Book Love & Coffee Mugs

  "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...