It’s a good day when another enticing book shows up. BookBub is responsible for this suggestion and I’m happy to have one work out for a change. Not all suggestions are new to me so I like it when a gem shows up.
Tethered: The Ties That Bind
Perfectionistic librarian Jacqui Penn is ripped up by the roots when she’s dumped by her longtime boyfriend. Rootless and on the run, she is drawn two thousand miles west across Canada to the last place she ever thought could offer stability—the old homestead where her father grew up.Renovating the derelict house soon becomes a personal battle as it stubbornly resists her efforts.
While Jacqui struggles to renew the home, she spends time with the family Pops bitterly resented. Her hunger for roots grows stronger as she fights to discover the long-buried reasons her father fled the house as a beleaguered teen. But will she ever find the belonging she craves?
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I tried but that’s it for today. At least it’s one.
My morning search turned up a new mystery for us. And I was thrilled to find the author appears on my favorites list.
One Wonders: A Silas McKay Suspense (Silas McKay Suspense Series Book 1)
He’s Silas McKay, head of Discreet Corporate Security Services (DCSS) in Dallas, Texas. She’s Ashley Davenport, the daughter of DCSS’s highest-paying client.
They each have personal issues . . . Silas is a grieving widower who has difficulty relating to women and wants to be left alone. Ashley is an independent woman who just got her PI license and wants Silas to mentor her.
They each have family issues . . . Silas is trying to be both father and mother to his college-age daughter. Ashley is trying to prove she no longer needs her father.
They each have spiritual issues . . . Silas is struggling to maintain his faith in God. Ashley is struggling to believe there is a God.
Now, they’re working together to solve a corporate espionage case . . . As they investigate whether a research scientist is selling company secrets to an ex-con with a mysterious past, Silas realizes he is as intrigued by Ashley’s vivacious personality as he is by the case itself. Suddenly, when their complicated investigation takes an unexpected turn, his concern for Ashley’s safety threatens to overcome his good judgment.
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This next book has been showing up everywhere for the last week, demanding attention. I guess I had better stop waffling and add it to my library. (side note: Little Women is the famous historical fiction story written by Louisa May Alcott)
Where Grace Appears: Contemporary Inspirational Fiction with a Little Women Twist (The Orchard House Bed and Breakfast Series Book 1)
Ashamed of being duped by her handsome psychology professor, Josie Martin returns to Maine too proud to admit her foolishness to those closest to her. As the one-year anniversary of her father’s death approaches, she seeks solace in an old friend, Tripp Colton, and a new business venture that will prove to herself and her loved ones that she is still capable of success despite her overwhelming failure.
When Josie announces she will not return to school to finish her graduate degree but wishes to remain in Camden to help her mother achieve a lifelong dream, the entire family gets behind her idea to open and run a bed and breakfast inspired by Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House. Even Tripp gets excited about restoring Josie’s great-aunt’s Victorian home for the purpose, but when Josie’s unexpected news is revealed, their friendship and the new feelings blooming between them are threatened.
As summer gives way to fall, Josie struggles with decisions regarding her family’s future, dealing with past mistakes she cannot run from, and her feelings for Tripp. When the opportunity for grace comes along, will she take it? Or will she continue to allow her failures to define her worth?
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So, a quick search shows up many choices for Little Women, mentioned above, and I picked one that has the whole series and it is free. It doesn’t look like it has enough pages to cover four books, but maybe.
Little Women: Complete Series
Louisa May Alcott ended Little Women (1868) with the words “So the curtain falls upon Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. Whether it ever rises again, depends upon the reception given the first act of the domestic drama called Little Women.” It was an immediate commercial and critical success, and readers demanded to know more about the characters. Alcott quickly completed a second volume, Good Wives (1869), and later Little Men (1871)and Jo’s Boys (1886). The novels follow the lives of the four March sisters—Meg, Beth, Jo and Amy, each with a very different character. It has been argued that within Little Women one finds the first vision of the “All-American girl” and that her multiple aspects are embodied in the differing March sisters. But whatever the reason, generations of readers have loved these novels since they were first published.
BookRunes has a suggestion for the 4th book in a series we have been following lately.
Saving Faith (New England Inspirations Book 4)
How many promises will she break?
Jess is trying put a painful past behind her and finally secure her college degree.
But when a greedy man buys her entire block and threatens to evict all the tenants, including her and her uncle, she knows she has to do something drastic to save her home…
and the church property that holds her parents’ graves.
Being filthy rich has its perks.
But Axel still hates running his father’s large development firm.
Drowning his sorrows in alcohol, parties, and pretty faces, Axel is too self-absorbed to admit his life is spiraling out of control, even after a recorded display of his violent temper goes viral.
Jess applies to work for Axel to get close to her enemy, but she soon realizes her new boss is hurting almost as much as she is. Days before the mass eviction takes place, Jess must make a difficult decision to avoid becoming the monster she set out to destroy.
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Sadly, nothing else appealed to me this time. Oh well, one is better than none, I always say.
This has been a week for the raking of leaves, just to keep ahead of the game. The taller the trees grow the more leaves they contribute to the mess. They are pretty though, with all the beautiful shades of red. And it’s nice to have a good excuse to get outside in the sunshine and fresh air before winter sets in.
I’m working on making a move closer to my kids so this will be the last year for this privilege. Bitter sweet.
Reading time and browsing time has been hard to come by this week, the next few weeks will probably be more of the same.
Packing up and moving is always a lot of work, but I love it anyway. On the down side, it will be a little sad to leave my pretty house. I’ll have to hold out for another pretty house. Visually pleasing always is a mood lifter and I’m happy about that. What ever works.
I’m always on the lookout for useful help on my journey toward emotional wellness, no small thing given my traumatic childhood.
Awareness is one of the best tools in this quest and my ears are always open and tuned in to anything that will answer the many questions rising to the surface of my mind.
Today I watched an in-depth interview with a successful doctor with his own lived experience. What he has to say speaks to where I am at this moment. I will be watching again, this time taking notes to help this become part of who I am. Dr Gabor Maté has also written a new book, the reason for the interview, and I’m planning to read it too. For years I’ve been walking the awareness path he lays out and at this point in the road I expect this book will take me even further in the right direction.
I’m sharing both the book and the podcast. I want to be able to find this material again but I also hope that sharing it will be helpful to my readers on their own journey. Our physical struggles are rooted in the emotional. By experience I know this to be true. The question forever before me is: what is behind this new set of ailments? Usually it is some new piece of old brokenness that has shaken loose and risen to the surface.
The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture
Gabor Maté’s internationally bestselling books have changed the way we look at addiction and have been integral in shifting the conversations around ADHD, stress, disease, embodied trauma, and parenting. Now, in this revolutionary book, he eloquently dissects how in Western countries that pride themselves on their health care systems, chronic illness and general ill health are on the rise. So what is really “normal” when it comes to health? For all our expertise and technological sophistication, Western medicine often fails to treat the whole person, ignoring how today’s culture stresses the body, burdens the immune system, and undermines emotional balance. In The Myth of Normal, co-written with his son Daniel, Maté brings his perspective to the great untangling of common myths about what makes us sick, connects the dots between the maladies of individuals and the declining soundness of society, and offers a compassionate guide for health and healing. The result is Maté’s most ambitious and urgent book yet.
Detranistioners are speaking out. Their stories are horrific.
One young woman has accepted a number of interview invitations and it’s heart breaking listening to the way things have turned out for her.
One of the best interviews I’ve heard so far is with Jordan Peterson, a clinical psychologist. Not only is he able to ask intelligent and respectful questions to draw out her story but he is able to provide relevant information and explanations for questions coming to mind for both the young woman and the audience.
There is so much more I can think to say but hearing the interview would be a better way to go.
One other interview that I would rate in second place for the interviews I’ve heard so far is with Glenn Beck. His interview was also compassionate and thoughtful. He is not a doctor, that’s why Jordan Peterson has the advantage.
Heart breaking, is all I can say.
There are others in the same position but Chloe is the one I’ve watched so far.
I was talking to my daughter about this whole subject the other day, in relation to my grandson’s high school. She tells me the subject is prevalent in our schools already. And like everywhere else neither parents nor the conflicted young people are not being given the full picture about the real risks and consequences of the drugs and radical surgeries.
The saddest thing for me was when Chloe said that if she had known the risks involved with this treatment, she would never have said yes to what the health professionals wanted to do for her.
She was twelve when she first started down this path.
Now, still a teenager, Chloe wants to tell her story to save others from what her life has become.
It sounds like handling these treatments as an adult is less traumatic but not necessarily by much.
My own observation was that the consequence discussion was graphic, very personal, and unexpectedly surprising. I would never have dreamed what would rise up to be a problem for her.
I hope many of you will watch this and pass it on to spare others who may be in the position of making a decision without benefit of knowing the real risks.
It has been quite a day. A very good day actually.
It started out with signing of a renewal for my mortgage. Normally this would be fairly quick and easy but for some reason the process of signing was complicated this time. I have multiple devices but to my mind all of them had issues. Why can’t I print, wet ink sign, and scan. Eventually (a few days later) we got it done.
There was an upside to the struggle though. In the end some of the decisions were changed to something better and it was worth the hassle. Besides that, the experience of chatting with the bank representative was well worth the time spent.
Signing using the mouse left us with an interesting version of my signature. I guess the app doesn’t care, it just knows a signature has been applied.
At least it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Couriers have devices with such small awkward screens and those signatures were out of this world every time. I’d never have to worry about forgeries that’s for sure. It’s a good job we didn’t have to use them to identify the signor as me. lol
The next good thing in this day was having three muscled family members show up to install a new water softener device and then hang some drywall for a needed repair. It was a fun day. It took longer than the 2 hours originally estimated and I was happy with that. There are always challenges with these things and it sounded like the guys enjoyed working on it together.
The next while was spent on chores and work projects with a little reading thrown in and later some videos but now that the day is ending I’m missing having my kids here. (grown men but still my kids.) In all honesty, I’ve been preparing emotionally to have them gone but now I’m feeling it more than I thought I would.
My son will be flying back to his home on Monday, several thousand miles away, and it is another good bye. We’ve had three already as his boys left at different times, in different directions, and then his wife and daughter left on a flight home early yesterday morning. School was starting and she had to be there.
I was happy, I seemed to be taking all this in stride without any tears and figured I was going to do well this time. I guess it just took a little longer to hit me.
To fill in the time this evening I was watching/listening to videos and working on a puzzle.A black and white puzzle the rest of my puzzle loving family members were reluctant to work on for some reason.
One video was an interview with the author of a wildly popular book on developing good habits that will help us reach our potential. (the interviewer has a gift for asking great questions) (the intro to this video has an ad for materials related to church leadership skills but this interview does not address any of that. It is about successfully building an online presence.)
The second was a documentary about the life and career of Alan Rickman. He played the terrorist in the Die Hard movie with Bruce Willis. I had no idea he was so successful and broadly talented. (I watch this movie at least once a year, usually at Christmas. The perfect time 🙂 )
Both videos were lengthy and well worth the time spent. (I’ll add them at the bottom for you) And they helped me focus on the puzzle too – a definite plus.
I enjoyed the whole experience but was left wishing some of my puzzle loving family were here with me. I sent a wish you were here note on our group chat and expressing that thought was probably what caused the sadness to surface.
A good nights sleep will probably cure the worst of the lonely feelings. It has been a full day that’s for sure and a rest is in order.
I’ll share the two videos and the puzzle picture I sent to my family.
Anyone else want to pop over and work on it with me? No? I like the interesting picture and a challenge is always a good thing.
No books today. I did investigate but nothing popped up. Maybe tomorrow
I love this puzzle.
I’m off to bed as soon as I read through this thing another time or two. Maybe you will forgive me if I miss a few problem areas? Hopefully it will make sense. It made sense in my head.
The first one was a new-to-me book from a favorite author. Maybe I’ll find the other books in this series will have a familiar vibe to them but in the meantime this story was fresh and engaging.
Finding the perfect place for a honeymoon, away from any potential danger or mystery, is challenging. But Gabby’s longtime love and newly minted husband, Riley Thomas, has done it. He has found a location with a nonexistent crime rate, a mostly retired population, and plenty of opportunities for relaxation in the warm sun.
Within minutes of the newlyweds’ arrival, a convoy of vehicles descends on a nearby house, and their honeymoon oasis is destroyed like a sandcastle in a storm. Despite Gabby’s and Riley’s determination to keep to themselves, trouble comes knocking at their door—literally—when a neighbor is abducted from the beach directly outside their rental.
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This has also been a week of historical novels with pretty covers.
This next one covered many decades and generations. The author did an excellent job with this method of story telling.
Where the Last Rose Blooms (Heirloom Secrets)
Alice runs a New Orleans flower shop alongside her aunt, but thoughts of her mother, who went missing during Hurricane Katrina, are never far from her mind. After getting off on the wrong foot with a handsome yet irritating man who comes to her shop, Alice soon realizes their worlds overlap–and the answers they both seek can be found in the same place.
In 1861 Charleston, Clara is known to be a rule follower–but the war has changed her. Unbeknownst to her father, who is heavily involved with the Confederacy, she is an abolitionist and is prepared to sacrifice everything for the cause. With assistance from a dashing Union spy, she attempts to help an enslaved woman reunite with her daughter. But things go very wrong when Clara agrees to aid the Northern cause by ferrying secret information about her father’s associates.
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Three more excellent reads.
Promise Kept (Harland Creek Series Book 1)
Promise Kept (Harland Creek Series Book 1) a well written story.
The Ornament Keeper: A Novella This story had a different spin on it. Interesting and emotional.
****** Three more. *******
All excellent reads
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Today has not been the best day for new book suggestions but that’s OK. I know most of us are good for reading material already on hand.
I’m trying to decide what comes next. Some choices don’t look as exciting as the books read. Kind of like when you eat all the delicious looking food first and the rest is still waiting for you.
Half the time, looking at the cover, I don’t remember anything about the story and the title doesn’t always appeal to me either. That’s a problem. That’s about where I am again tonight. Nothing looks interesting. They might be though, that’s the thing.
It could go either way, really.
Maybe I should listen to a podcast and work on the new jigsaw puzzle for awhile.
I’m still basking in the emotions of the last read. It was well written, original and engaging, Another book I couldn’t bear to put down. If you enjoy historical fiction I can highly recommend this book. I award 5 stars sparingly, to keep them meaning something. This book was definitely deserving of 5*****.
On Sugar Hill (The Georgia Magnolias Book 2)
To make ends meet, the Fitzgerald women must open their home as a boardinghouse, but will the secrets they uncover prove their undoing?
The day Cora Fitzgerald turned sixteen, she fled Sugar Hill for the bright lights of New York City, leaving behind her senator father’s abuse. But just as her career takes off, she’s summoned home.
The stock market has crashed. The senator is dead. Her mother is delusional, and her mute Aunt Clara pens novels that expose the town’s secrets. Then there’s Boone Robertson, who never knew she was alive back in high school but now manages to be around whenever she needs help.
And the Fitzgerald women need a lot of help, indeed. They are forced to find a way to make ends meet, whether it’s mining for gold or doing what Southern women have done for generations in times of need—turning their home into a boardinghouse.
But will the people of Cora’s past keep her from returning to a brilliant future?
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Reading a book a day makes it difficult to keep alive a detailed memory of the read. It doesn’t mean the experience wasn’t meaningful or fully engaging. It was for all of them. They were all a fine-dining experience.
Even this next collection received a high rating. Often times there is a relatively wide difference in the quality of writing in a box set. I can see why. A multi book collection is a good opportunity for writers with differing levels of experience to gain exposure. Expecting the usual and not getting it is why the high quality was a welcome surprise. Paying attention to the authors involved would have lowered the surprise level, but where’s the fun in that?
Destination Christmas (The Christmas Lights Collection)
Kiss Me on Christmas by Sarah Monzon
Single mom Kaitlyn Stafford has never considered Christmas a balancing act, but when her sister calls with the news that she’s getting married in less than two weeks—on Christmas Day—that’s exactly what the holiday looks like becoming. Helping with the out-of-state wedding will be fun. The challenge will be doing so while accommodating her neurodivergent son’s need to keep every single one of their Christmas traditions while they’re away from home. It’ll be tricky, but she can do it.
At least, that’s what she thinks before her son’s favorite YouTuber, Beckett Walsh, shows up on the scene, knocking her world off-kilter with his speaking glances and knowing smiles. How on earth is she supposed to pull off her balancing act when her world’s just tilted on its axis?
Christmas Camp by Cathe Swanson
Julia is eager to prove herself in her first job as project manager for the family’s charitable foundation, but she expected it to be something more meaningful than creating a winter wonderland Christmas vacation for snow-deprived southerners. Why is this project so important to her grandmother?
Tom doesn’t understand why anyone would want to renovate his uncle’s broken-down Wisconsin deer camp, either, but if it will save the old man’s home and business, he’ll help the ambitious city girl put together the most cliché-filled Christmas ever.
Not Another Christmas by Jaycee Weaver
The palm trees and beaches of Florida are far from her chaotic family as Cindy Sinclair can get. Her anticipated promotion is the perfect excuse not to come home for the holidays… until she’s passed over and the job is given to none other than her childhood nemesis.
This far from New Mexico, Nick Hoover never imagined he’d beat Cindy out for a job. Again. He’s messed up her plans since the day they met, but this time, Nick is determined to prove he never wanted to be her enemy. If only she’ll let him.
When their reignited adolescent rivalry gets out of hand, their boss insists they both go home, face the hurts of their pasts, and bury the hatchet once and for all. With help from her meddling family, this could be the Christmas they quit clashing and give love a fighting chance.
The Hearts of New Cheltenham by Chautona Havig
The only way not to break her best friend’s heart is to get someone else to steal it.
Jarod doesn’t need a month off and certainly not halfway across the country. His best friend doesn’t agree. She’s been researching places for him to go and has found him a perfect match on a dating website who just happens to live in New Cheltenham. It’s a match made online until she begins to wonder if she’s made a mistake trying to offload him on someone else.
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Now it’s time to decide on a next read. Some days the choices are harder to make than others, that’s today.
It’s my birthday today. It has been a good day and I don’t even care that we don’t have any book suggestions today.
Four family members were available to spend some time with me and we had fun. Three of us have birthdays within 5 days and we were all here today. Bonus. We get to celebrate at least twice, some of us even more. How could we be sad about that?
We will party officially another day when everyone else is available. We aren’t given to formal occasions, just a chance to be together and express our appreciation and love for one another.
I should have taken pictures but sadly, I didn’t.
I did try to do a sell job on my last read, though. I’m pretty sure they would enjoy it but it doesn’t appear I’m much of a salesman, no one took the bait. The most avid reader in the group has a good excuse – her last visit to the public library netted her 10 new books. I remember those days so I can’t fault her, she has deadlines after all.
My daughter prefers hard copy while I favor e-copy. There are many conveniences about my e-reader that I can’t live without.
I’m just happy for all the readers we have in the family no matter how they read.
So, I was going to move on to book two in the series I was reading and loved. It was not working for me. The main characters are so different it was hard for me to change lanes. I think a bigger break will make for a smoother transition.
During the break I’m reading the third book in another series I follow. These people are running for their life at the moment.
Risky Ambition (Vanishing Ranch Book 3)
Former Navy fighter pilot Nate Casper, also known as Ghost, splits his time between flying jet-setting celebrities around the world and volunteering to help with rescues at Vanishing Ranch. When movie star Chesney Blake books a trip with him, Ghost sets aside his attraction to her in order to remain professional.
But when his flight plan gets waylaid by a barrage of bullets, putting Chesney in danger, his intention of keeping his distance takes a nosedive.
Chesney Blake needs a break before filming her next movie. But when her getaway erupts into nothing short of chaos and her pilot transforms into her protector, her vacation plans are forgotten. Does someone really want her dead? Or was she even the intended target?
As more incidents threaten their safety, Chesney and Ghost set out to uncover the truth. But as they get closer to finding answers, Chesney is faced with a fate worse than she ever imagined—even worse than death itself.
It is a bitter sweet day but not because of only one book. Our family lost an important part of our life today after a long battle with cancer. He was a beloved, good man, and it is not easy to see him go. At the same time the suffering is over and we can’t help but be happy for him. It would take a whole post in itself to name all the ways he is loved far and wide. We often say nice things about the deceased, true or not. In this case the tributes rolling in tell the real story, he touched many lives in positive ways and he will never be forgotten.
There are so many good stories, maybe there will be another post sometime. This gentle giant led a colorful life with his many talents and his sense of adventure.
Now on to the book suggestion that I’ve downloaded and half read. It was brought to my notice by the author and I’m loving this one.
Justified Means (The Agency Files Book 1)
How could she not be terrified?
When Erika Polowski is abducted from her bed and held captive without explanation, she has one goal. Get away before they kill her.
Keith Auger’s job as an agent is to keep Erika safe—even if it means keeping her locked in an abandoned cabin in the middle of nowhere. At gunpoint..
What should be a routine “involuntary extraction” goes south when someone finds out where they’re hiding. Add to that a coworker with a chip on her shoulder and too many unexplained “accidents,” and it all adds up to one unlikely, terrifying explanation..
There’s a mole in The Agency..
He’s promised to protect her, but can Erika trust a man whose job it is to hold people against their wills? Does his deep faith make it any better or just a whole lot creepier?
And just who wants Erika dead anyway?.
The Agency Files: They’ll do whatever it takes to keep their clients safe. Period.
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I thought this book seemed familiar in places. It turns out it is because I read it two years ago. Obviously I don’t remember enough to spoil it for me. Maybe that’s a good thing.
It has been a good thing to have this book show up today. It has been a needed distraction.
For the Love of Books 