist around two pink lines on a plastic stick. Struggling to come to terms with her rampant fertility, disillusioned with a haughty obstetrician, and infuriated by an inordinate amount of peeing, Amy finds solace in a decision to homebirth. After all, it worked for the cavewomen, right? But as a tropical cyclone threatens to whip down the main street, Amy finds herself facing more than biology. Peace, Love and Khaki Socks explores what it is to be a woman, an expectant mother, a lover and a friend in a patriarchy. Sometimes horrifying, sometimes hilarious and always honest, this unforgettable story is one woman’s struggle to turn the ordinary into something extraordinary.

Anna Day is happy to be returning home to Redstone Station after two years at Agriculture College. During various placements at farms and stations during her time at college she was shocked at the second-class status of women workers, whereas her grandfather, Sam, who owns Redstone, has always treated her as an equal. For his part, Sam is delighted to have his granddaughter back on board. In shaping Anna he tried to avoid the mistakes he’d made with her mother, Lara, and she has lived up to his high expectations, graduating from Ag College with flying colours. He now sees Anna as his last chance to preserve his beloved station and successfully take it into the future. Exceptionally hard-working, with great horsemanship, an instinctive understanding of animals and a natural aptitude for farming, Anna is determined to justify her grandfather’s faith in her. But will her budding regard for one of the stockmen throw her, and the future of Redstone, off track?

When an act of compassion misfires, autopsy surgeon Dr Dody McCleland must fight not only for her career, but also for her life. The body of a scullery maid is discovered in her room. When it emerges that she had recently begged Dody to terminate an unwanted pregnancy, the coroner recommends Dody be tried for criminal abortion causing death. Meanwhile, the one man who might be able to help her, Chief Inspector Matthew Pike, is nowhere to be found. After another woman′s body is discovered bearing all the hallmarks of the same crime, Dody suspects that a rogue doctor is on the loose. Amid the turbulence of Edwardian London with its mix of strikes, suffragettes, German spies, exotic dancers and an illicit drug trade, Dody must unmask the killer before more girls are butchered and her own life ends on the gallows

While you are here…

Enter to win Ask Me To Stay by Elise Ackers. Open worldwide.

Enter to win Out of the Silence by Wendy James. Open worldwide

Voting closes April 30th, click the image below to vote for me!

Thanks for stopping by, I’ll be along to visit you shortly!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

15 Apr 2013 44 Comments

by shelleyrae @ Book'd Out in Memes

The Its Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at Book Journey.

Life…

It’s been a busy week and today is the start of school holidays for my children which means I will be even busier trying to keep them entertained 24/7 for the next two weeks.

Yesterday was my 40th birthday and though I had been dreading it a little (okay a lot!), I ending up having a fabulous day. My parents surprised me by inviting my friends to the family luncheon, and even though there were no books (LOL no surprise there) I was delighted to receive some really thoughtful gifts and an iPad and various accessories from my family. Not to mention my mother had this fabulous cake made for me.

To all those who have wished me a happy birthday here on the blog and on Facebook and Twitter – thank you very much, each one is very much appreciated!

What I Read Last Week

The Railway Man’s Wife by Ashley Hay

The Mothers by Jennifer Gilmore

The Best Of Us by Sarah Pekkanen

Out of the Silence by Wendy James

Ask Me To Stay by Elise A Ackers

Oath Bound by Rachael Vincent

New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Review: Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCrieght ★★★★

Review: Follow Her Home by Steph Cha ★★★

Review: The Mothers by Jennifer Gilmore ★★★1/2

Review: The Best of Us by Sarah Pekkanen ★★★

Stuff On Sunday: Happy Birthday To Me!

What I Am Reading Today

Sandra Long has a good life. She has interesting work, in the radiology unit of a coastal Maine hospital. She is absolutely devoted to her two children, now in college, and her husband Dan is by no means a bad man. But just having entered her forty-second year, and with little ‘spark’ left in her marriage, she does privately wonder: is this all there is to life? When she is asked to represent her hospital at a convention just outside Boston, Sandra sees it as a welcome respite from domestic routine. But when she meets Richard Deacon, another ordinary person with a settled domestic life, she is surprised to find herself strongly attracted to him. As they spend more time together, Sandra suspects the attraction is very mutual, though she also senses that Richard, too, is both unsettled and captivated by this unexpected growing romantic involvement. For both of them, this is a moment of vast danger and possibility. Neither Sandra nor Richard have ever encountered such unbridled passion before, let alone the sense of shared connection. But can they walk away from all the accumulated responsibilities they have in their respective lives and gamble on the possibility of shared happiness?

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

The moment love-phobic Marla Jacobs discovers that the shop next to her Little White Wedding Chapel is to become a funeral parlour, she declares all-out war. Marla’s chapel in the sleepy Shropshire countryside has become a nation-wide sensation, but the arrival of Funeral Director Gabriel Ryan threatens everything Marla has worked for. She can picture the scene: wedding limos fighting for space in the street with hearses; brides bumping into widows; bouquets being swapped for wreaths Marla’s not going down without a fight. She enlists a motley crew of weird and wonderful local supporters, and the battle lines are drawn. But, as soon as Marla meets her nemesis, she realises just how much trouble she’s really in. His gypsy curls and Irish lilt make her stomach fizz – how is she supposed to concentrate on destroying him, when half the time she’s struggling not to rip the shirt off his back?

Newsfeed [Share your thoughts] Madeline Cain Photographer Extraordinaire: Put this on your status if you know someone (or are related to someone) who has been eaten by dragons. Dragons are nearly unstoppable and in case you didn’t know, they can breathe fire. 93% of people won’t copy and paste this, because they have already been eaten by dragons. The other 7% are sitting in the shower armed with fire extinguishers. —Posted 15 hours ago [Comment . Like]
Madeline has achieved her dream, acceptance into world famous photographer, Jason I’Anson’s, exclusive college in New York. Like many people of her generation who travel overseas, she turns to Facebook as a medium to pass on news and keep in touch with her family and friends. But her move from the sleepy Australian town of Adelaide to New York City doesn’t exactly turn out as she expected. From her first meeting with her chain smoking, club crazy house mate and his superhero Mexican Chameleon, Duncan (who can move from one side of the room to the other in a blink of eye), she knew she was in for an interesting time. Add an umbrella rigged by her brother to yell abuse at surrounding pedestrians when it rains, pizza deliveries to porn sets and being pulled in by the FBI for questioning after an explorative stint into spy photography, and things move from the interesting to the ridiculous. Egged on by her Australian Facebook friends, Kathy the hypochondriac and Tim, who has a strange sexual affinity for electrical appliances, Madeline tries to find her feet in the big city. But this may be harder for her to achieve than first thought, after she accidentally blackmails a famous model cheating on her boyfriend. In a world of status updates, blogs and photographic file sharing, where everyone who adds you can follow your every move, how the hell is Madeline supposed to get out of the hole she found herself in?

“You are now a member of the Guild. There is no return.” Two hundred years after he was about to die on a Napoleonic battlefield, Nick Falcott, soldier and aristocrat, wakes up in a hospital bed in modern London. The Guild, an entity that controls time travel, showers him with life’s advantages. But Nick yearns for home and for one brown-eyed girl, lost now down the centuries. Then the Guild asks him to break its own rule. It needs Nick to go back to 1815 to fight the Guild’s enemies and to find something called the Talisman. In 1815, Julia Percy mourns the death of her beloved grandfather, an earl who could play with time. On his deathbed he whispers in her ear: “Pretend!” Pretend what? When Nick returns home as if from the dead, older than he should be and battle scarred, Julia begins to suspect that her very life depends upon the secrets Grandfather never told her. Soon enough Julia and Nick are caught up in an adventure that stretches up and down the river of time. As their knowledge of the Guild and their feelings for each other grow, the fate of the future itself is hanging in the balance.

Max Quinlan is an Australian ex-cop turned PI whose latest case is to find missing business Charles Avery. The trail leads to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. Along the way Max will team up with an Australian journalist and his Cambodian translator to track Avery through the underbelly of the city and beyond.

While you are here…

Congratulations to the winners of Sweet Damage

Nat H, Rochelle S and Elizabeth L

Voting closes April 30th, click the image below to vote for me!

Thanks for stopping by, I’ll be along to visit you shortly!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

08 Apr 2013 22 Comments

by shelleyrae @ Book'd Out in Memes

The Its Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at Book Journey.

Life…

So yesterday I was supposed to be at the Newcastle Writer’s Festival for which I excitedly bought tickets a month ago but plans went awry due to an unexpected family commitment. I’m very disappointed I missed out

On a brighter note I enjoyed a fabulous evening out with my girl friends for an early celebration of my (gulp) 40th birthday (on the 14th). We had dinner at a local Italian restaurant before heading to a local club for cake, a few (too many) drinks, loud music and dancing.

What I Read Last Week

The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty

From Midnight to Guntown by John Hailman

Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight

Follow Her Home by Stephen Chua

Roll With It by Nick Place

New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Review: Saving Grace by Fiona Mccallum ★★

Review & Giveaway: Sweet Damage by Rebecca James ★★★★1/2

AWW Feature: Q&A with Rebecca James

Review: From Midnight to Guntown by John Hailman ★★★

Review: The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty ★★★★★

Hanging Out with Jenn McLeod

Review: Fractured by Dawn Barker ★★★★1/2

Stuff On Sundays: And I Quote…

Review: The Town That Drowned by Riel Nason ★★★

What I Am Reading Today

In a small town on the land’s edge, in the strange space at a war’s end, a widow, a poet and a doctor each try to find their own peace, and their own new story. In Thirroul, in 1948, people chase their dreams through the books in the railway’s library. Anikka Lachlan searches for solace after her life is destroyed by a single random act. Roy McKinnon, who found poetry in the mess of war, has lost his words and his hope. Frank McKinnon is trapped by the guilt of those his treatment and care failed on their first day of freedom. All three struggle with the same question: how now to be alive. Written in clear, shining prose and with an eloquent understanding of the human heart, The Railwayman’s Wife explores the power of beginnings and endings, and how hard it can be sometimes to tell them apart. It’s a story of life, loss and what comes after; of connection and separation, longing and acceptance. Most of all, it celebrates love in all its forms, and the beauty of discovering that loving someone can be as extraordinary as being loved yourself.

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

Jesse and Ramon are a loving couple, but after years spent unsuccessfully trying to get pregnant, they turn to adoption, relieved to think that once they navigate the bureaucratic path to parent-hood they will have a happy ending. But nothing has prepared them for the labyrinthine process—for the many training sessions and approvals; for the constant advice from friends, strangers, and “experts”; for the birthmothers who contact them but don’t ultimately choose them; or even, most shockingly, for the women who call claiming they’ve chosen Jesse and Ramon but who turn out never to have been pregnant in the first place.

Following a once-in-a-lifetime invitation, a group of old college friends leap at the chance to bring their husbands for a week’s vacation at a private villa in Jamaica to celebrate a former classmates’ thirty-fifth birthday All four women are desperate for a break and this seems like a perfect opportunity. Tina is drowning under the demands of mothering four young children. Allie needs to escape from the shattering news about an illness that runs in her family. Savannah is carrying the secret of her husband’s infidelity. And, finally, there’s Pauline, who spares no expense to throw her husband an unforgettable birthday celebration, hoping it will gloss over the cracks that have already formed in their new marriage. The week begins idyllically, filled with languorous days and late nights of drinking and laughter. But as a hurricane approaches the island, turmoil builds, forcing each woman to re-evaluate everything she’s known about the others—and herself.

Out of the Silence is a stunning debut novel about three women from very different worlds: Maggie Heffernan, a spirited working-class country girl; Elizabeth Hamilton, whose own disappointment in love has served only to strengthen her humanity; and the remarkable Vida Goldstein, the suffragist who was to become the first woman to stand for Parliament. When Maggie’s life descends into darkness after a terrible betrayal, the three women’s lives collide. Around this tragedy Wendy James has constructed a masterfully drawn and gripping fiction. Based on a true story, it unfolds at the dawn of the twentieth century against the compelling backdrop of the women’s suffrage movement and a world on the brink of enormous change.

When family tragedy brings bad boy Ethan Foster home, he doesn’t expect a warm welcome. In the small town of Hinterdown reputation is everything – and Ethan’s was ruined long ago. Nobody wants him around, particularly not Sam O’Hara, the girl he left behind. There’s still a powerful spark between them, but Sam is afraid to risk her heart again. And Ethan is hiding a secret that will have repercussions for his whole family. Will the townspeople ever forgive him? More importantly, will those he loves the most find it in their hearts to take him back?

While you are here…

Congratulations to the winner of The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth

Mick Gillies

Enter to win Sweet Damage by Rebecca James

Voting closes April 30th, click the image below to vote for me!

Thanks for stopping by, I’ll be along to visit you shortly!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

01 Apr 2013 17 Comments

by shelleyrae @ Book'd Out in Memes

The Its Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at Book Journey.

Life…

After a busy day on Thursday attending first my youngest son’s Easter Hat Parade and then the afternoon assembly where both my boys received their badges for joining the Student Representative Council, plus running them to Scouts in the evening and my daughter to gym, it was wonderful to relax on Friday. All I did was read, letting me catch up a little, though I did make a little trip to the annual Rotary Easter Book Sale, where I added 20 books to my shelves. (You can see what I bought in the next Bookshelf Bounty post).

Yesterday we joined my parents and grandfather for an Easter picnic lunch at nearby Tuncurry on the lake foreshore and thankfully the weather held despite being grey and overcast. Even better there are leftovers so no cooking for me tonight! (and the kids are stuffed with chocolate anyway)

I hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend!

It’s the first Monday of the month so time update my challenge progress.

The Eclectic Reader Challenge 2/12

Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 33/50

Aussie Author Challenge 4/12

Monthly Keyword Challenge 3/12

What I Read Last Week

The French Promise by Fiona McIntosh

Cora’s Heart by Rachael Herron

Song of the Bellbirds by Anne Rennie McCullugh (DNF)

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult

Sweet Damage by Rebecca James

Saving Grace by Fiona McCallum

Fractured by Dawn Barker

The Town That Drowned by Riel Nason

New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Review: His Brand of Beautiful by Lily Malone ★★★

Review: The French Promise by Fiona McIntosh ★★★★1/2

Review: Cora’s Heart by Rachael Herron ★★★

Review: The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult ★★★★

Vote for Book’d Out

Stuff on Sundays: Google down the Gurgler

What I Am Reading Today

To be opened in the event of my death
With one swift, vicious movement, she sliced the envelope open, and pulled out a handwritten letter.
love you and the girls…
so sorry to leave you with this…
cannot bear
When her husband announces he’s in love with her best friend, painfully shy Tess picks up her young son and returns to her mother’s house. There she begins an unexpected affair with an old flame. Rachel is a woman in her sixties consumed by grief and anger at the loss of her daughter twenty years earlier. When her son announces he is taking her beloved grandson overseas, Rachel begins a descent into deeper bitterness and pain. Cecilia is the quintessential “I don’t know how she does it” woman. A devoted mother to three daughters, she runs her household like clockwork, is President of the P&C, owns an extremely successful Tupperware business and is happy in her fifteen-year marriage. Until she discovers a letter in their attic labelled: “To my wife Cecilia, to be opened in the event of my death”… Her husband’s secret is a bombshell beyond all imagining with repercussions across the lives of all three women

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

Career cop Detective Senior Sergeant Tony ‘Rocket’ Laver is a policeman with issues. Sure, he may have been returning fire, but the fact remains that Laver is the sixth Victorian policeman to shoot a suspect in four months, and that’s all the politicians need to get involved. While the circus of an inquiry begins, Laver is moved from Major Crime to the Mobile Public Interaction Squad … aka the mountain bike police. Bitter, struggling to cope with the fatal shooting – not to mention his flailing relationship, Rocket is now wearing lycra and getting a sore butt on his bike seat. Laver’s friends and bosses in the force tell him to keep his head down until the storm blows over, but that doesn’t factor in Stig and the Wild Man, two genuine bad guys Laver encounters on Smith Street,Collingwood. In innercity and outer-suburban Melbourne, major crime is in the air. Lives might be in danger but nobody will listen to a cop on the outer. Add a nerdy supermarket-assistant manager in a bad reggae beanie, a hippy chick intent on saving the world, Nazi-like police rookies, mysterious men in suits and a human koala and you’ve got what it takes for a blackly funny action-packed addition to your spring/summer reading.

As a federal prosecutor in Mississippi for over thirty years, John Hailman worked with federal agents, lawyers, judges, and criminals of every stripe. In “From Midnight to Guntown,” he recounts amazing trials and bad guy antics from the darkly humorous to the needlessly tragic. In addition to bank robbers–generally the dumbest criminals–Hailman describes scam artists, hit men, protected witnesses, colorful informants, corrupt officials, bad guys with funny nicknames, over-the-top investigators, and those defendants who had a certain roguish charm. Several of his defendants and victims have since had whole books written about them: Dickie Scruggs, Emmett Till, Chicago gang leader Jeff Fort, and Paddy Mitchell, leader of the most successful bank robbery gang of the twentieth century. But Hailman delivers the inside story no one else can. He also recounts his scary experiences after 9/11 when he prosecuted terrorism cases.

Stressed single mother and law partner Kate is in the meeting of her career when she is interrupted by a telephone call to say that her teenaged daughter Amelia has been suspended from her exclusive Brooklyn prep school for cheating on an exam. Torn between her head and her heart, she eventually arrives at St Grace’s over an hour late, to be greeted by sirens wailing and ambulance lights blazing. Her daughter has jumped off the roof of the school, apparently in shame of being caught. A grieving Kate can’t accept that her daughter would kill herself: it was just the two of them and Amelia would never leave her alone like this. And so begins an investigation which takes her deep into Amelia’s private world, into her journals, her email account and into the mind of a troubled young girl. Then Kate receives an anonymous text saying simply: AMELIA DIDN’T JUMP. Is someone playing with her or has she been right all along?

Juniper Song knows secrets–how to keep them and how to search them out. As a girl, noir fiction was her favorite escape, and Philip Marlowe has always been her literary idol. So when her friend Luke asks her to investigate a possible affair between his father and a young employee, Juniper (or “Song” as her friends call her) finds an opportunity to play detective. Driving through L.A.’s side streets, following leads, tailing suspects-it all appeals to Song’s romantic ideal of the noir hero. But when she’s knocked out while investigating a mysterious car and finds a body in her own trunk, Song lurches back to the real L.A., becoming embroiled in a crime that goes far beyond role play. What’s more, this isn’t the first time Song has stuck her nose in other people’s business. As she fights to discover the truth about her friend’s family, Song reveals one of her own deeply hidden secrets, something dark and damaging, urging her to see the current mystery through, to rectify the mistakes of her past life.

While you are here…

Voting closes April 30th, click the image below to vote for me!

Australian readers: ENTER to WIN The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth

Thanks for stopping by, I’ll be along to visit you shortly!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

25 Mar 2013 20 Comments

by shelleyrae @ Book'd Out in Memes

The Its Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at Book Journey.

Life…

So it’s been a week of highs and lows. On Tuesday I caught up with a bunch of close friends for a mid morning coffee, none of us wanted to leave though so we ended up going to lunch as well.

On Thursday morning I taught a two hour class on Outdoor Photography for Seniors Week at the community center which went over great but by the afternoon I was fading fast, feeling horribly ill and crawled into bed even before my husband got home from work. Some revolting virus had attacked and I only just started to feel like I could cope again yesterday. Being so ill has played havoc with both my real and online schedules – I hate that!

What I Read Last Week

The Wild Girl by Kate Forysth

Heart Like Mine by Amy Hatvany

Silver Clouds by Fiona McDonald

Bush Nurses by Annabelle Brayley

His Kind of Beautiful by Lily Malone

New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Review: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson ★★★★★

AWW Feature: Q & A with Kate Forsyth

Review & Giveaway: The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth ★★★★★

Review: Heart Like Mine by Amy Hatvany ★★★

Review: Silver Clouds by Fiona McDonald ★★★1/2

Review: Bush Nurses by Annabelle Brayley ★★★

Stuff on Sundays: Bookshelf Bounty

What I Am Reading Today

Luc and Lisette Ravens – a former French resistance fighter and a one-time British spy – have somehow survived the war, but recovering from the horrors of those years is a challenge they’re yet to overcome. Casting their fate to the winds, they sail to Tasmania, hoping to rebuild their lives and plant new lavender fields in a land that’s full of promise. In his darkest hour, Swiss law student Max Vogel learns a confronting truth. A long-held family secret links him to the Ravens on the other side of the world, and he finds himself holding the key to his own future and to Luc’s troubled past. Together they return to Provence, so Luc can fulfil the promises by which he has been bound – to his beloved Lisette, to his Jewish family, and to the one man responsible for ripping so much from his life. With the future generation of lavender keepers in his care, Luc must lay to rest the ghosts of years gone by so that they all might live and love again.

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

Abandoned by her mother and widowed in her mid-twenties, Cora Sylvan has learnt the hard way that you should take nothing in life for granted. So everything is planned out to the nth degree – from how to run her farm on a shoestring, to how to survive a major earthquake. Unfortunately there’s nothing in those notes to cover the return of the infuriatingly handsome Mac Wildwood. Her husband’s cousin. The man she loved and lost. And Mac, it seems, has a shattering plan of his own up his sleeve. Dammit. Cora Sylvan safeguarded everything – but she didn’t protect her heart . .

Sage Singer is a young woman who has been damaged by her past. Her solitary night work as a baker allows her to hide from the world and focus her creative energies on the beautiful bread she bakes. Yet she finds herself striking up an unlikely friendship. Josef Weber is a quiet, grandfatherly man, well respected in the community; everyone’s favourite retired teacher and Little League coach. One day he asks Sage for a favour: to kill him. Shocked, Sage refuses. Then Josef tells her that he deserves to die – and why. What do you do when evil lives next door? Can someone who’s committed horrendous acts ever truly redeem themselves? Is forgiveness yours to offer if you aren’t the person who was wronged? And most of all – if Sage even considers his request – would it be murder, or justice?

All young Lizzy wants to do is sing, ride the boundaries of her family’s Queensland property and dream of one day performing on stage. But when a freak storm hits the area, wreaking havoc and bringing tragedy, she swears never to sing another note. Lizzy, however, has a voice as uplifting as the pure beauty of the song of the bellbirds, and others are not quite so willing to let her remarkable talent go to waste. There is the loving but ambitious Sister Angelica, a natural teacher; the vibrant and dangerously attractive Maestro Leonard Rominski, whose charms Lizzy finds irresistible; and the irrepressible Gran, whose love sustains Lizzy through thrilling highs and crushing lows. But it is Lizzy alone who will ultimately decide if the price she must pay to sing is too high…

An unforgettable novel that brings to life a new mother’s worst fears. Tony is worried. His wife, Anna, isn’t coping with their newborn. Anna had wanted a child so badly and, when Jack was born, they were both so happy. They’d come home from the hospital a family. Was it really only six weeks ago? But Anna hasn’t been herself since. One moment she’s crying, the next she seems almost too positive. It must be normal with a baby, Tony thought; she’s just adjusting. He had been busy at work. It would sort itself out. But now Anna and Jack are missing. And Tony realises that something is really wrong… What happens to this family will break your heart and leave you breathless.

When Emily Oliphant married John Stratten, she thought it was the beginning of an exciting new adventure, imagining herself standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the most eligible farmer in the district, mucking in to build a thriving agricultural business. Three years later, however, Emily sees her marriage for what it is — a loveless tie to a callous man, her advice heeded only when it pertains to her husband’s dinner. The last straw comes when John threatens to harm her new puppy, and Emily is forced to brave her husband’s wrath, and her mother’s glaring disapproval, and move out. With the encouragement of her new friend Barbara, Emily moves into an abandoned property, taking on the mammoth task of making the unloved house into a home. As she begins to work on the property, she discovers a new side of her father, meets some new friends and finds an inner strength she never knew she had. Emily’s fragile confidence is soon tested, though, when the owners of the property make her a tempting offer. Will she risk everything and invest in the ramshackle house that has finally given her a sense of purpose? Or will Emily listen to the views of the community, and the voice of her mother, and go back to her sensible, but meaningless, life with John?

While you are here…

Australian readers: ENTER to WIN The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Thanks for stopping by, I’ll be along to visit you shortly!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

18 Mar 2013 17 Comments

by shelleyrae @ Book'd Out in Memes

The Its Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at Book Journey.

Life…

So this is what I am attempting to make for dinner tonight - Chicken, Ham and Corn Squares – it seems simple enough so lets hope they taste good. Feeding my family of picky eaters is a never ending battle and getting the kids to eat anything except chicken nuggets and party pies is usually an exercise in futility. At least once a week though I cook something a little different and they either eat it or go hungry. Mostly they choose to go hungry I must admit (don’t worry they are in no danger of starving) but occasionally they surprise me. I think at least two out of the four kids will like these as long as I leave out the poppy seeds and pepper.

I actually quite like cooking when I don’t have to take into account fussy kids and I tend to trawl FoodGawker while salivating like a rabid dog. Have you seen that site? Make sure you eat before you visit!

What I Read Last Week

The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg

Hope’s Road by Margareta Osborn

The Midnight Dress by Karen Foxlee

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth

New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Review: What’s a Witch To Do? by Jennifer Harlow ★★★★

Review: Good News, Bad News by Maggie Groff ★★★1/2

Review: Hope’s Road by Margareta Osborn ★★★★

Review: The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg ★★

Review: The Midnight Dress by Karen Foxlee ★★★★1/2

Stuff on Sunday: From the Eclectic Readers

What I Am Reading Today

When a young mother dies under mysterious circumstances, those she leaves behind begin looking for answers in the past—and find a long-buried secret they could have never imagined.Thirty-six-year-old Grace McAllister never longed for children. But when she meets Victor Hansen, a handsome, charismatic divorced restaurateur who is father to Max and Ava, Grace decides that, for the right man, she could learn to be an excellent part-time stepmom. After all, the kids live with their mother, Kelli. How hard could it be? At thirteen, Ava Hansen is mature beyond her years. Since her parents’ divorce, she has been the one taking care of her emotionally unstable mother and her little brother—she pays the bills, does the laundry, and never complains because she loves her mama more than anyone. And while her father’s new girlfriend is nice enough, Ava still holds out hope that her parents will get back together and that they’ll be a family again. But only days after Victor and Grace get engaged, Kelli dies suddenly under mysterious circumstances—and soon, Grace and Ava discover there was much more to Kelli’s life than either ever knew.

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

It takes something special to be a bush nurse working in rural and remote Australia. They patch people up and keep them alive while waiting for the doctor to arrive, they drive the ambulances, operate the clinics and deliver the babies. They are on call around the clock and there are no days off. All this with no back-up and while working in some of the most isolated places on the planet. To get the job done, bush nurses often have to make do with whatever is at hand (think, transporting patients via wheelbarrows, stemming bleeding with their bare hands, etc.), but their trademark passion, resourcefulness and sense of humour see them through the tough times. Some of these stories will raise the hairs on the back of your neck, others will make you laugh and some will make you cry. But there’s no doubt you’ll be amazed at the strength of character and the skill of these nurses who are the backbone of medical practice in rural and remote Australia.

When marketing executive Tessa Mathison leaves London to attend her great-aunt’s funeral in Australia, her life is in turmoil. An indiscretion during a boozy night out has resulted in Tessa’s name being mud in London’s cliquey marketing scene, and soon after she arrives in her homeland she discovers she’s been sacked. Tessa’s childhood home, Danjar Plains, is an isolated station which holds some bad memories for her. She plans to escape it as soon as the funeral is over, but then an unusual request in her Aunt Violet’s will makes it impossible for her to leave. When charismatic and charming Brendan McKenzie introduces himself to Tessa, staying at Danjar Plains no longer seems such a hardship. As various secrets begin to unravel, Tessa realises letting go of her heart may hold the key to unlocking both her past and her future.

Christina Clay only wants the best when it comes to her family’s iconic Australian wine company, and Tate Newell has the best marketing brain in the business. But there are some people in the world Tate doesn’t want to work for and Clay Wines’ eccentric chief executive is high on his list. Christina collects causes like some women collect shoes, and every time she opens her mouth, he’s reminded of the one person he wants to forget. Sometimes, to get a woman out of your head, you have to let her in. Before Christina can say Crocodile Dundee, she’s in a two‐seater plane flying into the heart of central Australia to visit Tate’s childhood roots: the remote cattle station his family still own and run. It’s a ‘research project’ he says, to see just how ‘wild’ she wants her new wine brand to be. Battling the demons of a previous miscarriage, Christina soon has a project of her own in mind when it comes to Tate, and less than a day into her outback research trip, her ovaries are ticking. She wants a baby and a brand. And in Tate, she’s found the one man who can give her both

While you are here…

I joined Shelfari – if you have an account make sure you add me as a friend

http://www.shelfari.com/shelleyrae

Thanks for stopping by, I’ll be along to visit you shortly!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

11 Mar 2013 22 Comments

by shelleyrae @ Book'd Out in Memes

The Its Monday! What Are You Reading meme is hosted at Book Journey.

Life…

I have no idea where the week went! In a frenzy of sorts I imagine though I can’t recall exactly what I have been doing. I do know I have developed a dangerous addiction to Eureka, a quirky TV series I discovered on DVD and have been watching one disc after another til the early morning. I have also been warring with my mouse that is misbehaving by randomly acting as if I am double clicking instead of single clicking and refusing to highlight text most of the time which makes everyday tasks surprisingly difficult and very frustrating.

On a lighter note, we got new neighbours last weekend who have a goat that is now happily grazing in our yard because we have ankle high grass and their lawn has been mowed.

What I Read Last Week

Blood and Magick by James R Tuck

Hidden by Marianne Curley

What’s a Witch To Do? by Jennifer Harlow

Chasing Spirits by Nick Groff

Good News Bad News by Maggie Groff

New Posts

(click the titles to read my reviews)

Review: The Blue-Ribbon Jalepeno Society Jubilee by Carolyn Brown★★★★

Q & A with Jenn J McLeod

Review: House For All Seasons by Jenn J McLeod ★★★★

Review: Blood & Magick by James R Tuck ★★★★

Hidden by Marianne Curley Blog Tour

Review: Chasing Spirits by Nick Groff ★★

Happy International Women’s Day!

What I Am Reading Today

For more than thirty years, Edie and Richard Middlestein shared a solid family life together in the suburbs of Chicago: two children, a nice house in the Chicago suburbs, ample employment, generous friends. But now things are splintering apart, for one reason, it seems: Edie’s enormous girth. She’s obsessed with food–thinking about it, eating it–and if she doesn’t stop, she won’t have much longer to live. When Richard abandons his wife, it is up to the next generation to take control. Robin, their schoolteacher daughter, is determined that her father pay for leaving Edie. Benny, an easy-going, pot-smoking family man, just wants to smooth things over. And Rachelle– a whippet thin perfectionist– is intent on saving her mother-in-law’s life, but this task proves even bigger than planning her twin children’s spectacular b’nai mitzvah party. Through it all, they wonder: do Edie’s devastating choices rest on her shoulders alone, or are others at fault, too?

What I Plan To Read This Week

(click the covers to view at Goodreads)

When a teenage girl disappears, a small town is awash with rumours: everyone is talking about the dress she wore, a midnight-blue dress made from the remnants of other dresses, a dress of stories … For her whole life, Rose Lovell has moved from town to town with her alcoholic father. When they wash up in a coastal sugarcane town, Rose wonders if this time it will be different. At the local high school, Rose meets Pearl Kelly, who is popular, pretty and intent on tracking down her Russian father. When she convinces Rose to be part of the annual Harvest Parade, Rose must find a special dress for the occasion. She seeks the help of the eccentric Edie Baker, who knows all the town’s secrets and whose own family is a rich tapestry of stories. When Rose agrees to let Edie teach her to sew, she doesn’t realise that nothing will ever be the same again.

From the author of the bestselling Bella’s Run comes another captivating rural romance set in the the rugged, beautiful high country of East Gippsland. Hope’s Road connects three very different properties, and three very different lives … Sixty years ago, heartbroken and betrayed, old Joe McCauley turned his back on his family and their fifth-generation farm, Montmorency Downs. He now spends his days as a recluse, spying upon the land – and the granddaughter – that should by rights have been his. For Tammy McCauley, Montmorency Downs is the last remaining tie to her family. But land can make or break you – and, with her husband’s latest treachery, how long can she hold on to it? Wild-dog trapper, Travis Hunter, is struggling as a single dad, unable to give his son, Billy, the thing he craves most. A complete family. Then, out of the blue, a terrible event forces the three neighbours to confront each other – and the mistakes of their past.

What if you had the chance to live your life again and again, until you finally got it right?
During a snowstorm in England in 1910, a baby is born and dies before she can take her first breath.
During a snowstorm in England in 1910, the same baby is born and lives to tell the tale.
What if there were second chances? And third chances? In fact an infinite number of chances to live your life? Would you eventually be able to save the world from its own inevitable destiny? And would you even want to?
Life After Life follows Ursula Todd as she lives through the turbulent events of the last century again and again. With wit and compassion, she finds warmth even in life’s bleakest moments, and shows an extraordinary ability to evoke the past.