Wednesday, August 27, 2014

The Summer Book

In the Gulf of Finland there are many small islands that
people maintain summer homes on. Little Sophia is 6 years old and spends summers in a delightful cabin with her father and 85 year old artist grandmother, called Grandmother. On the island the difference in their ages melt together as their similarities are strikingly attuned. The Father works at his desk and Sophia has her Grandmother all to herself. The relationship between Sophia and her grandmother is simple and yet captivating. They discuss life and attempt to define death and G-d. They explore nature from the detailed experience during a horrific storm, to the tiniest bugs on the tiniest sticks along the ocean shore. In summer the daylight is so continuous that theirs seem endless and are filled with exploration, love, and understanding. Sometimes Sophia is stubborn and so is her grandmother. Sometimes she is understanding and concerned, as is her grandmother. Often Sophia is afraid to be alone yet craves the silence of nature, as does her grandmother. This beautiful, quiet story is broken into small vignettes capturing the beauty and isolation of our what makes our world truly beautiful. The unending love belonging to families and the idyllic of summer. Really, truly enjoyed this unique novel. A quick easy read that has the ability to quiet the mind of the reader in a peaceful and pleasant way. Highly recommend this summer read, as ours is coming to an end.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Every Time I Think of You

In the small town of Fenton, California, Daisy Jane is living a
quiet life with her 3 yr old son Elliot and loving grandmother Pauline. She works as a nurse at the local hospital and mostly keeps to herself with a few close friends. Pretty, sweet Daisy seems to be living a small idyllic life but the reality is she is a single mom struggling to pay off her dead beat ex husbands debt and move on ever since he abandoned them for his addiction to drugs. After her life is once again turned upside down by the mysterious murder of her grandmother, Daisy meets Brooks, a reporter who has temporarily moved back to town to help his Dad care for his ill mother. Although neither is necessarily ready for romance the chemistry between Daisy and Brooks is unstoppable. Brooks quickly becomes a friend and confidant as Daisy strains to remain platonic knowing he will soon return to his life in San Francisco. The feeling of danger lurks around every corner. Daisy cannot feel safe knowing that the miscreants that surround her ex husband Scott may have something to do with the murder of her grandmother and the fact that the police department has no leads. Tracey Garvis Graves has once again brought us into the lives of her simple yet irresistible characters, their triumphs and their tragedies. This novel is another one of her stories that pulls the reader into the story making it hard to put down even for one day. Highly recommend this easy romantic heartfelt read. ENJOY!!!

Monday, August 18, 2014

Love & Treasure

Natalie Stein, beautiful and young, is at a crossroads
which contains no shortcuts. Her longtime relationship (12 years!) - subsequent short marriage ended in nothing more horrifying than finding out her husband was in a relationship with another woman, has left her law practice to care for her ailing and beloved grandfather in Maine. And it is there she begins a mysterious adventure that will change her life forevermore. Jack Wiseman spent his later years in a small town in rural Maine but his time in the army during WWII, his lifelong career as a professor at Columbia University, and his innate expertise with languages and history are all that Natalie has ever known about. As he nears the end of his journey Jack gives Natalie a beautiful locket he got during the war. He shares only a minute amount of information and sends Natalie on a mission she has no control over. Jack's dying wish is for Natalie to return the locket to its rightful owner, no easy task as his story took place well over 50 years earlier in war torn Germany. This incredible author Ayelet Waldman takes us through Germany, Salzburg, and Hungary, the war, the gold train and even to Yad Vashem in Israel. Natalie remains brave and determined to grant her grandfather his last wishes. As the story unravels more quickly than even Natalie had hoped it becomes clear what she must do to fulfill Jack's wishes and the guilt he lived with for many years. I HIGHLY recommend this excellent account of the enormous amount of art, gold and belongings strewn throughout post WWII Europe and the difficult aftermath of DP's, their future and return of their personal treasures. Easy, quick, interesting read of a time when Love & Treasure were really one and the same.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Cambridge

Susanna, an inquisitive young girl, is the main character
and narrator of this novel-like-memoir by Susanna Kaysen, author of 1993 bestseller Girl, Interrupted. The story begins in England when the family relocates for a year sabbatical from university life at Harvard. Susanna is immediately as grim as the dark rainy sad days she describes. Elementary school is pure torture. Onward, the family returns to Boston and Susanna continues to barely scrape by on her lonely existence. Her parents, highly intellectual, in an awkward relationship, a younger sister vaguely mentioned, a Swedish nanny named Frederika, whom she adores and Roger, the one friend she can tolerate that she feels close to. And so continues the saga of poor Susanna's life. The family traipses off to Greece for a year where amid the ruins and bad economy of the 1960's, Susanna once again feels left out and unnecessary. Susanna Kaysen is a fantastic writer, her words flow effortlessly as she describes in meticulous detail her childhood (or something like it - since technically this is not a memoir) quirky parents and search for adolescence as she faces her imposing teens that lay ahead. She is most certainly witty and honest and smart as a whip but the sadness is so apparent, the loneliness so contagious that it was almost too depressing to read. Perhaps my knowing that this young girl later grew up to write Girl, Interrupted, which became a cult classic and somewhat biographies her teens, may have set the tone for what I already anticipated would be a dark story. It is a quick, interesting well written novel but you must be in the mood for this type of genre.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Big Little Lies

A small coastal town, called Pirriwee, Australia is filled with enough
drama to give any Real Houswives a run for their money. Madeleine's daughter Chloe, 5, is starting kindy (I just love Australian speak) along with her beautiful wealthy bestfriend Celeste's twins named Max and Josh. There is Skye in the class who happens to be Maddie's ex-husbands new family and Renata, who has a real job, with her daughter Amabeth, and that is not a typo. It is not something as common as Annabeth. And on and on, the kindy class in this idyllic beach town is filled with one hysterical, (and that means funny and crazy simultaneously!) character after another. After this amazing author sets the table for this rich comedy the drama arises when the truth about Jane's son Ziggy comes to light, Celeste's big secret cannot be held any longer and the French nanny is not so innocent. It all revolves towards a school fund raiser called Trivia Night where the parents find themselves in the pouring rain, drunk, dressed as Elvis Presley and Audrey Hepburn and not quite prepared for the entire charade to come tumbling down.  The fabulous Liane Moriarty, best selling author of What Alice Forgot and The Husbands Secret once again brings us spinning and laughing through a world she creates that is both ridiculous, funny and too similar to reality to ignore. This is an easy, enjoyable read, shouting PERFECT for the beach and pool because no amount of background noise will tear you away as this soap opera unravels. Highly recommend.

Monday, August 4, 2014



We are thrilled to share the gorgeous cover for Cherish, by New York Times best selling Author Tracey Garvis-Graves. This novella is a companion to Covet.





Fans of Covet by bestselling author Tracey Garvis Graves will be delighted by this novella-length sequel.


http://www.amazon.com/Cherish-Covet-Tracey-Garvis-Graves-ebook/dp/B00MBVGDSY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1407092358&sr=8-1&keywords=cherish+tracey+garvis+graves

Friday, August 1, 2014

Life Drawing

Gus (Augusta) and Owen are artists living what one would imagine
an artists life. An old house, off in the countryside, Gus painting on a sunlit porch and Owen writing magnificence in the cozy barn. But all is not as idyllic as it seems. Love, life, family, trust and even death are threaded throughout their every move, their every breath. This incredible author Robin Black brings each feeling to the light as she literally paints a picture for us that is so shockingly real my heart beat loudly with the turn of every page. This couple, recently married but having spent many years together have no children, have not much in the way of family outside of the little enclave they have carefully built with their art, their passion, patience and love. But love can be tricky and when trust has been broken it is sometimes hard to repair. Alison, a beautiful, self appointed artist bearing her own secrets moves in next door, their quiet repose is temporarily shattered, yet Gus finds a calming friendship with Alison that surprises even herself. When Nora, Alisons daughter visits, the web that is woven becomes ugly and dangerous. I could not put down this unexpected novel, set outside Philadelphia with likable characters and quiet yet page turning prose, I HIGHLY recommend Life Drawing. A must to add to your summer list, fall list, winter list, A MUST READ!