March 2012 Selection: The Last Time We Met

Originally posted on Manic Mommies

I’m a big fan of the audio book. If the book is really good, you might catch me folding laundry, doing the dishes, or maybe listening while running errands. I know I look silly with my ipod clipped to my waist, one ear bud in and the other dangling but I’m willing to turn ‘must do’ tasks into me time whenever possible. An audio book can be a wonderful companion while working in the yard, just don’t snip the cord in two while pruning!

The narrator can make or break the experience though. If Cassandra Campbell is reading the story, I know I will enjoy it a little bit more. I tend to stay away from thrillers and scary books since I listen while running in the woods. Erin has mentioned the Steig Larsson series a few times but I haven’t found the courage to listen. Have you read/listened to this series?

Our January book selection was a great one, a dark tale. Our next book is also a page turner!

Synopsis: Adored and nurtured by his adoptive parents in California, Asher Stone has moved effortlessly through a nearly perfect life. He is on the verge of a professional soccer career-when a car accident throws his future into doubt. Suddenly, Asher begins to wonder about his past, and about the girl who gave him up for adoption in Colombia two decades ago. And so begins his search for a woman named Rita Ortiz.

From the teeming streets of Bogata to a tiny orphanage tucked into a hillside, Asher untangles the mystery of Rita's identity, her abrupt disappearance from her home, and the winding journey that followed. But as Asher comes closer to finding Rita, his own parents are faced with fears and doubts. And Rita must soon make her own momentous choice: stay hidden in her hard-earned new life, or meet the secret son who will bring painful memories-or the promise of a new beginning . . .

When: March 21 at 8PM EST

Call in details: 724-444-7444, call id: 90383#, Pin 1#

Giveaway: To enter this month’s giveaway, send an email (comments are not considered entries) to mari.partyka [at] gmail.com. Put ‘The Second Time We Met’ in the subject line. Please include your shipping address in the body of your message.

Winners will be selected at random on Wednesday evening, February 15

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January 2012 Selection: Little Girl Gone

Originally posted on Manic Mommies

Can you believe our book club has read 35 novels over the past three years? Discussing books with Jane Porter, Elin Hilderbrand, and Joshilyn Jackson… we’ve also talked to several debut authors over the years. Reading a range of books, from award winning titles to light summer reading, historical fiction to memoirs.

Some of you may remember the night I called in from the emergency room (an average day for a manic mom, right?) asking you to keep me company while my son was in surgery. We also have moms calling in from baseball practice, while grocery shopping, and one reader listens to our chats during chemo (sniff).

Whether you participate live while making dinner, from karate, or sneaking in a little time for yourself… I would like to thank all of you for making our book club a wonderful experience. As you can see, our book club holds a special place for many of us. Where else can you discuss a book with the author from the comfort of your home (in sweats), with a glass of wine?

To kick off our fourth year, we are reading/discussing a book BEFORE it’s published. What a treat

When: January 18th at 8PM EST
Call in details: 724-444-7444, Call id: 90383#, Pin: 1#

Synopsis: Madora was seventeen, headed for trouble with drugs and men, when Willis rescued her. Fearful of the world and alienated from family and friends, she ran away with him and for five years they have lived alone, in near isolation. But after Willis kidnaps a pregnant teenager and imprisons her in a trailer behind the house, Madora is torn between her love for him and her sense of right and wrong. When a pit bull puppy named Foo brings into Madora’s world another unexpected person—Django Jones, a brilliant but troubled twelve-year-old boy—she’s forced to face the truth of what her life has become.

An intensely emotional and provocative story, Little Girl Gone explores the secret hopes and fears that drive good people to do dangerous things . . . and the courage it takes to make things right.

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November 2011 Selection: The Orphan Sister

I love it when listeners recommend books for us to read, it’s even better when the author is available to discuss the book with us!

This month we are reading an interesting novel about triplets, exploring the relationships of a set of identical twins and their triplet sister who shared a womb. I always read/hear about twins and their connections but have never thought about how might this be different for the triplet who doesn’t share the ‘identical’ label.

I’m reading this book now and am enjoying it, I don’t know any ‘multiples’ so it’s quite interesting to read about the connections and isolation that could happen to someone.

Giveaway: Watch for a 24 book giveaway to post in the next day/two, on the Manic Mommies website

When: November 16th at 8PM EST

Call in details: 724-444-7444
     Call id: 90383#
     Pin: 1#

Synopsis: Clementine Lord is not an orphan. She just feels like one sometimes. One of triplets, a quirk of nature left her the odd one out. Odette and Olivia are identical; Clementine is a singleton. Biologically speaking, she came from her own egg. Practically speaking, she never quite left it. Then Clementine’s father—a pediatric neurologist who is an expert on children’s brains, but clueless when it comes to his own daughters—disappears, and his choices, both past and present, force the family dynamics to change at last. As the three sisters struggle to make sense of it, their mother must emerge from the greenhouse and leave the flowers that have long been the focus of her warmth and nurturing.

For Clementine, the next step means retracing the winding route that led her to this very moment: to understand her father’s betrayal, the tragedy of her first lost love, her family’s divisions, and her best friend Eli’s sudden romantic interest. Most of all, she may finally have found the voice with which to share the inside story of being the odd sister out. . . .

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October 2011 Selection: The Midwife's Confession

I scold myself each morning as I walk down the stairs with three things in hand, an iPhone, iPod, and iPad. How did I become this person? A better question might be, why am I okay with this?

The easy answer, I love knowing I can carry a stack of books with me. I am listening to The Paris Wife on my iPod, reading a memoir on the iPad and if I must confess…I’m listening to a business book on my iPhone during the day. My iPhone is also my listening option for podcasts (no headphones needed).

Reading from an e-reader most of the summer I had all but forgotten what it felt like to hold a book in my hands. Then my copy of The Midwife’s Confession arrived. I found myself enjoying turning the pages as I read. This story is a page turner!

I must confess… there’s nothing like holding a real book in your hands. I hope you enjoy this month’s book as much as I did.

Click here to read my review

Happy reading, Mari

Giveaway: Watch for a 24 book giveaway to post in the next day/two, on the Manic Mommies website

When: October 5th at 8PM EST

Call in details: 724-444-7444
     Call id: 90383#
     Pin: 1#

Synopsis: Dear Anna, What I have to tell you is difficult to write, but I know it will be far more difficult for you to hear, and I'm so sorry…

The unfinished letter is the only clue Tara and Emerson have to the reason behind their close friend Noelle's suicide. Everything they knew about Noelle—her calling as a midwife, her passion for causes, her love for her friends and family—described a woman who embraced life.

Yet there was so much they didn't know. 

With the discovery of the letter and its heartbreaking secret, Noelle's friends begin to uncover the truth about this complex woman who touched each of their lives—and the life of a desperate stranger—with love and betrayal, compassion and deceit.

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Review: Next to Love

Why Sarah picked it: It is no secret that I love historical fiction. Most of my career has been spent dealing with seniors and I have had a unique opportunity to see "history" through their eyes. Many of my patients either served in World War II or were wives who's lives were directly impacted by their brothers, husbands, and friends serving in the war. The stories I have heard from these courageous people are awe-inspiring and have given me an opportunity to have a different look at how wars directly impact everyone involved. When I read the synopsis for this book, I could feel it calling to me and knew that this was something that I needed to read.

Type: Historical and Biographical

Synopsis: A story of love, war, loss, and the scars they leave, Next to Love follows the lives of three young women and their men during the years of World War II and its aftermath, beginning with the men going off to war and ending a generation later, when their children are on the cusp of their own adulthood.

Set in a small town in Massachusetts, the novel follows three childhood friends, Babe, Millie, and Grace, whose lives are unmoored when their men are called to duty. And yet the changes that are thrust upon them move them in directions they never dreamed possible-while their husbands and boyfriends are enduring their own transformations. In the decades that follow, the three friends lose their innocence, struggle to raise their children, and find meaning and love in unexpected places. And as they change, so does America-from a country in which people know their place in the social hierarchy to a world in which feminism, the Civil Rights movement, and technological innovations present new possibilities-and uncertainties. And yet Babe, Millie, and Grace remain bonded by their past, even as their children grow up and away and a new society rises from the ashes of the war.

Beautifully crafted and unforgettable, Next to Love depicts the enduring power of love and friendship, and illuminates a transformational moment in American history.

Quick Take: This novel was a perfect combination of love, loss, and the profound effect that war can have on individuals. While the concept behind the novel was based loosely on the true and tragic story of the Bedford Boys from Bedford, Virginia, Feldman did a fantastic job of creating her own characters who's stories intricately weaved together to tell a memorable account of life during an important time in American history.

Having had the privilege to meet and speak at length with both men who served on the front lines and women who were forced into the workforce when their loved ones were called to war, I think it is safe to say that Feldman did a fantastic job of capturing the many emotions surrounding this time period and what happens when the war is over and life moves on.

The story follows three women who have been friends since a young age. Each chapter focuses on a different woman and while the other two friends may be present in the chapter, the chapter's focus is on one person's specific feelings and emotions surrounding the events that are occurring. I have read many other novels that have been set up in this same way and in some ways I think that other novels I have read recently may do a better job of allowing the reader to slip effortlessly between characters without having to stop for a moment to figure out exactly who you are reading about. I read many other reviews in preparation for writing this and found a few others who struggled at times with this same issue, but most reviews were glowing.

Overall, this was a good book which highlights feeling and emotions that so often are glossed over when soldiers return home. It was a good reminder that once a war ends, the struggles of those involved both at home and overseas continues for years to come. It was different than anything that I have read dealing with WWII and has me researching more about The Bedford Boys as a result.

Rating: 4/5
Source: netGalley

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