Weekly Book Haul....May 17, 2015

The Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Showcase Sunday is hosted by Books, Biscuits and Tea, Stacking the Shelves is hosted by Tynga's Reviews, The Sunday Salon is a new facebook group I've joined and Monday Mailbox is hosted by Marcia to be Continued.

What a week.  I started my new job, complete with the 1+ hour commute.  One day is was 55 minutes, one day it was an hour and a half.  I feel completely at the mercy of every other driver on the 101.  So I am very motivated to move closer to work, although that flies in the face of my natural resistance to change.  

As I look at houses to rent, I am beyond picky, I want perfection, but I want it at the price I want.  I have a two story - horrible to cool in Arizona summers, so I want to go into a one story, but I don't want my 18 year old's bedroom too close to mine.  

In that way, the two story layout has been ideal, my master is on the first floor and her bedroom is on the second floor.  This gives both of us plenty of space.

The first three days of my commute, I listened to the Adam Carolla and Dr. Drew podcast that my sister has been raving about.  It actually is pretty entertaining.  So I downloaded Carolla's "Not Taco Bell Material", and I found that I can pay attention to an audiobook when I'm trapped in traffic.  There were a few times that I found my attention straying, but this isn't the type of book that you will leave you confused if you zone out for a few minutes.  It's pretty funny.

I added a few good books this week.  I'm looking forward to getting back on my normal reading schedule.  Hope you all have a great week, with a short commute!

Edelweiss

All the Single Ladies by Dorothea Benton Frank....The perennial New York Times bestselling author returns with an emotionally resonant novel that

illuminates the power of friendship in women’s lives, and is filled with her trademark wit, poignant and timely themes, sassy, flesh-and-blood characters, and the steamy Southern atmosphere and beauty of her beloved Carolina Lowcountry.

Few writers capture the complexities, pain, and joy of relationships—between friends, family members, husbands and wives, or lovers—as beloved New York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank. In this charming, evocative, soul-touching novel, she once again takes us deep into the heart of the magical Lowcountry where three amazing middle-aged women are bonded by another amazing woman’s death.

Through their shared loss they forge a deep friendship, asking critical questions. Who was their friend and what did her life mean? Are they living the lives they imagined for themselves? Will they ever be able to afford to retire? How will they maximize their happiness? Security? Health? And ultimately, their own legacies?

A plan is conceived and unfurls with each turn of the tide during one sweltering summer on the Isle of Palms. Without ever fully realizing how close they were to the edge, they finally triumph amid laughter and maybe even newfound love.

I love Dorthea Benton Frank, these are the perfect summer reads.

Losing Me by Sue Margolis.....Knocking on sixty, Barbara Stirling is too busy to find herself, while caring for her mother, husband, children, and grandchildren. But when she loses her job, everything changes. Exhausted, lonely, and unemployed, Barbara is forced to face her feelings and doubts. Then a troubled, vulnerable little boy walks into her life and changes it forever.

I understand this is written by the actress who played Susie on "Curb Your Enthusiasm".  I loved her, so I have high hopes for this book.



Somebody I Used to Know by David Bell...When Nick Hansen sees the

young woman at the grocery store, his heart stops. She is the spitting image of his college girlfriend, Marissa Minor, who died in a campus house fire twenty years earlier. But when Nick tries to speak to her, she acts skittish and rushes off.

The next morning the police arrive at Nick’s house and show him a photo of the woman from the store. She’s been found dead, murdered in a local motel, with Nick’s name and address on a piece of paper in her pocket.

Convinced there's a connection between the two women, Nick enlists the help of his college friend Laurel Davidson to investigate the events leading up to the night of Marissa’s death. But the young woman’s murder is only the beginning...and the truths Nick uncovers may make him wish he never doubted the lies.


This looks like it will be a page turner.  Can't wait.

NetGalley

If I Could Turn Back Time by Beth Harrison.....Thirty-seven year old Ramie Phillips has led a very successful life. She made her fortune and now she hob nobs with the very rich and occasionally the semi-famous, and she enjoys luxuries she only dreamed of as a middle-class kid growing up in Potomac, Maryland. But despite it all, she can't ignore the fact that she isn't necessarily happy. In fact, lately Ramie has begun to feel more than a little empty. 

On a boat with friends off the Florida coast, she tries to fight her feelings of discontent with steel will and hard liquor. No one even notices as she gets up and goes to the diving board and dives off...

Suddenly Ramie is waking up, straining to understand a voice calling in the distance...It's her mother: "Wake up! You're going to be late for school again. I'm not writing a note this time..."  

Ramie finds herself back on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, with a second chance to see the people she's lost and change the choices she regrets. How did she get back here? Has she gone off the deep end? Is she really back in time? Above all, she'll have to answer the question that no one else can: What it is that she really wants from the past, and for her future?

Who hasn't wanted to turn back time?  It's a requirement of my middle agedness.

The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin.....Here is a truth that

can't be escaped: for Mia "Rabbit" Hayes, life is coming to an end . . .

Rabbit Hayes loves her life, ordinary as it is, and the extraordinary people in it. She loves her spirited daughter, Juliet; her colorful, unruly family; the only man in her big heart, Johnny Faye. But it turns out the world has other plans for Rabbit, and she's okay with that. Because she has plans for the world too, an only a handful of days left to make them happen. 

Here is a truth that won't be forgotten: this is a story about laughing through life's surprises and finding the joy in every moment.

How much am I going to cry? A lot.

What I Wrote

One brief blog, for my Summer Reading Challenge, hosted by Booksparks Summer Reading Challenge 2015.  Have you joined the challenge yet?  They are giving away a Kindle each week!  Sign up here.  

So far both books in the challenge have been GREAT, and not ones I would have normally chosen.

Grown Ups by Robin Antalek