Book Love & Coffee Mugs

  Maame by Jessica George  Maddie is someone who each of us know.  Although many don't have any idea that so much pain, suffering, regret and sorrow are inside.  Maybe Maddie is even one of us.  The lack of nurturing from a parent, the need to care for an adult parent, the chosen sibling with no responsibility!  How can so much time have passed and you're in the same place?  Maddie's dad suffers from parkinson's and mom spends every other year in Guyana living her own life, with her brother disassociated until his mother comes back to London.  Maddie's career and love life and by on tepid fizzle for years.  How will she get through this latest tragedy?  Beautifully written and deeply felt, Maame is a treasure!

  My daily bag! Here's a tote made lovingly by my husband.  I chose the leather color and texture as well as the color of the straps.  It was custom-made!  My one request was a large pocket on the outside - particularly for sunglasses and keys.  And yes, there are two additional pockets on the inside. During quarantine and all our time at home he taught himself leabthercrafting and this is one of many of the projects he has completed.  Since then we've attended a few leather shows together where crafters share the work as well as suppliers allow you to demonstrate their tools and machines.  Its fascinating and I've gone from 0 to 50 in a short time learning all about his new hobby.   The great part is that there's always a quiet corner that I can find with my book when I've exhausted by interest and he's still at it.  So now to this book! The Girls in the Stilt House by Kelly Mustian (April 2021) " Set in 1920s Mississippi, this debut Souther...

  As I reflect back on how my 2022 reading year ended, I'm thrilled with the stack that arrived almost by happenstance.  Several favorites were not purchased, they were gifted or shared as another's favorite read. I've come to treasure those most of all. Nowadays we're gathered less frequently - and rarely press a book into another reader's hands - yet when one arrives by mail I'm just as thrilled and flattered to be the recipient of such a treasure.   Book recommendations are so meaningful, and appreciated.  A good friend of mine owns an indie bookstore in Coeur d'Alene, ID and has shared I'd be a great 'hand seller' - one who listens and then finds just the right next read - handing it to them with care.  That's how I envision it taking place. This stack above were my favorite reads in 2022.  Of course there were so many that didn't make the stack - and often because I listened on audio and don't own the physical book.  And let'...

  Having just put the Thanksgiving holiday behind us I begin to think about the stack of books that I will put together as the 'best reads of 2022'. Are they the most recent reads? What if I read it in 2022 but it is released in 2023? What are the rules!? As I have started a stack in the corner of my den with the best books I've read this year I'm thrilled to say that I have more than ten.  And although I may whittle it down to a total of ten, I'm so glad I have so many to praise as we move into the last month of the year. What reads will December bring that may bump a few off?  Only time will tell!

  "The way to turn an ex-lover into a friend is to never stop loving them, to know that when one phase of a relationship ends it can transform into something else. It is to acknowledge that love is both a constant and a variable at the same time." Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow X3 The story of Sam, Sadie, and Marx wrapped itself around my little finger and next let go. From the beginning all the way until 'game over' I was clutching to the intricacies of their relationships for dear life. This was not a story about gaming that involved people. It was a beautiful written, compellingly addictive story that involved gaming. Relationships are the key to our existence. Wether the game of life, or in this story the game of Friendship. We were not meant to walk this journey alone. It is those we share this road with us - for a moment, a day, a week or a lifetime that color our world. Their addition to our story colors our world, brings music to our senses and fills in our the gap...

  "You do have to let youth take its course." Brandi Carlile, Broken Horses From April 2021:  " The critically acclaimed singer-songwriter, producer, and six-time Grammy winner opens up about a life shaped by music in this candid, heartfelt, and intimate story." What a beautifully, heart-felt story written, read and performed by the author.  Her story is one of hope.  The lessons she has taken from her upbringing, her experiences and her reality are eye-opening.  Others may have been hardened, walked away,  come  bitter and regretful.  Not Brandi Carlile.  She lives for the experiences.  Her story is shows the difference between owning who you are and blaming the world for what's all around you.   And her voice!  The songs she sings on the audiobook are melodic interludes to her story.  These are her stories to tell.  As the reader I'm so glad she opened her heart and her soul to share them with us.

  Thank you @suzyapprovedbooktours for this #gifted copy of Legends of the North Cascades by Jonathan Evison! Published June 2021. Description:  " Dave Cartwright has had enough. After three tours in Iraq he has come home to Vigilante Falls in Washington State only to find that he feels incapable of connecting to the people and the place that once defined him. Most days, his love for his seven-year-old daughter, Bella, is the only thing keeping him going. When tragedy strikes, Dave makes a dramatic decision: he will take Bella to live in a cave in the wilderness of the North Cascades. So begins a compelling adventure, a story of a father and daughter attempting to cope with a breathtaking but harsh environment. Once they are settled in the cave, Bella retreats into a different world, that of a mother and son who had lived in that same space, but thousands of years before, at the end of last Ice Age. As the two dramas begin to merge, a timeless odyssey unfolds, both as a medita...

  "Some people think surfing is a relationship with the sea," his mother said one day, when Byron was struggling in the water, "but surfing is really a relationship between you and yourself.  The sea is going to do what it wants." She winked.' Complex, moving, character-driven novel with love, laughter, pain and loss.  And of course, the history of the Black Cake! In this moving debut novel, two estranged siblings must set aside their differences to deal with their mother's death and her hidden past—a journey of discovery that takes them from the Caribbean to London to California and ends with her famous black cake.  We can't choose what we inherit. But can we choose who we become? 

Thank you to Renee at @itsbooktalk from last week's episode "You Heard it Here First: An Advanced Screening" on the pod.  Renee and Tina were discussing what advance reader copies they've enjoyed.  How thrilled was I when Renee mentioned this one to find I had it already queued up on my kindle!  Thank you @netgalley and @penguingroup Like a House on Fire by Lauren McBrayer Pub date: April 26, 2022 Unpredictable story of Merit and Cole, married 12 years with two young boys and two careers.  The exhaustion, the short tempers, the lack of engagement with one another.  When Merit returns to work and finds her soul filled with architectural design and a boss who understands her, not just as a talented employee but as a valuable person the story becomes more intense.  I appreciated the fact that this women were in their 40's and 50's yet full of life, determining what's next, and taking time to appreciate what they enjoy.  Such a great follow up to Vladimir ...

  Vladimir by Julia May Jonas So many things drew me to this book, least of all the cover.  Likely why I chose to listen on audio instead as to not have to look at the cover each time I picked it up.  Yet I digress.   The setting of this novel is on a small, liberal arts college in upstate New York.  By connecting dots in my mind I found this my hometown, Saratoga Springs and the college my alma mater, Skidmore.  The author is a professor there and many descriptions in the book mirrored the area so well.  The Avenue of the Pines on the outskirts of the Spa State Park as a locale for many a walk to clear one's head.  The comfy alcove overlooking the campus in Schribner library for a quiet place to read and people watch!  And the charming downtown of Broadway which resembles a New England town.   So much familiarity I wasn't prepared for what came next. All the disdain.  Self-loathing.  Resulting in very few likable characters. ...

  Are winter reads different than summer reads?  Do you find you stash aside books that are seasonal and will connect with the weather outside?  I do.  I love a good summer read with beaches and heat you can feel through the pages.  I recall The Second Season by Christina Clancy that took place on Cape Code in the height of summer with beaches, parties, sand and romance.  The story also turned to fall when the tourists go home and the barrenness of the beach is a welcome respite for those who live there year round. There are also winter reads with their wide spines and deep-rooted stories.  Ones that span generations and move from continent to continent.  There are also those set in winter.  The Secrets We Kept was set in Russia and the deep cold that I felt in my bones as I read.  Having experienced wind that moves right through you in the mid-west and the northeast I could only imagine the cold being described. There are spring books a...

  Today I'm recreating my version of Oprah's "Books That Help Me Through" with a stack of my own version. These amazing books are each part of my growing stack of 'helpers'. Each came into my life at a different time and helped me through what I was going through at the time. Now is one of those times in our country, with our family and friends that we need to finish the year strong. Here's my stack: 10% Happier - Dan Harris Leaving the Enchanted Forest - Liana Beckett Learning to Breathe - Priscilla Warner Rising Strong - Brene Brown Real Happiness - Sharon Salzberg A Year by the Sea - Joan Anderson A Woman's Journey to God - Joan Borysenko Tell Me More - Kelly Corrigan I'm also in gratitude for my awesome new t-shirt from Jocelyn who makes the most amazing products. She designed my graphic and also a really great raising mental health awareness water bottle! She's fantastic. Please visit her Etsy shop Marked by Jo. There's a link on home ...

  What a breathtaking ghost story! What a fantastic storyline of 1960 Vermont and 2014 Vermont around the now defunct Idlewild Hall a girls' boarding school with stories of its own to tell. Simone St. James unfolds this story bits at at time ensuring anticipation and intrigue each step of the way. She combines past and current day timelines, female friendship, small town politics, a bit of a love story .. oh, and the ghost of Christmas past!

  Migrations was a beautiful song in the midst of chaos. The characters were relatable, flawed, adventurous and calm. The story centers around Franny Stone and her study of bird migration. Yet this story is so very much more. Her desire is to follow 'her birds' which lands her aboard a vessel in Antarctica. And the journey begins. Love, loss, forgiveness, strength, perseverance and nature play a part in this beautiful story! DESCRIPTION: Franny Stone has always been a wanderer. By following the ocean’s tides and the birds that soar above, she can forget the losses that have haunted her life. But when the wild she loves begins to disappear, Franny can no longer wander without a destination. She arrives in remote Greenland with one purpose: to find the world’s last flock of Arctic terns and follow them on their final migration.  She convinces Ennis Malone, captain of the Saghani, to take her onboard, winning over his eccentric crew with promises that the birds she is tracking wi...

  " A decade ago in upstate New York, art student Emma McCullough walked into the woods and was never seen again. It’s a mystery that still haunts her bucolic university town and her broken family, especially her sister Haley, whose need for closure has become an obsession. But now, finally, the first piece of evidence in the vanishing has been found: Emma’s bracelet, lodged in a frozen piece of earth at the bottom of a gorge. For Emma’s three best college friends, for a beloved former teacher, and for Haley, the chilling trinket is more than a clue in a resurrected cold case. It’s a trigger. Then a woman is attacked during an open house, and the connections between the two crimes, ten winters apart, begin to surface. So do the secrets that run as deep and dark as the currents in this quiet river town." Such a surprisingly good read! The dual timeline was fantastic to bring all the characters to life. Thoroughly enjoyed the intrigue and anticipation of learning the truth. SO ...

  DESCRIPTION: "When a Nigerian woman falls for a man she knows will break her mother’s heart, she must choose between love and her family. At twelve years old, Azere promised her dying father she would marry a Nigerian man and preserve her culture even after emigrating to Canada. Her mother has been vigilant about helping--forcing--her to stay well within the Nigerian dating pool ever since. But when another match-made-by-mom goes wrong, Azere ends up at a bar, enjoying the company and later sharing the bed of Rafael Castellano, a man who is tall, handsome, and white. When their one-night stand unexpectedly evolves into something serious, Azere is caught between her growing feelings for Rafael and the compulsive need to please her mother who will never accept a relationship that threatens to dilute Azere's Nigerian heritage.  Azere can't help wondering if loving Rafael makes her any less of a Nigerian. Can she be with him without compromising her identity? The answer will...

  Thank you UpLit Reads for including me on this fun book tour! Oh, how I enjoyed this story of love, distain and pranks! Bree and Chip are neighbors who certainly do not see eye to eye. Each fiercely protecting who they are and how they want to be seen. They share a strong sense of competition, even though it causes fright and frustration in the other. This is a great depiction of the power of timing and allowing things to unfold rather than forcing an agenda into the situation. It was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I look forward to many more from Melissa Ferguson.   DESCRIPTION: All’s fair in love and prank wars.   Bree Leake doesn’t want to be tied down. She’s had more jobs than she can count, and she plans to move as soon as the curtains fall on her less-than-minor stage role at The Barter—the oldest live performance theater in the US. But just when it’s time to move on again, Bree’s parents make her an offer: hold steady for a full year, and they wil...

  A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older black couple—it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple—and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?  Suspenseful and provocative, Rumaan Alam’s third novel is ...

What happens when you hear of another couple this year that is divorcing?  A couple that from the outside held hands, said sweet things and took adventures together.  A couple whose marriage you would have said you admired and wanted to replicate.  What does that mean? For the 485th time it means that no one knows what's within the marriage other than the two people in it.  That's it.   I'm saddened to see so many couples whose love and patience have withered.  I'm also sad to know that what's been going on inside has been painful and trying.  This breaking of a bond is neither good or bad.  It could be both.  Right now it's painful and sad. Marriage to me is one of those things that I admire endurance.  It's certainly not easy.  Take patience, practiced kindness, listening when it's the last thing you possibly want to do and choosing to be together more than you want to run.  It is the joining of lives into one household, into...

I have a practice of writing each morning.  This was an exercise sharing in a happiness workshop I attending last fall.  You take the best memory from the day before and detail it out on paper the next day.  It allows you to relive something positive and build upon it throughout your day.  I seem to complete this in fits and starts.  Lately I've been writing quite a bit more.  Its a respite from having to say anything because I can empty what's in my head onto the page. The process I learned also included finding an accountability parter.  My peer in Atlanta, Sherry is the one whom I text with each morning to share completion and check on her.  I love getting those texts it feels like we're in this together. Lately this practice has allowed me to empty all the thoughts that are in my head.  Not just to relive a positive experience, it allows me to empty all the thoughts in my head.  I will share that I haven't have the deep fear ...