Book Love & Coffee Mugs

⭐⭐⭐/5 "At the age of 29, Sydney has already been once divorced and once widowed.  Trying to regain her footing after this tragic double blow, she answers the ad of a couple seeking a tutor for their teenage daughter and ends of spending the summer at the cottage of the Edwards family on the stunning New Hampshire coast. No sooner does Sydney settle into the household routine - acting as something between a servant and a family member - than the Edwardses' two grown sons, Ben and Jeff show up for a weekend.  Ben is a real estate exec and Jeff a professor.  Both are handsome, accomplished and both are competitive.  And both seem completely enraptured by Sydney. As the weeks pass in this seaside idyll, Sydney enters a strange love triangle, infused with old rivalries and bitter secrets she can only guess at.  And she begins to fear that the brothers' competition for her affection could tear apart the family - and the fragile existence she has painstakingly rebuilt.&qu

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 Publisher's Summary When it comes to recruiting, motivating, and creating great teams, Patty McCord says most companies have it all wrong. McCord helped create the unique and high-performing culture at Netflix, where she was chief talent officer. In her new book,  Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility,  she shares what she learned there and elsewhere in Silicon Valley.   McCord advocates practicing radical honesty in the workplace, saying good-bye to employees who don’t fit the company’s emerging needs, and motivating with challenging work, not promises, perks, and bonus plans. McCord argues that the old standbys of corporate HR—annual performance reviews, retention plans, employee empowerment and engagement programs—often end up being a colossal waste of time and resources. Her road-tested advice, offered with humor and irreverence, provides readers a different path for creating a culture of high performance and profitability.    Powerful  w

⭐⭐/5 "An accomplished pianist, Richard received standing ovations from audiences all over the world in awe of his rare domination of emotional resonance and flawless technique.  Every finger of his hands was a finely calibrated instrument, dancing across the keys and striking each note with exacting precision.  That was eight months ago. Richard now has ALS, and his entire right arm is paralyzed.  His fingers are impotent, still devoid of possibility.  The loss of his hand feels like a death, a loss of true love, a divorce - his divorce.  He knows his left arm will go next. Three years ago, Karina removed their framed wedding picture form the living room wall and hung a mirror there instead.  But she still hasn't moved on.  Karina is paralyzed by excuses and fear, stuck in an unfulfilling life as a piano teacher, afraid to pursue the path she abandoned as a young woman, blaming Richard and their failed marriage for all of it. When Richard becomes increasingly paraly

⭐⭐⭐⭐/ 5 "Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living an exceedingly ordinary life - steady boyfriend, close family - who has barely been farther afield than her tiny village.  She takes a badly needed job working for ex-master of the universe Will Traynor, who is wheelchair-bound after an accident.  Will has always lived a huge life - big deals, extreme sports, worldwide travel - and he is not interested in exploring a new one. Will is acerbic, moody, bossy - but Lou refuses to treat him with kid gloves, and soon his happiness means more to her than she expected.  When she learns Will has shocking plans of his own, Lou sets out to show him that life is still worth living. Me Before you brings to life two people who couldn't have less in common - a heartbreaking romantic novel that asks, 'what do you do when making the person you love happy also means breaking your own heart?' This book has been out for quite a while now yet it has somehow escaped me.  I've s

⭐⭐⭐/5 New York Times  best seller  “A gripping genetic detective story, and a meditation on the meaning of parenthood and family.” (Jennifer Egan, author of  Manhattan Beach ) A  Washington Post ,  Vulture ,  Bustle ,  Real Simple ,  PopSugar , and  LitHub  Most Anticipated Book of 2019 and an Apple Books Best of January 2019 From the acclaimed, best-selling memoirist and novelist - “a writer of rare talent” (Cheryl Strayed) - a memoir about the staggering family secret uncovered by a genealogy test: an exploration of the urgent ethical questions surrounding fertility treatments and DNA testing, and a profound inquiry of paternity, identity, and love.  What makes us who we are? What combination of memory, history, biology, experience, and that ineffable thing called the soul defines us? In the spring of 2016, through a genealogy website to which she had whimsically submitted her DNA for analysis, Dani Shapiro received the stunning news that her father was not her biolog

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 "In 1986, Henry Lee joins a crowd outside the Panama Hotel, once the gateway to Seattle's Japantown.  It has been boarded up for decades, but now the new owner has discovered the belongings of Japanese families who were sent to internment camps during World War II.  As the owner displays and unfurls a Japanese parasol, Henry, a Chinese American, remembers a young Japanese American girl from his childhood in the 1940s - Keiko Okabe, with whom he forged a bond of friendship and innocent love that transcended the prejudices of their Old World ancestors.  After Keiko and her family were evacuated to the internment camps, she and Henry could only hope that their promise to each other would be kept.  Now, forty years later, Henry explores the hotel's basement for the Okabe family's belongings and for a long-lost object whose value he cannot even begin to measure.  His search will take him on a journey to revisit the sacrifices he has made for his family, for love

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 The best of Brene Brown yet!  Specific to the Daring series this one knocks it out of the park.  So many concepts resonate and are described to be understood.  And once understood can be implemented in the places that need to be.  When implemented we will be able to take our connections, our courage and our confidence in ourselves and one another to a whole new level.  Brene is my spirit animal and my S-Hero! The book builds upon prior concepts and takes them to meaningful, manageable actions.  There is still plenty of courage needed to move forward, yet the stories she shares make you understand how important the actions are in your personal and professional life. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY  BLOOMBERG Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas, and has the courage to develop that potential. When we dare to lead, we don’t pretend to have the ri

Had an awesome experience at Half Price Books today finding both a signed, first edition and a note card between giver and receiver inside one book as well.  This stack is completely from the clearance section (between $2 - $3 per book) and contains titles that have been on my 'want to read' list for quite a while. I also found a women's daily devotional from 2013.  It really fell into my hands because of it's gorgeous leather cover and warm red color.  I'm a softie for a daily read.  Something to look forward to, build routine around and the daily experience of finding a quote or a passage intended for that day truly resonates with me. Atop this stack is a recent clearance mug find as well.  Its for tea with its rounded base and smooth finish.  When I drink tea I tend to cradle the mug so it works as a hand warmer as well as a beverage receptacle. This is a good one! March came in like a lion with the cold winds and overcast skies.  Here's to a product