Saturday Snapshot

Welcome to Saturday Snapshot is hosted by Alyce At Home with Books. Photos can be old or new, and on any given subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos you find on the internet.

Because I always seem to post photos of my dogs, I decided I was long over due to post a picture of one of my cats (I have three).  Please allow me to introduce Simon my kitty terror.  I don't think this photo does him justice, but if you look closely you may be able to see the scowl on his face.  This is due to my correcting him from chewing the toy's string.  Simon likes to chew other things besides string: cable wires (the more expensive the better); appliance cords; plastic light switches and thumb tacks to name a few choice goodies.  When Simon is not partaking of cord-chewing he also enjoys relieving himself in the family commode (he taught himself this trick) or bathroom sink.  And if he is upset with you watch out because he will use your things as his bathroom.

So why do I put up with this devil cat?  Because he purrs louder than a hot rod; follows me around wherever I go; and cuddles with me 24/7 when I am at home.  Call me a crazy cat lady, but he is MY devil cat!

Mailbox Monday -- July 16th

Welcome to Mailbox Monday which is hosted this month by Mrs. Q. Book Addict.  Below are the books that I received last week:

1)  Legacy of Tril by Heather Brewer.  Publisher's Summary. Tril is a world where Barrons and Healers are Bound to each other: Barrons fight and Healers cure their Barrons' wounds in the ongoing war with the evil Graplar King. Seventeen-year-old Kaya was born a Healer, but she wants to fight. In Tril, and at Shadow Academy, where she is sent to learn to heal, it is against Protocol for Healers to fight. So Kaya must learn in secret. Enter two young men: One charming, rule-following Barron who becomes Bound to Kaya and whose life she must protect at all costs. And one with a mysterious past who seems bent on making Kaya's life as difficult as possible. Kaya asks both to train her, but only one will, and the consequences will change their lives forever. Thanks to the Publisher!

 2) Triangles by Ellen Hopkins. Publisher's Summary. THREE FEMALE FRIENDS FACE MIDLIFE CRISES IN A NO-HOLDS-BARRED EXPLORATION OF SEX, MARRIAGE, AND THE FRAGILITY OF LIFE.

Holly: Filled with regret for being a stay-athome mom, she sheds sixty pounds and loses herself in the world of extramarital sex. Will it bring the fulfillment she is searching for?

Andrea: A single mom and avowed celibate, she watches her friend Holly’s meltdown with a mixture of concern and contempt. Holly is throwing away what Andrea has spent her whole life searching for—a committed relationship with a decent guy. So what if Andrea picks up Holly’s castaway husband?

Marissa: She has more than her fair share of challenges—a gay, rebellious teenage son, a terminally ill daughter, and a husband who buries himself in his work rather than face the facts.

As one woman’s marriage unravels, another’s rekindles. As one woman’s family comes apart at the seams, another’s reconfigures into something bigger and better. In this story of connections and disconnections, one woman’s up is another one’s down, and all of them will learn the meaning of friendship, betrayal, and forgiveness.

Unflinchingly honest, emotionally powerful, surprisingly erotic, Triangles is the ultimate page-turner. Hopkins’s gorgeous, expertly honed poetic verse perfectly captures the inner lives of her characters. Sometimes it happens like that. Sometimes you just get lost.

Get lost in the world of Triangles, where the lives of three unforgettable women intersect, and where there are no easy answers.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster!

3) Between the Lines by Jodi Piccoult & Samantha van Leer.  Publisher's Summary.

Between the Lines was Sammy’s idea, and frankly, she’s got a better imagination than I ever did at her age. It’s called Between the Lines, and it’s about what happens when happily ever after…isn’t. Delilah, a loner hates school as much as she loves books—one book in particular. In fact if anyone knew how many times she has read and reread the sweet little fairy tale she found in the library, especially her cooler than cool classmates, she’d be sent to social Siberia . . . forever.To Delilah, though, this fairy tale is more than just words on the page. Sure, there’s a handsome (well, okay, incredibly handsome) prince, and a castle, and an evil villain, but it feels as if there’s something deeper going on. And one day, Delilah finds out there is. Turns out, this Prince Charming is not just a one-dimensional character in a book. He’s real, and a certain fifteen-year-old loner has caught his eye. But they’re from two different worlds, and how can it ever possibly work? Thanks to the Publisher!

Mailbox Monday -- July 9th

Welcome to Mailbox Monday which is hosted this month by Mrs. Q: Book Addict.  Today is a special Mailbox Monday for me because it is my birthday.  Last week I received the best birthday gift ever -- power after going without it for nearly a week-- it is great to be getting back to my old routine.  Below are a few books that I received recently (honestly not sure when, but it was within the past two weeks).

1) Return to Sullivans Island by Dorthea Benton Frank.  Publisher's Weekly Summary. Frank creates a world in which aspiring writer Beth Hayes, whose chirpy internal monologues and quiet uncertainties make her easily endearing, is as much a character as the house she lives in. After graduating from college in Boston, Beth returns to the South to spend a year house-sitting her family's home, Island Gamble, while her mother, Susan, visits Paris. Frank's portrayal of a large and complicated family is humorous and precise: there's Susan, adoring and kind; Aunt Maggie, a stickler for manners; twin aunts Sophie and Allison, who run an exercise-and-vitamin empire; and uncles Timmy and Henry, the latter of whom has ties to Beth's trust fund. Frank's lovable characters occasionally stymie her pace; there's almost no room left for Beth's friends or her love affairs with sleazy Max Mitchell and cherubic Woody Morrison, though these become important later on. Frank is frequently funny, and she weaves in a dark undercurrent that incites some surprising late-book developments. Tight storytelling, winsomely oddball characters and touches of Southern magic make this a winner.

2) Thy Neighbor by Norah Vincent.  Amazon Product Description. At thirty-four, Nick Walsh is a broken, deeply cynical man. Since the violent deaths of his parents thirteen years earlier, he has been living alone in his childhood home in the suburban Midwest, drinking, drugging, and debauching himself into oblivion. A measure of solace is provided by his newly found relationship with Monica, a mysterious woman who seems to harbor as many secrets as he does. Obsessed with understanding the circumstances surrounding his parents’ deaths and deranged by his relentless sorrow, Nick begins a campaign of spying on his neighbors via hidden cameras and microphones he has covertly installed in their houses. As he observes with amusement and disbelief all the strange, sad, and terrifying things that his neighbors do to themselves and to one another, and as he, in turn, learns that he is being stalked, he begins to slowly unravel the shocking truth about how and why his parents died.

I'm Back!

I finally have power again!!!! As my birthday is in a few days I can honestly say this is the best gift I could have gotten. Thanks everyone for the supportive posts. I can't wait to catch up on everyone's blogs!

Mailbox Monday Update

Sorry everyone, but there will be no Mailbox Monday for me this week because I am without power. Due to the "land hurricane" that hit my area Friday night I have been without power for three days and have been unable to post to my blog. I hope to be back by the beginning of next week (based on what my electric company is saying).

First Chapter -- First Paragraph -- Tuesday Intros

Diane at Bibliophile by the Sea hosts First Chapter, First Paragraph, Tuesday Intros.  This week's intro is from I book I read last week, but really enjoyed The Unfinished Work of Elizabeth D. by Nichole Bernier.

The George Washington Bridge had never been anything but strong and beautiful, its arches monumental, cables thin and high.  Kate watched them spindling like ribs past the car window as her husband drove eastbound across the span.  It was a testimony to optimism, a suspension bridge, each far-fetched plate, truss, and girder an act of faith against gravity and good sense.

The sun was strong, glinting off the bridge and hitting the river like shattered glass.  Drivers traveling in both directions were shielding their eyes, staring as she was down the length of Manhattan.  She didn't know what any of them expected to see.  Mushroom clouds?  Skywriting in Arabic?  She wished for some visible sign of the drama where the towers had once stood.  Then she looked toward Queens, even though it was impossible to see the site from this distance.  Few people were even looking anymore, though she always would.

Mailbox Monday -- June 25th!

Welcome to Mailbox Monday which is hosted this month by the Burton Book Review.  Below are the books I received this past week:

1) One Good Friend Deserves Another by Lisa Verge Higgins.  Publisher's Summary: Dhara, Kelly, Marta & Wendy have been the closest of friends since college, so close, in fact, that after a series of communal romantic disasters, they bond together to create rules of relationships meant to keep their hearts safe. Now, at the far side of thirty-five, those rules seem to have worked for them—country-club Wendy, a curator of a small local museum, is due to marry a longtime boyfriend in an over-the-top wedding; Marta, a high-powered Latina partner in a white-shoe law firm, is living in sensual luxury with a sexy Cuban entrepreneur; Kelly, the tech-geek computer programmer, seems happy in her introverted singlehood.

Only Dhara, an Indian-American cardiologist, is struggling after the abrupt end of a long-term relationship. When she suddenly decides to agree to a traditional arranged marriage, her girlfriends gather in the hopes of stopping her from making a terrible mistake. As old relationships crumble and dangerous new ones emerge, the girls begin to realize that the rules that they made to keep their hearts safe may have also shielded them from the risky possibilities of true love.

2) You Came Back by Christopher Coake.  Publisher's Summary: Thirty-something midwesterner Mark Fife believes he has successfully moved past the accidental death of his young son Brendan, as well as his subsequent divorce from his college sweetheart Chloe. He's successful, he's in love again, and he believes he's mastered his own memories.

But then he is contacted by a strange woman who tells him not only that she owns his old house, but that she believes it to be haunted by Brendan's ghost. Will Mark--who does not believe in ghosts--come to accept the mounting evidence that Brendan's is real? Will his engagement to his new love Allison be threatened by the reappearance in Mark's life of Chloe--who does believe? If the ghost is real, what can these two wounded parents do to help their son?

Both thanks to Hachette Book Group!

3)  Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen.  Publisher's Summary. Bestselling author and winner of the Pulitzer Prize Anna Quindlen writes about looking back and ahead—and celebrating it all—as she considers marriage, girlfriends, our mothers, faith, loss, all the stuff in our closets, and more.As she did in her beloved A Short Guide to a Happy Life,Quindlen says for us here what we may wish we could have said ourselves. Using her past, present, and future to explore what matters most to women at different ages, Quindlen talks about.

Kimdle book purchase.