falling together

Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The first day of college is always a wee bit traumatic. Finding and connecting with a new friend is great and bonding with two is even better! So when fate brought Pen, Cat, and Will together in a small bathroom, their friendship was obviously meant to be and the threesome stays rock strong until adult reality hits - Cat gets married and Pen and Will are just an uncomfortable twosome. Vowing never to contact each other again, the three stay apart until many years later - Cat summons them both with an out-of-the-blue email. Suddenly Pen and Will are jetting across the country and heading to the Philippines in search of the elusive, tiny Cat.

A wonderful, anytime read, I have only read two books by this author and loved them both! Her characters, who talk hilariously to themselves, are so interesting and deep that you would want to friend them for life! This is a story of loss, love and deep friendship that turns into love...

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Loving

Loving by Karen Kingsbury
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The fourth and final book in the Bailey Flanagan Series ties up loose ends, reports the power of prayer, ending on a happy note. After a short stint in Los Angles, Bailey is too uncomfortable and hates dealing with the constant daily interruption of paparazzi. When Katy presents her with an offer to take over the Christian Kids Theater, Bailey accepts, but uncertain with her decision. Broken-hearted about leaving Brandon, she flies back home to Bloomington, Indiana and prays for a way for them to somehow stay together. Back in LA, Brandon is coming to the realization that his contract has been altered and the results will compromise his beliefs and values. But, holding out for integrity could doom his professional career. How can he still have Bailey and his career?

Karen Kingsbury is one of my favorite authors, but with this particular series I believe it was strung out for too long - it could have been wrapped up easily in two to three novels. Unfortunately, I found myself losing interest, but I do look forward to her next release.


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True Sisters

True Sisters by Sandra Dallas
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

True Sisters is a piece of historical fiction – building on the true arduous journey of Mormon converts who immigrated to America and pushed their handcarts from Utah City to Salt Lake City, some 1300 miles. Why handcarts? Smaller and easier than large, cumbersome wagons, it was thought by Mormon leaders that the walk would also strengthen the LDS convert’s bodies and faith by the time they reached the celestial city. The Martin Company left late in the year with unstable carts made of green wood and were warned of the snows and freezing rains that could affect their travel. Unfortunately the Mormon leaders of the small group turned a deaf ear to the predictions, telling their people that they were weak in the faith if they considered staying behind until spring. The loss of people along the route was staggering, much worse than the well-told story of the Donner party. True Sisters focuses on four women that find friendship in the trek, prove their character and strength, and rise above their horrible losses to push on. An incredible story…..

Note: The author has chosen to call the converts emigrants, as they were known in the nineteenth century. Emigrant is preferred by virtually all Utah historians.


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Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey

Below Stairs: The Classic Kitchen Maid's Memoir That Inspired "Upstairs, Downstairs" and "Downton Abbey" by Margaret Powell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you love the movie Downton Abbey or Upstairs, Downstairs - this is the perfect read for you. Growing up in Hove, England, Margaret Powell, came from a very loving, but poor family. At age seven she was preparing breakfast for her siblings and ushering them to school. Even though Margaret was extremely bright and was given a scholarship, she began work at the tender age of 13 to help her family. Big for her age, she could pass for several years older and was, unfortunately, asked to do even more. At age 15, Margaret was working in a laundry and then moved up in the world when she was hired on as a kitchen maid - the lowest rung of the servant ladder, but Margaret had her eye on being a cook one day. The cook was usually treated better than other staff, given more free time, and could go out any afternoon - as long as she was back in time to cook dinner.

So honest, sad, and hilarious in parts, Margaret Powell wrote her novel in 1968 and opened the door on what went on behind the closed doors and basements of the wealthier class.


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Like a Watered Garden

Like a Watered Garden by Patti Hill
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mibby Garrett, a garden designer, is trying to crawl back from the brink of depression - her beloved husband recently passed away in a bicycle accident. She can't even help her thirteen year old son, Ky, deal with his own grief or feed the poor child, much to her shame. Each day holds "whammies of grief" or terrible reminders of the way life used to be. Thanks to her neighbor, Louise - a well dressed debutante some thirty-something years past, Mibby is kept in home baked sweets and prayers. As page 16 says: "Louise came to make sure my boat was still tied to the dock, that the knot hadn't loosened and set me adrift. She tightened the knot with love, southern style - indulgent and usually fattening." Then there is Blink, the family's black Lab, who appears to read Mibby's mind and comforts her every day. Much to Mibby's surprise and outrage, a young woman appears on her doorstep claiming to be related through Mibby's late husband - will this be the final straw to send her over the edge?

One of the best fictional, humorous books on the slow, painful process and recovery from grief that I've read in a long time - the author's writings remind me a wee bit of Erma Bombeck - a real, feel-good read.

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The Guide to American Money Folds by Jodi Fukumoto
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great book to learn the trick of folding paper currency into all kinds of cool things - starting off with the easier, well-known crane on page 10-11 to plumeria, cats, lucky frogs, flowers, and ending with the very difficult Statue of Liberty. Full color pictures throughout plus step-by-step directions, this book is great for making gifts or gift holders!

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The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book 2 in the Inn BoonsBoro series picks up on the friendly relationship between detail-oriented, list making Owen, one of the three Montgomery brothers and impulsive, pizza shop owner Avery - who loves to dye her hair a different color every several weeks. Although it seems like the two are opposites, both are quite driven, full of energy, and they even share a past - their dads were best friends and Owen was Avery's first boyfriend - at age five. Now grown up and with a little help from the inn's resident ghost, Lizzy, the two are literally pushed together and sparks fly.

Although the book is predictable and seems to be more focused on the details of getting the inn up and running, I think the author, because of Owen being the detail man, considered this in her writing. I like that Lizzy the ghost is becoming more "fleshed" out - in the next book we're sure to find how she died and more about Billy. Not as exciting or as funny as the first book, The Next Always, a few of the livelier lines are about Avery's dad, Willy B and Owen's mom.

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Clay's Quilt

Clay's Quilt by Silas House

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Such a gritty, beautiful novel of tragedy and the sweet, uplifting love of family and friends, set in the coal mining towns and deep, lovely hollows of Kentucky. Brought up in a coal mining town in Western Maryland - I'm always eager to read of books that share my own area's geological features. This book has been on my "want to read" list for many months.

Young coal-miner Clay Sizemore is surrounded by family - there's the indomitable, faith filled Aunt Easter who raised him, Great-Uncle Paul the quilt-maker and his tiny wife Sophie, and his cousin Dreama who lives right next door with her daddy, Uncle Gabe. But it's his own mother that Clay yearns for - the ethereal, full of life Anneth, shot right in front of Clay when he was only four years old. Clay wishes he could piece together the story of his mother's life - like his Uncle Paul pieced his quilts together and when Aunt Easter finds a box on her back porch, some of those pieces start stitching themselves together.


Complete with a conversation with Silas House, the author, and a Reader's Guide at the end.



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Food Snots: Cinnamon and Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

Thought I'd share this to break up the monotony!  Yumyum...


Food Snots: Cinnamon and Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

Glimpse

Glimpse by Carol Lynch Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lizzie and Hope, sisters and only a year apart in age, look out for each other - with no Dad and a Momma who works more hours than ever - it's a necessity. Nice Miss Freeman, from next door, checks on them now and then - but more often than not, it's just the two of them. Then comes the morning when Hope walks into the bathroom and finds Lizzie fingering the trigger of a shotgun. She's fourteen and thinking about leaving by killing herself. As Lizzie is hauled away by the cops to an institution, Hope immediately absorbs all the guilt, not their momma, for not seeing the warning signs. When the hospital psychiatrist starts chipping away at the months before Lizzie's attempted suicide, Hope slowly starts putting together the pieces of what drove Lizzie to even consider such a thing.

Gutsy, rough, disturbing, heart-breaking and written in verse - my daughter and I consumed this work of fiction too quickly!

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