Book Review: The Girl Who Stopped Swimming

Written and Narrated by:  Joshilyn Jackson

Published by:  Hachette Audio/Grand Central Publishing 2008

Length: 9 discs/ 9 hours 24 minutes/ 311 pages

Source: Borrowed from Library




Laurel has always been able to see ghosts, but she is surprised one night when she see's her daughter Shelby's friend Molly  in her in bedroom one night.........and then as she looks out her window.....she realizes that Molly is in the bottom of their pool...not moving.  Rushing to the pool, also taking a minute to look in Shelby's room..empty.  Screaming and raising quite a ruckus, Laurel's husband David joins her.  Shelby and a sad faced, rather backward girl staying with them, Bett Clements are surprised to see Molly lifeless on the ground.  What happened? Why was this young girl in their back yard, how did she get into the pool...so many questions. 

Laurel has a long road to getting all the answers.  She immediately wants to call in her sister Thalia for help and support.  Thalia an actress with an interesting marriage to a gay man, she works in a unique theater, owned by herself and said husband.  Laurel's husband David is less than thrilled with this prospect and calls in her mother, her mother who loves to sugar coat and pretty up everything that is ugly and glaring...like her own upbringing.  Laurel's mother is from Dulop, Alabama...home to nothing good.  Poverty, drug and alcohol abuse run rampant in this small town.  If anyone makes it out of Dulop they don't go back, well unless you are Laurel's mother, with the pretense of helping the poor folks of Dulop.  Bett Clements has been Laurel's pet project for years, taking her small gifts, and now bringing the girl out of the poverty and into her own home a few times a year.  Is she doing it more for Bett, or to show Shelby to be compassionate and giving or for herself?  

Laurel finds a way...to bring Thalia in, to share her suspicions as to how Molly wound up in the pool, and so much more.  What she finds is that her Stepford like development of Victorianna, just outside of Pensacola FL is much less pure and innocent than she ever knew.  Laurel discovers so much more about herself, her need to please and her need to help.  Laurel learns it all..........but does she lose Shelby and her innocence in the shuffle?  You really need to read this one to find out.

It's no news that Joshilyn Jackson is my girl crush of Southern Fiction.  No one can write a better tale of dysfunctional families and make it seem like your own relatives than she.  The fact that the woman narrates her own books is just the icing on the cake.  I can hear her voice each time I think recall Laurel, and Thalia, and Bett Clements and everyone from this book.  She has inflections and accents that create each individual character and gives them life.  When I'm listening to her books, I'm not always happy that I'm progressing, I'm a little sad that the end will occur and I'll be done listening to her tell me a story.  I want to whisk her away with me to a front porch with rocking chairs, we could bring along sweet tea for sipping and Joshilyn could tell me stories all day long.  Tales of Uncle Poot's leg, and nasty old uncles who are perverts and leering at the little girls.  She could tell me of the neighbors who have immaculate lawns and homes, but  inside are cheating, drinking, and lord knows what else. 

I've given this book a 4 out 5 stars.  It kept me interested the entire audio, and I certainly had no idea how Molly ended up in the bottom of the pool, and I didn't know how the ghosts were going to bring such realization to Laurel's world, but eventually most questions were answered...and the journey was oh so sweet.  Highly recommend. 

Where has November gone??

Seriously...this month has flown by for me!! 

I've read a resoundingly low number of books...finishing 5 this month.  Hoping still to finish and audio and another book this week. 

I did finish a book that will be published in March of 2013...I had plenty of time, but I just couldn't wait...it was too delicious to not hurry and read it....Heart Like Mine by Amy Hatvany.   I'm telling you know....get ready to grab this one up in March. 

I feel like I lost an entire week.....I was so sick with an awful cough and cold last week....ugh, pitiful!!  I hate being that knocked down.  I missed two days of work, untold hours of reading, and I was just a very unhappy camper!!  Thank you mucinex and an entire box of tissues...I'm feeling much better now.

While our college girls went to Texas to visit our extended family, Kevin, Nick and I were home for Thanksgiving.  It was a quiet day, watching the parade and dog show.  We went out to eat in a local restaurant.  Dinner was served buffet style and while the food was good I was less impressed with ambiance and some of the timing on the food.  I'm all for not cooking....but I doubt that will be our holiday dining location again. 

I went to no Black Friday sales...no thanks.  Too many years in retail management to want to battle with any of that.  Kevin and I did get out on Saturday and we shopped local for Small Business Saturday.  This is a smallish town, so not a lot of options but I did buy a Christmas Gift and I bought a used book.  I wish we had an indie bookstore in town...but alas it's a primarily used book store, books for trade and purchase.  The owner can order any new books you want..but it's not the same as having them on the shelves to peruse. 

Today is my parents Anniversary.  I think I added a year when I posted on facebook...eek!!!  I think this is 67 years!!!!   My mom is 85, my dad is 87, and they are still blessedly with us.  My dad lives in an Assisted living memory care facility, he has a small apartment with his own bed/bath and living room..  Furnished with all his own favorite pictures and things he knows.  My mom lives close by....just a building away in an independent living apartment.  There is a tunnel for her to get to my dad easily...and she visits him daily.  Until September they lived together.  Their marriage is a testimony in hard work and much love.  It wasn't always perfect...but they still love each other very much today!!! 

My progress in Reading My Own Books has been pathetically slow.  I finished one book, and will finish a second this week that have been lingering for a while.  I am still planning to read more...but I also have books with January publish dates waiting to be read and reviewed.....some things I let become monsters....like my books.  It's all good.............there is never a lack of anything to read!! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I hope today is filled with your own kind of celebration, be it large or small. 

Giveaway Winner!!

Random.org helped me choose the winner!!  #8 of 15 entries was chosen and the winner is

(Diane) bookchickdi

My email address is laruediane2000(at)yahoo(dot)com

Congratulations Diane, I'll be emailing you soon to get your mailing address.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by to comment and enter!!  Thank you again to Meg Donohue for the extra book to share!!  This is a lovely book and I hope you'll add it to your list.  

Book Review: How to Eat a Cupcake...and a Giveaway!!

Written by: Meg Donohue

Pages: 309 pages

Published by: William Morrow a division of Harper Collins March 2012

Source: Author




Julia St. Clair and Annie Quintana are from different worlds now, but growing up together they have a deep connection.  Annie is the daughter of the St. Clair's long time housekeeper and cook, Lucia.  Julia and Annie were the best of friends and happily had the run of the St. Clair's mansion in San Francisco, and all went well until the girls were in a very upscale private high school.  Annie began to realize she didn't fit in with the other wealthy students, she could look the part, but she knew she was different.  Julia makes a harsh and cruel error and impacts their friendship and Annie's future in their senior year.  The sudden death of Lucia after a brain aneurism and Annie leaves the only home she's known to find her own path.

Ten years has passed and Lolly St. Clair has hired Annie, now working as a baker in the area, to prepare cupcakes for an event she is hosting in her home.  It's an odd feeling to return to their home, and Annie just hopes she doesn't run into Julia.  In a surprising turn of events Julia has left NYC and is back home planning her wedding and taking it easy.  She adores Annie's cupcakes and makes her an offer to partner up, Julia with the money, Annie with the baking talent and together they open a Cupcakery--Treat.  Trying to put the past behind them isn't easy, and after a series of vandalism and an odd character or two, it appears someone else wants the girls' business to fail.

The first thing that captured me was the cover of this book, bright red window, delectable cupcakes just waiting for me to choose one and BITE!  I immediately liked Annie, she is spunky and the kind of woman that is going to achieve her dreams.  Julia wasn't really someone to dislike, it just appears she has it all, money, loving parents, a fiance, a former sweetheart who likes to hang around, and planning a wedding.  I was skeptical of her intentions as she made the offer to Annie to put up the money for the cupcakery.

Donohue brings friendship, conflict, love and cupcakes together in this book.  I enjoyed the way she wrote alternating chapters with Julia and Annie giving their own thoughts and spin to each event and the progress in the book.  There is much more going on with both these women than what the surface shows. This debut novel proves there will be more good things to come from Meg Donohue.  I've given this book a 4 out of 5 stars, it's light, a quick read for me and certainly what I was in the mood for.  You can learn more about Meg on her website, she's also on twitter and facebook.

Bonus!!!!  Meg has given me an extra copy of How to Eat a Cupcake and all you have to do is leave a comment to be entered, please leave your email address. Giveaway open to the US only, and you have until Sunday 11/18 midnight to leave a comment.  I'll use random.org to pick a winner on Monday morning.  Good Luck!!

Book Review: Dark Places (audio)

Written by: Gillian Flynn

Published by: Random House Audio May 5, 2009

Narration: Rebecca Lowman, Cassandra Campbell, Mark Deakins, Robertson Dean

Length: 13 hours 43 minutes

Source: Purchased from Audible

Libby Day was seven years old when her mother and sisters were brutally murdered.  Little Libby testified in the trial of her 15 year old brother Ben.  This murder and conviction made huge headlines in middle America Kansas; bloody murder, rumors of satanic killing, practically orphaned small child.  Libby went to live with her Aunt Diane, but that too ended in sad separation.  The money once donated and set aside for Libby's raising and the small amount of money earned from a tell all book is gone.  Libby is now nearly 32, and she's looking for any easy way to make a buck.  Libby learns there is a cult like group that is fascinated with murders, and she is then introduced to the Kill Club.  This group is eager to learn about Libby's family..her mom Patty, her sisters Michelle and Debbie.  Her father had abandoned the family and yet the mysterious Runner Day was never a serious suspect in the murders.

Libby meets and listens to Lyle, she attends a couple of Kill Club meetings and what she learns is disturbing.  Many people believe that her brother Ben was wrongly sentenced to life in prison.  He has quite the following among women and they write to him and visit him often in prison.  This group wants Libby to get involved, to try to uncover more about the events of that night nearly 25 years ago.  Libby is confused, she has so many mixed emotions about her memories and what did happen.  When she begins digging around, learning more about Runner and Ben Day, realizing the truths about January 2...she has more questions than answers, and the scary dark places of her life are just as frightening when illuminated.

Libby is a hard character to like in the beginning of the book.  She's got a chip on her shoulder, she's never really grown up and had to work for herself.  Yes I felt she had been traumatized by the murders, and losing her brother to prison.  Her father was never a part of her life, and her Aunt tried to do the best she could.  Libby is honestly looking to make a quick buck when she meets the Kill Club, and I believe she is surprised she is drawn into wanting to know more about what happened that awful night.  She's spent her life thinking only about it from a child's perspective, but she is smart and she realizes she can do much more.  The whole idea of the Kill Club disturbed me, but I know there are groups of people who become devoted or obsessed with the details of crimes and people in prison they believe to be innocent.

This book is told in flashbacks of Patty and Ben Day and in the present voice of Libby Day.  The audio production is very well done, and while the chapters announce the new point of view it's nice to have a new narrator for this too.  I wasn't familiar with any of the narrators but enjoyed the work very much

This is the second Gillian Flynn book I've listened to, while I thought there were some slow moments in this book the second half more than picked up and I was anxious to get back to listening at every chance.  There was so very much coming to a climax in the last two hours of this audio that is was very exciting!!  I've given Dark Places a 4 out of 5 stars and I recommend it to anyone who likes a psychological thriller...it's so very creepy and good!!

Book Review: State of the Onion

Written by: Julie Hyzy

Published by: Berkley Publishing Group/Penguin January 2008

Pages: 336

Source: Purchased for Nook




Olivia Paras is the assistant chef for The White House, a prized and honored position.  It's a job she's proud of and now that Henry, the Executive Chef is retiring, she's thrilled to be in line for his job.  One obstacle could be celebrity TV chef Laurel Anne Braun, also in the running for the job.  The first lady, Mrs. Campbell would have final say.

Olivia also seems to have put herself in the middle of an international murder for hire plot.  Trying to help way lay a suspect who is running amok on the White House lawn, she is told a secret, and then she can't seem to get herself out of this mess.

I liked Olivia right from the start.  This is book one in this series, and liking the main character is key to continuing.  She is spunky and adventurous.  Olivia is also dating a White House security agent...and their involvement can complicate matters.  Beyond the intrigue there is much food discussion and procedures for meal planning for State dinners and less formal meals for the First Family.  Recipes for some foods are included...bonus! 

This is my very first book in a genre knows as Cozy Mystery.  I had seen other bloggers talk about this type of book, and I really didn't know anything about them.  By definition these books are lighter, more character driven the sleuth is not an investigator or police officer.  Sex and any type of graphic murder are also not a major factor.  While researching there are a ton of these books, from lighter to more intense. 

I enjoyed this book, I'd give it a 3.5 out of 5 stars, it was quick, enjoyable and I do plan on reading more!! 

This is book 1 of Reading My Own Books....one I wanted to finish...and more to come!!

Reading My Own Books

Isn't that gorgeous?  Thank you to Michelle at mybooks,mylife for this wonderful idea.  I've adapted it to my November-December 2012 reading, but this is something I've been needing to do. 

You see my shelves and e-reader runneth over!!  Some books have been either on my shelves or on my "to be read" list for over 3 years!!  Yes it's true.  Now honestly those 7 books that have been there since 2009 haven't always been on the shelf, some I bought later, in a sale, from a thrift store, won in a contest etc.  My problem is that great books keep on being written and published and I'm always lured by the new and pretty...I might be a bit of a book whore..gasp!! 
So ok, I'm not taking a picture of my own haphazard book shelves, I wish I had nice shelves. Suffice to say I have close to 100 perfectly good books waiting for me....

No, I won't get to all of them...maybe never, and yes I'll keep on buying, receiving, begging for new books.  My goal is to finish 8-10 of these books from my shelves.  Audio books count too, since I have some I've bought or borrowed hanging around. 

I know I should attempt reading/listening to one older book a month...I've got great stuff too!!  My next review is a cozy mystery I picked up in ebook earlier this year, I read 1/3 or so and put it down.  It was my first attempt at a cozy mystery and I liked it but other books jumped in front of it.  Yesterday I picked it up. and dang if I didn't get hooked and just finished the whole thing!!  See a book that had been hanging around for months...and now it's read, and I enjoyed and now I  have a whole new genre of books to turn to when I'm in the mood!! 

Join in if you wish, a couple of other bloggers that are doing their own thing in this meme are Jen from Devourer of Books and Jennifer- The Literate Housewife. 

Book Review: Man in the Blue Moon

Written by: Michael Morris

Published by: Tyndale August 2012

Pages: 377 pages

Source: Publisher




In the small town of Dead Lakes Florida, Ella Wallace is busy enough raising her three sons since her husband of 18 years, Harlan, has left her. Her Aunt had warned Ella that he was no good, but she was swept up in love, and left her dreams of Paris and being an artist behind. Harlan is a man of dreams..he convinces Ella to open a store in Dead Lakes, on the land she has inherited.  When Harlan becomes an unreliable alcoholic he resorts to Opium to help him.  Now Ella is sure he has run off to some Opium den to feed his addiction. Ella must also find a way to pay off a second mortgage Harlan took on her land.  Her land is all that is left of her legacy and heritage her father left her, land that is filled with pine and cypress trees, and a mysterious spring. The banker Clive Gillespie has no sympathy for Ella's situation..naturally he has plans of his own.  When a stranger shows up and says he is there to help Ella there are rumors and more questions left unanswered.  Who is Lanier Stillis, and what is he doing in Dead Lakes?

This book draws it's readers in right from the beginning.  There is sadness for Ella, a good woman done wrong as you might here in a country song.  There is small town gossip and meddling, and then there is a strange man, and men of faith who preach different stories, and there is healing, and most of all love.  Who could resist such a book?  I am a southern women, born in Texas, raised in the Midwest and now I've spent most of my life right here in Florida, and this book touched me and made me happy to be from the south, with all of it's craziness and quirks. 

Michael Morris has taken one odd story from his youth, a tale his grandfather told and built a book around it that has such depth and detail that I am in awe of his gift.  I love when writers write of the places they are from, the history and details of their heritage.  Apalachicola is a small town in the panhandle of Florida, and his even smaller town of Dead Lakes could be almost any town in the South. The characters are so richly described that I could picture each of them, Ella and her 3 sons, their friend Narsissa who is Indian and just showed up one day too, nosy Myer Simpson, wife of the Reverend Simpson, and many more.  Morris uses words to paint this story, details of the land, the people and the mood of the people of Dead Lakes.

When the mysterious Lanier does enter the story, things change, some ideas and dreams are born, and yet evil and bad luck seem to haunt Ella in her quest to be free of her debts.  The love of those she has been kind to does help her in many surprising ways, even the friendship and love of formerly close friends.

This book is such a wonderful read, I didn't want it to end, I wanted to just sit across the road from the Wallace Commissary and watch the lives of the folks of Dead Lakes continue.  I'm so thankful that I'm a member of the She Reads Book Club.  This book is the November read and there will be contests and author interviews and many more reviews of Man in the Blue Moon.  I've given this book a 4.5 out of 5 stars, and I highly recommend it.  It's not just me either, Pat Conroy says to buy it and read it too!!  Please visit Michael Morris' website to learn more about him and his other books, and visit She Reads to follow along with posts and chats about this magnificent book!!

I'm also happy to add that Michael Morris will be attending the UCF Book Festival in April of 2013, and I look forward to meeting him and talking more about southern books.