In My Mailbox...

In My Mailbox... I've received some great books in my mailbox! And I decided I would join in on the fun sharing them with you and the other bloggers participating in Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a weekly event for bloggers to share what books arrived in their mailboxes. Mailbox Monday was originally created by Marcia of To Be Continued and is now hosted by Vicki, Serena and Leslie at Mailbox Monday's own blog.

So, here are the books...

The Girl Before by JP Delaney... The request seems odd, even intrusive—and for the two women who answer, the consequences are devastating.

EMMA
Reeling from a traumatic break-in, Emma wants a new place to live. But none of the apartments she sees are affordable or feel safe. Until One Folgate Street. The house is an architectural masterpiece: a minimalist design of pale stone, plate glass, and soaring ceilings. But there are rules. The enigmatic architect who designed the house retains full control: no books, no throw pillows, no photos or clutter or personal effects of any kind. The space is intended to transform its occupant—and it does.

JANE
After a personal tragedy, Jane needs a fresh start. When she finds One Folgate Street she is instantly drawn to the space—and to its aloof but seductive creator. Moving in, Jane soon learns about the untimely death of the home's previous tenant, a woman similar to Jane in age and appearance. As Jane tries to untangle truth from lies, she unwittingly follows the same patterns, makes the same choices, crosses paths with the same people, and experiences the same terror, as the girl before.

Published by Random House Publishing, Ballantine and will be released Jan. 24th! Tomorrow!

*****

Always by Sarah Jio... While enjoying a romantic candlelit dinner with her fiancé, Ryan, at one of Seattle's chicest restaurants, Kailey Crane can't believe her good fortune: She has a great job as a writer for the Herald and is now engaged to a guy who is perfect in nearly every way. As they leave the restaurant, Kailey spies a thin, bearded homeless man on the sidewalk. She approaches him to offer up her bag of leftovers, and is stunned when their eyes meet, then stricken to her very core: The man is the love of her life, Cade McAllister. 

When Kailey met Cade ten years ago, their attraction was immediate and intense—everything connected and felt right. But it all ended suddenly, leaving Kailey devastated. Now the poor soul on the street is a faded version of her former beloved: His weathered and weary face is as handsome as Kailey remembers, but his mind has suffered in the intervening years. Over the next few weeks, Kailey helps Cade begin to piece his life together, something she initially keeps from Ryan. As she revisits her long-ago relationship, Kailey realizes that she must decide exactly what—and whom—she wants.

Alternating between the past and the present, Always is a beautifully unfolding exploration of a woman faced with an impossible choice, a woman who discovers what she's willing to save and what she will sacrifice for true love.

Published by Random House Publishing, Ballantine and will be released Feb. 7, 2017.

*****                           

I Found You by Lisa Jewell... A young bride, a lonely single mother, and an amnesiac man of dubious origin lie at the heart of New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jewell’s next suspenseful drama that will appeal to fans of Liane Moriarty and Paula Hawkins.

In a windswept British seaside town, single mom Alice Lake finds a man sitting on the beach outside her house. He has no name, no jacket, and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside.

Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, twenty-one-year-old Lily Monrose has only been married for three weeks. When her new husband fails to come home from work one night she is left stranded in a new country where she knows no one. Then the police tell her that her husband never existed.

Twenty-three years earlier, Gray and Kirsty are teenagers on a summer holiday with their parents. Their annual trip to the quaint seaside town is passing by uneventfully, until an enigmatic young man starts paying extra attention to Kirsty. Something about him makes Gray uncomfortable—and it’s not just that he’s playing the role of protective older brother.

Published by Atria Books with a release date of April 25, 2017.

*****

the night the lights went out by Karen White... Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia. It’s not her first time starting over, but her efforts at a new beginning aren’t helped by an anonymous local blog that dishes about the scandalous events that caused her marriage to fail.

Merilee finds some measure of peace in the cottage she is renting from town matriarch Sugar Prescott. Though stubborn and irascible, Sugar sees something of herself in Merilee—something that allows her to open up about her own colorful past.

Sugar’s stories give Merilee a different perspective on the town and its wealthy school moms in their tennis whites and shiny SUVs, and even on her new friendship with Heather Blackford. Merilee is charmed by the glamorous young mother’s seemingly perfect life and finds herself drawn into Heather's world.

In a town like Sweet Apple, where sins and secrets are as likely to be found behind the walls of gated mansions as in the dark woods surrounding Merilee’s house, appearance is everything. But just how dangerous that deception can be will shock all three women....

Published by Berkey Publishing Group with a release date of April 11, 2017

The Sunday Salon and 3 Great Reads with a Southern touch

Welcome to Chick with Books, The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post (which is hosted by Kim at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer)!  It's the day of the week we sit back, relax and talk books! The new year has started and as a reader I am so excited to see what books are coming our way! So, pull up a chair, grab a cup of Java and let's explore some great reading!

It's the winter in Connecticut, but the temps are in the 50's! Today was like a beautiful spring day with sunshine and 57 degrees! Instead of reading dreary winter fiction, it felt like I should be reading beach reads. What I started to read and could hardly stop reading (and I really needed to if I was going to post a Sunday Salon!) was the night the lights went out by Karen White. This is the first time I've read anything by Karen White and I'm beginning to fall in love. Her writing is so unassuming and before I knew it I was absorbed in the story, these women, and read 25% on my Kindle. This book reminded me of another book I enjoyed a long time ago called The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen. In fact it was a reading group selection. Another great story with Southern roots... So that got me to thinking about another book I read that I also really enjoyed called Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson. I actually listened to the audiobook and loved it. So, today I'm offering up some great stories with a little touch of Southern and a great female protagonist to show you around the pages...

the night the lights went out by Karen White... a young single mother who discovers that the nature of friendship is never what it seems....

Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia. It’s not her first time starting over, but her efforts at a new beginning aren’t helped by an anonymous local blog that dishes about the scandalous events that caused her marriage to fail. Merilee finds some measure of peace in the cottage she is renting from town matriarch Sugar Prescott. Though stubborn and irascible, Sugar sees something of herself in Merilee—something that allows her to open up about her own colorful past. Sugar’s stories give Merilee a different perspective on the town and its wealthy school moms in their tennis whites and shiny SUVs, and even on her new friendship with Heather Blackford. Merilee is charmed by the glamorous young mother’s seemingly perfect life and finds herself drawn into Heather's world. In a town like Sweet Apple, where sins and secrets are as likely to be found behind the walls of gated mansions as in the dark woods surrounding Merilee’s house, appearance is everything. But just how dangerous that deception can be will shock all three women....

Write this down... Release date is April 11, 2017! Published by Berkley. I just received an eGalley of this and really could not put it down. Now I'm only 25% through it, but I think it's going to be even better as I turn the pages. It's gotten a lot of pre-publishing praise.


The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen... It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather and once the finest home in Walls of Water, North Carolina—has stood for years as a monument to misfortune and scandal. Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite Paxton Osgood—has restored the house to its former glory, with plans to turn it into a top-flight inn. But when a skeleton is found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, long-kept secrets come to light, accompanied by a spate of strange occurrences throughout the town. Thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the passions and betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover the truths that have transcended time to touch the hearts of the living. 

Published by Random House (Bantam reprint) in 2011. We love Willa! Really good story, great characters, a sprinkling of magic, and I really enjoyed this! I would definitely recommend this to women fiction readers.

Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson... Rose Mae Lolley's mother disappeared when she was eight, leaving Rose with a heap of old novels and a taste for dangerous men. Now, as demure Mrs. Ro Grandee, she's living the very life her mother abandoned. She's all but forgotten the girl she used to be-teenaged spitfire, Alabama heartbreaker, and a crack shot with a pistol-until an airport gypsy warns Rose it's time to find her way back to that brave, tough girl . . . or else. Armed with only her wit, her pawpy's ancient .45, and her dog Fat Gretel, Rose Mae hightails it out of Texas, running from a man who will never let her go, on a mission to find the mother who did. 

Starring a minor character from Jackson's bestselling gods in Alabama, BACKSEAT SAINTS will dazzle readers with its stunning portrayal of the measures a mother will take to right the wrongs she's created, and how far a daughter will travel to satisfy the demands of forgiveness

Published by Grand Central Publishing in 2011. You will be rooting for Rose Mae! Another great story and more good characters.

That about covers today's reading pile! Sometimes it's not always a new book I want to recommend, but a book I really enjoyed a long time ago that deserves a new audience, and that's what today is mostly about. I will have to check out other books by Karen White though... and both Sarah Addison Allen and Joshilyn Jackson have some other good books too!

Hope you found something interesting to read here today! In the meantime...

Happy reading... Suzanne

Depraved Heart by Patricia Cornwell... TLC Book Tour!

About the Book... Dr. Kay Scarpetta is working a highly suspicious death scene in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when an emergency alert sounds on her phone. A video link seems to be from her niece Lucy. But how can it be? It’s clearly a surveillance film of Lucy taken almost twenty years ago.

As Scarpetta watches she comes to grips with frightening secrets about her niece. That first clip and others sent soon after raise dangerous implications that increasingly isolate Scarpetta and leave her confused, alarmed, and not knowing where to turn. The diabolical presence and singularly “depraved heart” behind what unfolds seems obvious—but strangely, not to the FBI. Certainly that’s the message they send when they start harassing Lucy and begin building a case that could send her to prison for the rest of her life.

In the latest novel in her bestselling series featuring medical examiner Dr. Kay Scarpetta, Cornwell captivates readers again with the jolting twists, high-wire tension, and cutting-edge forensic detail for which she is renowned, proving yet again why she is the world’s number one bestselling crime writer.

What Did I Think of the Book? Patricia Cornwell never disappoints me. It's been years since I've devoured her Kay Scarpetta novels, but opening the pages of Depraved Heart felt like a homecoming in a way. All the familiar people were there and I even though I hadn't followed them in so long, I was able to settle right in without feeling lost.

This is typical Kay Scarpetta, with murder in the air and the need to solve the crime before innocent people start to be blamed. A diabolical previous character thought to be dead (Carrie) doesn't seem to be dead anymore and has come back to haunt Kay and her niece Lucy. But these once endearing characters seem to have changed a bit, and I'm not so in love with them anymore. Kay even seems to be a bit paranoid. But if you enjoy crime thrillers, do crack the spine on this one, because it's got all the ingredients of a good solid read.

About Patricia Cornwell

Patricia Cornwell is recognized as one of the world’s top bestselling crime authors with novels translated into thirty-six languages in more than 120 countries. Her novels have won numerous prestigious awards including the Edgar, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger, the Anthony, the Macavity and the Prix du Roman d’Aventures. Beyond the Scarpetta series, Patricia has written a definitive book about Jack the Ripper, a biography and two more fiction series among others. Cornwell, a licensed helicopter pilot and scuba diver, actively researches the cutting-edge forensic technologies that inform her work. She was born in Miami, grew up in Montreat, North Carolina, and now lives and works in Boston.

Find out more about Patricia at her website, and follow her on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

To Learn More about Depraved Heart, visit Harper Collins! There you can read an excerpt, listen to an excerpt and purchase the book! Or if you'd prefer...

Purchase Links

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

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*Chick with Books received a copy of Depraved Hearts in exchange for my honest review, and as part of hosting this tour for TLC Book Tours.

In My Mailbox...

In My Mailbox... I've received some great books in my mailbox! And I decided I would join in on the fun sharing them with you and the other bloggers participating in Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a weekly event for bloggers to share what books arrived in their mailboxes. Mailbox Monday was originally created by Marcia of To Be Continued and is now hosted by Vicki, Serena and Leslie at Mailbox Monday's own blog.

So, here are the books...

The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian... From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest Room comes a spine-tingling novel of lies, loss, and buried desire—the mesmerizing story of a wife and mother who vanishes from her bed late one night.

When Annalee Ahlberg goes missing, her children fear the worst. Annalee is a sleepwalker whose affliction manifests in ways both bizarre and devastating. Once, she merely destroyed the hydrangeas in front of her Vermont home. More terrifying was the night her older daughter, Lianna, pulled her back from the precipice of the Gale River bridge. The morning of Annalee's disappearance, a search party combs the nearby woods. Annalee's husband, Warren, flies home from a business trip. Lianna is questioned by a young, hazel-eyed detective. And her little sister, Paige, takes to swimming the Gale to look for clues. When the police discover a small swatch of fabric, a nightshirt, ripped and hanging from a tree branch, it seems certain Annalee is dead, but Gavin Rikert, the hazel-eyed detective, continues to call, continues to stop by the Ahlbergs' Victorian home. As Lianna peels back the layers of mystery surrounding Annalee's disappearance, she finds herself drawn to Gavin, but she must ask herself: Why does the detective know so much about her mother? Why did Annalee leave her bed only when her father was away? And if she really died while sleepwalking, where was the body?
     Conjuring the strange and mysterious world of parasomnia, a place somewhere between dreaming and wakefulness, The Sleepwalker is a masterful novel from one of our most treasured storytellers.

This sounds like a great read! I've been so into murder mysteries lately, this was a nice surprise from Doubleday Books as an eGalley to my Kindle! Thank you! Published by Doubleday Books with a release date of January 10, 2017.

The Night Ocean by Paul La Farge... From the award-winning author and New Yorker contributor, a riveting novel about secrets and scandals,  psychiatry and pulp fiction, inspired by the lives of H.P. Lovecraft and his circle.

Marina Willett, M.D., has a problem. Her husband, Charlie, has become obsessed with H.P. Lovecraft, in particular with one episode in the legendary horror writer's life: In the summer of 1934, the "old gent" lived for two months with a gay teenage fan named Robert Barlow, at Barlow's family home in central Florida. What were the two of them up to? Were they friends--or something more? Just when Charlie thinks he's solved the puzzle, a new scandal erupts, and he disappears. The police say it's suicide. Marina is a psychiatrist, and she doesn't believe them. A tour-de-force of storytelling, The Night Ocean follows the lives of some extraordinary people: Lovecraft, the most influential American horror writer of the 20th century, whose stories continue to win new acolytes, even as his racist views provoke new critics; Barlow, a seminal scholar of Mexican culture who killed himself after being blackmailed for his homosexuality (and who collaborated with Lovecraft on the beautiful story "The Night Ocean"); his student, future Beat writer William S. Burroughs; and L.C. Spinks, a kindly Canadian appliance salesman and science-fiction fan -- the only person who knows the origins of The Erotonomicon, purported to be the intimate diary of Lovecraft himself. As a heartbroken Marina follows her missing husband's trail in an attempt to learn the truth, the novel moves across the decades and along the length of the continent, from a remote Ontario town, through New York and Florida to Mexico City. The Night Ocean is about love and deception -- about the way that stories earn our trust, and betray it.

I've heard so many wonderful comments about this book, I was thrilled when I found this in my mailbox! Thanks Penguin! Published by Penguin Press with a release date of March 7, 2017.

The Lady's Code of Misconduct by Meredith Duran... The next steamy historical romance in USA TODAY bestselling and RITA award-winning author Meredith Duran’s “wonderfully indulgent” (Publishers Weekly) Rules for the Reckless series.

A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL...
Trapped in the countryside, facing an unwanted marriage and the theft of her fortune, Jane Mason is done behaving nicely. To win her freedom, she’ll strike a deal with the most dangerous man she knows—a rising star in politics, whose dark good looks mask an even darker heart.

...NEVER GOES TO PLAN.
The bitter past has taught Crispin Burke to trust no one. He’ll gladly help a lovely young heiress, provided she pays a price. Yet when a single mistake shatters his life, it is Jane who holds the key to his salvation. And in a world that no longer makes sense, Crispin slowly realizes that she may be the only thing worth fighting for...

How do you get through a cold winter?! With some HOT reading! Both this book by Meredith Duran and the story collection below, by some of the top romance writers of the decade, make for some steamy reading on a cold winter’s night! Thank you Pocket Books! Release date of Feb. 28th, 2017.

What Happens Under the Mistletoe, a story collection by Sabrina Jeffries, Karen Hawkins, Candace Camp and Meredith Duran… New York Times bestselling authors Sabrina Jeffries, Karen Hawkins, and Candace Camp, and USA TODAY bestselling author Meredith Duran come together for a sizzling historical romance holiday anthology.

Stunned by the heat of an unexpected kiss on a cold winter’s eve, two strangers from vastly different worlds turn hotheaded principles into burning passion in Sabrina Jeffries’s delightful yuletide story, "The Heiress and the Hothead". 

In the snowy Scottish countryside, Karen Hawkins’s rakish duke has an unforgettable holiday encounter in "Twelve Kisses" when the alluring lady he surprises under the mistletoe is not who he expected, but a long-lost love with a score to settle. 

In "By Any Other Name", Edinburgh is aglitter for Christmastime as Candace Camp sends a curious gentleman in hot pursuit of an intriguing lady in disguise—one who refuses to reveal her true identity, though she fears he has already stolen her heart with his kiss. 

In "Sweet Ruin", will the festive spirit of the season sweep Meredith Duran’s feisty heroine beneath the mistletoe—and back into the arms of the dashing rogue whose carelessness soiled her reputation and sent her into exile in London?

In this all-new story collection sparkling with sexy charm and heartwarming wit, four beloved bestselling authors reveal the mix-ups and make-ups, the missed chances and golden opportunities that come but once a year.

This story collection was published by Pocket Books and released in October of 2015, which means you can pick up a copy NOW! 

The Sunday Salon and... Wandering around an Indie Bookstore

Welcome to Chick with Books, The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post (which is hosted by Kim at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer)!  It's the day of the week we sit back, relax and talk books! The new year has started and as a reader I am so excited to see what books are coming our way! So, pull up a chair, grab a cup of Java and let's explore some great reading!

Last week my local Indie Bookstore was having an amazing end of the year sale, right before they had to take inventory. I wandered in to see what books could tempt me, which is always fun. There is always so much debate about Independent bookstores versus that giant online monster or your box store bookstores, but when it comes right down to it, there is no comparison. How would it be NEVER to be able to physically leaf through a book before you bought it? Or to wander and look over the books that are casually laid out on a table? At Barnes and Noble, some publisher pay them to have a big display near the front door, but at your Indie bookstore, it's the eclectic tastes of the people working at the bookstore that await your arrival. Books are lovingly displayed because they mean something to someone there! I wander the store to find little treasures I would not have found otherwise. And as usual I found some great books. Here's what I took home with me...

History of Wolves by Emily Frilund... Linda has an idiosyncratic home life: her parents live in abandoned commune cabins in northern Minnesota and are hanging on to the last vestiges of a faded counter-culture world. The kids at school call her 'Freak', or 'Commie'. She is an outsider in all things. Her understanding of the world comes from her observations at school, where her teacher is accused of possessing child pornography, and from watching the seemingly ordinary life of a family she babysits for. Yet while the accusation against the teacher is perhaps more innocent than it seemed at first, the ordinary family turns out to be more complicated. As Linda insinuates her way into the family's orbit, she realises they are hiding something. If she tells the truth, she will lose the normal family life she is beginning to enjoy with them; but if she doesn't, their son may die.

This is the January Indie Next pick and it sounds like a great read!

Help For The Haunted by John Searles... It begins with a call in the middle of snowy February evening. Lying in her bed, young Sylvie Mason overhears her parents on the phone across the hall. This is not the first late-night call they have received, since her mother and father have an uncommon occupation, helping "haunted souls" find peace. And yet, something in Sylvie senses that this call is different than the rest, especially when they are lured to the old church on the outskirts of town. Once there, her parents disappear, one after the other, behind the church's red door, leaving Sylvie alone in the car. Not long after, she drifts off to sleep only to wake to the sound of gunfire.

Nearly a year later, we meet Sylvie again struggling with the loss of her parents, and living in the care of her older sister, who may be to blame for what happened the previous winter. As the story moves back and forth in time, through the years leading up to the crime and the months following, the ever inquisitive and tender-hearted Sylvie pursues the mystery, moving closer to the knowledge of what occurred that night, as she comes to terms with her family's past and uncovers secrets that have haunted them for years. 

I love a good ghost story (and horror film) and when I read the title of this book on its spine I had to pull it out and take a better look. This sounds so interesting!

South Towards Home, Travels in Southern Literature by Margaret Eby... What is it about the South that has inspired so much of America's greatest literature? And why, when we think of Flannery O'Connor or William Faulkner or Harper Lee, do we think of them not just as writers, but as Southern writers? In South Toward Home, Margaret Eby—herself a Southerner—travels through the South in search of answers to these questions, visiting the hometowns and stomping grounds of some of our most beloved authors. From Mississippi (William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Richard Wright) to Alabama (Harper Lee, Truman Capote) to Georgia (Flannery O'Connor, Harry Crews) and beyond, Eby looks deeply at the places that these authors lived in and wrote about. South Toward Home reveals how these authors took the people and places they knew best and transmuted them into lasting literature.

Side by side with Eby, we meet the man who feeds the peacocks at Andalusia, the Georgia farm where Flannery O'Connor wrote her most powerful stories; we peek into William Faulkner's liquor cabinet to better understand the man who claimed civilization began with distillation and the "postage stamp of native soil" that inspired him; and we go in search of one of New Orleans's iconic hot dog vendors, a job held by Ignatius J. Reilly in John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. From the library that showed Richard Wright that there was a way out to the courtroom at the heart of To Kill a Mockingbird, Eby grapples with a land fraught with history and mythology, for, as Eudora Welty wrote, "One place understood helps us understand all places better."

I love these kinds of books - books that delve a little deeper into an author and their influences growing up or the influences surrounding them. I can't wait to dive in.

Books for Living by Will Schwalbe... Why is it that we read? Is it to pass time? To learn something new? To escape from reality? For Will Schwalbe, reading is a way to entertain himself but also to make sense of the world, to become a better person, and to find the answers to the big (and small) questions about how to live his life. In this delightful celebration of reading, Schwalbe invites us along on his quest for books that speak to the specific challenges of living in our modern world, with all its noise and distractions. In each chapter, he discusses a particular book—what brought him to it (or vice versa), the people in his life he associates with it, and how it became a part of his understanding of himself in the world.  These books span centuries and genres (from classic works of adult and children’s literature to contemporary thrillers and even cookbooks), and each one relates to the questions and concerns we all share. Throughout, Schwalbe focuses on the way certain books can help us honor those we’ve loved and lost, and also figure out how to live each day more fully. Rich with stories and recommendations, Books for Living is a treasure for everyone who loves books and loves to hear the answer to the question: “What are you reading?”

If you love to talk books, this is probably a book for you too. I love the premise.

Vincent's Starry Night and Other Stories: A Children's History of Art by Michael Bird.. An enthralling journey through the story of world art, from early cave paintings right up to the present day. Discover artists and their art around the world, in 68 exciting and imaginative tales about artists and the way they created their work. 

Written by educator and art historian Michael Bird, and beautifully illustrated by Kate Evans, the book also features reproductions of the famous artworks discussed, a comprehensive timeline of events, and extra feature spreads on places connected with art.

As someone who loves art history ( I was an art major in college), this book just warmed my heart. It's meant for children, specifically 8 - 12 year olds, but adults can appreciate the stories behind the artists that Michael Bird talks about within these pages. He really brings art through the ages alive with his stories and insights. Get this for some young artist in your life or just for yourself to enjoy.

Do You Like Independent Bookstores?

Weekly Update...

Monday, I had some great books come my way and talked about them in In My Mailbox.

Wednesday, I REVIEWED The Dogs of Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron. Need a heartwarming book? Check out my review and then buy this book!

Friday was First Lines Friday, and I shared the first paragraph of A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. Read the book before the movie comes out!

Friday I also posted what I was reading this weekend! Check it out HERE! And then tell me what you are reading this weekend!

Well, that about does it for this week. Hope you found something interesting to crack a spine on! Enjoy your weekend and come back for more next week!

Happy reading... Suzanne

Weekend Reading...

This weekend I'm leisurely enjoying a book. Some weekends are hectic, full of work and"chores, but this weekend I have some time to myself and am enjoying... Dinner with Edward by Isabel Vincent When I spotted this at the library, I didn't realize it was a memoir. The true story of the friendship Isabel Vincent discovered as she began to visit one of her friend's elderly father who recently had lost his wife of 60 years...

When Isabel meets Edward, both are at a crossroads: he wants to follow his late wife to the grave, and she is ready to give up on love. Thinking she is merely helping Edward’s daughter--who lives far away and has asked her to check in on her nonagenarian dad in New York--Isabel has no idea that the man in the kitchen baking the sublime roast chicken and light-as-air apricot soufflé will end up changing her life.

As Edward and Isabel meet weekly for the glorious dinners that Edward prepares, he shares so much more than his recipes for apple galette or the perfect martini, or even his tips for deboning poultry. Edward is teaching Isabel the luxury of slowing down and taking the time to think through everything she does, to deconstruct her own life, cutting it back to the bone and examining the guts, no matter how messy that proves to be.

Published May 2016 by Algonquin Books

What are YOU reading this weekend?

First Lines Friday...

 

The monster showed up just after midnight. As they do.

Conor was awake when it came.

He'd had a nightmare. Well, not a nightmare. The nightmare. 

The one he'd been having a lot lately. The one with the                 

darkness and the wind and the screaming. The one with the

hands slipping from his grasp, no matter how hard he tried 

to hold on. The one that always ended with--

                                               ...A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

                                                                      Inspired by Siobhan Dowd

The Dogs of Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron... A Review

Sometimes you just need a "feel good" book. A story that just warms your heart and that you can casually read without too much effort. The Dogs of Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron is such a book. And if you are a dog lover, this book is a hands down winner and something you should be buying right now!

A geeky, but hunky guy finds himself stuck with a pregnant dog, and eventually 5 puppies. He's never had a dog before, let alone a pregnant one, and tries his best to get out of the situation, but is such a nice guy that he resolves himself to temporarily "helping" out, until finally he is totally in love with the dog, the puppies and the girl from the animal shelter that he turned to for help.

A little romance, a warm your heart story, a little heart break and a whole lot of fur, makes this a must read for every dog lover I know. It is a sweet story that will make you smile, and if you enjoy "dog stories" you will enjoy this. It's a small book, perfect as a stocking stuffer or gift, and under 240 pages. I read it in a few days and loved it! It was chosen as my reading groups Holiday read and everyone that I've talked to has enjoyed it too!

5 stars from this animal lover! 

In My Mailbox...

In My Mailbox... I've received some great books in my mailbox! And I decided I would join in on the fun sharing them with you and the other bloggers participating in Mailbox Monday!

Mailbox Monday is a weekly event for bloggers to share what books arrived in their mailboxes. Mailbox Monday was originally created by Marcia of To Be Continued and is now hosted by Vicki, Serena and Leslie at Mailbox Monday's own blog.

So, here are the books...


The Echo in Twilight by Judith Kinghorn... A captivating and moving story of the unlikely relationship between a lady and her maid on the eve of World War I.

As I watched him—his long legs striding the narrow path through the heather, his golden hair catching the sun—I had a hideous feeling in the pit of my stomach. For it seemed as though he was already marching away from me.

In 1914, despite the clouds of war threatening Europe, Pearl Gibson's future is bright. She has secured a position as a lady's maid to a wealthy Northumberland aristocrat, a job that will win her not only respect but an opportunity to travel and live in luxury. Her new life at Lady Ottoline Campbell's Scottish summer estate is a whirlwind of intrigue and glamour, scandals and confidences—and surprisingly, a strange but intimate friendship with her employer. 

But when violence erupts in Europe, Pearl and Ottoline's world is irrevocably changed. As the men in their lives are called to the front lines, leaving them behind to anxiously brace for bad news, Pearl realizes she must share one final secret with her mistress—a secret that will bind them together forever...

This sounds wonderful! I love the idea of these two women from different social "classes", coming together to survive the horrors of the war. I also love the cover! So excited to have gotten an eGalley from Berkley Publishing Group! Thank you! This was released the beginning of January.

Lincoln in The Bardo by George Saunders... February 1862. The Civil War is less than one year old. The fighting has begun in earnest, and the nation has begun to realize it is in for a long, bloody struggle. Meanwhile, President Lincoln's beloved eleven-year-old son, Willie, lies upstairs in the White House, gravely ill. In a matter of days, despite predictions of a recovery, Willie dies and is laid to rest in a Georgetown cemetery. “My poor boy, he was too good for this earth,” the president says at the time. “God has called him home.” Newspapers report that a grief-stricken Lincoln returned to the crypt several times alone to hold his boy's body.

From that seed of historical truth, George Saunders spins an unforgettable story of familial love and loss that breaks free of its realistic, historical framework into a thrilling, supernatural realm both hilarious and terrifying. Willie Lincoln finds himself in a strange purgatory, where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact bizarre acts of penance. Within this transitional state—called, in the Tibetan tradition, the bardo—a monumental struggle erupts over young Willie's soul.

I loved George Saunders short stories in Tenth of December, so when I heard about this book I was looking forward to diving into a full length novel written by this master storyteller! This book sounds so wild and fun. I love when an author takes a familiar historical figure and imagines a whole different life then we are familiar with. I am so happy to have gotten an eGalley from Random House! Thank you! The release date for this imaginitive story is Feb. 14, 2017!

Twelve Angry Librarians by Miranda James... The New York Times bestselling author of No Cats Allowed and Arsenic and Old Books is back with more Southern charm and beguiling mystery as Charlie and Diesel must find a killer in a room full of librarians...

Light-hearted librarian Charlie Harris is known around his hometown of Athena, Mississippi, for walking his cat, a rescued Maine Coon named Diesel. But he may soon be taken for a walk himself—in handcuffs... Charlie is stressed out. The Southern Academic Libraries Association is holding this year's annual meeting at Athena College. Since Charlie is the interim library director, he must deliver the welcome speech to all the visiting librarians. And as if that weren't bad enough, the keynote address will be delivered by Charlie's old nemesis from library school. It's been thirty years since Charlie has seen Gavin Fong, and he's still an insufferable know-it-all capable of getting under everyone's skin. In his keynote, Gavin puts forth a most unpopular opinion: that degreed librarians will be obsolete in the academic libraries of the future. So, when Gavin is found dead, no one seems too upset...

But Charlie, who was seen having a heated argument with Gavin after the speech, has jumped to the top of the suspect list. Now Charlie and Diesel must check out every clue to refine their search for the real killer among them before the next book Charlie reads comes from a prison library...

How can I resist a Cozy about a library with a cat who helps solve murder mysteries! This just sounded like a fun, enjoyable read and I am so delighted that I received an eGalley from Berkley Publishing Group! Thank you! Nothing better than a Cozy in the winter!  I love the cover too! Release date is Feb. 21, 2017!

What new books have you gotten this week?!

The Sunday Salon and Where Did They Go?... Missing Women

Welcome to Chick with Books, The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post (which is hosted by Kim at The Caffeinated Book Reviewer)!  It's the day of the week we sit back, relax and talk books! The new year has started and as a reader I am so excited to see what books are coming our way! So, pull up a chair, grab a cup of Java and let's explore some great reading!

The snow has finally blanketed the Northeast and said hello. Pile ups, fishtailing, shovels and snowplows were all familiar sights yesterday, as the snow seemed to never end in Connecticut. But being snowed in isn't all bad... there's always a good book to pass the time with. I did that with The Dogs of Christmas by W. Bruce Cameron. It was my reading groups Christmas read that I was finishing up before we got together this week. Ever need just a "feel good" book? Write this one down, because it was just that! Look for my review next week, but suffice it to say it was a winner!

Do you like to read "Holiday Themed" books?

AND, this week I found three books that will hopefully knock our socks off! First, is a book by Chris Bohjalian, who wrote the hit, The Guest Room. Next up should be one of the most anticipated books of the year by Paula Hawkins, who gave us The Girl on The Train! And finally, a new author, whose debut novel is a psychological suspense thriller that has just been translated from the German, and sounds like a winner! What do all these novels have in common? They all are about missing women...

In The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian, a mother who sleepwalks disappears during the night and is feared dead, In Into The Water by Paula Hawkins, a mother goes missing and is found dead in the river, and in The Missing by Caroline Eriksson, a father and daughter go missing during an outing on the lake. (okay, a stretch here about the story being about a missing woman, but the young daughter counts in my book!) Here's the full descriptions from the publishers...

The Sleepwalker by Chris Bohjalian... A spine-tingling novel of lies, loss, and buried desire—the mesmerizing story of a wife and mother who vanishes from her bed late one night. 

When Annalee Ahlberg goes missing, her children fear the worst. Annalee is a sleepwalker whose affliction manifests in ways both bizarre and devastating. Once, she merely destroyed the hydrangeas in front of her Vermont home. More terrifying was the night her older daughter, Lianna, pulled her back from the precipice of the Gale River bridge. The morning of Annalee's disappearance, a search party combs the nearby woods. Annalee's husband, Warren, flies home from a business trip. Lianna is questioned by a young, hazel-eyed detective. And her little sister, Paige, takes to swimming the Gale to look for clues. When the police discover a small swatch of fabric, a nightshirt, ripped and hanging from a tree branch, it seems certain Annalee is dead, but Gavin Rikert, the hazel-eyed detective, continues to call, continues to stop by the Ahlbergs' Victorian home. As Lianna peels back the layers of mystery surrounding Annalee's disappearance, she finds herself drawn to Gavin, but she must ask herself: Why does the detective know so much about her mother? Why did Annalee leave her bed only when her father was away? And if she really died while sleepwalking, where was the body? 

Into The Water by Paula Hawkins... A single mother turns up dead at the bottom of the river that runs through town. Earlier in the summer, a vulnerable teenage girl met the same fate. They are not the first women lost to these dark waters, but their deaths disturb the river and its history, dredging up secrets long submerged.

Left behind is a lonely fifteen-year-old girl. Parentless and friendless, she now finds herself in the care of her mother's sister, a fearful stranger who has been dragged back to the place she deliberately ran from—a place to which she vowed she'd never return. With the same propulsive writing and acute understanding of human instincts that captivated millions of readers around the world in her explosive debut thriller, The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins delivers an urgent, twisting, deeply satisfying read that hinges on the deceptiveness of emotion and memory, as well as the devastating ways that the past can reach a long arm into the present. Beware a calm surface—you never know what lies beneath.
   
The Missing by  Caroline Eriksson... An ordinary outing takes Greta, Alex, and four-year-old Smilla across Sweden’s mythical Lake Malice to a tiny, isolated island. While father and daughter tramp into the trees, Greta stays behind in the boat, lulled into a reverie by the misty, moody lake…only later to discover that the two haven’t returned. 

Her frantic search proves futile. They’ve disappeared without a trace. Greta struggles to understand their eerie vanishing. She desperately needs to call Alex, to be reassured that Smilla is safe, or contact the police. But now her cell phone is missing too. Back at her cottage, she finds it hidden away under the bedsheets. Had she done that? Or had someone else been in the cottage? But who, and why? As Greta struggles to put the pieces together, she fears that her past has come back to torment her, or she’s finally lost her grip on reality… In this dark psychological thrill ride—with more twists than a labyrinth and more breathless moments than a roller coaster—Greta must confront what she’s always kept hidden if she has any hope of untangling the truth.

Weekly Wrap-up...
Mailbox Monday... I received some great books in the mail by Greg Iles, Patricia Cornwell, Benjamin Ludwig, Joshilyn Jackson, and Beatriz Williams! Check them out and see what you should be adding to YOUR TBR list! 

Tuesday we said farewell to Watership Down author, Richard Adams, who passed away at the age of 96. Are you familiar with the wonderful story of Hazel and Fiver? If not, you need be! 

Thursday I reviewed: I Remember You: A Ghost Story by Yrse Siguroardottir. OMG, what a great read! If you like crime fiction or ghost stories, PICK THIS BOOK UP NOW! Click on the link to read all about it!

First Lines Friday... When I open a book for the first time, I like to read a little to see if I like the style of writing. First Lines Friday give you the first lines of a book to see if those lines hook you. This friday I highlighted,  The Echo of Twilight by Judith Kinghorn. Click on the link to read them!

Saturday I shared the 2017 Chick with Books Bingo Card! It's a fun way to keep track of and find new books! I created a Bingo card for my reading group and they loved it! Check it out and play along! Last year I almost filled the whole card, this year I am determined to finish it!

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It was a full week this past week! What books did you enjoy this week? Next week will bring more reading and next Sunday, I'll share what books I found at my Indie Bookstore that piqued my interest! 

Hope you found something interesting here today! Happy reading... Suzanne





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2017 Chick with Books Bingo Card!

Ready for a little reading fun?! Here's this years Chick with Books Book Bingo Card! The challenge is in trying to fill the whole card up! Can you do it?! Let's have some fun and try! Print this page, and start filling in your books! Come back here and share what books you read for what square! Share what books would be a good choice for squares too! Good luck!

2017 Chick with Books Bingo!

Historical Fiction	Read a short story	A Banned Book	Go to an author event or read a book by a local author	With a Bookstore or Book as part of the story
A Translation	Nonfiction	A Graphic Novel	Published in 2016	Science fiction or fantasy
Longer than 400 pages	Set in another Country	CHICK WITH BOOKS BINGO! (free square)	Biography or Memoir	An Audiobook
Watch a Movie based on a Book	With a number in the title	Romance or Love Story	Revolves around a Holiday	By an author who shares the first name of someone in the reading group
With a blue cover	On the Best Seller list in 2017	Get a Library Card or Take a Book out of the Library	A Prize winner	Cozy Mystery