Friday Finds ~ July 29th, 2011

Friday Finds ~ July 8th, 2011

This was my favorite meme to put together when I get the time.  I like looking at the book covers and putting them all together.  It makes me want to go to the book store!  Friday Finds is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  While browsing fabulous book blogs,  Amazon.com, Washington Post.com, NPR.org, various other places on the Internet, checking out the book section of Hubby’s Entertainment Weekly Magazine and getting recommendations from friends, these are the books that either made it to my wish list this week or I downloaded the samples on my Kindle from Amazon.com.

 

  

The Pirates of Somalia by Jay Bahadur

The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler

 

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain

Summary ~ The Paris Wife ~ A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.

A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

Before reading The Paris Wife by Paula McLain the only familiarity I had with Hemingway was the look-a-like contest held in Key West, FL every year and some of country singer Kenny Chesney’s tunes and his admiration for the writer.  Having just finished The Paris Wife I feel more familiar with the man but am left wanting to know more and feeling left in the dark a bit  when it comes to Hemingway.  He proved to be very interesting to read about. 

I had the great pleasure of meeting Paula McLain and listening to her read from and talk about her exceptional novel The Paris Wife a couple of months ago at the 2011 Gaithersburg (MD) Book Festival.  As I started to read her book last week I could hear her effervescent and charming voice reading her words in my head.  Quickly Hadley’s voice took over for Ms. McLain and I was happy to have her company for a week.  The Paris Wife is a book unlike any I’ve read.  It read like a novel told in first person most of the time but at moments a biography about Hemingway popped up from the pages and introduced me to the legendary writer in a very informative way.  I found myself feeling like a voyeur into the city of Paris in the roaring 20’s and the lives of Hadley, Ernest and their very interesting friends.  I was glad that I had recently seen Woody Allen’s lovely film, Midnight In Paris.  I had never read anything by Hemingway nor had I looked into the lives of Hemingway, Fitzgerald and the number of other writers introduced in The Paris Wife.  Now I want to!  Isn’t that what a book should do?  Lead you somewhere else!

Regarding McLain’s writing I found the insight directly into Hemingway’s thoughts and experiences brought an additional richness to Hadley’s words and story telling.  At times it was heartbreaking to learn what Ernest was truly about but it created even more depth that was just so great to read.

The Paris Wife is an emotional, romantic, painful and wonderful book.  It made me glad that I didn’t marry a man like Ernest Hemingway!

{Rating 4.5 out of 5}

I Gave My Heart to Know This by Ellen Baker

Summary ~ I Gave My Heart to Know This ~ In January 1944, Grace Anderson, Lena Maki, and Lena’s mother, Violet, have joined the growing ranks of women working for the war effort. Though they find satisfaction in their jobs at a Wisconsin shipyard, it isn’t enough to distract them from the anxieties of wartime, or their fears for the men they love: Lena’s twin brother, Derrick, and Grace’s high school sweetheart, Alex. When shattering news arrives from the front, the lives of the three women are pitched into turmoil. As one is pushed to the brink of madness, the others are forced into choices they couldn’t have imagined—and their lives will never be the same. 
More than five decades later, Violet’s great-granddaughter, Julia, returns to the small farmhouse where Violet and Lena once lived. Listless from her own recent tragedy, Julia begins to uncover the dark secrets that shattered her family, eventually learning that redemption—and love—can be found in the most unexpected places. 

Well my dear Ellen Baker, you have done it again!!!  I Gave My Heart to Know This is an intricately woven tale of family, friendship, love and loss and it is simply amazing.  Ellen Baker’s debut novel, Keeping The House, is one of my all-time favorite novels and her sophomore release sits right up there with it.  This book had me reading when I could and even when I really shouldn’t have.  Baker’s mastery of character development as well as plot twists and turns kept the pages flying and are what makes her so great and her novels very memorable. 

Grace, Violet, Lena, Joe and Jago found themselves in tragic times along with many of our great-grandparents and grandparents.  The times were WWII and the U.S. was asked to make the sacrifice and help its military overseas by giving blood, sweat and tears.  Grace, Violet, Lena and their friend “Boots” joined the work force as welders and ship builders.  Relief from the dangerous work and long hours came from Lena’s twin brother Derrick’s letters from his military base in California and later the Pacific theater.  On Lena’s suggestion, Grace and Derrick became pen-pals and soon star-crossed lovers who never met but made plans for after Derrick’s return home.  That never came and from that sorrow and heartbreak grew lies, deception and more heartbreak.  The family never quite recovered from the loss of the golden brother/son who wanted to see the world. 

Baker’s storytelling crescendos throughout the story but reaches great volume when later generations discover hidden letters and secrets that tore the family apart all those years ago.  The history of our nation is rich and told well in I Gave My Heart to Know This.  Little known facts enriched the everyday actions and helped create a very realistic feeling for the reader.  I feel like these characters truly lived there on that rural farm and cried real tears.  Though most of the time the vibe of the book is sad and melancholy, I was rewarded with one of the best endings I’ve read as of late.

I can’t tell you with enough urgency TO BUY I GAVE MY HEART TO KNOW THIS ON AUGUST 2nd and while you’re waiting for that day to come TO READ KEEPING THE HOUSE NOW! Sorry for “yelling” but I felt it extremely necessary. 🙂

Thank you to the lovely, kind, friendly and interesting Ellen Baker for thinking of me when she received her galleys of I Gave My Heart to Know This and felt the need to get one to me as early as she did.  I’m sorry it took so long to finally read it!  I adore her and our pen-pal friendship.  XOXO

{Rating ~ 5 out of 5}

I Totally Fell Off The Wagon But Now I’m Back On!

Friday Finds ~ July 8th, 2011

This was my favorite meme to put together.  I like looking at the book covers and putting them all together.  It makes me want to go to the book store!  Friday Finds is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.  While browsing fabulous book blogs,  Amazon.com, Washington Post.com, NPR.org, various other places on the Internet, checking out the book section of Hubby’s Entertainment Weekly Magazine and getting recommendations from friends, these are the books that either made it to my wish list this week or I downloaded the samples on my Kindle from Amazon.com.

I’ve decided to get back to posting my #FridayFinds but I was so mad at myself when I went back in the Planet Books archives and learned that it has been over a year since I posted this meme.  I suck.  But hey!  Better late than never again right?  Right!  So here are my #Friday Finds for this week ending July 8th, 2011.

The First Husband by Laura Dave

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson

Bright’s Passage by Josh Ritter

Ten Things We Did (and probably shouldn’t have) by Sarah Mlynowski

Joy For Beginners by Erica Bauermeister

22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson

The Maid by Kimberly Cutter

Smuggled by Christina Shea

 

 

Then Came You by Jennifer Weiner

Summary ~ Then Came You ~ Jules Strauss is a Princeton senior with a full scholarship, acquaintances instead of friends, and a family she’s ashamed to invite to Parents’ Weekend. With the income she’ll receive from donating her “pedigree” eggs, she believes she can save her father from addiction.
Annie Barrow married her high school sweetheart and became the mother to two boys. After years of staying at home and struggling to support four people on her husband’s salary, she thinks she’s found a way to recover a sense of purpose and bring in some extra cash.
India Bishop, thirty-eight (really forty-three), has changed everything about herself: her name, her face, her past. In New York City, she falls for a wealthy older man, Marcus Croft, and decides a baby will ensure a happy ending. When her attempts at pregnancy fail, she turns to technology, and Annie and Jules, to help make her dreams come true.
But each of their plans is thrown into disarray when Marcus’ daughter Bettina, intent on protecting her father, becomes convinced that his new wife is not what she seems…
With startling tenderness and laugh-out-loud humor, Jennifer Weiner once again takes readers into the heart of women’s lives in an unforgettable, timely tale that interweaves themes of class and entitlement, surrogacy and donorship, the rights of a parent and the measure of motherhood.

Usually it’s not a good idea to judge a book by its cover, but in the case of Jennifer Weiner’s new release Then Came You, the cover invites you into a wonderful story of four women who are bound together by decisions and wants.  It’s a gorgeous cover and I enjoyed picking the book up every time I went to read it.  The pages within the covers were filled with a story that brings the reader into the lives of four women.  Four very different women all bound together by a child.  I don’t want to say much more about the story than is listed above because I want you to read it and I don’t want to give anything more away.  I will say that I loved reading Then Came You and it quickly became one of my favorite Jennifer Weiner books and one of my favorite books I’ve read this year.  It’s not cheesy chic lit at all and Weiner takes care to create rich and deep back stories for each of her main characters.  I became invested emotionally in each woman and her story.  I liked the twists Weiner took with the story on a whole and never once rolled my eyes. 

I don’t want to lighten things by suggesting that this be a “beach read” this summer because I found myself reading an intricate book that is focused around the timely subject of surrogacy.  With surrogacy having its spotlight in the headlines and celebrity magazines in the last couple of years (Nicole Kidman, Sarah Jessica Parker to drop a couple of names) this was an interesting look into the people it takes to even get a surrogate pregnancy off the ground.  The money, donors and the “gestational host”.  Though Weiner’s book isn’t a heavy read like say a story by Picoult or Shreve, it still made me think about the people who find themselves and place themselves in that situation. 

All in all I loved this book and hope that even if you have never picked up a book by Jennifer Weiner that you will buy Then Came You this summer and find a good story in it.  I must also take this moment to recommend the two other books by Jennifer Weiner that I love.  First is her debut novel from 2001, Good In Bed.  The other is Little Earthquakes, a story that focuses on four women in a different stage of life than the ladies in Then Came You.

{Rating 5 out of 5} Available July 12th, 2011

I would like to thank Irina Binder with Engelman & Co. PR for sending me this beautiful book.  It was such a lovely surprise the day it arrived!  Thank you Irina!!

Books on the Nightstand ~ Your Summer Reading List #136

While getting ready for work this morning I listened to the latest podcast by Books on the Nightstand.  It was titled “Your Summer Reading List” and since Michael was on vacation for the recording of the podcast, co-host Ann requested that listeners call in and leave a voicemail stating the book(s) that they were most excited to read this summer.  I did not remember to call in myself so I am taking this opportunity to let you know of the titles I am most looking forward to sitting down with and reading this summer.  You can listen to the podcast and read the blog post over on Books on the Nightstand HERE. 

There are a few titles that I am really excited about reading this summer.  I am about to finish the first on that list.  It’s Jennifer Weiner’s upcoming release, Then Came You.  I don’t want to say too much about it since I’ll be writing/posting my review within the next 48 hours but OMG is it good.  I am putting this in the Good In Bed and Little Earthquakes category of best Jennifer Weiner books!

I am thrilled to readthis next book because I am lucky enough to call the author friend over the years through e-mails.  Ellen Baker is one of my generation’s best novelists and I tell everyone who asks me for a book suggestion to read her first book, Keeping The House.  Her second novel comes out August 2nd and I am so happy to have a galley of it to read after I finish Jennifer Weiner’s book. (Thank you Ellen!!)  Ellen Baker’s book will be titled I Gave My Heart To Know This.  I have complete faith that it will be engrossing and amazing just like Keeping The House. 

Third on my summer reading list is The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.  I had the great pleasure of not only listening to Paula speak at the Gaithersburg Book Festival in May but I also had a few moments with her in the signing tent to talk and gush over her.  She is sooo adorable and interesting!  Her enthusiasm was contagious and I feel awful that it’s taking me so long to get to her book on my stack. 

I was excited to learn that I had won two books from Goodreads.com.  The first is In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson.  This book has been receiving tons of praise from bloggers and critics alike.  It will be a bit of a step off the beaten path for me as it is non-fiction.  I had a hard time with Larson’s book The Devil In The White City but I am hoping to find my groove with his latest book because it is about our country’s first diplomat to Nazi Germany and his family.  I love a good WWII story!

The other book I won from Goodreads.com is The Things We Cherished by Pam Jenoff.  I have had other titles by Jenoff on my want-to-read list but like you know, there are just so many books out there!  Well now I own the ARC of Jenoff’s upcoming release (July 12th) and I’m going to read it this summer.  It sounds like an epic tale that spans the twentieth century and has its roots in WWII. 

I will be attending the book event for the last “must-read” book on my list this summer.  J. Courtney Sullivan will be appearing at D.C.’s Politics & Prose Bookstore later this month and I can’t wait to meet her.  I read her debut novel Commencement two years ago and loved it.  Her sophomore release, Maine, is out now and I keep hearing wonderful things about it.  I look forward to picking up the book at the event, having Sullivan sign it and then reading it this summer.   

Listening to the BOTNS podcast I found that the most common book people want to read this summer is the upcoming Game of Thrones title that comes out later this month.  I didn’t watch the HBO series but Hubby became enraptured with it and is considering reading the series now. 

What are YOU most excited to read this summer season?  Please let me know.  You might have a book title I’m unfamiliar with and may catch my interest.  Thanks!