Six Degrees of Separation - July 2017

Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme that was started by Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman. It is currently hosted by Kate on her booksaremyfavouriteandbest blog, and normally runs on the first Saturday of the month. The main idea of this meme is to form a chain of books by linking something they have in common, kind of like forming a word ladder with common letters, and everyone begins their chains with the same book. Other than that, there are no set rules. You get to make your own!

This month, we are starting with Picnic At Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay. It probably won’t surprise you that this is another one that I haven’t read. What I know about it comes from the synopsis at Goodreads; it takes place in Australia so I’ll use that as my jumping-off point.

The image of a harsh and rocky Australian shore makes me think of The Light Between Oceans by M.L Stedman. The words in the book evoked beautiful images but it was not a pretty story. I differed from most everyone who has read the book in that I didn’t enjoy it. I read it for book club!

Another book that I read for book club, but really didn’t enjoy, also has the word ‘ocean’ in its title — The Ocean At The End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. There was a supernatural element to the story that just didn’t work for me!

Miss Peregrine’s House for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs also had a supernatural element to it, and again, it just didn’t work for me. This was another book club selection, so I finished it. It is the first in a series that I won’t be continuing on in..

Another series in which one book was enough is The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collinsm — another book club selection! By itself, I didn’t really love the book but I liked it well enough. But I wasn’t ready to repeat the experience. One round of Hunger Games was enough, thank you very much!

Divergent by Veronica Roth is also the first in a series, and in many ways reminds me of The Hunger Games. We also read this one for book club, but this time it is a series that I actually devoured. The last book was a bit of a disappointment, but I digress.

One thing I loved about that book was the setting — Chicago, a city I am pretty familiar with. The story takes place in future day Chicago. Another book that is set in Chicago, but this time in the past, is The Devil in the White City by Eric Larson by Eric Larson. This tells the story of America’s first ‘serial killer’ at the time of the Chicago World’s Fair in the 1890s

And there’s my chain; from Picnic At Hanging Rock to The Devil in the White City in six moves, and except for the first one, I have read them all with my book club! Visit the current Six Degrees post on Kate’s blog to link up your chain and see what others have done with Picnic At Hanging Rock. Next month we are starting with Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Be sure to come back to see what I do with it!

Six Degrees of Separation - June 2017

Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme that was started by Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman. It is currently hosted by Kate on her booksaremyfavouriteandbest blog, and normally runs on the first Saturday of the month. The main idea of this meme is to form a chain of books by linking something they have in common, kind of like forming a word ladder with common letters, and everyone begins their chains with the same book. Other than that, there are no set rules. You get to make your own!

This month, we are starting with Shopgirl by Steve Martin. This is another one that I haven’t read, or until now even heard about! What I know about it comes from the synopsis at Goodreads; a young woman is a transplant to California and working in a department store.

This reminds me of a novel I read a few years ago, Band of Sisters by Cathy Gohlke. The protagonist in this one, a young immigrant from Ireland, also works in a prestigious department store. Along the way, she stumbles upon a sex-trafficking crime ring.

Stumbling upon a group of criminals is also the fate of the the young protagonist of Against The Tide by Elizabeth Camden. This time the crime involves opium.

Though it wasn’t a crime at the time,opium was also a factor in a novel our book club read a couple of years ago, The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. This one is set on a southern plantation in the pre-Civil War era, and slavery was an important theme.

Slavery was also an important theme in another novel my book club read, The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. This is a fictionalized story of the life of Sarah Grimke and her sister Angelina, two women who even though they grew up in a slave-owning family in the south, became active in the abolitionist movement..

Clarina Nichols by Diane Eickhoff, is a middle school biography about a woman who was also active in the abolitionist movement. During her work she became acquainted with the Grimke sisters. Clarina was also active in the women’s rights movement, particularly property rights and voting rights.

Terrible Virtue by Ellen Feldman is a fictionalized story about Margaret Sanger, another woman who devoted her life to women’s rights. Margaret’s focus was on reproductive rights and she is considered the founder of Planned Parenthood.

And there’s my chain; from Shopgirl to Terrible Virtue in six moves, all featuring women with a cause! Visit the current Six Degrees post on Kate’s blog to link up your chain and see what others have done with Room. Next month we will start with Picnic At Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay. Be sure to come back next month to see what I do with it!

Six Degrees of Separation - May 2017

Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme that was started by Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman. It is currently hosted by Kate on her booksaremyfavouriteandbest blog, and normally runs on the first Saturday of the month. The main idea of this meme is to form a chain of books by linking something they have in common, kind of like forming a word ladder with common letters, and everyone begins their chains with the same book. Other than that, there are no set rules. You get to make your own!

This month, we are starting with The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas. I haven’t read this book, and really know nothing about it other than what I read in the synopsis at Goodreads. Here are the first couple of sentences.

“At a suburban barbecue, a man slaps a child who is not his own.

This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends, who are directly or indirectly influenced by the slap.”

That immediately calls to mind a book I have read, Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty, where something bad also happens when a group of friends are gathered at a barbeque. Both stories unfold as the characters give their different points of view.

As you may have figured out if you read my SIx Degrees of Separation post last month, Liane Moriarty is one of my favorite authors. Around the same time she released Truly Madly Guilty another of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult, also released a book with a catchy three-word title, Small Great Things. This is a book with themes exploring racism and privilege, and is centered around a fictional nurse, Ruth Jefferson, a strong African-American woman who cares deeply about her teenage son.

Another book in which a main character is a strong African-American woman who cares deeply about her son is Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker by Jennifer Chiaverini. Elizabeth Keckley is — no surprise here — the dressmaker to Mary Todd Lincoln during her years in the White House. But more than that, she is Mrs. Lincoln’s best friend and strongest supporter during those years.

Another book which features the word ‘dressmaker’ in the title is The Dressmaker by Kate Alcott. This is the story of a young European woman who is a talented seamstress. She catches the eye of an important designer of the day, Lucille Duff Gordon, and is hired to accompany her to America aboard the Titanic. Obviously there is much more to the story, including testimony at hearings on the sinking of the Titanic, but the important point here is that she eventually becomes a dressmaker!

A book I read around the same time, and chose because it evoked the sinking of the Titanic when I saw the cover, is The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan. This is a completely different story having nothing to do with the Titanic, but it does have hearings as part of the aftermath of the sinking of a ship! The main character is Grace, a young woman who has very recently wed a wealthy young husband. The newlyweds were aboard the ship and Grace quickly finds herself widowed as a result of the sinking. She gives testimony at the hearings, and I was never sure how reliable that testimony was.

I’m ending my chain with another book featuring an unreliable narrator, The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell. This story is set about ten years later, during prohibition. Rose is in the typing pool for the local police department, typing up confessions of murderers and gangsters. As a young woman of this time, Rose eventually finds herself involved with some of the illicit happenings of the day, and things spin out of control. As she tells the story, we are never quite sure exactly what happened and when.

And there’s my chain; from The Slap to The Other Typist in six moves! Visit the current Six Degrees post on Kate’s blog to link up your chain and see what others have done with Room. Next month we will start with Shopgirl by Steve Martin. Be sure to come back next month to see what I do with it!

Shelf Control: May 3, 2017

Shelf Control is a weekly meme created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies. The idea of this meme is to create a post about a book on your shelf (print or electronic) that is waiting to be read. Because I use my library so much, I may also use my library ‘to be read’ shelf. I’m hoping this may help me to rediscover and finally read some of the books that have been waiting for their turn to be read for way too long!

This week I am featuring Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule by Jennifer Chiaverini

Title: Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule

Author: Jennifer Chiaverini

Genre: Fiction - Historical Fiction - Civil War

Year Published: 2015

Length: 386 pages

Goodreads Rating: 3.67

Goodreads Synopsis:

The New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Lincoln's Dressmaker and Mrs. Lincoln's Rival imagines the inner life of Julia Grant, beloved as a Civil War general’s wife and the First Lady, yet who grappled with a profound and complex relationship with the slave who was her namesake—until she forged a proud identity of her own.

In 1844, Missouri belle Julia Dent met dazzling horseman Lieutenant Ulysses S Grant. Four years passed before their parents permitted them to wed, and the groom’s abolitionist family refused to attend the ceremony.

Since childhood, Julia owned as a slave another Julia, known as Jule. Jule guarded her mistress’s closely held twin secrets: She had perilously poor vision but was gifted with prophetic sight. So it was that Jule became Julia’s eyes to the world.

And what a world it was, marked by gathering clouds of war. The Grants vowed never to be separated, but as Ulysses rose through the ranks—becoming general in chief of the Union Army—so did the stakes of their pact. During the war, Julia would travel, often in the company of Jule and the four Grant children, facing unreliable transportation and certain danger to be at her husband’s side.

Yet Julia and Jule saw two different wars. While Julia spoke out for women—Union and Confederate—she continued to hold Jule as a slave behind Union lines. Upon the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Jule claimed her freedom and rose to prominence as a businesswoman in her own right, taking the honorary title Madame. The two women’s paths continued to cross throughout the Grants’ White House years in Washington, DC, and later in New York City, the site of Grant’s Tomb.

Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule is the first novel to chronicle this singular relationship, bound by sight and shadow.

How I Got It: This one is on my library to read shelf.

When I Got It: added 2015

Why I want to Read It: I’ve read and enjoyed previous Civil War era stories by this author including The Spymistress, Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker, and Mrs. Lincoln’s Rival.

Shelf Control: April 26, 2017

Shelf Control is a weekly meme created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies. The idea of this meme is to create a post about a book on your shelf (print or electronic) that is waiting to be read. Because I use my library so much, I may also use my library ‘to be read’ shelf. I’m hoping this may help me to rediscover and finally read some of the books that have been waiting for their turn to be read for way too long!

This week I am featuring The Martian by Andy Weir

Title: The Martian

Author: George Castle and Jim Rygelski

Genre: Fiction - Science Fiction

Year Published: 2014

Length: 369 pages

Goodreads Rating: 4.39

Goodreads Synopsis:

A mission to Mars.

A freak accident.

One man's struggle to survive.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate the planet while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded on Mars' surface, completely alone, with no way to signal Earth that he’s alive. And even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone years before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, Mark won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark's not ready to quit. Armed with nothing but his ingenuity and his engineering skills—and a gallows sense of humor that proves to be his greatest source of strength–he embarks on a dogged quest to stay alive, using his botany expertise to grow food and even hatching a mad plan to contact NASA back on Earth.

As he overcomes one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next, Mark begins to let himself believe he might make it off the planet alive.

But Mars has plenty of surprises in store for him yet.

How I Got It: This one is on my ebook wishlist through my library

When I Got It: Jul 2015

Why I want to Read It: The synopsis reminded me of the Mars One project in which the astronauts will be making a ‘one-way’ trip to colonize Mars.

Shelf Control: April 19, 2017

Shelf Control is a weekly meme created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies. The idea of this meme is to create a post about a book on your shelf (print or electronic) that is waiting to be read. Because I use my library so much, I may also use my library ‘to be read’ shelf. I’m hoping this may help me to rediscover and finally read some of the books that have been waiting for their turn to be read for way too long!

This week I am featuring Echoes of the Titanic by Mindy Starns Clark and John Campbell Clark

Title: Echoes of the Titanic

Author: Mindy Starns Clark and John Campbell Clark

Genre: Historical Fiction - Romance - Christian

Year Published: 2012

Length: 400 pages

Goodreads Rating: 4.04

Goodreads Synopsis:

Kelsey Tate comes from sturdy stock. Her great-grandmother Adele endured the sinking of Titanic and made it safely to America, where she not only survived but thrived. Generations later, Kelsey works for the firm Adele founded nearly 100 years ago.

Now facing a hostile takeover, the firm’s origins are challenged when new facts emerge about Adele’s actions on the night Titanic sank. Kelsey tries to defend the company and the great-grandmother she has long admired, but the stakes are raised when Kelsey’s boss is murdered and her own life threatened. Forced to seek help from Cole Thornton, a man Kelsey once loved—and lost, thanks to her success-at-all-costs mentality—she pursues mysteries both past and present. Aided by Cole and strengthened by the faith she’d all but forgotten in her climb up the corporate ladder, Kelsey races the clock to defend her family legacy, her livelihood, and ultimately her life.

How I Got It: I picked this of the library sale shelf.

When I Got It: Jul 2015

Why I want to Read It: I have an obsession with stories related to the sinking of the Titanic.

Shelf Control: April 5, 2017

Shelf Control is a weekly meme created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies. The idea of this meme is to create a post about a book on your shelf (print or electronic) that is waiting to be read. Because I use my library so much, I may also use my library ‘to be read’ shelf. I’m hoping this may help me to rediscover and finally read some of the books that have been waiting for their turn to be read for way too long!

This week I am featuring The I-55 Series: Cubs vs. Cardinals by George Castle and Jim Rygelski

Title: The I-55 Series: Cubs vs. Cardinals

Author: George Castle and Jim Rygelski

Genre: Fiction - Mystery/Crime - African American

Year Published: 1999

Length:253 pages

Goodreads Rating: 3.75

Goodreads Synopsis:

Between the baseball-rich cities of Chicago and St. Louis lies a stretch of highway, known as Interstate 55, that has been the battleground for the hearts and minds of baseball fans for generations. 1-55 bridges the 294-mile gap between these two great midwestern hubs. The 1-55 Series offers baseball fans the opportunity to recall one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports, the Cubs vs. the Cardinals. From Hornsby vs. Tinkers to Evers to Chance, to Musial vs. Banks, to Gibson vs. Jenkins, to McGwire vs. Sosa, many of baseball's greatest players have served as catalysts to spark this intense rivalry.

How I Got It: I picked this one up at our annual library book fair.

When I Got It: Jul 2015

Why I want to Read It: The title says it all! This book is almost 20 years old, so obviously there is a lot that has happened since then. I have a feeling things are about to heat up again (2106 was a really, really REALLY bad year, guys!) so it’s probably time to pull this one out and read it!

⚾️ ⚾️ ⚾️ ⚾️ ⚾️ ⚾️ ⚾️ GO CARDS! ⚾️ ⚾️ ⚾️ ⚾️ ⚾️ ⚾️ ⚾️

Six Degrees of Separation - April 2017

Six Degrees of Separation is a monthly meme that was started by Annabel Smith and Emma Chapman. It is currently hosted by Kate on her booksaremyfavouriteandbest blog, and normally runs on the first Saturday of the month. The main idea of this meme is to form a chain of books by linking something they have in common, kind of like forming a word ladder with common letters, and everyone begins their chains with the same book. Other than that, there are no set rules. You get to make your own!

This month, we are starting with Room by Emma Donoghue. I haven’t read this book, not have a seen the movie. The subject matter just seems too depressing to me. I thought at one point I would read it with my book club, but it turned out that most of us felt the same way about the book.

But the subject matter involving a kidnapping and prolonged captivity does remind me of another nonfiction book, A Stolen Life by Jaycee Duggard. I’ve not read that one either, though I’m open to the possibility. It doesn’t seem nearly as depressing knowing the outcome and that Ms. Duggard appears to be doing well now.

I have always confused A Stolen Life with another memoir, Stolen Innocence by Elissa Wall. This one is about the author’s forced marriage as a young girl. I’ve read this one and enjoyed it I’m not really sure why I confuse them. I guess the word ‘stolen’ in the title as well as the idea of the loss of the innocence of childhood runs together in my mind.

Stolen Innocence is the story of a young woman raised in a religous sect, FDLS, in which she later came to feel brainwashed and made her escape. fathermothergod by Lucia Greenhouse has a similar theme. Though the idea of ‘escpape’ is a bit extreme the author felt similarly brainwashed by her Christian Scientist parents. This all came to a head for her when she learned her mother was suffering from terminal cancer after years of avoiding doctors.

Another book in which the mother is diagnosed with a terminal case of cancer is Sally Hepworth’s latest story, The Mother’s Promise. Unlike fathermothergod, this one is fiction. It’s a good one, so add it to your list if you haven’t yet read it!

Sonya, one of the characters in The Mother’s Promise, is a victim of domestic violence. Domestic violence is also a theme in Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty, one of my favorite authors. I read a lot of her books.

I’m ending my chain with another of my favorite books by Liane Moriarty is The Husband’s Secret.

And there’s my chain; from Room to The Husband’s Secret in six moves! Visit the current Six Degrees post on Kate’s blog to link up your chain and see what others have done with Room. Next month we will start with Room. Be sure to come back next month to see what I do with it!

Shelf Control: Black Water Rising

Shelf Control is a weekly meme created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies. The idea of this meme is to create a post about a book on your shelf (print or electronic) that is waiting to be read. Because I use my library so much, I may also use my library ‘to be read’ shelf. I’m hoping this may help me to rediscover and finally read some of the books that have been waiting for their turn to be read for way too long!

This week I am featuring Black Water Rising by Attica Locke

Title: Black Water Rising

Author: Attica Locke

Genre: Fiction - Mystery/Crime - African American

Year Published: 2010

Length: 427 pages

Goodreads Rating: 3.37

Goodreads Synopsis:

In her debut novel, Attica Locke—a writer and producer of FOX’s Empire—delivers an engrossing, complex, and cinematic thriller about crime and racial justice

Jay Porter is hardly the lawyer he set out to be. His most promising client is a low-rent call girl and he runs his fledgling law practice out of a dingy strip mall. But he's long since made peace with not living the American Dream and carefully tucked away his darkest sins: the guns, the FBI file, the trial that nearly destroyed him.

Houston, Texas, 1981. It is here that Jay believes he can make a fresh start. That is, until the night in a boat out on the bayou when he impulsively saves a woman from drowning—and opens a Pandora's box. Her secrets put Jay in danger, ensnaring him in a murder investigation that could cost him his practice, his family, and even his life. But before he can get to the bottom of a tangled mystery that reaches into the upper echelons of Houston's corporate power brokers, Jay must confront the demons of his past.

With pacing that captures the reader from the first scene through an exhilarating climax, Black Water Rising marks the arrival of an electrifying new talent.

How I Got It: I picked this one up at our annual library book fair.

When I Got It: Jul 2015

Why I want to Read It: This cover jumped out at me and the cover synopsis intrigued me. I’d read another book by the author, The Cutting Season,  a few years earlier and liked it very much. Our book fair sells books very inexpensively so it was an easy decision to add this one to my stack!