The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
Publisher: Amy Einhorn/Putnam
Release Date: July 30, 2013
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .
Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.
Liane Moriarty has done it again. Just like What Alice Forgot, The Husband’s Secret has stayed with me long after finishing it, thinking about what I would do if I were Rachel, Tess or Cecilia. I was riveted for the first half of the book, trying to figure out what the secret was in Cecilia’s husband John-Paul’s letter. I had multiple guesses and none of them were right. I was shocked when the secret was revealed and was riveted for the second half of the book trying to figure out how in the world it could possibly end in a way that would satisfy me.
Ultimately, the ending turned out to be surprising, yet very satisfying. It’s hard to go into detail without spoiling the plot. The Husband’s Secret would be an awesome book club pick – there is so much to discuss. And I think most women will relate to at least one of the three women in the book and wonder what the heck they would do if put into the same situation as Rachel, Tess or Cecilia. With this book, Ms. Moriarty has earned a spot in my list of favorite authors – I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.
Would you like to win your own copy of The Husband’s Secret and a cool Tupperware container? Enter my giveaway here.
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(I received this book courtesy of the publisher.)
August 6th, 2013 in
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The Husband’s Secret is an exciting new book from Liane Moriarty, author of What Alice Forgot (which I LOVED). I’m reading it right now and I can’t put it down. I was up until 3am with it the other night!
Publisher’s Description: Imagine that your husband wrote you a letter, to be opened after his death. Imagine, too, that the letter contains his deepest, darkest secret—something with the potential to destroy not just the life you built together, but the lives of others as well. Imagine, then, that you stumble across that letter while your husband is still very much alive. . . .
Cecilia Fitzpatrick has achieved it all—she’s an incredibly successful businesswoman, a pillar of her small community, and a devoted wife and mother. Her life is as orderly and spotless as her home. But that letter is about to change everything, and not just for her: Rachel and Tess barely know Cecilia—or each other—but they too are about to feel the earth-shattering repercussions of her husband’s secret.
I’m thrilled to be giving away a special package to one of my readers with a US address that includes a copy of the book and a Tupperware container – (Tupperware is a relevant part of The Husband’s Secret.) To enter, just fill out the form below I will take entries until 11:59pm on August 8, 2013. Good luck!
August 1st, 2013 in
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2 Comments
The Bequest of Big Daddy by Jo-Ann Costa
Publisher: Koehler Books
Release Date: April 1, 2013
My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Ratio Janson is the crusty patriarch with an infamous background, a hair-trigger temper reverently referred to as Big Daddy by his family clan. His feisty great-granddaughter Jo-Dee overhears shocking gossip at Big Daddy’s funeral and is determined to plumb his murky past, from Reconstruction to the present day.
The Bequest of Big Daddy is a character study of Ratio Janson that starts before he was born. Born to a cold, unloving mother and subjected to abuse growing up, it’s clear why Ratio grows up to be the tough, sometimes cruel man called Big Daddy. The majority of the story is set in old South and this was the part of the book I enjoyed the most. Ratio was not a likeable fellow but his story was authentic and captivating. I didn’t click with the modern day part of the story. Big Daddy was a legend that seemed to be admired by his family after he died and I just couldn’t relate. He was a interesting man for sure but not admirable, at least not to me.
My only other quibble with this book was the dialogue. The slaves’ speech was so muddled that I could barely read it, yet the white characters spoke almost perfectly clearly. This didn’t ring true to me but I’m not a historian so I can’t say for sure how people spoke back then. However, it seems like the white people’s speech would have more dialect to it.
Overall, The Bequest of Big Daddy was an enjoyable read. I think fans of Southern historical fiction will want to read the story of Big Daddy.
Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book. You can check out the other stops on the tour here.
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July 29th, 2013 in
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Wine for Dummies by Ed McCarthy
Publisher: For Dummies
Release Date: September 19, 2012 (5th edition)
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wine for Dummies is a great book for both the experienced and novice wine drinker. The Introduction goes through how the book is organized and which parts of the book should be read, depending on what the reader is interested in. Pretty much every aspect of wine is covered -grape varieties, how wine is made and regulated in various countries, how to read a wine label or restaurant wine list, and much more. The really technical information is labeled as such and can easily be skipped.
I liked that the tone of the book was very conversational and not at all pretentious. The authors actually have a sense of humor about wine and seemed to make an effort to make wine less intimidating for the reader. This will be a book that I refer to often and has me more interested in wine than ever. Before this book, I had a few brands that I stuck to but now I’m looking forward to trying new and different wines. I didn’t realize how many choices there are out there. That’s one hazard of reading this book – I was craving wine the whole time I was reading!
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(I received this book courtesy of the Amazon Vine program.)
July 23rd, 2013 in
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The Trial of Fallen Angels by James P. Kimmel
Publisher: Amy Einhorn/Putnam
Release Date: November 8, 2012
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Brek Cuttler has it all: a husband she loves, a daughter she adores, a successful law practice. And then one day everything she has ever known disappears. Brek finds herself standing on a deserted train platform covered in blood. As she tries to comprehend what is happening to her, a man seemingly from her past approaches her – almost as if out of the blue – and tells her to come with him. He explains that she has died and arrived at the place in the afterlife where souls are tried. Brek has been chosen to join the elite team of lawyers charged with prosecuting and defending souls st the Final Judgement.
As Brek struggles to find her way back to her husband and daughter, to learn how she got to this strange place and how she can leave it, all of her fundamental beliefs about love and hate, justice and forgiveness, will be tested. She will discover that her first client holds the shocking secret of her fate. And she will see how seemingly disparate events during her life have conspired to bring her to a single moment in time that will determine her eternity – and how every act of kindness and cruelty sets in motion things beyond our wildest imaginations.
The Trial of Fallen Angels is a philosophical story that examines justice versus forgiveness. This is a slow, thinker of a book with a lot of symbolism. I’ll admit that some of it was over my head. I think reading it a second time would reveal more layers to me but so many books, so little time… Even though I didn’t always feel like I understood what the author was trying to tell me, on the whole I found this to be an interesting, original book. In addition to the spiritual theme, there is also the mystery of what exactly happened to Brek – how and why did she come to Shemaya Station. I found that aspect of the story captivating. This would be a great book for a book club – there is so much that could be discussed and I’m sure that different readers would have different interpretations of what happens with the trials.
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(I received this book courtesy of the publisher.)
July 16th, 2013 in
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The People of Forever Are Not Afraid by Shani Boianjiu
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher: Hogarth, an imprint of Crown Publishing Group
Paperback Release Date: June 25, 2013
Publisher’s Description:
Yael, Avishag, and Lea grow up together in a tiny, dusty Israeli village, attending a high school made up of caravan classrooms, passing notes to each other to alleviate the universal boredom of teenage life. When they are conscripted into the army, their lives change in unpredictable ways, influencing the women they become and the friendship that they struggle to sustain. Yael trains marksmen and flirts with boys. Avishag stands guard, watching refugees throw themselves at barbed-wire fences. Lea, posted at a checkpoint, imagines the stories behind the familiar faces that pass by her day after day. They gossip about boys and whisper of an ever more violent world just beyond view. They drill, constantly, for a moment that may never come. They live inside that single, intense second just before danger erupts.
This book made me profoundly grateful that I live in a country without mandatory military service. I’m thankful for all the people in my country who serve voluntarily. Imagine living in a place where almost all of the adults, men and women, had served in the military and had their personalities and attitudes shaped by that. Ms Boianjiu spent two years in the Israeli Defense Forces s herself so I’m assuming that her portrayal of what life is like for women in the IDF is fairly accurate. The author has a unique writing style – somewhat detached prose that can come off as slightly pretentious at times but was beautiful most of the time. The narration alternates between the three women and at times I was confused as to whose turn it was -often the narrator is not named until a few pages into a chapter.
All of the women are deeply and understandably affected by their service in the military. I was haunted by this book and these women. After reading it, I felt like I understood a little bit more about what it’s like to live in a country where everyone is on edge most of the time, waiting for the next suicide bombing or whatnot. Luckily, there were a few wonderfully dry, cynical, humorous lines interspersed here and there that kept this book from being too over the top depressing. If you are a fan of experimental style literary fiction, I recommend this book for you.
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Powell’s Books Rainy Day Books
(I received a copy of this book courtesy of the publisher.)
July 15th, 2013 in
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by The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green
Publisher: Dutton Books, a member of Penguin Group
January 10, 2012
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.
This will be a short review because I actually read this book way back in March before I went into the hospital. (I would not suggest reading a book about a girl with lung cancer when you are struggling with pneumonia – it made me a little paranoid!)
This book was just lovely. It’s the first I’ve read of Green’s so I can’t compare it to his previous work. Some reviews have said it’s not as good. If that’s the case then I can’t wait to read more by him because his other books must be amazing. One common criticism of this book is that Hazel and Augustus don’t talk like real teenagers. Maybe they don’t talk like MOST teenagers but I definitely know a few overly angsty teenagers that talk similarly that I was reminded of while reading this book. It was actually the plot line concerning the author of Hazel’s favorite book that I found unrealistic and the reason why this is a four star review instead of five.
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(I received this book courtesy of the publisher.)
July 9th, 2013 in
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West turned seven last week. He’ll be starting 2nd grade in the fall. I know I say this every year, but I can’t believe how fast time with my kids is flying by. This year West had a Cars 2 themed birthday party at an insane kids play place called Power Play. They have everything a kid could want to do all in one building: laser-tag, bowling, go carts, video games, skee-ball, and I don’t even know what else. West wanted to have purple hair for his special day but my hair dresser was fresh out of purple dye. He settled for red:
We gave West the Kindle Fire he asked for and while he mostly plays games on it, he does read books on it too. Although he reads above grade level, he still prefers to be read to and says he doesn’t like reading in his brain. I’m glad that the Kindle has made him a little more interested in books. I’m hoping that as he gets older, he learns to enjoy reading in his brain.
The Love Shack (Beach House No. 9)
by Christie Ridgway
Publisher: Harlequin HNQ
Release Date: March 26, 2013
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publisher’s Description:
Globe-trotting photojournalist Gage Lowell spent carefree childhood summers in Crescent Cove. Now that he desperately needs some R & R, he books a vacation at Beach House No. 9—ready to soak up some sun and surprise old friend and property manager Skye Alexander. Their long-distance letters got him through a dangerous time he can’t otherwise talk about. But when he arrives, the tightly wound beauty isn’t exactly happy to see him.
Skye knows any red-blooded woman would be thrilled to spend time with gorgeous, sexy Gage. But she harbors secrets of her own, including that she might just be a little bit in love with him. And she’s convinced the restless wanderer won’t stay long enough for her to dare share her past—or dream of a future together. Luckily for them both, summer at Crescent Cove has a way of making the impossible happen….
This in the third book in the Beach House No. 9 trilogy but it definitely can be read as a stand alone novel. I haven’t read the first two books yet and I had no problem reading this one. This book is a great summer poolside or beach read because the setting is a beach town and the atmosphere of the book is summery. The romance between Gage and Skye is fun and steamy. Both of them are damaged and bringing baggage into their relationship but the book never gets too heavy – you won’t be crying into your piňa colada as you read. The first two books in the series (Beach House No. 9 and Bungalow Nights) are in my pool bag, ready to go.
Thank you to TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book. You can check out the other stops on the tour here.
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July 3rd, 2013 in
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3 Comments
Comas make a person puffy. Look t at the size of the mitts they put on me to keep me from pulling any tubes out!
Remember way back in March when I posted S
unday Salon: The Lung Edition? When I wrote that the recovery would be long and painful, I had no idea how long it would actually be. Through a series of unfortunate events, What was supposed to be a five-day hospital stay turned into a two and a half MONTH hospital stay with another estimated four to six months of recovery at home before I’m back to functioning at 100%.
What happened? Well, the night before I was supposed to be discharged after having surgery to remove the lower lobe of my right lung I went into respiratory failure. I was intubated and put on a ventilator. Because I am claustrophobic, having air forced into my lungs freaked me out and my blood pressure and pulse went sky-high when I was awake. This led to being put in a medically induced coma for about three weeks, during which time I was exabated and a trachea was inserted. When the doctors figured out a ventilator setting that wouldn’t freak me out, I was able to wake up – one day before my 39th birthday (April 19). Happy Birthday to me!
On the rehab unit learning to walk
The process of weaning me off the vent was started and after a couple of weeks, I was sent to a rehab facility. At this facility, I started vomiting pretty much non-stop for about five days which led to my blood pressure going way up again. I ended up having several grand mal seizures and was transferred back to the hospital where I was diagnosed with PRES (posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome). The visual processing center of my brain was affected, which meant I was UNABLE TO READ. Luckily, time and therapy has restored my vision to almost where it should be. However, you may notice typos in this and future posts which can probably be attributed to my inability to see them.
The hospital gave me a four-hour pass to go on a date with Travis - good practice for the real world
As a result of spending so much time in bed, all my muscles atrophied and I had to learn to sit up and walk again. I’m currently in occupational and physical therapy to build my strength up again. Luckily it’s coming back much faster than expected. My impatience pays off for once! I’ve been home for about three weeks now and have been keeping myself busy catching up on emails (I had over 10,000 waiting for me!) and napping. We hired a nanny for the summer to help me with the kids since I’m still not cleared to drive and my endurance for activity still pretty short. I don’t think I’ll hit my reading goal for this year but at this point, I’m just happy to be home and alive!
At my welcome home party, one week after discharge
