The Sunday Salon and Poems, Poets and National Poetry Month...

 Welcome to The Sunday Salon and The Sunday Post! It's that day of the week bloggers from all over the internet get together virtually in a large gathering place called The Sunday Salon and talk books!  And at The Sunday Post, which is a weekly meme hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, in which more bloggers share their bookish news!

There is a fresh layer of snow this morning in Connecticut. Why it should surprise me to have snow in April, I don't know except for the fact that it was almost 80 degrees the other day. And there is more snow coming! And high winds! And so... let's get comfy inside, grab a cup of joe and let's talk books! In particular, let's talk about poetry books. April is National Poetry Month and we are enjoying poetry here, at Chick with Books, all month! Poetry is something I enjoy, and have continued to expand my enjoyment of. There have been wonderful poets through out the ages; poets such as Yeats or Browning (both Elizabeth and Robert), Lord Byron (She Walks in Beauty), Millay, but there are some wonderful contemporary poets to appreiate too... Jane Hirshfield, Mary Oliver, Billy Collins to name just a few. But people have always had that love hate relationship with poetry. Why read poetry? How to read poetry? When to read poetry?... Read poetry to the person you love. Enjoy the stillness around you as you read a poem. Enjoy the words, the irony, the humor, the feelings a poem shares with you. Just do it... Here are some ways to do it...

She Walks in Beauty by Caroline Kennedy... In She Walks in Beauty, Caroline Kennedy has once again marshaled the gifts of our greatest poets to pay a very personal tribute to the human experience, this time to the complex and fascinating subject of womanhood. Inspired by her own reflections on more than fifty years of life as a young girl, a woman, a wife, and a mother, She Walks in Beauty draws on poetry's eloquent wisdom to ponder the many joys and challenges of being a woman. Kennedy has divided the collection into sections that signify to her the most notable milestones, passages, and universal experiences in a woman's life, and she begins each of these sections with an introduction in which she explores and celebrates the most important elements of life's journey. The collection includes works by Elizabeth Bishop, Sharon Olds, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Mary Oliver, Pablo Neruda, W. H. Auden, Adrienne Rich, Sandra Cisneros, Anne Sexton, W. S. Merwin, Dorothy Parker, Queen Elizabeth I, Lucille Clifton, Naomi Shahib Nye, and W. B. Yeats. Whether it's falling in love, breaking up, friendship, marriage, motherhood, or growing old, She Walks in Beauty is a priceless resource for anyone, male or female, who wants a deeper understanding and appreciation of what it means to be a woman.

This is a wonderful collection of poetry that reflects growing up female. If you are looking for a gift for a sister, mother, daughter or girlfriend, this would make a wonderful one. I have this book and enjoy opening it and randomly reading poems. But there are other ways to enjoy these poems - you can inscribe these poems in cards, books, letters to the women in your lives as special moments happen.. a bride to be, a first child, being a mother. Just a thought.

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The Kingdom of Ordinary Time by Marie Howe... Hurrying through errands, attending a dying mother, helping her own child down the playground slide, the speaker in these poems wonders: what is the difference between the self and the soul? The secular and the sacred? Where is the kingdom of heaven? And how does one live in Ordinary Time—during those periods that are not apparently miraculous?

Marie Howe's poetry is thought provoking and accessible. Straight forward and funny. As soon as I read this book of her poetry, she became one of my favorite poets. They are simple and yet beautiful.

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The Captain's Verses by Pablo Neruda... First published anonymously in 1952, some years before Neruda married Matilde Urrutia - the one with "the fire / of an unchained meteor" - to whom he had addressed these poems of love, ecstasy, devotion, and fury. The bilingual edition is seen by many as the most intimate and passionate volume of Neruda's love poetry, capturing all the erotic energy of a new love. 

This is such beautiful poetry. Pablo Neruda wrote these poems to his lover Matilde before they were married and they are filled with such passion and tenderness. All of the copies of this book I've seen are bilingual, with the poem in Spanish on one page and the English translation on the facing page. As a crazy spanish student in the 70's, I loved reading these in Spanish, but even if you can't read Spanish, they sound so beautiful in Spanish that you should make sure you buy a bilingual version and try your hand at some Spanish.

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Good Poems by Garrison Keillor (editor)...  Every day people tune in to The Writer's Almanac on public radio and hear Garrison Keillor read them a poem. And here, for the first time, is an anthology of poems from the show, chosen by Keillor for their wit, their frankness, their passion, their "utter clarity in the face of everything else a person has to deal with at 7 a.m." 

If you are familiar with Garrison Keillor, than you know these are great poems. If you are not familiar with him, you need to watch a few episodes of A Prarie Home Companion! These are not actually his poems, but poems he had picked out for all the wonder and imagination that makes a great poem. I have always enjoyed opening this collection of poems and reading them. They are about lifes moments.

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Hope Is The Thing With Feathers 

'Hope' is the thing with feathers—

That perches in the soul—

And sings the tune without the words—

And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—

And sore must be the storm—

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chillest land—

And on the strangest Sea—

Yet, never, in Extremity,

It asked a crumb—of Me.

                                            ...by Emily Dickinson 

                                                                 

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Weekly Wrap up... 

*Friday was the start of April, and National Poetry Month. Learn about what it's all about by following THIS LINK.

*Friday we also posted our first poem to start the month off right. Follow THIS LINK to read Matthew Yeager's Poem to First Love.

*Saturday we posted Billy Collins reading one of my favorite poems. Follow THIS LINK to hear his poem (via video) "To my favourite 17 year old High-school girl" (It's always nice to hear the actual poet read his/her work).

Question... Do you read poetry?

I hope I've inspired you to read some poetry! You can find poetry in many places online too... The Poetry Foundation, Poem Hunter, Poems.com, Poets. org. You can also sign up to receive a poem a day in your inbox through Poets.org. Read some poetry, write some poetry!, and come back throughout the month to discover more poems, poets and all things poetry! 

Happy Reading.. Suzanne

P.S. Have a favorite poem or poet? Share it here! I'd love to hear!

The Sunday Salon and 3 Of the Most Anticipated Time Traveling YA Books of 2016

Welcome to The Sunday Salon, where bloggers from all over the world talk about all things bookish is a virtual library! And The Sunday Post, which is a weekly meme hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, in which more bloggers share their bookish news!! Sunday is the day of the week we sit back, relax and talk books! Here in Connecticut, we are still recovering from 5 inches of unexpected snow from friday, and it isn't as unusually warm as it has been lately, so staying inside and reading seems a great idea! I just finished Lisa Gardner's Find Her, and loved it!(Here's a link to my review) and though I have a few books in the wings to start (My reading group selection this month is Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger) and one library book to finish (Concussion by Jeanne Marie Laskas) I am always on the lookout for fresh reading. There has been a lot of buzz about some great YA books to come out the last month (and one coming out next week) that I thought I would share with you. These books piqued my interest, not only because the plots sound interesting, but because they all involve time traveling, and I just LOVE time travel books! The Time Travelers Wife and Outlander are two of my favorites.


Let's Look at 3 of the most anticipated Time Traveling YA books...
The Love That Split the World by Emily Henry... Emily Henry’s stunning debut novel is Friday Night Lights meets The Time Traveler’s Wife, and perfectly captures those bittersweet months after high school, when we dream not only of the future, but of all the roads and paths we’ve left untaken.

Natalie’s last summer in her small Kentucky hometown is off to a magical start…until she starts seeing the “wrong things.” They’re just momentary glimpses at first—her front door is red instead of its usual green, there’s a pre-school where the garden store should be. But then her whole town disappears for hours, fading away into rolling hills and grazing buffalo, and Nat knows something isn’t right.

That’s when she gets a visit from the kind but mysterious apparition she calls “Grandmother,” who tells her: “You have three months to save him.” The next night, under the stadium lights of the high school football field, she meets a beautiful boy named Beau, and it’s as if time just stops and nothing exists. Nothing, except Natalie and Beau.

I've heard so many great things said about this debut from Emily Henry that it is definitely on my TBR list! This came out January 26, 2016 from Razorbill an imprint from Penguin.

Passenger by Alexandra Bracken  ...Violin prodigy Etta Spencer had big plans for her future, but a tragedy has put her once-bright career at risk. Closely tied to her musical skill, however, is a mysterious power she doesn't even know she has. When her two talents collide during a stressful performance, Etta is drawn back hundreds of years through time. 

Etta wakes, confused and terrified, in 1776, in the midst a fierce sea battle. Nicholas Carter, the handsome young prize master of a privateering ship, has been hired to retrieve Etta and deliver her unharmed to the Ironwoods, a powerful family in the Colonies--the very same one that orchestrated her jump back, and one Nicholas himself has ties to. But discovering she can time travel is nothing compared to the shock of discovering the true reason the Ironwoods have ensnared her in their web. 

Another traveler has stolen an object of untold value from them, and, if Etta can find it, they will return her to her own time. Out of options, Etta and Nicholas embark on a perilous journey across centuries and continents, piecing together clues left behind by the mysterious traveler. But as they draw closer to each other and the end of their search, the true nature of the object, and the dangerous game the Ironwoods are playing, comes to light--threatening to separate her not only from Nicholas, but her path home... forever.

Yes! This sounds fabulous, doesn't it! A true adventure and a bit of romance thrown in. On my TBR list too! This came out January 5, 2016 from Disney Hyperion.

The Girl From Everywhere Heidi Heilig... Sixteen-year-old Nix Song is a time-traveller. She, her father and their crew of time refugees travel the world aboard The Temptation, a glorious pirate ship stuffed with treasures both typical and mythical. Old maps allow Nix and her father to navigate not just to distant lands, but distant times - although a map will only take you somewhere once. And Nix's father is only interested in one time, and one place: Honolulu 1868. A time before Nix was born, and her mother was alive. Something that puts Nix's existence rather dangerously in question...

Nix has grown used to her father's obsession, but only because she's convinced it can't work. But then a map falls into her father's lap that changes everything. And when Nix refuses to help, her father threatens to maroon Kashmir, her only friend (and perhaps, only love) in a time where Nix will never be able to find him. And if Nix has learned one thing, it's that losing the person you love is a torment that no one can withstand. Nix must work out what she wants, who she is, and where she really belongs before time runs out on her forever.

Another fun looking time travel adventure! This is coming out February 26, 2016 from Greenwillow Books an imprint of HarperCollins.

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What do you think about time travel in books?! Time travel can be confusing, and I have heard readers not liking The Time Travelers Wife because they were pretty confused at the start of that book.  But if handled well, I think time travel can be so much fun!

Weekly Update... Here's what went on last week on the blog:

Monday, Feb. 1st...
Memoir Monday with Concussion by Jeannie Marie Laskas and Mailbox Monday featuring the two great eGalleys in my mail.

Friday, Feb. 5th... 
First Lines Friday with The 6:41 to Paris by Jean-Philippe Blondel and My Review of American Housewife by Helen Ellis

Saturday, Feb. 6th...  My Review of Find Her by Lisa Gardner (BTW, I gave it 5 stars!)
                               
Next week I'll be finishing up Concussion by Jeannie Marie Laskas (hopefully) and start The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee. There are two more YA books on my nightstand that are trying to lure me their way, but they are going to have to wait... (maybe!)

               

                                               Pax by Sara Pennypacker           Made You Up by Francesca Zappia

Hope you found something interesting to read here today! And please, share what you're reading this week and what good books you've found! 

Happy Reading... Suzanne

*P.S. Don't forget next Sunday is VALENTINE'S DAY! We'll have something sexy for The Sunday Salon!

The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Volume 1 by Joseph Gordon-Levitt… A Review

"The universe is not made of atoms; it’s made of tiny stories."

With the quote above opens The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories Volume 1 by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who invited people around the world to contribute small one or two line stories to his online website, HitRECord.org. And people did, 8500 people submitted little stories for this volume alone! The result of which are these 40 charming, poignant, funny, sometimes silly little stories and which, by the way, are also illustrated by other contributors. 

I absolutely loved this little book! It's size is just as tiny as its' stories at 4 x 6, and would make a perfect "tiny" little gift. I enjoyed the illustrations that accompany the stories too. It's a book that I found myself leafing back through after finishing it to enjoy the small little sentiments over and over again.

Even though I borrowed this from my local library, I guess I'll be adding this one to the permanent shelves anyway! Definitely a little gem in the stacks! (And if you like this volume, there are 2 more volumes already!)

Memoir Monday (almost)... Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai... It's a memoir... but not exactly. It's a children's book, and it did win the National Book Award for YA Lit this year, but it's more than that. Inside Out & Back Again is a verse book, or a book totally written in short verses, but not a book of poetry. What is Inside Out & Back Again exactly then? It's a poignant look at a young child's life as she is being thrown into a new life unexpectedly and how she deals with it all. It's an immigrant's story, but the perspective we see is from the voice of an intelligent 10-year-old girl, who has a little spunk behind her, and who simply tells us in unfaltering prose what it's like to lose your best friend, dream, be torn from all you know and ultimately be the outsider. The last time I read a book that was in complete verse (Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow) I didn't like the medium at all. But this is a different story, and Thanhha Lai measures her words more carefully like a delicate brushstroke at times, almost like Haiku.

The life of Ha is based on the life of author Thanhha Lai, who moved to Alabama at the end of the Vietnam War. And so, though this isn't really a memoir, it really is. Here's what's on the front jacket flap...

No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.

For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.

But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.

This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.

The story is moving, and wonderfully written. A sweet story for any young girl at heart, but also a story of the hopes, dreams and reality of immigration.

The Sunday Salon... Visiting Out of Oz: The Book and My Life

Thank you Harper Collins for sending along a copy of Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire! It's the final volume in Gregory Maguire's series of books covering what is referred to as "The Wicked Years", or the land of Oz with a twist.

Out of Oz came at an interesting time in my life, because I've been away from Chick with Books for a little while, traveling down what feels like that yellow brick road, encountering adventures along the way, with my life changing leaps and bounds. But just as Dorothy discovered at the end of her adventures, I knew that "there's no place like home"... So even though I've been thrown a few curves along the way, I'm back home! Nice to see you all again! And with that said, let's take a look at Out of Oz...

Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire... First, let's look at that gorgeous cover by illustrator Douglas Smith! Capturing the beauty of Oz and Dorothy with his scratchboard illustrations, Douglas Smith not only designs the book jacket and cover, but also illustrates the inside covers of the book too! They say don't judge a book by its cover, but I defy anyone not to pick this book up after walking past it. The jacket is cut out in the middle revealing Dorothy peaking through, and revealing a beautiful illustration right on the book cover itself. I just love books that are just as beautiful without their jackets on!

The story, of course, is the magical world of Gregory Maguire. Always taking us beyond the pages of Frank Baum's classic Wizard of Oz series, Mr. Maguire delights us again in this final story of Oz.

"Out of Oz The marvelous land of Oz is knotted with social unrest: The Emerald City is mounting an invasion of Munchkinland, Glinda is under house arrest, and the Cowardly Lion is on the run from the law. And look who’s knocking at the door. It’s none other than Dorothy. Yes, that Dorothy. Amid all this chaos, Elphaba’s granddaughter, the tiny green baby born at the close of Son of a Witch, has come of age. Now, Rain will take up her broom in an Oz wracked by war."

Opening the pages of Out of Oz, made me feel 10 years-old again. Though the story is not for the young, it is for the young-at-heart. A fairy tale with a bit of a bite to it. Though I have not devoured it all yet, I am excited to be visiting Oz and Gregory Maguire's writing is always wonderful and always captures me, holding me captive.

If you haven't read the Wicked, Son of a Witch and A Lion Among Men, the first 3 books in the series, no worries because Gregory Maguire briefly catches you up to speed on each book is about. But I might start at the beginning, just so you can enjoy the series for as long as you can...

Happy reading... Suzanne

First Lines... 212 by Alafair Burke

"Tanya Abbott noticed the quiver in her index finger as it pressed the three silver buttons in the rain-- 9... 1... 1. Listening to the ring, she found herself mentally calculating the number of days that had passed since she had first arrived in New York City.

Tanya had put the number at twenty-six by the time the dispatcher answered the call..."

212 by Alafair Burke, just published! And if you like crime fiction with a thriller bend, you'll want to pick this one up! Alafair Burke is having a Virtual Book Tour and making a stop at Chick with Books! Look for my review coming in a couple of weeks!

Memoir Monday... Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

I really had to look twice to make sure that this was indeed a true story even though its description reads like an fictional adventure. But that is what caught my attention with this one... Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff is a story that sounds so amazing that it's hard to believe it's true... but it is...

In 1945, twenty-four American servicemen and women boarded a plane to see “Shangri-La,” a beautiful valley deep within Dutch New Guinea. But when the plane crashed, only three pulled through to battle for survival.

Emotionally devastated and badly injured, the trio faced certain death. Caught between spear-carrying tribesmen and enemy Japanese, they trekked down the jungle-covered mountainside and straight into superstitious natives rumored to be cannibals.

Drawn from interviews, Army documents, photos, diaries, and original film footage, Lost in Shangri-La recounts this true-life adventure for the first time. Mitchell Zuckoff reveals how the trio traversed the jungle; how brave Filipino-American paratroopers risked their lives to save the survivors; how a native leader protected the Americans; and how a cowboy colonel attempted an untried rescue mission to get them out.

From the excerpt of Lost in Shangri-La that I read, Mitchell Zuckoff does a great job holding your attention. His style of writing wasn't sensationalizing, but factual with the added creative style a good writer has. And what a story! Lost in a jungle with cannibals?! A rescue mission equally as dangerous?! This is definitely one on my TBR list! It has gotten quite a lot of praise since its release late in April and for people who think WW II stories are all dried up... think again!

The Sunday Salon... What's New Pussycat? or Books with Buzz!

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! Grab a cup of joe, sit back and relax! It's the day of the week where we get together to chat about all the bookish things we've read, seen and done! This week was Read Like a Mother Week at Chick with Books, where we reviewed and highlighted books books that showcase women in the rolls of mothers, sisters or just simply friends, and,in the case of The Guardian by Margaret Mallory, lovers! Fiction (and nonfiction) that showcases women. Today I thought we'd finish up the week with some other great reading that isn't necessarily all about us girls...

Check out these great reads that I found in my travels this week... Of course those travels weren't to a bookstore this week. Alas my local bookstore has finally shut its doors. Yes, my local bookstore was a Borders. Now I'll be traveling a bit farther to get the feel of a real book in my hands when it comes to bookstores, but there is an independent bookstore I just love that I don't get to visit as often as I like and I look forward to driving off to visit it more often now. So, here are some great Books with Buzz...

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks... from the author's website: "Geraldine Brooks takes a remarkable shard of history and brings it to vivid life. In 1665, a young man from Martha’s Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Upon this slender factual scaffold, Brooks has created a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure. The narrator of Caleb’s Crossing is Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amid a small band of pioneers and Puritans. Restless and curious, she yearns after an education that is closed to her by her sex. As often as she can, she slips away to explore the island’s glistening beaches and observe its native Wampanoag inhabitants. At twelve, she encounters Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a tentative, secret friendship that draws each into the alien world of the other. Bethia’s minister father tries to convert the Wampanoag, awakening the wrath of the island’s strongest pawaaw, against whose ritual magic he must test his own beliefs. One of his projects becomes the education of Caleb, and a year later, Caleb is in Cambridge, studying Latin and Greek among the colonial elite. Bethia, also in Cambridge at the behest of her imperious elder brother, finds herself enmeshed in Caleb’s fate as he crosses between cultures."

What really caught my attention with Caleb's Crossing was the thought of being immersed in a story that would take me to a time and place virtually untouched by civilization, a landscape that was pure and in which we could enjoy the discovery of it's secrets as Bethia, our heroine, explores it's riches, which include a culture unfamiliar to her and how her friend Caleb finds his place in her world. Geraldine Brooks is a master at creating wonderful stories from pieces of history, and I can't wait to dive into this one!

The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon... It is 1968. Lynnie, a young white woman with a developmental disability, and Homan, an African American deaf man, are locked away in an institution, the School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, and have been left to languish, forgotten. Deeply in love, they escape, and find refuge in the farmhouse

of Martha, a retired schoolteacher and widow. But the couple is not alone-Lynnie has just given birth to a baby girl. When the authorities catch up to them that same night, Homan escapes into the darkness, and Lynnie is caught. But before she is forced back into the institution, she whispers two words to Martha: "Hide her." And so begins the 40-year epic journey of Lynnie, Homan, Martha, and baby Julia-lives divided by seemingly insurmountable obstacles, yet drawn together by a secret pact and extraordinary love.

This sounds like an amazing story. What further convinced me to put this in the TBR pile was part of a Publisher's Weekly review that said...

"Although their stories diverge and unfold independently of one another, memories of their short time together sustain them for more than 40 years..."

I love stories where we hear the story from two characters separate from each other. And my heart tugged at the notion that their "memories of their time together sustained them for 40 years." A love story, a story that shows that love isn't restricted to people with disabilities, and an adventure all wrapped up in one make this a must read for me!

The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto... From Publisher's Weekly: Yoshimoto delves into an elusive romance between an artist and a

student, each of whom bears scars from unusual upbringings, in this clever, off-beat novel. The 30-year-old narrator earns a modest living as a mural painter in Tokyo, supported by her businessman father whom she sees only occasionally since the death of her mother; her parents never married, as her mother was a Mama-san of a nightclub, her father the devoted customer, and his family dead-set against the match, seeding a deep sense of shame and inadequacy in the girl. Presently, she has befriended a curious young man, Nakajima, who begins to sleep over at her place, though chastely. A student in an advanced program of genetics, he hints at terrible secrets in his childhood, which are gradually revealed after the two visit Nakajima's very strange friends in the countryside, and it's revealed that Nakajima had been kidnapped as a boy by a cult and brainwashed. Unsettling as Nakajima's story is, the narrator has grown to cherish him and must decide if their uncommon connection—not passionate, but comforting and near-maternal—will bring lasting happiness.

Banana Yoshimoto is a wildly popular Japanese author, who I discovered while reading for the Japanese Literature Challenge. Her books are often short, amazingly wonderful stories with quirky characters. As a fan of Japanese literature, it's a treat when an author is translated for us, and this should be welcomed by fans of the author as well as anyone who enjoys a good story. This has gotten a lot of great buzz since it publication at the beginning of this month! It's coming my way, so keep a look out for a review soon. BTW, A portion of the sale of this book will go to Japanese Disaster Relief.

Weekly Recap... We started this weeks theme of "Read Like a Mother" Monday with Two Kisses for Maddy by Matt Logelin, the heartfelt memoir of Matt Logelin, who lost his wife, Liz, 27 hours after the birth of their daughter Maddy, from a pulmonary embolism. Matt's story is one of learning how to be a single dad at the same time as becoming a widow. Originally he poured out his heart on a blog he created after Liz's death. Wednesday, I highlighted Ann Brasheres, a favorite author of mine who gave us the wonderful story of 4 young girls, their friendship, their coming-of-age story, and their shared pair of magical jeans. The story of course is The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which became 4 books, and now 10 years later those friends have grown up and we can revisit them in Ann's new book Sisterhood Everlasting! Thursday this week brought the sexier side of women, with a review AND GIVEAWAY of The Guardian by Margaret Mallory! Men in kilts, history, adventure and ROMANCE await ye in this wonderful book by Margaret Mallory! Don't miss your chance to win a copy! Follow the link above to enter! Friday's First Lines gave us a sneak peek at Wallflower by Holly-Jane Rahlens. The novel is set during the fall of the Berlin Wall. It's "Wallflower is four hours in the life of Molly Lenzfeld, sixteen-year-old New Yorker in Berlin." After the fall of the Berlin Wall, Molly decides to visit her mother's birth house in East Berlin, that's when she meets Mick & the Berlin no one really knows..." This is on my reading table right now. Holly-Jane Rahlens writing is fresh & the story is entertaining. I'll be righting my review for it soon...

That's how my reading week was, how was yours?? What great books have you discovered this week?! Share them so the rest of us can enjoy them too! I hope you found something to pique your reading curiosity here today! And I hope you enjoyed Read Like a Mother Week! Take care and Happy Reading... Suzanne

Memoir Monday... A Widow's Story by Joyce Carol Oates

Funny, how you can know an author by name but never read her before. That's exactly what I realized when I received a copy of Joyce Carol Oates memoir in the mail from HarperCollins. I was familiar with the author by name, but I couldn't say I ever read anything by her. A Widow's Story by Joyce Carol Oates is the intimate story of the unexpected death of the author's husband and the aftermath. Here's the blurb from the publisher...

“My husband died, my life collapsed.”

On a February morning in 2008, Joyce Carol Oates drove her ailing husband, Raymond Smith, to the emergency room of the Princeton Medical Center where he was diagnosed with pneumonia. Both Joyce and Ray expected him to be released in a day or two. But in less than a week, even as Joyce was preparing for his discharge, Ray was dead from a hospital-acquired virulent infection and Joyce was suddenly faced—totally unprepared—with the stunning reality of widowhood.

A Widow’s Story illuminates one woman's struggle to comprehend a life absent of the partnership that had sustained and defined her for nearly half a century. As never before, Joyce Carol Oates shares the derangement of denial, the anguish of loss, the disorientation of the survivor amid a nightmare of "death duties," and the solace of friendship. She writes unflinchingly of the experience of grief—the almost unbearable suspense of the hospital vigil, the treacherous "pools" of memory that surround us, the vocabulary of illness, the absurdities of commercialized forms of mourning. Here is a frank acknowledgement of the widow's desperation—only gradually yielding to the recognition that "this is my life now."

Can you say a book is beautifully written when it's written about the death of someone? I have not finished reading A Widow's Story, but just from what I've read so far I know one thing: I am going to read eveything I can get my hands on that Joyce Carol Oates has written. Her prose is lyrical. Her eye for detail in the everyday and her ability to breath life in those little things is one of her gifts. And with all that she has to endure, and I feel her pain so intensely, she still is able to demonstrate her morbid sense of humor.

Look for my review in the near future, but in the meantime make a note not to miss this book if you read memoirs, or enjoy reading women's fiction, because ultimately A Widow's Story is about the journey we must take when losing a spouse. Look for A Widow's Story at your local bookstore this coming Feb. 15th.

The Sunday Salon Celebrates To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Happy Anniversary to To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee! It's been 50 years since Scout, Atticus & Boo Radley made their first appearance in the pages of To Kill a Mockingbird, and there are celebrations galore surrounding the beloved classic book that still sells almost a million copies a year!

Have you read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee by Harper Lee? To Kill a Mockingbird is told through the eyes of young Scout Finch, a tomboy with a good head on her shoulders and a wisdom that seems beyond her years. Set in the deep south during the Great Depression, the story gives us a wonderful glimpse into the hardships and attitudes of that time period. Scout shares the story with her brother Jem, their friend Dill, and their father, Atticus, a widower and a lawyer, who instills in his children the moral virtues of right & wrong, and his belief that everyone is created equal. What should be another lazy summer of childhood adventures for Scout, Jem and their new friend Dill, becomes a heated bed of racial tension when Tom Robinson, a black man, is accused of raping Mayella Ewell, a young white woman. Atticus Finch takes the case to defend Tom Robinson and the lives of Atticus, Scout and Jem are changed forever. The writing is wonderful, and as fresh as it was 50 years ago. My reading group read this a few years ago and everyone just loved it! Although not everyone loves To Kill a Mockingbird - it's one of the most frequently challenged books, controversial due to it's portrayal of racial themes, and for its' discussion of rape.

One of the newest books to come out recently is Scout, Atticus & Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of To Kill a Mockingbird by Mary McDonagh Murphy. Mary is an independent film writer & producer, whose love of To Kill a Mockingbird and admiration of Harper Lee led her to produce her documentary HEY, BOO: HARPER LEE AND TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD. Scout, Atticus & Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of To Kill a Mockingbird is the book that compliments the documentary. Here's what the publishers write...

To mark the fiftieth anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird, Mary McDonagh Murphy reviews its history and examines how the novel has left its mark on a broad range of novelists, historians, journalists, and artist. In compelling interviews, Anna Quindlen, Tomw Brokaw, Oprah Winfrey... and others reflect on when they first read the novel, what it means to them- then and now- and how it has affected their lives and careers. Harper Lee has not given an interview since 1964, but Murphy's reporting, research, and rare interviews with the author's sister and friends stitch together a b

rief history of how the novel, as well as the acclaimed 1962 move came to be. I'm very interested to read the history of the novel, and I'm sure Mary's background in film making helps her paint a vivid and thorough picture.

What celebration of To Kill a Mockingbird would be complete without acknowledging the author herself! Harper Lee's won the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill a Mockingbird in 1961. Unfortunately it's the only book she ever published. There have been rumors over the years that Harper Lee wrote her childhood friend Truman Capote's book, In Cold Blood, due to her heavy involvement in the research, but we'll never know... Harper Lee leads a life away from the spotlight, rarely granting interviews. We may be able to get a glimpse into the woman behind the book in Mockingbird, a Portrait of Harper Lee by Charles J. Shields. Charles Shields was an English teacher whose constant questions about Harper Lee from his students motivated him to find out about her life while the people from her life were still with us. Through "600 hundred interviews and other sorts of communication with Harper Lee's friends, associates, and former classmates. It's also the product of four years of research into the papers of her friend Truman Capote, which include Lee's notes for his book In Cold Blood, the papers of Lee's literary agent; the archives of national and local librariesl and hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles." Charles J. Shields has given us something to satisfy our desire to know a little more about the author who gave us the feisty little girl named Scott.

You can find out about celebrations around the country at the To Kill a Mockingbird 50th Anniversary site. Celebrations are going on until September. You can find out more about Mary McDonagh Murphy's documentary celebrating To Kill a Mockingbird and see a clip of the documentary at Mary Murphy & Co. HarperCollins is having a GIVEAWAY for a To Kill A Mockingbird Prize pack which includes a copy of the Hardcover Slipcased edition of To Kill a Mockingbird(TKAM), a copy of the trade paperback of TKAM, a DVD of the movie version of TKAM, and a copy of Scott, Atticus and Boo by Mary McDonagh Murphy. You can see all the details at To Kill a Mockingbird 50th Celebration.

How are you celebrating the 50th Anniversary of To Kill a Mockingbird? I'm going to listen to the audiobook version of To Kill A Mockingbird narrated by Sissy Spacek. It won an audie for best classic audiobook in 2007, and I heard that Sissy Spacek's voice is perfect to be the voice of Scout Finch. In the meantime, remember...

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view . . . until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." ... Atticus Finch