Little Thoughts About Books and Stuff

December’s book club pick “Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor” by Lisa Kleypas. -The Story-      The story is set in San Juan Island, off the Washington coast, and centers on long-time residents, the Nolan family. There are three brothers, Mark, Sam and Alex, and one sister, Victoria. The story starts with Victoria being killed in an auto accident and Mark being left custody of Victoria’s six-year-old daughter, Holly.      Mark and Holly move into Sam’s run-down house on a vineyard, and the two men try to make the most of their new lives. But six months into their guardianship and Holly still hasn’t spoken a word since her mother’s death.   That changes when Mark and Holly meet Maggie Collins. Maggie was widowed two years ago, and moved to the island six months ago to open a classic toy-shop. -Characters- Maggie Collins – Maggie comes from a big lovable family, has a big heart, is crafty, and is a widow.   Mark Nolan – Mark is the olde...

Sterotypes!      I've started reading Lakeshore Christmas  by Susan Wiggs, it's part of The Lakeshore Chronicles, a series I've enjoyed so far.  I don't know if I can get through this book.  The description starts out: The prim Librarian...      My first reaction was "Why does she have to be prim?"  But I'm open minded and I won't judge the book yet.  I open the book and come across the dedication and it reads: To the many librarians I know -- and to the many more I've never met... You have no idea how much you enrich people's lives. Or maybe you do. I hope you do. Thank you.      Ok this made me feel better, she appreciates and likes librarians.  So maybe it's not that bad, maybe it's just the desciption which to my knowledge the authors do not have control over.      I was wrong.  The stereotype is hers, the librarian feels she's plain in her tweed ski...

This month's book was Snowfall at Willow Lake by Susan Wiggs.  It's book #4 in the Lakeshore Chronicles.  I ended up reading books 1-3 first and am now reading through the series.  Wait for my next post on another book in the series. - The Story -      International lawyer Sophie Bellamy has dedicated her life to helping people in war-torn countries. But when she survives a hostage situation, she remembers what matters most—the children she loves back home. Haunted by regrets, she returns to the idyllic Catskills village of Avalon on the shores of Willow Lake, determined to repair the bonds with her family.      There Sophie discovers the surprising rewards of small-town life—including an unexpected passion for Noah Shepherd, the local veterinarian. Noah has a healing touch for anything with four legs, but he's never had any luck with women—until Sophie.      Snowfall at Willow Lake speaks from the h...

So I haven't posted a book club update since June, I've been lazy, so a quick catch up of what's been happening. JULY We read the second book in the Weston Series by Sara Lindsey " Tempting the Marquess".  This book is about Olivia the sister to the heroine in Promise Me Tonight.  She travels with her aunt to visit her aunt's step son Jason Traherne, Marquess of Sheldon. I liked this book because it had a certain gothic feel to it, kind of like Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. Olivia goes into this trip with the same ideas that Catherine has only to discover her imagination is much too active for her own good. The meeting was not really a meeting but an author event.  We got to meet Sara Lindsey and talk to her about her books, her writing and romance novels and writers.  It was a good time. AUGUST We read Fly Away Home by  Jennifer Weiner.  This book didn't really fit into the theme of our book club but we really didn't have a choic...

There was no meeting in May. June's book was supposed to be the second book in the Weston series started in April, but it was changed to Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard. This was my pick for a book, it was the first book I read by Linda Howard and one I can re-read no problem, so I hoped everyone else would like it, we haven't yet read a suspenseful romance book. - The Story - Jaine Bright and three close friends share dinner one night and during casual conversation, create a list of qualifications for the perfect man--some logical, some hilariously funny, some racy. Within days, their tongue-in-cheek wish list of attributes for Mr. Perfect has been leaked to the press and the resultant publicity is overwhelming. Coworkers, TV crews, and reporters barrage the quartet with comments and criticism. As if Jaine doesn't have enough to cope with, she has a new neighbor who she suspects is a criminal. She's relieved to learn that her neighbor is really a...

This month's book was another historical romance, I'll be honest until I met my friend Stephanie I never really had much interest in this genre of romance books, but I'm really starting to like them. Anyway, this month's book was Promise Me Tonight by Sara Lindsey. - The Story - Isabella Weston has been in love with her older brother’s best friend James Sheffield since she was a girl. On the night of her coming-out ball, she’s determined to make James fall head over heels in love with her and want to marry her. James is back in England after spending time in Ireland and is shocked to find that his best friend’s impish little sister is now a stunning beauty. James knows he’s in big trouble when he finds it impossible to resist her charming, cunning wiles and dogged ways, but his painful childhood has made him promise himself that he’ll never marry or have children. This headstrong pair produce an entertaining battle of wits and wills while dealing with their o...

Since February's meeting was canceled I again was looking forward to March's meeting and attending with Michelle. The book for this month was one we had both read before and really liked. It was "Key of Light" by Nora Roberts and is the first book in the Key Trilogy. - The Story - Nora Roberts blends romance and magic into a captivating tale of gods, mortals, love and mystery. Three women from Pleasant Valley, Pennsylvania recieve dinner invitations to Warrior's Peak, a castle-like estate outside of town. Their hosts tell them a legend of three sisters, demigoddesses, whose souls are trapped by an immortal sorcerer, and they offer the women a large cash prize to search out the keys that will unlock the sisters' prison. The invites come just as all three women had conveniently fallen on hard times career-wise, and were desperate for a change. "Key of Light" follows Mallory, an art gallery manager. "Key of Knowledge" follows Dana, ...

After the success of the January meeting I asked Michelle if she would be interested in joining with me and was looking forward to reading and attending this month's meeting with her. I was really looking forward to going to the meeting with her, we enjoy the same books and enjoy discussing or arguing over them so this was bound to be a good idea. The book for February was "Lady Be Good" by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I read reviews for this before I started it and everyone really seemed to like the book and just raved about the likableness and realness of the characters. Then I asked Michelle how she was liking the book, she had started it already. She had a list of complaints. The difference in her reactions and the reviews got me wondering what kind of book I was going to be reading. We have both had different reactions to books so maybe this one would be one of those kinds of books. I was wrong. - The Story - Our leading lady is Lady Emma Wells-Finch the headmistre...

This was the first meeting of the newly launched Romance Book Club. The first book was "The Devil in Winter" by Lisa Kleypas. This is the third book in the Wallflower Series. It is proceed by "Secrets of a Summer Night" and " It Happened One Autumn." The fourth book is "Scandal in Spring." Seeing as I read all four books back to back I can't quite say if I favored one over the other, the series as a whole was a wonderful read and I might consider reading the related books that tie in with this series. I don't think I ask for a lot when I read a romance novel, I just want a well written and/or believable story and likable characters. - A story - The BIG thing I look for is that there is a story beyond the "romance" to keep in entertained. It's not enough to just follow the format for this genre. These books had that story and while it wasn't a big mystery or a murder on the lose it wasn't a forced story to keep th...

I got home from PAX - East over a week ago and I'm just now ready to write my thoughts on the expo. I've been trying to figure out how to break it down and I've decided instead of a break down by day I'm going to break everything down based on categories. So we'll start off with pre-convention, followed by panels, expo hall, game play, and post-convention. Pre-Convention We arrived in Boston on Thursday and had some time to kill before the 7pm game time meet up in the lobby. There was no forgetting this meet up, Sam kept reminding us every 10 minutes or so. I had already checked it out and knew that the main building for the Boston Public Library was just down the road from the convention center and there were some other historical locations in the area I had wanted to see. Being a library lover I had wanted to take the tour of the library but never got around to it, so just seeing the outside would have to do for this trip. Our first stop was the Boston P...