Review: The Shattering by Karen Healey

Shortly after Keri's older brother commits suicide, her former childhood friend, Janna, enlists her help with uncovering the reason why so many young men commit suicide at a certain time of year. She, along with her friend Sione, is convinced that what is happening is actually murder. They think it's a carefully concealed conspiracy and have to be very cautious in their investigations, but since they have all lost someone they loved to this murderer they have the motivation to discover what happened.

The deeper they get into their questions, however, the more quickly they learn that things are much more complicated and dangerous than they originally suspected. Powerful forces are at work and even people they trust may be in on this ritual murder.

When I first started reading this book, I had been suffering from severe reader burn-out. I was really happy with the beginning of the book, because I felt like the mystery was pretty tragic, the writing was sharp and precise, and the characterization was outstanding. The story is told through the alternating POV's of the three main characters and they are really well drawn, I felt like I knew them all. But as the story progressed the mystery did not at a pace quickly enough for me and I started to feel bored. And then something was revealed about one of the characters that made everything in the book feel like a metaphor for something else. Which isn't exactly bad, in fact, from an intellectual standpoint I could appreciate the way the author handled this, I just had absolutely no emotional connection to it by that point.

The book is described as a thriller but there wasn't enough tension for me. The prose is great, the characterization is great, but overall the story itself didn't engage me enough. I did finish it, though, at a time when I thought I would never finish another book, and while the ending leaves some frayed painful ends, it is ultimately hopeful.

Fun stuff: the book is set in New Zealand which is different and made me want to go there!

Rating: 3.75/5
Things You Might Want to Know: Language, I think, I finished this one awhile ago, sorry!
Source of Book: Review copy received from publisher
Publisher: Little, Brown

The Love Triangle

The other day I was talking to my friend Caitie about the current season of Gossip Girl and the story they are telling with my favorite character, Blair, and the men in her life. Essentially they are using her various love interests to represent different aspects of her character, i.e. the parts of her that are light and dark. We were talking about how this technique is used in other stories, for me the first one that comes to mind is The Hunger Games because I felt like Gale and Peeta represented fairly obvious things for Katniss thematically.

Later on, I got on tumblr and I saw this post:

The Hunger Games is not a love story, it's a story about Humanity. Choosing to make the embodiment of this particular facet of Humanity a woman does not make the story a romantic love story.

To an extent, I agree with this. There's so much going on in the books, that it can be surprising how much people got caught up in shippy stuff. I'm guilty of this a bit too, I remember the teasing fights I'd have with other readers before Mockingjay came out. But I knew the story was about more than Peeta and Katniss. At the same point in time, I think The Hunger Games is very much a story about love--it's love that over and over again redeems life in Panem and it's the love story between Peeta and Katniss that is ultimately proved to be true or real after everything they went through. Their relationship starts under artificial circumstances and goes through fire to become the one thing that they know is real. So in that regard, it's very romantic!

But the tumblr post did give me pause to consider this device...of love triangles, or in Blair from Gossip Girl's case-a love quadrangle-to represent the different aspects of a woman through her love interests. I started trying to think of any love triangles where a man is at the center and the women represent his choices in a way that feels really intentional by the author or writers. I can't really think of any.

The Secret Circle currently has a love triangle where a male character is torn between two girls but I think it's like...what's familiar vs. what's fated for him. It's also really underdeveloped and feels much more like Cassie's conflict than his as she battles her attraction to him and her loyalty to her new friend.

It's curious to me why this device is used more with female characters than male characters. I guess a good part of it could be because there's an element of fantasy involved for girls, it's more interesting for us to imagine a girl who has multiple options in her romantic life than a man? Or is it because most stories about women are told from the perspective of their romantic lives, a story about a woman with a couple of friends who represent these same sides of her would be less appealing or even..unthinkable?

Can you think of any male centric triangles that work in this way and seem to be obvious and intentional on the part of the writer? I was thinking it could be argued that Sawyer/Kate/Juliet from Lost could maybeeee count, but Sawyer was never really torn, once he fell in love with Juliet that was it. And Kate's conflict between Jack and Sawyer seems much more like what I'm talking about here. How about non-romantic female triangles?

Winter's Tale Readalong Post #3

Is anyone still reading? I know a lot of people dropped out and that some never started. I'm woefully behind, but if you're reading, please share your thoughts in comments so I can steal learn from them when it comes time for me to post.

The Sunday Salon -- Wasting My Life on Twitter and Other Important Revelations

I can't believe it's the end of the long Thanksgiving weekend already. I am almost done with Christmas shopping, which is nice, though admittedly I'm not buying much of anything this year. The real test will be if I can manage to send Christmas cards out before December 23rd. I am absolutely terrible about that.

I am indulging a little bit, though, I can never resist the Book Blogger's Holiday Swap and had a lot of fun shopping for my Santee. I also signed up for LibraryThing's Santa Thing. It's tradition after all, and I always enjoy seeing what a complete stranger gets for me and it always manages to be something I don't have that's completely perfect. This always feel like a miracle to me, like my own version of a Christmas miracle. Good news! There's still time to sign up if you like this year they are offering different price ranges as well different store options.

Anyway, last night I noticed people tweeting about how much of their life they had spent on twitter and I had to get in on that action. I remember the early days when Twitter felt like a giant chat room and how important it was to be on Twitter at the right time or you'd miss something REALLY REALLY important. It was always awful to hop on Twitter and see the dreaded words, "Let's take this to email" because you knew you had missed out on the latest project or event that would CHANGE YOUR LIFE. Or that's what it felt like anyway. I feel so differently about everything these days! Anyway, here's the verdict:


Um, that's a lot of time. But I don't feel bad okay? Obviously I was imparting great wisdom and valuable truths with those tweets. The world would be a dimmer place without my 48,200 tweets. Seriously though I wish someone could tell me how many of those were "LOL"

In other news that everyone else in the world was talking about weeks ago, I realized I never posted about my love for The Hunger Games trailer! I love it! I think they did a great job of showing all the characters and setting the stage for the actual games. Also, Team Peeta for life.

TV this week

You guys Revenge is getting boring. I have to force myself to concentrate and I'm not really sure it's worth it. I have serious concentration problems as you may know, I blame those 48,200 tweets and I'm not even kidding. But seriously I just watched this today and I already forgot what happened.

American Horror Story continues to be unbelievably horrific and yet I'm still watching. The thing is that I don't get bored during it. It's hard to be bored when you're being offended or grossed out every minute. Just kidding, but I do really want to know how this whole story works together.

Gossip Girl (that show I still watch that I'm pretty sure none of you do) had a competent writer this past week, the problem is that I don't understand why they have Blair pregnant and getting married to a Prince when they had a great and interesting story line in Dan and Blair that they just....killed? Put on the backburner? Decided to stretch out beyond belief? Time will tell.

Also I caught up on The Walking Dead last week and omg I love it so much. So I have to admit I was surprised to see that most people are complaining about it. Some are complaining for reasons that are way over my head (i.e. the consistency of the way the characters are written, I haven't really noticed a huge lack of consistency), I think some complaints are due to the fact that it's differing from the comics more and more, and also I see a lot of people complain there aren't enough zombies. Not enough zombies is definitely not my complaint since I think the actual human drama is far more interesting and well the entire reason I enjoy apocalyptic stuff. I don't know I just thought an interesting variety of moral situations were raised and also the number one most important thing--I don't get bored.

And finally that leads me to my new found love for Parks and Recreation. Yes I'm SUPER late to this party but that's what Netflix and friends are for. :) I definitely never get bored, I laugh a lot, and aw, I just love it. I'm just now watching on Netflix and have to admit it's hard to have self restraint. So thanks to Jenny and anyone else who ever mentioned the show.

Reading

Fancy that, in a Sunday Salon post, I'm going to talk about books. I only read one book this week. I did get some 2012 books in the mail and I started reading one of them, and I really liked the insights of the character, but I wish I could tell more clearly if there was going to be a plot. Also I am so behind in my own readalong, waaah. And yet I'm still planning to do a few more next year because I will never get over how fun the Gone with the Wind and Lonesome Dove readalongs were. The good news is that Winter's Tale has stuck with me in interesting ways, the scenes playing out in my mind again at odd times.

How about all of you? How's your holiday shopping going? Reading? TV? Tell me everything! I'm nosy.

Review: The Christmas Shoppe by Melody Carlson

Matilda Honeycutt shows up mysteriously in Parrish Springs and buys an old building that others in the city had their eye on. She has plans to turn it into a store, but what kind of store?

Susannah Elton, the city manager, wants to give Matilda a chance, but she doesn't seem interested in securing all the right business licenses, which is causing problems with the other business owners in town. They want to make sure the store won't drag down the value of their own businesses during such a trying economy. But as time passes and Matilda's store opens up, it seems she may have something to offer the town that will exceed their expectations.

I enjoy Christmas books during the holiday season and this one was a really cute novella. I was actually pretty intrigued by the concept of the store and I don't think Carlson quite drew it out to its full potential. She makes a really strong link between possessions and memories which is a fascinating idea to me, but it's not really explored in depth. It is, after all, a Christmas novella meant to warm your heart and cheer you up and give you hope. :)

I liked this book, but the fact that Melody Carlson is now publishing at least a book a month was evident. It felt like a story that hit all the points it was meant to without any depth of characterization, exploration of ideas, or stand-out prose. Even so, it's a fun quick read.

Rating: 3.5/5
Things You Might Want to Know: Even though this is technically Christian fiction, there's only tiny section where the Christmas story is told that makes it so.
Source of Book: Received from publisher for review
Publisher: Revell

3 TV Characters I'm Thankful Not to Be

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate! As someone who loves escaping into a good story I was realizing how thankful I am not to actually be living in certain TV shows. Here are three characters I'm really glad I'm not. Spoilers for current seasons of all of these shows.

Elena Gilbert in The Vampire Diaries
Admittedly Elena drives me crazy so that's one reason. But the bigger reason is that her blood is precious and needed by bad vamp/werewolf hybrid Klaus. Also, she tends to fall in love with vampires who are over 100 years old and have serious issues with feelings and blood lust. And people she loves die all the time. So basically being Elena kind of sucks. ha ha.

Lori Grimes of The Walking Dead
I cannot imagine being pregnant during the zombie apocalypse. Seriously it is the worst thing I can imagine. No doctor care, no guarantee of good food, slowing down in general and not being able to take care of yourself in quite the same way, not to mention having to worry about bringing a new child into such a terrible world. And then there are all these other reasons it would be terrible to be Lori, her son was shot and barely survived, she thought her husband was dead and so she started a relationship with his best friend and now they are all in the same band of survivors and it's super awkward (also I LOVE Rick so much his reaction to that news was soooo. great) So yeah I'm REALLY REALLY glad I'm not Lori and pregnant during the zombie apocalypse.


Vivian Harmon in American Horror Story
She has the worst husband ever, she's pregnant with the devil's twins, she lives in the creepiest house ever where she was a victim of a violent crime and she still has to live there with the world's worst neighbors and ghosts all around and that pregnancy makes her want to eat brains....I mean really her life IS TERRIBLE.

So basically my life might be difficult, but I don't have to deal with vampires, zombies, or ghosts. I mean really things are pretty smooth sailing for me.

And of course.......I'm thankful for all of you. I hope your holiday weekend is full of all the very best things in your life!

Review: Deadline by Mira Grant

Last year I read and really enjoyed Feed by Mira Grant...I still think it's one of the smartest zombie worlds I've ever read about and the ideas Grant explores in her zombie-fied world are some of the more interesting to be explored. It's less about raw survival and costly moments of kindness, and more about the way fear dominates our lives, the importance of truth, the corruption of government, etc. Additionally, the dominance of bloggers in this post-rising but still very civilized world is still one of my favorite things about these books.

She continues to explore these same ideas in Deadline, but takes it to a new level. I cannot discuss Deadline without mentioning major events from Feed, so if you have not read Feed and plan to read these books please do not read any farther!

The presidential campaign that Shaun and Georgia were following is obviously over in Deadline. Shaun is still coping with George's death and not doing it very well. He still talks to her as if she's alive and in his head. His sole reason for living at this point is to discover who killed his sister and why. He's no longer on the field as an Irwin, either. His grief is a huge part and motivator of the story. When someone from the CDC shows up with information, though, things get intense fast and Shaun and his team are forced to make hard decisions about just how far they are willing to go to uncover the truth.

Grant's world is incredibly detailed and as such very believable. At times there are huge exposition dumps, for example there were three pages describing what the showers were like and occasionally that bothered me a bit, but for the most part the story still moves incredibly quickly. There are a lot of surprises as well. One thing that surprised me about this book was the nature of Shaun and George's relationship. Even though I guessed that romantic feelings between them could exist since they were adoptive siblings, I didn't feel like that was strongly indicated at all in Feed. I just thought they were very close and trusted each other more than anyone else in the world. But this story, told from Shaun's point of view, was very clear that Shaun was in love with George. Not in any way that was spoken between them or even really acknowledged by him for awhile, but it was clear that she fulfilled that role in his life. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this development.

For the most part, I really enjoyed the progression of the story. It's different from Feed, it raises the stakes of the zombie virus, and the conclusion is somewhat stunning and I'm definitely looking forward to the third book coming out next year! Also I really liked the new characters introduced, especially Dr. Abbey.

Have you read Feed and Deadline? What's your favorite zombie book? I also caught up on The Walking Dead this past weekend and it was so freaking good I kind of feel like escaping into zombie stories for awhile.

Rating: 4.25/5
Things You Might Want to Know: Some profanity, a little sex. Also zombies.
Source of Book: Bought it
Publisher: Orbit (Hachette)

Giveaway: James Joyce: A Life by Edna O'Brien and Charles Dickens: A Life by Jane Smiley

This giveaway is open to United States and Canadian residents. Please fill out the form below by November 30th. The winner will be notified by email...there's just one winner this time for both books.

About the Book: In JAMES JOYCE, O’Brien chronicles the author’s early days as the rambunctious Jesuit school student, one of ten children, through his flight to Europe and the success, love and despair he would experience there, to his final, frustrated days as “a poor old man in a long overcoat, an eyepatch and a stick, stones in his pocket to keep off marauding dogs.”

About the Book: In CHARLES DICKENS: A Life, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Jane Smiley creates both a sensitive portrait of the celebrated novelist and a fascinating meditation on the writing life as only a fellow novelist can.

CHARLES DICKENS explores the writer’s narrative techniques and illustrates his brilliant understanding of the craft: what draws readers and why. The author of fifteen novels, many of which were first serialized in newspapers, Dickens had a vibrant, public literary life and, as an enormously popular and successful writer, was one of the first people ever catapulted to “celebrity” status.

Unsolicited Advice--When in Doubt: Disclose

If there's one thing that seems to be annoyingly true, it's that I learn things the hard way. Another way of saying this with a positive spin is that I learn by experience.

This isn't all bad or unfounded as I constantly tell myself, we all learn by doing or experience. Failure should never been seen as negatively as it is, because we can't really learn without it. Of course our failure can hurt others and cause permanent damage to things we love. But that's another story for another day.

One of the oft talked about issues in book blogging is disclosure. Do you disclose where the copy of the book you're reading came from? Do you disclose your relationships with authors, publishers, book stores, etc.? When I started out I didn't disclose anything because I felt it didn't make a difference in my reviews. But as time passed, I changed my mind because it's not really about me and what I feel, but rather about arming someone with all the information they need to make their own decision. Anyone who knows me well, knows I don't just write glowing reviews of books but since this is the internet, not everyone knows me! And my reviews can be read by someone just reading my site a single time.

This lesson was hammered home even more for me last year when I did a little bit of freelance online publicity work for authors. Despite the fact that I had a prior relationship with the authors I worked with, someone clued me into the fact I needed to be more obvious about my changed relationship with them. I realized in a flash how important it was to disclose upfront because I absolutely didn't want their names dragged through the mud because of me and my own failure. In fact, that's one of the reasons I realized I couldn't really do that work, I wanted to be able to talk about the books and authors I loved freely and I feel my blog and Twitter are my biggest ways to influence online.

Anyway, all this was brought to mind recently as some more high profile bloggers and bookish people have come under scrutiny for not disclosing all their sources of income. One blogger said they were honest and absolutely nothing had changed about the review policy or procedures. While this may be true, the problem remains that this is the internet. We don't all know each other. But even more than that, it's not that they are doing anything wrong, it's that the appearance of wrongdoing exists. It casts a shadow not only over individual bloggers but book blogging as a whole.

And the popular Twitter hashtag Friday Reads was brought up this past weekend as some people ventured onto their website and discovered they charge for giveaways. I myself haven't participated in the meme for a long time for various reasons but I have nothing against the folks behind Friday Reads choosing to do this, I understand that giveaways on that level take a lot of work. But I can also understand the surprise one might feel, especially since it seemed like Friday Reads started out as a grassroots internet phenomenon, something done for the pure joy and love of reading. Learning it's a small business can certainly be a shock to one's system! I found the variety of responses to be interesting on Friday....some people were actually accusing those who raised concerns of hurting reading. But is there concrete evidence that Friday Reads has raised the reading rates? It may help the sales of particular books. In any case, I'm sure that what happened will not hurt Friday Reads overall and any increased transparency and disclosure is a good thing.

I think I've just come to realize and would encourage that when you have any doubt at all, disclosure is the best way to go. It's not about you and whether or not you're an honest or trustworthy person. It's about giving people all the information they need to make their own decisions. It's about being absolutely clear so that there is never any doubt as to your intentions...it's ultimately about keeping the focus on the great books we read and talk about so they don't get overlooked or even worse have their names all mixed up in some stupid controversy where we explain why we didn't just mention we received review copies or talk to the author on Twitter everyday upfront.

It's not hard, it takes only a little bit of time, and in the long run, I really think it's worth it.

The Sunday Salon--I'm Reading Actual Books Again! And Thoughts on The Tree of Life

Happy Sunday before Thanksgiving everyone! Or if you're not in the United States or decline to celebrate Thanksgiving, Happy Sunday. :)

Those of you that come here for books will be glad to know I'm reading again! I finished two books and my readalong section this week which is amazing compared to the past several months. And I have that greedy-must-read-everything feeling back and I'll take it for as long as it wants to stay.

My week looks to be really really low key as well, so hopefully I'll be able to get more reading in. Writing reviews, on the other hand, might prove to be a bit more challenging.

The weather is cooler here, finally! And overcast! It's wonderful! I had my first peppermint mocha of the season yesterday and loved it.

TV
Everything was boring this week.

The Tree of Life

I have a lot of feelings about this movie okay? I had been wanting to watch it since the trailer came out, but then the reviews were less than favorable from people that I expected to like it. I finally watched it Friday and I cannot remember the last time I felt a piece of art so deeply to be honest. Which isn't to say it was perfect at all. There's a huge sequence of the beginning of the earth or something near the beginning that I spaced out during and that I feel ultimately detracted from the film. But the cinematography and the music, and the sounds, were all so beautiful, like a rich feast. And the snatches of Young Jack's life-his coming of age and loss of innocence, the battle within him between nature and grace, the way all of life is experienced in the simple moments of childhood...I just don't have words for how moving it was for me, for how connected I felt to this story. I feel like there are far more intelligent things I should be saying about it...but all I can tell you is that by the end I was a crying mess and felt like I had been on a journey and that moments from the film keep coming back to me. If you don't have patience for non-linear narratives or Planet Earth and dinosaurs, this probably isn't for you. But for me, it is hands down the best film I've watched all year and I'm glad I decided to watch it anyway. The cinematography alone makes it worth watching, in my opinion, but I know without a doubt this is not a movie for everyone. Has anyone else seen it?

I hope you all have a wonderful week whether or not you are celebrating the holiday!

Smalltown Poets Christmas Giveaway!

So I admit it, I love Christmas music! And once the weather dips into slightly chilly (which comes later where I live and is also probably not all that chilly to some of you) I break it out. The thing is there is just so much great Christmas music and such a short season!

So when Smalltown Poets contacted me about their new Christmas CD I was admittedly happy. I always love adding new Christmas music to my tried and true favorites and contemporary Christian artists usually make my favorite Christmas music, because the season's deepest importance to me is rooted in the hope that springs from my faith.

So for the last couple of weeks I've really enjoyed listening to a Smalltown Poet's Christmas. The album mostly features traditional Christmas songs with a fresh upbeat arrangement, but there are a couple of contemporary songs including "St. Nick is Alright" which I think is a fun song for the whole family. :)

The album kicks off with my favorite, ahem, advent song "O Come O Come Emmanuel" and includes many of my favorites you don't often hear on Christmas albums such as "Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

You can preview the entire album here! Also I have codes for five winners to download the album themselves for Christmas cheer! Please just fill out the form below by Wednesday November 23rd. Winners will be emailed! Yay Christmas music!



More About Smalltown Poets:
Smalltown Poets burst onto the Christian music scene with their Grammy-nominated self-titled debut on Ardent/Forefront (EMI) in 1997 and released two more albums with the Memphis based label. Three number one singles and a total of ten top ten radio hits helped garner two Best Rock Gospel Grammy nominations, seven Dove Award nominations (including best new artist) and a Billboard Music video award for the band. Their song Anything Genuine was featured on the platinum selling WOW 1999 compilation. In 2004 the band released It's Later Than It's Ever Been on BEC(EMI.)

The band regrouped in the fall of 2010 to begin production on their 5th studio album, Smalltown Poets Christmas. The band co-produced the project with former Smalltown Poets drummer Matt Goldman (Underoath, Third Day, Casting Crowns, Copeland).

The album will be available to fans on Nov. 1st of 2011 through iTunes, CD Baby, and other online outlets. The band will be doing Christmas concerts across the South and Midwest in December of 2011, joined on select dates by fellow bands Echoing Angels and Elishah.

FIRST: Truth Tats: The Christmas Story by Jeff Sheets

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card is developed by:

Jeff Sheets, product creator
for Broadman and Holman Publishers

and the Advent idea:

TruthTats: The Christmas Story

B&H Publishing Group

***Special thanks to Susan Otis of Creative Resources, Inc. for sending me a review copy.***

SHORT PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:

Truth Tats: The Christmas Story
Celebrating the Season of Advent with Truth Tats

Designed just for the season, Christmas Truth Tats present a new way of telling the story of Christ’s birth. Truth Tats are temporarily on your skin, permanently on your heart.

This is a five week program leading up to Christmas day, each packet of Truth Tats includes a family devotional booklet that kicks off each memory scripture of the week. The twenty accompanying Scripture tattoos are a visual way to continually applying and memorize God’s word. Each week opens with a set of four identical Scripture tattoo designs so that each family member can have his or her own tattoo! Week two, there is a new Scripture for memorization and four new tattoo designs, again identical designs so each person is memorizing the same Scripture.

For over 1,000 years Christians worldwide have been celebrating Advent, a time of spiritual preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ. The word “advent” comes from the Latin adventus meaning “coming toward”. So it is entirely appropriate that the four weeks prior to Christmas we will be preparing our hearts for His Advent.

Truth Tats are a unique way to celebrate the season as well as to “show and tell” God’s word to others. This is ideal for the classroom, family devotion time, and in personal Scripture memorization

Product Details:

List Price: $3.99
Unbound
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Language: English
ASIN: B005LDDJ1S

AND NOW...WEEK ONE OF ADVENT (Click on pictures to enlarge):

Interview with Claudia Gray, Author of Fateful

What inspired this story?

The inspiration for FATEFUL came from attending an exhibition of artifacts brought up from the Titanic wreckage site, which was beautifully done. Although the recovered treasures were amazing -- jewelry, playing cards, people's letters, sets of china without a single cracked late -- what really got to me were the recreated rooms. The exhibit featured rooms the exact size as those on the Titanic, decorated in precisely the same style, so you could walk down a corridor, peer into a third-class cabin or a first-class deck. What else could make you imagine more vividly that you were really there? And, of course, me being me, I quickly began thinking of supernatural twists on the tale -- and there you go.

What was the most difficult aspect of writing Fateful?

In this case, the most difficult part was also the most fun: Staying true to the real physical layout of the ship and the real timeline. While the story of FATEFUL is supernatural, the setting is very real and I was determined to respect it. But jumping through those hoops was a delight, too, and gave me an excuse for tons of fun research.

What are some of your favorite books that mash-up the supernatural and historical fiction?

I know this isn't usually thought of as a book that features the supernatural, but the first one I thought of was CLAN OF THE CAVE BEAR by Jean Auel. The psychic powers of the Neanderthals are very normal in their world -- but supernatural in ours, and doesn't every paranormal novel embrace its supernatural qualities as real? One I read recently and greatly enjoyed was THE PHYSICK BOOK OF DELIVERANCE DANE, which actually manages to tell a fresh story about the Salem Witch Trials, which I thought was impossible. And of course, Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles are forever going to be classics of historical paranormal fiction.

Why do you think The Titanic is such a great setting for romantic stories?

It's beautiful and it's doomed. I don't know what it says about people that those two elements together almost always feel romantic, but they do, don't they?

What's the best feedback you're gotten with regards to your books?

The best feedback is when someone says my stories inspired her to write her own. There's really no higher praise than that.

What are you working on now?

Right now I'm writing the first book of a YA trilogy, which is both paranormal (focusing on witchcraft) and thriller. The tentative title is SPELLCASTER: THE FIRE. It's a story that's very dear to me, and I can't wait to hibernate with it over the next month or so.

About Fateful:
In Fateful, eighteen-year-old maid Tess Davies is determined to escape the wealthy, overbearing family she works for. Once the ship they’re sailing on reaches the United States, she’ll strike out on her own. Then she meets Alec, a handsome first-class passenger who captivates her instantly. But Alec has secrets....

Soon Tess will learn just how dark Alec’s past truly is. The danger they face is no ordinary enemy: werewolves are real and they’re stalking him—and now Tess, too. Her growing love for Alec will put Tess in mortal peril, and fate will do the same before their journey on the Titanic is over.

Featuring the opulent backdrop of the Titanic, Fateful’s publication is poised to coincide with the 100-year anniversary of the ship’s doomed maiden voyage. It is sure to be a hit among Titanic buffs and fans of paranormal romance alike

Review: In Search of the Rose Notes by Emily Arsenault

I really enjoyed Emily Aresenault's The Broken Teaglass when I read it a few years ago, so when I realized In Search of the Rose Notes was by her as well I was really excited to read it. It took me awhile, but I finished it this past weekend and I really enjoyed it.

In Search of the Rose Notes is kind of a mystery--in that Rose disappeared many years ago and no one knows what happened to her until her bones are discovered. This opens up a lot of memories for Nora, the protagonist, as she returns to her hometown and also attempts to reconcile with her childhood friend Charlotte. They used to love to look at Time Life books that dealt with the paranormal and afterlife--their childhood investigation of these books is woven throughout the main story and casts a chilling and mysterious atmosphere in the story.

Rose was a baby-sitter for Charlotte and Nora, and Nora was the last one to see her alive. The memory of this haunted her and having the case be reopened invites the past to be revisited. In Nora's case, it's a painful past. She was isolated and lonely as a teenager. Her friendship with Charlotte ended abruptly and so the early days of her visit are filled with awkwardness and uncertainty.

So...while this book is technically a mystery, I feel like it's really about something much bigger. The mystery moves along at a fairly slow pace and I think that's because this story is more about Nora reconciling to the past and healing from a kind of hurt she didn't even know existed within her. It's about human connection and the importance of it. I loved Nora's voice...I'm not sure if I would have finished this book if I hadn't identified so much with her. I loved the way she phrased things, I could appreciate and understand so much of how she saw the world and the awkwardness of her return.

The Nora and Charlotte friendship which is so important to the book also was really interesting to me. It was one of those friendships where you spend so much time with someone but are sort of friends with them out of default, not because you necessarily find a lot of things you really admire about them? I mean Nora knew Charlotte so well as kids but it wasn't a friendship she was terribly sentimental about. I don't know if I'm explaining this well at all, but it was something that I felt was developed really well and that I rarely see portrayed.

As Nora gets closer to understanding what happened to Rose (and thus understanding what happened to herself) the book has a few really intense and chilling scenes. I did not want to put it down at all in the end, and the conclusion to the mystery was both terribly sad and satisfying.

Rating: 4.5/5
Things You Might Want to Know: Some language
Source of Book: Review copy received from publisher
Publisher: William Morrow

Winter's Tale Readalong Post #2

Okay I didn't get up a post last week, because I admit that it took me awhile to get into the book and I was distracted by other things. But I forced myself to stay up and finish the section for today and I'm really glad I did because I'm becoming very enamored by the book. Like most readalong chunksters, it took about one hundred pages for me to become engaged because so much back story had to be laid. But the writing is very beautiful and descriptive, even if I feel Helprin has overused the word hiss.

So...some observations!

--This is a magical book, that much is clear half the time I have no idea what's going on. I sort of feel like I'm reading a story only getting some of it, because the world it takes place in is so completely different. But I sort of don't mind because it's so enchanting.

--Even though I was rolling my eyes at how Peter Lake and Beverly fell in love by merely looking at each other, their emotions feel so real. Peter Lake's dream of Beverly after she died was heart wrenching, the general urgency to their days as death approached felt so true.

--I love the way New York feels in this book--it feels so alive, teeming with feeling and emotion, a place where a mass of humanity collides and there's beauty and ugliness. I love the discussions of justice, that the contrast between the wealthy and the poor is something that plagues Peter Lake, that he's haunted by the vision of that sickly child he saw when he first arrived in New York. I think it's interesting that every time he brings this up, the wealthy have an excuse, a reason why there are poor people that pretty much frees them from all responsibility. But it's till not enough for Peter Lake.

--There's even a little bit of humor, though not enough. One of my favorites was when they sent a telegram telling them to look everywhere for Beverly, and the reply was, "where's everywhere" so they listed off all the places to look. I don't know why, but that really made me laugh.

--I guess ultimately I'm just really enjoying the way this book is so otherworldly, yet not, a little like a fairy tale, but not, with rich descriptive language and tackling big huge issues.

One of my favorite quotes so far:
"You don't have to believe me. It's all right if you don't. The beauty of the truth is that it need not be proclaimed or believed. It skips from soul to soul, changing form each time it touches, but it is what it is."

Anyone else reading along? Please tell me what you think so far!

FIRST: The Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Susan Meissner

and the book:

A Sound Among the Trees

WaterBrook Press (October 4, 2011)

***Special thanks to Laura Tucker of WaterBrook Press for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Award-winning writer Susan Meissner is a multi-published author, speaker and workshop leader with a background in community journalism. Her novels include The Shape of Mercy, named by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Books of 2008. She is a pastor’s wife and a mother of four. When she's not writing, Susan directs the Small Groups and Connection Ministries program at her San Diego church.


Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A house shrouded in time. A line of women with a heritage of loss. As a young bride, Susannah Page was rumored to be a Civil War spy for the North, a traitor to her Virginian roots. Her great-granddaughter Adelaide, the current matriarch of Holly Oak, doesn't believe that Susannah's ghost haunts the antebellum mansion looking for a pardon, but rather the house itself bears a grudge toward its tragic past.

When Marielle Bishop marries into the family and is transplanted from the arid west to her husband's home, it isn't long before she is led to believe that the house she just settled into brings misfortune to the women who live there.

With Adelaide's richly peppered superstitions and deep family roots at stake, Marielle must sort out the truth about Susannah Page and Holly Oak— and make peace with the sacrifices she has made for love.





Product Details:

List Price: $14.99
Paperback: 336 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press (October 4, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307458857
ISBN-13: 978-0307458858

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

Excerpt

The bride stood in a circle of Virginia sunlight, her narrow heels clicking on Holly Oak’s patio stones as she greeted strangers in the receiving line. Her wedding dress was a simple A-line, strapless, with a gauzy skirt of white that breezed about her knees like lacy curtains at an open window. She had pulled her unveiled brunette curls into a loose arrangement dotted with tiny flowers that she’d kept alive on her flight from Phoenix. Her only jewelry was a white topaz pendant at her throat and the band of platinum on her left ring finger. Tall, slender, and tanned from the famed and relentless Arizona sun, hers was a girl-nextdoor look: pretty but not quite beautiful. Adelaide thought it odd that Marielle held no bouquet.

From the parlor window Adelaide watched as her grandson-in-law, resplendent in a black tuxedo next to his bride, bent toward the guests and greeted them by name, saying, “This is Marielle.” An explanation seemed ready to spring from his lips each time he shook the hand of someone who had known Sara, her deceased granddaughter. His first wife. Carson stood inches from Marielle, touching her elbow every so often, perhaps to assure himself that after four years a widower he had indeed patently and finally moved on from grief.

Smatterings of conversations wafted about on the May breeze and into the parlor as received guests strolled toward trays of sweet tea and champagne. Adelaide heard snippets from her place at the window. Hudson and Brette, her great-grandchildren, had moved away from the snaking line of gray suits and pastel dresses within minutes of the first guests’ arrival and were now studying the flower-festooned gift table under the window ledge, touching the bows, fingering the silvery white wrappings. Above the children, an old oak’s youngest branches shimmied to the tunes a string quartet produced from the gazebo beyond the receiving line.

Adelaide raised a teacup to her lips and sipped the last of its contents, allowing the lemony warmth to linger at the back of her throat. She had spent the better part of the morning readying the garden for Carson and Marielle’s wedding reception, plucking spent geranium blossoms, ordering the catering staff about, and straightening the rented linen tablecloths. She needed to join the party now that it had begun. The Blue-Haired Old Ladies would be wondering where she was.

Her friends had been the first to arrive, coming through the garden gate on the south side of the house at five minutes before the hour. She’d watched as Carson introduced them to Marielle, witnessed how they cocked their necks in blue-headed unison to sweetly scrutinize her grandson-in-law’s new wife, and heard their welcoming remarks through the open window.

Deloris gushed about how lovely Marielle’s wedding dress was and what, pray tell, was the name of that divine purple flower she had in her hair?

Pearl invited Marielle to her bridge club next Tuesday afternoon and asked her if she believed in ghosts.

Maxine asked her how Carson and she had met—though Adelaide had told her weeks ago that Carson met Marielle on the Internet—and why on earth Arizona didn’t like daylight-saving time.

Marielle had smiled, sweet and knowing—like the kindergarten teacher who finds the bluntness of five-year-olds endearing—and answered the many questions.

Mojave asters. She didn’t know how to play bridge. She’d never encountered a ghost so she couldn’t really say but most likely not. She and Carson met online. There’s no need to save what one has an abundance of. Carson had cupped her elbow in his hand, and his thumb caressed the inside of her arm while she spoke.

Adelaide swiftly set the cup down on the table by the window, whisking away the remembered tenderness of that same caress on Sara’s arm.

Carson had every right to remarry.

Sara had been dead for four years.

She turned from the bridal tableau outside and inhaled deeply the gardenia-scented air in the parlor. Unbidden thoughts of her granddaughter sitting with her in that very room gently nudged her. Sara at six cutting out paper dolls. Memorizing multiplication tables at age eight. Sewing brass buttons onto gray wool coats at eleven. Sara reciting a poem for English Lit at sixteen, comparing college acceptance letters at eighteen, sharing a chance letter from her estranged mother at nineteen, showing Adelaide her engagement ring at twenty-four. Coming back home to Holly Oak with Carson when Hudson was born. Nursing Brette in that armchair by the fireplace. Leaning against the door frame and telling Adelaide that she was expecting her third child.

Right there Sara had done those things while Adelaide sat at the long table in the center of the room, empty now but usually awash in yards of stiff Confederate gray, glistening gold braid, and tiny piles of brass buttons—the shining elements of officer reenactment uniforms before they see war.

Adelaide ran her fingers along the table’s polished surface, the warm wood as old as the house itself. Carson had come to her just a few months ago while she sat at that table piecing together a sharpshooter’s forest green jacket. He had taken a chair across from her as Adelaide pinned a collar, and he’d said he needed to tell her something.

He’d met someone.

When she’d said nothing, he added, “It’s been four years, Adelaide.”

“I know how long it’s been.” The pins made a tiny plucking sound as their pointed ends pricked the fabric.

“She lives in Phoenix.”

“You’ve never been to Phoenix.”

“Mimi.” He said the name Sara had given her gently, as a father might. A tender reprimand. He waited until she looked up at him. “I don’t think Sara would want me to live the rest of my life alone. I really don’t. And I don’t think she would want Hudson and Brette not to have a mother.”

“Those children have a mother.”

“You know what I mean. They need to be mothered. I’m gone all day at work. I only have the weekends with them. And you won’t always be here. You’re a wonderful great-grandmother, but they need someone to mother them, Mimi.”

She pulled the pin cushion closer to her and swallowed. “I know they do.”

He leaned forward in his chair. “And I…I miss having someone to share my life with. I miss the companionship. I miss being in love. I miss having someone love me.”

Adelaide smoothed the pieces of the collar. “So. You are in love?”

He had taken a moment to answer. “Yes. I think I am.”

Carson hadn’t brought anyone home to the house, and he hadn’t been on any dates. But he had lately spent many nights after the children were in bed in his study—the old drawing room—with the door closed. When she’d pass by, Adelaide would hear the low bass notes of his voice as he spoke softly into his phone. She knew that gentle sound. She had heard it before, years ago when Sara and Carson would sit in the study and talk about their day. His voice, deep and resonant. Hers, soft and melodic.

“Are you going to marry her?”

Carson had laughed. “Don’t you even want to know her name?”

She had not cared at that moment about a name. The specter of being alone in Holly Oak shoved itself forward in her mind. If he remarried, he’d likely move out and take the children with him. “Are you taking the children? Are you leaving Holly Oak?”

“Adelaide—”

“Will you be leaving?”

Several seconds of silence had hung suspended between them. Carson and Sara had moved into Holly Oak ten years earlier to care for Adelaide after heart surgery and had simply stayed. Ownership of Holly Oak had been Sara’s birthright and was now Hudson and Brette’s future inheritance. Carson stayed on after Sara died because, in her grief, Adelaide asked him to, and in his grief, Carson said yes.

“Will you be leaving?” she asked again.

“Would you want me to leave?” He sounded unsure.

“You would stay?”

Carson had sat back in his chair. “I don’t know if it’s a good idea to take Hudson and Brette out of the only home they’ve known. They’ve already had to deal with more than any kid should.”

“So you would marry this woman and bring her here. To this house.”

Carson had hesitated only a moment. “Yes.”

She knew without asking that they were not talking solely about the effects moving would have on a ten-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl. They were talking about the strange biology of their grief. Sara had been taken from them both, and Holly Oak nurtured their common sorrow in the most kind and savage of ways. Happy memories were one way of keeping someone attached to a house and its people. Grief was the other. Surely Carson knew this. An inner nudging prompted her to consider asking him what his new bride would want.

“What is her name?” she asked instead.

And he answered, “Marielle…”

Excerpted from A Sound Among the Trees by Susan Meissner Copyright © 2011 by Susan Meissner. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Telling You About Me

Andi from Radiant Light tagged me for this award/meme and since it's been ages since I've done one of these and this one is easy I thought I'd play along!

The rules are:
I am supposed to tell 7 things about myself.

1) My favorite movie is It's a Wonderful Life
2) I don't enjoy hot beverages, therefore I have never been much of a coffee drinker. I keep trying to get attached to them, and I keep failing.
3) Even though I am well out of high school, I still enjoy listening to The Cure. Back when I was still in high school people told me this would not happen.
4) I think the Paranormal Activity movies are fun and I guess they are also a guilty pleasure I don't know anyone else who enjoys them.
5) I would pretty much watch anything with Timothy Olyphant in it. Example--I watched I Am Number 4.
6) I prefer Togo's to Subway.
7) Those Christmas peppermint flavored Tootsie Pops are one of my favorite things ever.

Feel free to tell me seven things about you too! I know you want to! :)

The Sunday Salon -- I Have No Title

Friends! It is cool and chilly here! And there's been rain! And yesterday I went shopping and it was a lot of fun and I bought Christmas presents!

I decided I love November best of all, in between Halloween and Christmas, without Christmas being EVERYWHERE yet. (It's also kind of sad and melancholy which I like even though I don't actually like feeling sad, there's just something about November.)

So on the heels of Google Reader screwing us all over by changing everything that was good about it, Twitter decided we care about the mundane aspects of everyone's Twitter existence. HOW WRONG COULD THEY BE? Dear Twitter, I DO NOT CARE when someone adds someone to a list or favorites a tweet, or starts following someone else. Do you not understand a single thing about what made Twitter good? Sigh.

But, I have been trying to get used to the new Google Reader and found some amazing posts of course, which I couldn't just share (forever bitter) so who knows maybe I can do this linking thing again.

First of all, Jenny is watching The Vampire Diaries, yay! Jenny is like one of my favorite books and TV fans ever and well also one of my favorite bloggers--I love the way she writes so THIS IS EXCITING! You all should be watching, too!

Speaking of favorite bloggers, Julie Clawson might be my actual favorite blogger. I love reading what she writes because she makes me think of things in a totally different way. Like, I'm going along in life thinking about things one way and she tilts my perspective and suddenly I feel like as if I'm seeing clearer...you know, a thing resounds when it rings true ringing all the bells inside of you?* That's how I feel when I read her stuff. I promise I am not idolizing her! I'm sure she's often wrong, too. :)

Anyway, she had this gorgeous post the other day here's part of it:

It is in our nature to trivialize the other. To redefine what is precious to others according to our point of view. So what is home to someone becomes nowhere under a certain gaze. It is this tendency to redefine the other or the space of the other in light of our own image or interests that shaped the entire westward expansion of the American nation. If the land was redefined as wilderness or frontier – a wild space that needed to be tamed by those with the science and skills to do so – as opposed to being someone else’s home, then it was not only permissible but our duty to claim that nowhere as our own.......

Jodie, being the awesome person she continues to be, made her own fantasy speedway team of fictional female characters in response to Scholastic's fantasy football team that included only one female. Also that is Lady Business, please tell me you all are reading there. I mean it's Ana, Jodie, and Renay!

TV

So...The Vampire Diaries. I guess I enjoyed the last two episodes, but I don't have a lot to say about them really. I am enjoying Stefan so much this season and I kind of loved him this last episode. Elena did not really say she cares too much right? LOL. Forwood made me so so so sad. But my call two weeks ago that it's more of a friend with benefits situation for Caroline turned out to be right--she simply doesn't care for him the way he cares for her. I actually feel a lot of sympathy for Tyler right now, because his friends all expect him to act a certain way, have made no effort to understand his unique circumstances, and so Rebekah is basically taking care of him. Oh well I guess Klaus is back. I'm a little worried they are going to kill Tyler off though, sigh. I loved Stefan stealing the coffins so much, though! And yay for Katherine still being around. But sad we have to wait until January for the next ep!

I'm behind on The Secret Circle, so I'll have to catch up on that later. I'm also behind on The Walking Dead but hope to marathon it soon.

I have been so pleasantly surprised by how strong the first two episodes of Bones were this season. I was so close to dumping the show, but I thought I would give the premiere a shot and it was genuinely funny. I do think they sill make Temperance look a bit more clueless than she has to make Booth look better, which I hate. But the introduction of the new intern, Finn, reminded me just how great this show is at characterization, especially for a procedural, they are just so well defined.

And um, okay this other show I'm watching, American Horror Story. First of all, this is a dark and twisted show and everyone assures me Ryan Murphy's shows always go off the rails, but I HAVE BEEN SUCKED IN DESPITE MYSELF. I mean, I read the scathing reviews, I heard people caution against it, I know Glee is a huge mess right now and so this high concept show would probably fail, and then I watched the pilot. I was really disgusted and disturbed by it, but I could not stop thinking about it, ugh and so I'm still watching. And there's some great acting and some genuinely spooky stuff, but yeah I feel like I have to wash my soul after it. Is anyone else watching this? Please help me feel better about myself. :)

Happy Sunday everyone and Happy November!

*Andrew Peterson, of course

The 2011 Reading Year is Almost Over

Much to my shock and amazement, 2011 is coming to an end. I know we still have about seven weeks left, but I was realizing last night just what a terrible reading year this has been.

I had one major reading resolution, this challenge swap I did with Hannah where we each picked books we wanted to read and wanted each other to read. I haven't read a single one. I will probably manage to get a few in before the end of the year, but wow. I haven't read many, if any, topping the year's end best of lists, and I'm behind on my one readalong already. I don't exactly know what happened this year, but I think it's because I was so burned after last year that my brain just shut down. Every time I picked up a book to read it because I had made a commitment to I couldn't concentrate. So ridiculous and disheartening to be honest.

That doesn't mean it was all bad though, the books I have read have been wonderful for the most part. You Are My Only by Beth Kephart was pure brilliance, The First Husband by Laura Dave was so fun and full of heart, Night Road by Kristin Hannah made me cryyyy, and I loved the language and artistry of You Know When the Are Gone. Even Canticle for Liebowitz, a difficult read that was hard to get through, I'm glad I read, because I think of it often.

I hope to read some more great books before the end of the year, but mostly I hope 2012 is something new for me in my reading life.

I suppose it's all part of evolving as a reader. I've been hard core book blogging for a few years and this was a bit of an off year. When you can't easily read because you're distracted by something else or stories aren't engaging you, the ones that do take on special significance as does the way you allocate your time. It doesn't matter I hope next year is better!

How has your 2011 reading gone?

FIRST: Mercy Come Morning

It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!

You never know when I might play a wild card on you!

Today's Wild Card author is:

Lisa T. Bergren

and the book:

Mercy Come Morning

WaterBrook Press; Reprint edition (August 16, 2011)

***Special thanks to Laura Tucker of WaterBrook Press for sending me a review copy.***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

LISA BERGREN is the best-selling, award-winning author of more than thirty books, with more than two million copies sold. A former publishing executive, she now splits her time working as a freelance editor and writer while parenting three children with her husband, Tim, and dreaming of the family’s next visit to Taos.

Visit the author's website.

SHORT BOOK DESCRIPTION:

There are no second chances. Or are there?

Krista Mueller is in a good place. She’s got a successful career as a professor of history; she’s respected and well-liked; and she lives hundreds of miles from her hometown and the distant mother she could never please. It’s been more than a decade since Alzheimer’s disease first claimed Charlotte Mueller’s mind, but Krista has dutifully kept her mother in a first-class nursing home.

Now Charlotte is dying of heart failure and, surprised by her own emotions, Krista rushes to Taos, New Mexico, to sit at her estranged mother’s side as she slips away. Battling feelings of loss, abandonment, and relief, Krista is also unsettled by her proximity to Dane McConnell, director of the nursing home—and, once upon a time, her first love. Dane’s kind and gentle spirit—and a surprising discovery about her mother—make Krista wonder if she can at last close the distance between her and her mother … and open the part of her heart she thought was lost forever.

“A timeless tale, to be kept every day in the heart as a reminder
that forgiveness is a gift to self.”
—PATRICIA HICKMAN, author of The Pirate Queen


Product Details:

List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: WaterBrook Press; Reprint edition (August 16, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0307730107
ISBN-13: 978-0307730107

AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:

“She’s dying, Krista.”

I took a long, slow breath. “She died a long time ago, Dane.”

He paused, and I could picture him formulating his next words, something that would move me. Why was my relationship with my mother so important to him? I mean, other than the fact that she was a patient in his care. “There’s still time, Kristabelle.”

I sighed. Dane knew that his old nickname for me always got to me. “For what? For long, deep conversations?” I winced at the harsh slice of sarcasm in my tone.

“You never know,” he said quietly. “An aide found something you should see.”

“What?”

“Come. I’ll keep it here in my office until you arrive. Consider it a Christmas present.”

“It’s December ninth.”

“Okay, consider it an early present.”

It was typical of him to hold out a mysterious hook like that. “I don’t know, Dane. The school term isn’t over yet. It’s a hard time to get someone to cover for me.” It wasn’t the whole truth. I had an assistant professor who could handle things on her own. And I could get back for finals. Maybe. Unless Dane wasn’t overstating the facts.

“Krista. She’s dying. Her doctor tells me she has a few weeks, tops. Tell your department chair. He’ll let you go. This is the end.” I stared out my cottage window to the old pines that covered my yard in shadows. The end. The end had always seemed so far away. Too far away. In some ways I wanted an end to my relationship with my mother, the mother who had never loved me as I longed to be loved. When she started disappearing, with her went so many
of my hopes for what could have been. The road to this place had been long and lonely. Except for Dane. He had always been there, had always waited. I owed it to him to show. “I’ll be there on Saturday.”

“I’ll be here. Come and find me.”

“Okay. I teach a Saturday morning class. I can get out of here after lunch and down there by five or six.”

“I’ll make you dinner.”

“Dane, I—”

“Dinner. At seven.”

I slowly let my mouth close and paused. I was in no mood to argue with him now. “I’ll meet you at Cimarron,” I said.
“Great. It will be good to see you, Kristabelle.” I closed my eyes, imagining him in his office at Cimarron Care Center. Brushing his too-long hair out of his eyes as he looked through his own window.

“It will be good to see you, too, Dane. Good-bye.”

He hung up then without another word, and it left me feeling slightly bereft. I hung on to the telephone receiver as if I could catch one more word, one more breath, one more connection with the man who had stolen my heart at sixteen.

Dane McConnell remained on my mind as I wrapped up things at the college, prepped my assistant, Alissa, to handle my history classes for the following week, and then drove the scenic route down to Taos from Colorado Springs, about a five-hour trip. My old Honda Prelude hugged the roads along the magnificent San Luis Valley. The valley’s shoulders were still covered in late spring snow, her belly carpeted in a rich, verdant green. It was here that in 1862 Maggie O’Neil single-handedly led a wagon train to settle a town in western Colorado, and nearby Cecilia Gaines went so
crazy one winter they named a waterway in her honor—“Woman Hollering Creek.”

I drove too fast but liked the way the speed made my scalp tingle when I rounded a corner and dipped, sending my stomach flying. Dane had never driven too fast. He was methodical in everything he did, quietly moving ever forward. He had done much in his years since grad school, establishing Cimarron and making it a national think tank for those involved in gerontology. After high school we had essentially ceased communication for years before Cimarron came about. Then when Mother finally got to the point in her descent into Alzheimer’s that she needed fulltime institutionalized care, I gave him a call. I hadn’t been able to find a facility that I was satisfied with for more than a year, when a college friend had shown me the magazine article on the opening of Cimarron and its patron saint, Dane McConnell.

“Good looking and nice to old people,” she had moaned. “Why can’t I meet a guy like that?”

“I know him,” I said, staring at the black-and-white photograph.

“Get out.”

“I do. Or did. We used to be…together.”

“What happened?” she asked, her eyes dripping disbelief.

“I’m not sure.”

I still wasn’t sure. Things between us had simply faded over the years. But when I saw him again, it all seemed to come back. Or at least a part of what we had once had. There always seemed to be a submerged wall between us, something we couldn’t quite bridge or blast through. So we had simply gone swimming toward different shores.

Mother’s care had brought us back together over the last five years. With the congestive heart failure that was taking her body, I supposed the link between us would finally be severed. I would retreat to Colorado, and he would remain in our beloved Taos, the place of our youth, of our beginnings, of our hearts. And any lingering dream of living happily ever after with Dane McConnell could be buried forever with my unhappy memories of Mother.

I loosened my hands on the wheel, realizing that I was gripping

it so hard my knuckles were white. I glanced in the rearview mirror, knowing that my reverie was distracting me from paying attention to the road. It was just that Dane was a hard man to get over. His unique ancestry had gifted him with the looks of a Scottish Highlander and the sultry, earthy ways of the Taos Indians. A curious, inspiring mix that left him with both a leader’s stance and a wise man’s knowing eyes. Grounded but visionary. A driving force, yet empathetic at the same time. His employees loved working for him. Women routinely fell in love with him.

I didn’t know why I could never get my act together so we could finally fall in love and stay in love. He’d certainly done his part. For some reason I’d always sensed that Dane was waiting for me, of all people. Why messed-up, confused me? Yet there he was. I’d found my reluctance easy to blame on my mother. She didn’t love me as a mother should, yada-yada, but I’d had enough time with my counselor to know that there are reasons beyond her. Reasons that circle back to myself.

I’d always felt as if I was chasing after parental love, but the longer I chased it, the further it receded from my reach. It left a hole in my heart that I was hard-pressed to fill. God had come close to doing the job. Close. But there was still something there, another blockade I had yet to blast away. I would probably be working on my “issues” my whole life. But as my friend Michaela says, “Everyone’s got issues.” Supposedly I need to embrace them. I just want them to go away.

“Yeah,” I muttered. Dane McConnell was better off without me. Who needed a woman still foundering in her past?

I had to focus on Mother. If this was indeed the end, I needed to wrap things up with her. Find closure. Some measure of peace. Even if she couldn’t say the words I longed to hear.

I love you, Krista.

Why was it that she had never been able to force those four words from her lips?

Excerpted from Mercy Come Morning by Lisa Tawn Bergren Copyright © 2011 by Lisa Tawn Bergren. Excerpted by permission of WaterBrook Press, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.

Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin Readalong Post #1

Dear friends, I am already behind!!! But Shu posted her thoughts on the first section so please go check them out and I will update this soon I hope!

CFBA Book Spotlight: A Lasting Impression by Tamera Alexander

About the Book: To create something that will last is Claire Laurent's most fervent desire as an artist. It's also her greatest weakness. When her fraud of a father deals her an unexpected hand, Claire is forced to flee from New Orleans to Nashville, only a year after the War Between the States has ended. Claire's path collides with that of Sutton Monroe, and she considers him a godsend for not turning her in to the authorities. But when they meet again and he refuses to come to her aid, she realizes she's sorely misjudged the man. Trading an unwanted destiny for an unknown future, Claire finds herself in the middle of Nashville's elite society and believes her dream of creating a lasting impression in the world of art may finally be within reach.

All that Sutton Monroe holds dear lies in ruin. He's determined to reclaim his heritage and to make the men who murdered his father pay. But what he discovers on his quest for vengeance reveals a truth that may cost him more than he ever imagined.

Set at Nashville's historical Belmont Mansion, a stunning antebellum manor built by Mrs. Adelicia Acklen, the richest woman in America in the 1860s, A Lasting Impression showcases the deep, poignant, unforgettable characters that set Tamera's stories apart and provides an inspiring love story that will capture readers' hearts and leave them eager for more.