Waiting on Wednesday: New Mary Higgins Clark Novel

    

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature of the Breaking the Spine blog.  It's a great way to share information about forthcoming books with other readers.  Today I'm featuring As Time Goes By from bestselling author Mary Higgins Clark, which will be released in early April.

  

Publisher:  Simon & Schuster

Publication Date:  April 5, 2016

From barnesandnoble.com:  In this exciting thriller from Mary Higgins Clark, the #1 New York Times bestselling “Queen of Suspense,” a news reporter tries to find her birth mother just as she is assigned to cover the high-profile trial of a woman accused of murdering her wealthy husband.

Television journalist Delaney Wright is on the brink of stardom after she begins covering a sensational murder trial for the six p.m. news. She should be thrilled, yet her growing desire to locate her birth mother consumes her thoughts. When Delaney’s friends Alvirah Meehan and her husband Willy offer to look into the mystery surrounding her birth, they uncover a shocking secret they do not want to reveal.

On trial for murder is Betsy Grant, widow of a wealthy doctor who has been an Alzheimer’s victim for eight years. When her once-upon-a-time celebrity lawyer urges her to accept a plea bargain, Betsy refuses: she will go to trial to prove her innocence.

Betsy’s stepson, Alan Grant, bides his time nervously as the trial begins. His substantial inheritance hangs in the balance—his only means of making good on payments he owes his ex-wife, his children, and increasingly angry creditors.

As the trial unfolds, and the damning evidence against Betsy piles up, Delaney is convinced that Betsy is not guilty and frantically tries to prove her innocence. A true classic from Mary Higgins Clark, As Time Goes By is a thrilling read by a master of the genre.

Which book are you waiting for?

...Will you add this one to your list of must-reads?

Waiting on Wednesday: New Mary Higgins Clark Novel was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.  (Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are encouraged.)

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #140

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

Today I'm featuring a book I finished last week.  Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward is a novel about a Mississippi family's experience during Hurricane Katrina.  The story follows them over a 12 day period. 

 

Goodreads Page  

THE FIRST DAY:

BIRTH IN A BARE-BULB PLACE

China's turned on herself.  If I didn't know, I would think she was trying to eat her paws.  I would think that she was crazy.  Which she is, in a way.  Won't let nobody touch her but Skeet.  When she was a big-headed pit bull puppy, she stole all the shoes in the house, all our black tennis shoes Mama bought because they hide dirt and hold up until they're beaten soft.  Only Mama's forgotten sandals, thin-heeled and tinted pink with so much red mud seeped into them, looked different.  China hid them all under furniture, behind the toilet, stacked them in piles and slept on them.  When the dog was old enough to run and trip down the steps on her own, she took the shoes outside, put them in shallow ditches under the house.  She'd stand rigid as a pine when we tried to take them away from her.  Now China is giving like she once took away, bestowing where she once stole.  She is birthing puppies.

 

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

This isn't a book I would have chosen for myself, but read it because of a book club.  The family members in the story are no strangers to tough times and tragedy, and their plight is made worse by the harrowing experience of living through a category 5 hurricane.  The novel is well-written, but it was a difficult read for me.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #140 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ encouraged.

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #99

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an ebook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring The Night Watch by Sarah Waters, borrowed from the library.

 

 

 

Beginning:  1947

So this, said Kay to herself, is the sort of person you've become: a person whose clocks and wrist-watches have stopped, and who tells the time, instead, by the particular kind of cripple arriving at her landlord's door.

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Page 56:  "She walked stiffly, rather bowed, perhaps only self-conscious, but Helen saw her, for a second, as a stranger might: saw how handsome she was, but also how grown-up, how almost matronly; for you could catch in her something of the angular, wide-hipped, narrow-breasted figure she'd have in earnest in ten years' time."

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My thoughts: I am fond of stories set in London during the World War II era.  Waters's novel centers on four characters whose lives intersect over a six year period from 1941 to 1947.

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From Goodreads:  Moving back through the 1940s, through air raids, blacked-out streets, illicit partying, and sexual adventure, to end with its beginning in 1941, The Night Watch tells the story of four Londoners - three women and a young man with a past - whose lives, and those of their friends and lovers, connect in tragedy, stunning surprise and exquisite turns, only to change irreversibly in the shadow of a grand historical event.

 

 

Which book are you reading now or about to start?

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #99 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are encouraged and appreciated.

 

 

Thursday Thoughts: TBR Thursday

Welcome to TBR Thursday, hosted by Kimberly Faye Reads. This is a straightforward exercise:  share a book that's been lingering on your TBR shelf for a while . . . and today I'll be participating for the very first time.

 

Today's pick has been on my Nook since its publication in May, 2014.  In fact, I pre-ordered it, something I have only done a handful of times. I'm talking about The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon.

 

Goodreads Page 

This debut novel, first in a planned series of seven books, received full-court press, beginning with the lead-up to publication.  Positive early reviews compared its caliber to the works of George Orwell and J.R.R. Tolkien.  It was even the inaugural choice of The Today Show Book Club.  The film rights have since been purchased by 20th Century Fox, and the second book in the series, The Mime Order, was released on January 26th of this year.  Obviously, I totally dropped the ball on this one.  It kind of got lost in the shuffle.  Rediscovering this book on my Nook has renewed my interest, and has me wanting to work it into one of my sooner piles.


What do you think?  
. . . Have you read it?  
. . . Should I move it to the top of my TBR pile?

Thursday Thoughts: TBR Thursday was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are encouraged and appreciated.

Waiting on Wednesday: New Debbie Macomber Novel

 

   

 

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature of the Breaking the Spine blog.  It's a great way to share information about forthcoming books with other readers.  Today I'm featuring A Girl's Guide to Moving On by bestselling author Debbie Macomber, which will be released later this month.

 

Publisher:  Random House Publishing Group

Publication Date:  February 23, 2016

From barnesandnoble.com: In this powerful and uplifting novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber, a mother and her daughter-in-law bravely leave their troubled marriages and face the challenge of starting over. Leaning on each other, Nichole and Leanne discover that their inner strength and capacity for love are greater than they ever imagined.

When Nichole discovers that her husband, Jake, has been unfaithful, the illusion of her perfect life is indelibly shattered. While juggling her young son, a new job, and volunteer work, Nichole meets Rocco, who is the opposite of Jake in nearly every way. Though blunt-spoken and rough around the edges, Rocco proves to be a dedicated father and thoughtful friend. But just as their relationship begins to blossom, Jake wagers everything on winning Nichole back—including their son Owen’s happiness. Somehow, Nichole must find the courage to defy her fears and follow her heart, with far-reaching consequences for them all.

Leanne has quietly ignored her husband’s cheating for decades, but is jolted into action by the echo of Nichole’s all-too-familiar crisis. While volunteering as a teacher of English as a second language, Leanne meets Nikolai, a charming, talented baker from Ukraine. Resolved to avoid the heartache and complications of romantic entanglements, Leanne nonetheless finds it difficult to resist Nikolai’s effusive overtures—until an unexpected tragedy tests the very fabric of her commitments.

An inspiring novel of friendship, reinvention, and hope, A Girl’s Guide to Moving On affirms the ability of every woman to forge a new path, believe in love, and fearlessly find happiness.

Which book are you waiting for?

...Will you add this one to your list of must-reads?

Waiting on Wednesday: New Debbie Macomber Novel was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution.  (Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are encouraged.)

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #139

It's Tuesday . . . time for . . .

                                                      

First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros hosted by Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea, where bloggers post the first paragraph(s) of a book they are currently reading or planning to read sometime soon.

Today I'm featuring one of my current reads.  Displacement is a travelogue in graphic novel format by Lucy Knisley that I borrowed from the library.

 

Goodreads Page 

Introduction

In the period after I finished my last book, but before it was released, I decided to spend my time having adventures.  I was still reeling from a breakup, but enjoying the rest from writing and drawing my newest graphic novel.  I was lucky to ferret out offers to travel; a comic convention in Europe, a job as a counselor for study-abroad trips, paid travel writing . . .

And a cruise for the elderly.

In February of 2012, I accompanied my grandparents on board a cruise ship.  I love my gerandparents, but as many with loved ones in their 90s will tell you, travel and care-taking are no easy endeavor.  This book is the journal of my experience.

What do you think?  Would you continue reading?

While this book and its format may not be every reader's cup of tea, as a cruise enthusiast it has great appeal to me.  Many times I observed inter-generational family groups on board a particular ship and wondered about their backgrounds and stories.

Through illustrations and text, Knisley recounts the cruise she took with her elderly grandparents.  This memoir, however, is more than the story of a ten-day trip to the Caribbean.  It is a candid view of family dynamics and how they change over the life cycle.  At times disturbing, yet often downright funny, her account is touching, and highlights the strength of family bonds and the emotion, love, and devotion that define the human condition.

First Chapter ~ First Paragraph #139 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com.  This post cannot be republished without attribution. Retweeting and sharing on Google+ encouraged.

 

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #98

It's Friday . . . time to share book excerpts with:

• Book Beginnings on Fridays hosted by Rose City Reader, where bloggers share the first sentence or more of a current read, as well as initial thoughts about the sentence(s), impressions of the book, or anything else that the opening inspires.  
• The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice, where you grab a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% of an ebook), find one or more interesting sentences (no spoilers), and post them.

Today I'm featuring Just What kind of Mother Are You? by Paula Daly, borrowed from the library.

 

 

 

Beginning:  He arrives with time to spare.  Reverse-parking, he gets out and the cold hits him.  Slapping him hard in the face and stinging his skin. He smells good.  Expensive.

 

He's parked a few hundred yards from the school at the viewing point.  On a clear day there's an uninterrupted vista across the lake, over to the mountains beyond.  In better weather there'd be an ice cream van, Japanese tourists taking photographs.  Not today, though.  Not with the clouds so low in the sky, and not with the autumn darkness fast approaching.

 

*********************
Page 56:  "I felt like a total idiot as they turned around, their broad smiles not matching the alarmed look in their eyes as they regarded first me, and then Joe."

*********************   

 

My thoughts:  When young girls start disappearing in England's Lake District, the town's residents are understandably on edge.  As several of them come under closer scrutiny, it is apparent that there are many secrets being kept and that there is darkness beneath placid exteriors.   It's a race against time to find and stop the abductor in this debut page-turning thriller.

**********************

 

From Goodreads:  Lisa Kallisto—overwhelmed working mother—is the not-so-perfect model of the modern woman. She holds down a busy job running an animal shelter, she cares for three demanding children, and she worries that her marriage isn’t getting enough attention. During an impossibly hectic week, Lisa takes her eye off the ball for a moment and her world descends into a living nightmare. Not only is her best friend’s thirteen-year-old daughter missing, but it’s Lisa’s fault. To make matters worse, Lucinda is the second teenage girl to disappear within the past two weeks. The first one turned up stripped bare and abandoned on the main street after a horrible ordeal. Wracked with guilt over her mistake, and after having been publicly blamed by Lucinda’s family, Lisa sets out to right the wrong. As she begins digging under the surface, Lisa learns that everything is not quite what it first appears to be.

In Paula Daly’s heart-stopping debut novel, motherhood, marriage, and friendship are tested when a string of abductions tear through a small-town community. Gripping and fast-paced, Just What Kind of Mother Are You? introduces an outstanding new thriller writer with a terrifying imagination for the horrors that lurk in everyday lives.

 

 

 

Which book are you reading now or about to start?

Friday Focus: The Friday 56 & Book Beginnings #98 was originally published by Catherine for bookclublibrarian.com. This post cannot be republished without attribution.  Retweeting and sharing on Google+ are encouraged and appreciated.