Tuesday Intros ~ From Notting Hill with Love...Actually by Ali McNamara

Every Tuesday Diane @ Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter, First Paragraph where we share the first paragraph or two of a book we are reading or thinking about reading soon.  Feel free to grab the image and participate.

My Tuesday Intro pick is From Notting Hill with Love...Actually by Ali McNamara. I'm reading it on Kindle and I was fortunate to grab this when it was offered as a freebie. I enjoy British romantic comedy and Notting Hill and Love...Actually are two of my favorite movies. 

Here is the first paragraph:

"I didn't feel much like Julia Roberts as I emerged from the hot and crowded London underground. There were no paparazzi ready to photograph my every move-unless you counted the two Japanese tourists snapping away at a black London cab that was just dropping off a fare.  And neither did I resemble her that much, trundling my old blue wheelie suitcase along the pavement while I looked in awe at the Notting Hill area of London I thought I knew so well."

AUDIO EXCERPT:

Click on THIS LINK, to hear an audio excerpt of the first few pages of the book and the narrator has a beautiful British accent.

What do you think? Would you keep on reading 

or move on to something else?

Mailbox Monday

Is a place for readers to share what books came into their house last week and explore great blogs!

                                        (May Host is Abi at 4 the Love of Books)



I requested these two e-books from Edelweiss as I couldn't resist. I will have more free time this summer and I look forward to catching up on all the egalleys and books that I've accepted for review. I also look forward to visiting my blogging friends and other blogs this summer! I haven't had as much time lately and appreciate your comments!!

Someone else's love story by Joshilyn Jackson

Before I Met You by Lisa Jewell

Book from Penguin:

The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields 

Saturday Snapshot

This is a picture in Genoa, Italy that my cousin took on her visit there last year. I loved the perspective of this photo and how it captured the street view and Italian architecture of the buildings. I hope to visit there someday!! 

                    (Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Book

Tuesday Intros ~ The End Of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe

Every Tuesday Diane @ Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter, First Paragraph where we share the first paragraph or two of a book we are reading or thinking about reading soon.  Feel free to grab the image and participate.

My Tuesday Intro pick is The End Of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe. This is a true story about a son and his mother who start a "book club" which brings them together as his mother is dealing with cancer treatments. I am listening to this on audio and it has me hooked. The author is my age so we grew up during the same era but our mothers were very different. I'm a bit envious that he could have such a wonderful connection to his mother through books. 

Here are the first three paragraphs from Two Roads Books:

"We were nuts about the mocha in the waiting room at 

Memorial Sloan- Kettering’s outpatient care center. 

The coffee isn’t so good, and the hot chocolate is worse. But 

if, as Mom and I discovered, you push the “mocha” button, 

you see how two not- very- good things can come together to 

make something quite delicious. The graham crackers aren’t 

bad either.

The outpatient care center is housed on the very pleasant 

fourth fl oor of a handsome black steel and glass offi ce building in Manhattan on the corner of 53rd Street and Third Avenue. Its visitors are fortunate that it’s so pleasant, because they spend many hours there. This is where people with cancer wait to see their doctors and to be hooked up to a drip for doses of the life- prolonging poison that is one of the wonders of the modern medical world. By the late autumn of 2007, my mother and I began meeting there regularly. 

Our book club got its formal start with the mocha and one 

of the most casual questions two people can ask each other:

“What are you reading?” It’s something of a quaint question 

these days. More often in lulls of conversation people ask, 

“What movies have you seen?” or “Where are you going on 

vacation?” You can no longer assume, the way you could when 

I was growing up, that anyone is reading anything. But it’s a 

question my mother and I asked each other for as long as I 

can remember."

What do you think? Would you keep on reading 

or move on to something else?

Mailbox Monday

Is a place for readers to share what books came into their house last week and explore great blogs!

                                        (May Host is Abi at 4 the Love of Books)

From Netgalley:

 The Lavender Garden by Lucinda Riley

The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown

The House At The End Of Hope Street by Menna van Praag

Saturday Snapshot ~ Mandalas

My cousin sent me this book of Mandala's from Germany several years ago. You can see the German writing on the cover (click on picture to see it enlarged). The photo quality isn't the best as I used my camera phone.

Here is one of the pictures that I have colored that is a favorite. It's considered to be therapeutic and calming. Here is a link, to read more about Mandalas. I have enjoyed coloring them and my son enjoyed watching me when he was younger as we used to color together in coloring books and these pictures were pretty cool to him. We even did a few together. I haven't done one for awhile as I have some issues with tendonitis and carpal tunnel. I hope to get back to it sometime soon along with knitting and I'd love to try Zentangles. 

Does anyone else like to color Mandalas or draw Zentangles? There is a meditative and calming effect to drawing Mandalas and they are even used as a healing tool. All you need is a book or drawings and colored pencils. There are some websites with free printables, you can do a google search as there are many sites. 

                    (Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books)


 © Copyright 2013- All Rights Reserved

Tuesday Intros~ A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy

Every Tuesday Diane @ Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter, First Paragraph where we share the first paragraph or two of a book we are reading or thinking about reading soon.  Feel free to grab the image and participate.

My Tuesday Intro pick is A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy. Maeve Binchy is one of my favorite authors and she is one of those go to authors for me that I find comfort in reading her words and stories and connections to the characters. It is with great sadness that this is her last book as Maeve died last July of 2012. I am savoring this book and it is one that I am having trouble putting down. My husband found me reading this book set on my kitchen island this weekend while I was cooking dinner. It was so good that I couldn't waste a minute while watching our meal cooking that I would snatch any moment I could to read this book. I was sad to go to work yesterday as I wanted to stay immersed in the story dreaming of the cliffs of Ireland and what would happen to the characters. I had a pretty crummy day today due to some issues our family is dealing with and I sure wish I could have stayed home today buried under the cover with this book! 

Here are the first three paragraphs that will give you a good idea about one of the main characters:

Everyone had their own job to do on the Ryans' farm in Stoneybridge. The boys helped their father in the fields, mending fences, bringing the cows back to be milked, digging drills of potatoes; Mary fed the calves, Kathleen baked the bread and Geraldine did the hens. 

Not that they ever called her Geraldine, she was Chicky as far back as anyone could remember. A serious little girl pouring out meal for the baby chickens or collecting the fresh eggs each day, always saying 'chuck, chuck, chuck' soothingly into the feathers as she worked. Chicky had names for all the hens, and no one could tell her when one had been taken to provide a Sunday lunch. They always pretended it was a Shop Chicken, but Chicky always knew.

Stoneybridge was a West of Ireland paradise for children during the summer, but the summer was short and most of the time it was wet and wild and lonely on the Atlantic coast. Still, there were caves to explore, cliffs to climb, birds' nests to discover and wild sheep with great curly horns to investigate. And then there was Stone House. Chicky loved to play in the huge overgrown garden. Sometimes the Miss Sheedys, three sisters who owned the house, and were ancient, let her play at dressing up in their old clothes

What do you think? Would you keep on reading 

or move on to something else?

Giveaway: Lighthouse Bay by Kimberley Freeman

I recently read and reviewed  a wonderful book set on the Australian Coast called Lighthouse Bay by Kimberley Freeman (Read my review HERE). I'm excited to share this book with you. The publisher, Simon & Schuster has graciously provided a copy of Lighthouse Bay for me to give away to one lucky winner! 

From the publisher:

From Kimberley Freeman, author of Wildflower Hilll, comes a breathtaking new tale of love and second chances.  Set on the sun-drenched shores of the Australian coast LIGHTHOUSE BAY: A Novel  intertwines the stories of two women, separated by centuries, yet both connected to the small seaside town, and the secrets and mistakes they must resolve in order to start anew. 

Giveaway: Lighthouse Bay by Kimberley Freeman 

compliments of Simon & Schuster

(US Addresses ONLY, per publisher request)

To Enter:

Leave a comment and make sure to leave your email address so that I can contact the winner.  If you don't leave your email, I will be unable to contact you and will have to pick another winner.   (I am posting this as there are comments with no email listed and no blogger profile with an email listed)


ENDS: MAY 20, 2013 (ET)

Mailbox Monday

Is a place for readers to share what books came into their house last week and explore great blogs!


                                        (May Host is Abi at 4 the Love of Books)

Words Get In the Way by Nan Rossiter (from the author)

Loyalty by Ingrid Thoft (from Netgalley)

Review: Lighthouse Bay by Kimberley Freeman

Lighthouse Bay  tells the story of two women, Isabella Winterbourne and Libby Slater, two women who lived a century apart but are linked together through a mysterious connection to Lighthouse Bay on the coast of Australia. A ship sinks in 1901 and the sole survivor is Isabelle who escapes from the ship and her unhappy life along with a treasured and priceless gift. This gift is the key that could destroy or change her life forever in a positive way. She finds her way to Lighthouse Bay where mystery and romance align and Isabella finds herself and true love, but she must make choices that will hurt her or save her. 

One hundred plus years later, Libby Slater leaves her life in Paris to return to her hometown of Lighthouse Bay. Her lover has left her this cottage and she has not wanted to return due to a tragic event that occurred 20 years ago that destroyed her relationship with her sister Juliet. 

The book weaves together these two love stories, so many years apart in a beautiful way. There is mystery, intrigue, and magic as to how these two women are connected through Lighthouse Bay. The story is about these two strong women who must learn to let go of the past to move towards the future. I enjoyed reading about the beauty of the lighthouse and the coast of Australia.  Kimberley Freeman is a talented writer that weaves a story together of past and present and pulls you into the story wholeheartedly. Lighthouse Bay is a wonderful read and one I highly recommend. 

I am very fond of Kimberley Freeman's writing and enjoyed her first book Wildflower Hill which I highly recommend as well. You can read my review of Wildflower Hill, HERE. 

The publisher has provided a copy of Lighthouse Bay by Kimberley Freeman to giveaway.

Please go HERE, to enter or the link on the right sidebar to enter. Ends May 20, 2013

Thanks to the publisher, Simon & Schuster for sending me a copy of this book for review. 

 © Copyright 2013- All Rights Reserved

Catching Up On A Sunday~Sunday Salon

Spring is here and I do love to see the flowers blooming although spring allergies are also in full bloom! I've had some shoulder issues and finally gave in and started Occupational Therapy with a top notch therapist. I have a rotator cuff issue and bursitis and don't want it to get worse. The pain has been tough and I have to watch my posture, especially on the computer. We all have to watch ourselves these days with posture changes due to our electronics use on the computer, tablets, phones and video games. It's funny being on the other side as a patient as an OT myself. With the profession, there are many areas to specialize in and this OT is an Upper Extremity/Hand therapist and I work in pediatrics. I've also worked in adult rehab and other areas...it's the kind of profession that you don't have to change careers, you can just change specialty areas. US News just listed OT in the top 10 Best Healthcare Jobs. What is great for me is that I can work part time, school hours and schedule. It's one profession where there are many full time jobs so it's getting harder to get into the program and there is more competition and waiting lists. 

I have two book giveaways that are ending soon, Enter by clicking on the titles below or the links in the sidebar to the right:

While We Were Watching Downton Abbey by Wendy Wax, Ends today!  

Someday Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham ends May 13, 2013

I have been reading and finished a few books and need to write reviews for:

• Lighthouse Bay by Kimberley Freeman
• The Richest Season by Mary Ann McFadden (Audio book)

I am currently reading:

• A Week in Winter by Maeve Binchy
• The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe (Audio Book)

Have a good week!

© Copyright 2013- All Rights Reserved

Saturday Snapshot

(Click on picture to see it enlarged)

I was going through some old pictures and came across these of author Marc Brown . Marcy Brown writes the children's books series Arthur and the PBS series based on the books. My son was a big fan of the PBS shows and the books when he was younger. He was in town at a local book store, sadly this beautiful bookstore is now closed. We got our tickets and went with friends and the kids loved it. They had Marc Brown set up on  a second floor balcony and the audience on the floor below. Marc Brown talked about how he created the Arthur books and the characters and showed the audience how he draws the characters. The kids loved it and the adults as well. It was a great experience for my son and we enjoyed it as well. The kids were allowed to ask questions and my son was picked to ask Marc Brown a question so he was thrilled. They had an author signing afterwards and the kids were able to talk to Marc Brown for a minute as he signed their books. This is one of those favorite childhood memories and we have kept the  autographed books Marc Brown signed. 

           
                      (Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books)




 © Copyright 2013- All Rights Reserved

Tuesday Intros~ Lighthouse Bay by Kimberley Freeman

Every Tuesday Diane @ Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter, First Paragraph where we share the first paragraph or two of a book we are reading or thinking about reading soon.  Feel free to grab the image and participate.

My Tuesday Intro pick is Lighthouse Bay by Kimberley Freeman. I read Wildflower Hill by Kimberley Freeman a few years ago and enjoyed it so I was excited to read her new book Lighthouse Bay.  I reviewed Wildflower Hill here on my blog ( Read review here).  I'm enjoying this book and plan to have a review posted soon. I think that you'll find the intro very intriguing:

Prologue

"The woman's white skin dazzles in the harsh sun. Her pale blue dress clings wetly to her ankles. The sky makes her eyes ache; it is as though she can see behind the blue to the great arch of the cosmos. The sand squeaks beneath her bare feet. Her shoes were swallowed by the sea. All of her belongings, her husband. All lost, spinning down in the cold, dark salt water. All except the chest she drags behind her in the sand."

What do you think? Would you keep on reading 

or move on to something else?

s

Mailbox Monday

Is a place for readers to share what books came into their house last week and explore great blogs!

(April host is Mari Reads)

These are from Netgalley:

Measure of Love by Melissa Ford

The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

Letters from Sky by Jessica Brockmole

Big Girl Panties by Stephanie Evanovich (from the publisher)

Book Spotlight & Giveaway: Someday, Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham

I'm pretty excited to share with you that Lauren Graham, from one of my  two favorite shows Gilmore Girls and Parenthood has published a book SOMEDAY, SOMEDAY, MAYBE....the best part?! I have TWO copies to giveaway here, compliments of Random House!! 

About SOMEDAY, SOMEDAY MAYBE (In stores April 30, 2013):

From Lauren Graham, the beloved star of Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, comes a witty, charming, and hilariously relatable debut novel about a struggling young actress trying to get ahead―and keep it together―in New York City.

It’s January 1995, and Franny Banks has just six months left of the three-year deadline she set for herself when she came to New York, dreaming of Broadway and doing “important” work. But all she has to show for her efforts so far is a part in an ad for ugly Christmas sweaters, and a gig waiting tables at a comedy club. Her roommates―her best friend Jane, and Dan, an aspiring sci-fi writer―are supportive, yet Franny knows a two-person fan club doesn’t exactly count as success. Everyone tells her she needs a backup plan, and though she can almost picture moving back home and settling down with her perfectly nice ex-boyfriend, she’s not ready to give up on her goal of having a career like her idols Diane Keaton and Meryl Streep. Not just yet. But while she dreams of filling their shoes, in the meantime, she’d happily settle for a speaking part in almost anything—and finding a hair product combination that works.

Everything is riding on the upcoming showcase for her acting class, where she’ll finally have a chance to perform for people who could actually hire her. And she can’t let herself be distracted by James Franklin, a notorious flirt and the most successful actor in her class, even though he’s suddenly started paying attention. Meanwhile, her bank account is rapidly dwindling, her father wants her to come home, and her agent doesn’t return her calls. But for some reason, she keeps believing that she just might get what she came for.

Someday, Someday, Maybe is a story about hopes and dreams, being young in a city, and wanting something deeply, madly, desperately. It’s about finding love, finding yourself, and perhaps most difficult of all in New York City, finding an acting job.

 

About the Author, Lauren Graham:

Lauren Graham is an actress best known for her roles on the critically acclaimed series Gilmore Girls and Parenthood. She has performed on Broadway and appeared in such films as Bad Santa, Evan Almighty, and Because I Said So. She holds a BA in English from Barnard College and an MFA in acting from Southern Methodist University. She lives in New York and Los Angeles.

Giveaway for TWO copies, TWO lucky winners will each receive a copy of SOMEDAY, SOMEDAY MAYBE by Lauren Graham 

compliments of Random House

(US Addresses ONLY, per publisher request)

To Enter: Leave a comment, share if you are a fan of Lauren Graham her two drama television shows Gilmore Girls and Parenthood, or why you want to win a copy of the book. Make sure to leave your email address so that I can contact the winners.


**If you don't leave your email, I will be unable to contact you and will have to pick another winner.   (I am posting this as there are comments with no email listed and no blogger profile with an email listed)



ENDS MAY 13, 2013 (EST)  CONTEST HAS ENDED!

WINNERS ARE: GOALMOM & STACYBUCKEYE! 


Contest has

Saturday Snapshot

Here is a picture of my husband's collection of vintage board games that he has found at thrift stores or flea markets. They are all from the 1960's and are in pretty good shape. His most recent find was Outwit which he found at a local thrift store for $1. This is a pretty cool collection and they are all playable games. 

Click on the name of each game for more information about them from Boardgame Geek:

• Avalanche
• Bridg-It
• Twixt
• Outwit

                      (Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce of At Home With Books)


© Copyright 2013- All Rights Reserved