Flashing My Titles!!

I've read a ton of good books lately and I just thought I would take the time to share with you. I'm always looking for new titles and authors and love to read other bloggers feedback so I figured I would give some of my own.

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

"For more than a decade, Jenna Metcalf has never stopped thinking about her mother, Alice, who mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident. Refusing to believe she was abandoned, Jenna searches for her mother regularly online and pores over the pages of Alice’s old journals. A scientist who studied grief among elephants, Alice wrote mostly of her research among the animals she loved, yet Jenna hopes the entries will provide a clue to her mother’s whereabouts.

Desperate to find the truth, Jenna enlists two unlikely allies in her quest: Serenity Jones, a psychic who rose to fame finding missing persons, only to later doubt her gifts, and Virgil Stanhope, the jaded private detective who’d originally investigated Alice’s case along with the strange, possibly linked death of one of her colleagues. As the three work together to uncover what happened to Alice, they realize that in asking hard questions, they’ll have to face even harder answers.

As Jenna’s memories dovetail with the events in her mother’s journals, the story races to a mesmerizing finish. A deeply moving, gripping, and intelligent page-turner, Leaving Time is Jodi Picoult at the height of her powers." {Amazon.com}

 I loved this book. I'm a little partial for Jodi Picoult but this is by far one of my favorites from her. As usual she comes from behind and smacks you straight in the face with her ending. Lately, I've been pretty good at figuring out at least somewhat what might happen at the ends of her novels. But this one definitely blindsided me. You have to check it out.


The Matchmaker by Elin Hilderbrand

"48-year-old Nantucketer Dabney Kimball Beech has always had a gift for matchmaking. Some call her ability mystical, while others - like her husband, celebrated economist John Boxmiller Beech, and her daughter, Agnes, who is clearly engaged to the wrong man - call it meddlesome, but there's no arguing with her results: With 42 happy couples to her credit and all of them still together, Dabney has never been wrong about romance. 

Never, that is, except in the case of herself and Clendenin Hughes, the green-eyed boy who took her heart with him long ago when he left the island to pursue his dream of becoming a journalist. Now, after spending 27 years on the other side of the world, Clen is back on Nantucket, and Dabney has never felt so confused, or so alive. 

But when tragedy threatens her own second chance, Dabney must face the choices she's made and share painful secrets with her family. Determined to make use of her gift before it's too late, she sets out to find perfect matches for those she loves most. The Matchmaker is a heartbreaking story about losing and finding love, even as you're running out of time." {Amazon.com}

This book was super cute. It's a little predictable, but it was a super easy and quick read. If you're looking for a beach read this would be a good one. I will warn you, however, it gets a little sad. So be prepared.


Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

"Big Little Lies follows three women, each at a crossroads:

Madeline is a force to be reckoned with. She’s funny and biting, passionate, she remembers everything and forgives no one. Her ex-husband and his yogi new wife have moved into her beloved beachside community, and their daughter is in the same kindergarten class as Madeline’s youngest (how is this possible?). And to top it all off, Madeline’s teenage daughter seems to be choosing Madeline’s ex-husband over her. (How. Is. This. Possible?).

Celeste is the kind of beautiful woman who makes the world stop and stare. While she may seem a bit flustered at times, who wouldn’t be, with those rambunctious twin boys? Now that the boys are starting school, Celeste and her husband look set to become the king and queen of the school parent body. But royalty often comes at a price, and Celeste is grappling with how much more she is willing to pay.

New to town, single mom Jane is so young that another mother mistakes her for the nanny. Jane is sad beyond her years and harbors secret doubts about her son. But why? While Madeline and Celeste soon take Jane under their wing, none of them realizes how the arrival of Jane and her inscrutable little boy will affect them all.

Big Little Lies is a brilliant take on ex-husbands and second wives, mothers and daughters, schoolyard scandal, and the dangerous little lies we tell ourselves just to survive." {Amazon.com}

I read this a while ago but rereading this synopsis brought it all back. It's written a little different, but the whole concept is pretty cool. At the end of each chapter there are a few quotes from random people in the story. It does a great job to help you build a case for what the "big mystery" is. And I bet you won't guess it! Another great beach read.


All Fall Down by Jennifer Weiner

"Allison Weiss got her happy ending—a handsome husband, an adorable daughter, a job she loves, and the big house in the suburbs. But while waiting in the pediatrician’s office, she opens a magazine to a quiz about addiction and starts to wonder…Is a Percocet at the end of the day really different from a glass of wine? Is it such a bad thing to pop a Vicodin after a brutal Jump & Pump class…or if your husband ignores you? She tells herself that the pills help her make it through her days…but what if her increasing drug use, a habit that’s becoming expensive and hard to hide, is turning into her biggest problem of all? 

Hailed as “a witty, realistic criticism on the modern age” (Boston Herald), this remarkable story of a woman’s fall into addiction and struggle to find her way back up again is Jennifer Weiner’s most masterful, moving, and celebrated work yet." {Amazon.com}

This book was awesome! It was so cool to get in the mind of an addict. And, I know that sounds insane, but this book really helped me realize how easy it is to become addicted to something so easy to get as pain pills. It also teaches you that, it doesn't matter if you have it all or nothing, you can still get caught up in your moments.


Tempting Fate by Jane Green

"Gabby and Elliott have been happily married for eighteen years. They have two teenaged daughters. They have built a life together. Forty-three year old Gabby is the last person to have an affair. She can't relate to the way her friends desperately try to cling to the beauty and allure of their younger years…And yet she too knows her youth is quickly slipping away. She could never imagine how good it would feel to have a handsome younger man show interest in her--until the night it happens. Matt makes Gabby feel sparkling, fascinating, alive--something she hasn't felt in years. What begins as a long-distance friendship soon develops into an emotional affair as Gabby discovers her limits and boundaries are not where she expects them to be. Intoxicated, she has no choice but to step ever deeper into the allure of attraction and attention, never foreseeing the life-changing consequences that lie ahead. If she makes one wrong move she could lose everything--and find out what really matters most."

There were parts of this book that really pissed me off...clearly...it's about an affair. But, at the same time it was so super interesting to get in the mind of how it all went down. Kind of like All Fall Down and the mind of an addict. Another really easy and quick read. I bet you won't put it down.

H54F!!

ONE.
     I checked one thing off my bucket list already!! A new happy hour!! Mike has had some kind of stomach bug this entire week so I found someone else to hang out and we decided to go to the Riverfont in Wilmington to hit up a few happy hours. On the way we changed our mind and headed into Main St. in Newark and hit up the happy hours there. There are a ton of great bars right there and since school hasn't started yet all the college kids were still at home.
     We went to about 4 different happy hours and found some new great places to hit up for the future. One of the places had $3 Pinnacle flavors so I looked up a bunch of different cocktails with flavored vodka and went for it. The bartender created her own concoction and it was delicious!! Pinnacle Strawberry Kiwi, Blue Curaco (or blue cilantro, as she called it....hmmm...bartending long?), sprite, and pineapple juice. It was yummyyy!!

TWO.
     Mike and I sat out on the back patio last night and had a drink. The sunset was absolutely gorgeous. Sunsets like that always make me think of my dad. Not like he was an artist or anything, but he loved nature and passed on that love to me. When I see something that beautiful I can't help but imagine dad had something to do with it. It was gorgeous!!

THREE.
     I'm starting to get some things done around the house. I bought a ton of stuff to make me feel better....until I check my savings account...and I think things are really coming along. Now to just get some landscaping done in the back yard and hang up the pictures I bought and all and it will really start feeling like home. Especially when we can get these kitchen cabinets painted so they aren't so hideous.

FOUR.
     I got to lay out for a few days this week. One thing about working all summer is that I wear a t-shirt to work every day. You can't get sun in a t-shirt. And...usually by the time I get home I'm too exhausted and sweaty to even think about going to lay out. I'm thinking about heading to the pool across the street today. It's free this summer and we haven't taken advantage of it. Plus, when I get hot it's much easier to just take a dip in the pool rather than spray myself with the hose. I really want one of those blow up pools for the back yard. Maybe when they go on sale at the end of the summer.
     One of the days laying out I found this little friend...isn't he adorbs??

FIVE.

     I started a new "sexy time" series this week. Actually I'm almost finished with it. The first one is called Losing It by Cora Carmack. Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

Sick of being the only virgin among her friends, Bliss Edwards decides the best way to deal with the problem is to lose it as quickly and simply as possible - a one-night stand. But her plan turns out to be anything but simple when she freaks out and leaves a gorgeous guy alone and naked in her bed with an excuse that no one with half-a-brain would ever believe. And as if that weren't embarrassing enough, when she arrives for her first class of her last college semester, she recognizes her new theatre professor. She'd left him naked in her bed about 8 hours earlier.

     Yeah...it was good. I finished the first book in about 5 hours. haha. And don't worry, it's not as intense as 50 Shades. It actually brought me back to those high school feelings when I had my first love and it was the big debate about actually "doing it" or not "doing it". I mean don't get me wrong....I definitely felt a little thunder down under, but...it wasn't anything I felt dirty about reading.

     My next choice, however, I hear is pretty intense. I have been thinking about reading the Maya Banks "Breathless" series, but a friend told me she felt like she had to skip a bunch of parts because she didn't feel right reading it.

Anyone out there read it? And what do you think about it?

Book Review: Dark Places

Girls...I have been reaaaddddING!! Not like I don't always read, but it usually takes me a while to read a book. I just find better things to do or am too lazy to get up and grab my Kindle so I just watch tv instead.

But....Since summer school started, I have been making my kids silent read. And, when my kids read, I read. It shows them that I'm not just making them do something just to do it. I do it, too!! And I love it!!!

So last week I got done Tempting Fate. It was super good. And, while I was waiting on my next book to come out and get delivered to my Kindle I decided to read Dark Places by Gillian Flynn in between. It's one that I have been wanting to read and just hadn't gotten around to it.

Here is the Goodreads synopsis:

Libby Day was just seven years old when her evidence put her fifteen-year-old brother behind bars.

Since then, she had been drifting. But when she is contacted by a group who are convinced of Ben's innocence, Libby starts to ask questions she never dared to before. Was the voice she heard her brother's? Ben was a misfit in their small town, but was he capable of murder? Are there secrets to uncover at the family farm or is Libby deluding herself because she wants her brother back?

She begins to realise that everyone in her family had something to hide that day... especially Ben. Now, twenty-four years later, the truth is going to be even harder to find.

Who did massacre the Day family?

OK, so....first off...this book is hella disturbing, but...much like a train wreck, you can't turn away. There's sex, lies, drugs, murder, devil worship.....you name it, it's in here. And, it was AWESOME!! I loved it. I felt kinda dirty reading it when my kids did...kinda like reading 50 Shades of Grey in public only not really S&M stuff, just lots of all that crap I just mentioned... and I hoped they didn't ask me what my book was about, like they usually do, because I would have had to pretty much leave out 95% of it.

I totally recommend it. Actually, I recommend anything that Gillian Flynn writes, but this was something I thought I might have to stop reading. And that's what kept me interested. If that makes any sense.

Let's Face It....

...my life is pretty boring lately. I need to start thinking of good blog posts and things to write about because I'm so bored I've lost all motivation to do anything.

I think of all these awesome things to do while I'm at work and then I get home and my lazy ass sits on the couch and watches trashy tv. I have been reading, though. Actually....I'll talk about that...

Just got done a book called Tempting Fate by Jane Green. It was pretty awesome. Read it in like a week...which might not seem like a lot to you but, it's totally quick for me. I only read before bed and this one was good enough that I wanted to read it on all my down time, too. Well, after my trashy tv, that is...

Here's the synopsis from Goodreads:

          "When Gabby first met Elliott she knew he was the man for her. In twenty years of marriage she has never doubted her love for him - even when he refused to give her the one thing she still wants most of all. But now their two daughters are growing up Gabby feels that time and her youth are slipping away. For the first time in her life she is restless. And then she meets Matt . . .

Intoxicated by the way this young, handsome and successful man makes her feel, Gabby is momentarily blind to what she stands to lose on this dangerous path. And in one reckless moment she destroys all that she holds dear.

Consumed by regret, Gabby does everything she can to repair the home she has broken. But are some betrayals too great to forgive?"

It's got some trashyish parts, some drama, you'll love the main chick and hate her at the same time. You'll feel sympathy for her and anger towards her. All of the things I love in a story. I hate real life drama so I enjoy hearing about others or reading about it in a book. lol. As long as it's not in my life, I'm good. 

I totally recommend it and it was something a little different then what I've been reading from book club.

Any good books you've been reading lately??