Reading Excursions

[Stack of books - image from Google] [Stock graphic of a pack of cigarettes] Today … for something a bit different – an interesting topic … Smoking and library books. Why? Where did I come up with that interesting topic? Personal experience sadly.  There’s nothing quite like finding the book you’ve been wanting to read, especially when you can score it for “free” from the library. Saves money, especially if you’re on the fence about buying it and you REALLY want to read it but don ’t  have the money to buy your own copy.  Then, having a little time in which to indulge yourself, you crack the book open. Now, I LOVE to smell books … and I’m sure others do too. So, you open the book, take a whiff … COUGH, COUGH, COUGH … hack!  🤢 It smells like an ashtray!  🚬  Disappointing, and a bit sickening to be honest. Not everyone enjoys the smell of cigarettes. And, even if you don’t “smell” the book – the “sti...

MY REVIEW Hardcover:  384 pages Publisher:  St. Martin's Press (April 9, 2019) Language:  English ISBN-10:  1250107458 ISBN-13:  978-1250107459 “ Can you love someone to death? Some would say Becky Gerard is a devoted mother and would do anything for her only child. Others, including her husband Carl, claim she's obsessed and can't stop the vicious circle of finding a cure at her daughter's expense. Fifteen-year-old Meghan has been in and out of hospitals with a plague of unexplained illnesses. But when the ailments take a sharp turn, clashing medical opinions begin to raise questions about the puzzling nature of Meghan’s illness. Doctors suspect Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a rare behavioral disorder where the primary caretaker seeks medical help for made-up symptoms of a child. Is this what's going on? Or is there something even more sinister at hand? As the Gerards grow more and more suspicious of each other a...

MY REVIEW Hardcover:  272 pages Publisher:  Thomas Nelson (February 12, 2019) Language:  English ISBN-10:  1400208122 ISBN-13:  978-1400208128 Click Picture for Purchase Information “ New York Times  Bestseller: The moving, entertaining, never-before-told story of how one man found his calling: to see that those who defend this country and its freedoms are never forgotten. "The book is called Grateful American, and I promise you after you read it you will be grateful for what Gary has accomplished and contributed to our country." -- Clint Eastwood As a kid in suburban Chicago, Gary Sinise was more interested in sports and rock 'n' roll than reading or schoolwork. But when he impulsively auditioned for a school production of West Side Story, he found his purpose--or so it seemed.  Within a few years Gary and a handful of friends created what became one of the most exciting and important new theater compani...

MY REVIEW Hardcover:  320 pages Publisher:  St. Martin's Press (July 17, 2018) Language:  English ISBN-10:  1250170753 ISBN-13:  978-1250170750 Click Photo for More Information “ MEET HANNA:  Seven-year-old Hanna is a sweet-but-silent angel in the eyes of her adoring father Alex. He’s the only person who understands her. But her mother Suzette stands in her way, and she’ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good. MEET SUZETTE:  Suzette loves her daughter, but after years of expulsions and strained home schooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. She’s also becoming increasingly frightened by Hanna’s little games, while her husband Alex remains blind to the failing family dynamics. Soon, Suzette starts to fear that maybe their supposedly innocent baby girl may have a truly sinister agenda. A battle of wills between mother and daughter reveals the frailty and fal...

MY REVIEW Hardcover:  384 pages Publisher:  St. Martin's Press (June 5, 2018) Language:  English ISBN-10:  1250086086 ISBN-13:  978-1250086082 “ Look, I was doing OK. I got through the oil spill on the road that is turning forty. Lost a little control, but I drove into the skid just like the driving instructors tell you to and afterwards things were fine again, no, really, they were better than fine . Kate Reddy had it all: a nice home, two adorable kids, a good husband. Then her kids became teenagers (read: monsters). Richard, her husband, quit his job, taking up bicycling and therapeutic counseling: drinking green potions, dressing head to toe in Lycra, and spending his time―and their money―on his own therapy. Since Richard no longer sees a regular income as part of the path to enlightenment, it’s left to Kate to go back to work. Companies aren’t necessarily keen on hiring 49-year-old mothers, so Kate does what she must: kn...