Summer Reading Challenge: It's You by Jane Porter

This summer, members of the Vise Library are participating in a Summer Reading Challenge. We have received copies of several books from publishers for honest reviews. We hope that you enjoy these reviews (and books)!

This week's book is It's You by Jane Porter.

About the book:

From the USA Today bestselling author of the Brennan Sisters novels comes a heartwarming story about finding love and strength, even in the darkest moments…
 
In the wake of a tragedy that tore her life down to the foundations, Dr. Alison McAdams has lost her way. So when she’s summoned to Napa to care for her ailing father, she’s not sure she has anything to offer him—or anyone else.
 
What Ali finds in Northern California wine country is a gift—an opportunity to rest, and distance from her painful memories. Most unexpectedly, she finds people who aren’t afraid of her grief or desperate for her to hurry up and move on.
 
As Ali becomes part of her father’s community, makes new friends of her own, and hears the stories of a generation who survived the Second World War, she begins to find hope again. In a quest to discover the truth about another woman’s lost love, she sets off on a journey across oceans and deep into history. And in making sense of that long-ago tragedy, Ali is able to put together the broken pieces of her heart and make new choices that are right for her.

Ali is lost.  Her fiance, Andrew, died six weeks before their wedding (and it's under awful circumstances).  She's been getting by for over a year, but just barely.  Her dad has had a small accident and travels to see him in Napa Valley (her mom passed away 6 months after Andrew).  He lives in an assisted living home in the area and is friends with a 90+ year old woman named Edie.  Edie is not a huge of Ali's but they soon both discover that they have loss of a loved one in common.  Edie and Ali develop of friendship (of sorts) and Edie entrusts Ali with the secrets of her younger life during WWII.  From here Ali goes on a quest to see Edie's world from the past and present and in the process learns to deal with her own grief to move forward.

This book has a lot of tragic heartbreak to it.  Both of the women in this story were completely shattered and heartbroken in their lives (and in Edie's case, more than once).  I enjoyed when Ali traveled in order to find herself, but also helping Edie in the process.  Ali learns to let go of the "why's" of Andrew's death and realizes that you have to forgive in order to have true love.  I also loved that Ali makes some decisions based on what she wants and not what is expected of her.  This book did not just wrap up everyone's storylines in a happy little bow, but instead there is a sense of hope and happiness about what is possible to come.  I thought that this made the book perfect and hopeful for Ali.

Buy the book:

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       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books

About the author:

USA Today, and New York Times bestselling author of 47 romances and women's fiction titles, Jane Porter has been a finalist for the prestigious RITA award five times, with her Tule Publishing novella, Take Me, Cowboy, winning the Novella Category July 2014. Today, Jane has over 12 million copies in print, including her wildly popular Flirting with Forty, a novel picked by Redbook Magazine as it's Red Hot Summer Read in 2006 before being turned into a Lifetime movie in 2008 starring Heather Locklear. 
Jane holds an MA in Writing from the University of San Francisco and makes her home in sunny San Clemente, CA with her surfer husband three sons, and two dogs. You can learn more about Jane at janeporter.com.

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Summer Reading Challenge: Summer Secrets by Jane Green

This summer, members of the Vise Library are participating in a Summer Reading Challenge. We have received copies of several books from publishers for honest reviews. We hope that you enjoy these reviews (and books)!

This week's book is Summer Secrets by Jane Green.

About the book:

"Gripping and powerful."-Emily Giffin

When a shocking family secret is revealed, twenty-something journalist Cat Coombs finds herself falling into a dark spiral. Wild, glamorous nights out in London and raging hangovers the next day become her norm, leading to a terrible mistake one night while visiting family in America, on the island of Nantucket. It's a mistake for which she can't forgive herself. When she returns home, she confronts the unavoidable reality of her life and knows it's time to grow up. But she doesn't know if she'll ever be able to earn the forgiveness of the people she hurt.

As the years pass, Cat grows into her forties, a struggling single mother, coping with a new-found sobriety and determined to finally make amends. Traveling back to her past, to the family she left behind on Nantucket all those years ago, she may be able to earn their forgiveness, but in doing so she may risk losing the very people she loves the most.

Told with Jane Green's keen eye for detailing the emotional landscape of the heart, Summer Secrets is at once a compelling drama and a beautifully rendered portrait of relationships, betrayals, and forgiveness; about accepting the things we cannot change, finding the courage to change the things we can, and being strong enough to weather the storms.

There are a couple of Summer Secrets in this book.  This book covers the past and present of a few characters.  However, the main character of this book, Cat is having a bit of a rough time at the moment.  You find out she has been recently divorced and is a recovering alcoholic.  You read about her past that has led to her husband leaving and how she is struggling with her feelings for him and his absence.  Cat has to look at past wrongs she has committed in order to move forward with her life.  She finally realizes that in order to succeed she has to do things for her and not for someone else. 

I think this is by far Jane Green's best book to date.  This book made me laugh and broke my heart a few times.  There were some twists which make for a very entertaining book.  This book shows that some people can hide who they really are without having a clue to their true nature.  There is something that happens at the very end that makes me so sad for Cat.  Cat matures through the entire book and even though at times she may not handle situations very well, she overall makes an effort to be her best self.  She cracked me up with some of the things she found funny (someone's story at an AA meeting comes to mind) and I laughed right along with her.  I read this book over a week ago and I am still thinking about it.  I think that is a sign of a great book.  Our copy of Summer Secrets will be available for checkout soon.  Make sure you get your hands on it for a great summer read!

PS Jane Green wrote a short FREE story featuring Cat and Jemima J (Green's probably most well-known character) available for download.  Make sure to check that one out too!

Buy the book:

     Amazon

       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books

About the author:

Jane Green is a bestselling author of popular novels. She has been featured in People, Newsweek, USA Today, Glamour, and Cosmopolitan. She lives in Connecticut with her family.

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Book Review: The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George

Members of the Vise Library were selected to review The Little Paris Bookshop.  We received a copy of Nina George's book for an honest review.

About the book:

“There are books that are suitable for a million people, others for only a hundred. There are even remedies—I mean books—that were written for one person only…A book is both medic and medicine at once. It makes a diagnosis as well as offering therapy. Putting the right novels to the appropriate ailments: that’s how I sell books.”
 
Monsieur Perdu calls himself a literary apothecary. From his floating bookstore in a barge on the Seine, he prescribes novels for the hardships of life. Using his intuitive feel for the exact book a reader needs, Perdu mends broken hearts and souls. The only person he can't seem to heal through literature is himself; he's still haunted by heartbreak after his great love disappeared. She left him with only a letter, which he has never opened.

After Perdu is finally tempted to read the letter, he hauls anchor and departs on a mission to the south of France, hoping to make peace with his loss and discover the end of the story. Joined by a bestselling but blocked author and a lovelorn Italian chef, Perdu travels along the country’s rivers, dispensing his wisdom and his books, showing that the literary world can take the human soul on a journey to heal itself.

Internationally bestselling and filled with warmth and adventure, The Little Paris Bookshop is a love letter to books, meant for anyone who believes in the power of stories to shape people's lives.

The main character of this book Perdu, sells books from a barge.  He is able to offer recommendations to anyone that comes in his shop.  His recommendations heal the people that he gives them to.  However, Perdu is hurting himself.  He lost his first love over 20 years ago and has never really recovered.  Perdu ends up going on a journey (on his barge!) to discover himself and to reclaim his life.  Each character in this story has their own backstory that is revealed piece by piece.  The dialogue of this book is fantastic and I wish I could be friends with the people in this book!  I (of course!) loved all the book love in this novel as well.  If you enjoy books that have self-discovery and learning to live your life, then add this one to your list!

Buy the book:

     Amazon

       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books

About the author:

Born 1973 in Bielefeld, Germany, Nina George is a prize-winning and bestselling author (“Das Lavendelzimmer” – “The Little Paris Bookshop”) and freelance journalist since 1992, who has published 26 books (novels, mysteries and non-fiction) as well as over hundred short stories and more than 600 columns. George has worked as a cop reporter, columnist and managing editor for a wide range of publications, including Hamburger Abendblatt, Die Welt, Der Hamburger, “politik und kultur” as well as TV Movie and Federwelt. Georges writes also under three pen-names, for ex “Jean Bagnol”, a double-andronym for provence-based mystery novels. 

In 2012 and 2013 she won the DeLiA and the Glauser-Prize. In 2013 she had her first bestselling book “Das Lavendelzimmer”, translated in 27 langues and sold more than 500.000 copies. 

In November 2011, Nina George established the “JA zum Urheberrecht” (YES on Author’s Rights) initiative, which supports the rights of authors, artists and entertainers and is dedicated to resolving issues within the literary community as well as establishing fair and practical rights-license models for the web-distribution. 14 writers’ associations and 27 publishing partners have since joined the JA…-Initiative. George supports the “Initiative Urheberrecht” (Author’s Rights Initiative—www.urheber.info) as well as the “gib 8 aufs Wort”-campaign of the VG Wort. 

In August 2014 George initiated the Amazon-protest in Germany www.fairer-buchmarkt.de, where overs 2000 germanspeaking authors – Nobelprizewinnig Elfriede Jelinek or Bestsellingauthor Nele Neuhaus – sign an open letter to Jeff Bezos and Amazon, protesting against the banned-book-methods of the giant retailer in the Hachette/Bonnier-dispute. 

In 2015 George is the founder of the Initiative Fairer Buchmarkt e.V., which supports questions of law in daily business of authors – for ex in contracts, fees or author’s rights and e-Business. 

George is Member to PEN, Das Syndikat (association of German-language crime writers), the Association of German Authors (VS), the Hamburg Authors’ Association (HAV), BücherFrauen (Women in Publishing), the IACW/AIEP (International Association of Crime Writers), the GEDOK (Association of female artists in Germany), PRO QUOTE and Lean In. Nina George sits on the board of the Three Seas Writers’ and Translaters’ Council (TSWTC), whose members come from 16 different countries. 

Nina George teaches writing at Literaturbüro Unna, Alsterdamm Kunstschule, Wilhelmsburger Honigfabrik, where she coaches young people, adults and professional authors. 
George also moderates (bilingual) readings and works as a speaker.

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Book Review: Idea of Love by Patti Callahan Henry

Members of the Vise Library were selected to review The Idea of Love.  We received a copy of Patti Callahan Henry's book for an honest review.

About the book:

As we like to say in the south,
"Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story."

Ella's life has been completely upended. She's young, beautiful, and deeply in love--until her husband dies in a tragic sailing accident while trying save her. Or so she'll have everyone believe. Screenwriter Hunter needs a hit, but crippling writers' block and a serious lack of motivation are getting him nowhere. He's on the look-out for a love story. It doesn't matter who it belongs to.

When Hunter and Ella meet in Watersend, South Carolina it feels like the perfect match, something close to fate. In Ella, Hunter finds the perfect love story, full of longing and sacrifice. It's the stuff of epic films. In Hunter, Ella finds possibility. It's an opportunity to live out a fantasy - the life she wishes she had because hers is too painful. And more real. Besides. what's a little white lie between strangers?
But one lie leads to another, and soon Hunter and Ella find themselves caught in a web of deceit. As they try to untangle their lies and reclaim their own lives, they feel something stronger is keeping them together. And so they wonder: can two people come together for all the wrong reasons and still make it right?

When Hunter and Ella meet they lie about everything concerning themselves.  They tell each other versions of their lives that they each wish were true.  Ella's husband has left her for her best friend's sister (she tells Hunter he died trying to rescue her) and Hunter is lying about the project he is working on (he says it's a history book about the area, but he's looking for inspiration for a screenplay).  They each find that it is getting harder and harder to tell each other the truth.   Hunter eventually goes back to his life in L.A. and Ella gets what she wants (or does she?).  Even though these characters meet under false information, they are in a way so honest about other things when they spend time together.  There are some parts of dialogue that will have you laughing while you read.  I love the scene when everything comes to a head and laughed out loud.  I loved Ella's friend Mimi.  She was a riot and Ella's only true friend through the whole book.  This was a fun read and I expected nothing less from Henry!

Buy the book:

     Amazon

       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books

About the author:

Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times Bestselling author --Losing the Moon, Where the River Runs, When Light Breaks, Between the Tides, The Art of Keeping Secrets, Driftwood Summer and The Perfect Love Song: A Holiday Story, Coming Up for Air, And Then I Found You and The Stories We Tell. 

Patti was a finalist in the Townsend Prize for Fiction and twice a nominee for the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Association Fiction Book of the Year. Patti is hailed as a fresh new voice in southern fiction. She is a frequent speaker at luncheons, book clubs and women's groups where she discusses the importance of storytelling and anything else they want to talk about.

Patti grew up as a Minister's daughter, learning early how storytelling effects our lives. She grew up spending her summers on Cape Cod where she began her love affair with the beach, ocean, tides and nature of the coast. Moving south at the tender age of twelve, she found solace in books and stories. While attending Auburn University, she met a southern boy who later proposed on Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, next to a historic lighthouse overlooking the Sound. After earning her Master's degree in Child Health, Patti worked as a Clinical Nurse Specialist until her first child was born.

Patti is a full time writer, wife and mother living with her husband and three children in Mountain Brook Alabama where she is crafting her next novel.

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Book Giveaway: Crow Hollow

The Vise Library has been given a copy of Crow Hollow to host a giveaway (see below for giveaway!) in celebration of its publication.  

About the book:

Wall Street Journal bestselling author Michael Wallace transports readers back in time to the late 15th century with his new book CROW HOLLOW (Lake Union Publishing | June 1, 2015). Two unlikely partners—a young Puritan widow and an English spy—journey across a land where greed and treachery abound.
Packing all the punch of a thriller, with all the rich detail of a historical, Wallace’s new novel takes readers on a treacherous journey. Crow Hollow tells the story of Prudence Cotton, a young Puritan and recent widow, who must embark on a relentless journey to rescue her daughter from the Nipmuk tribe. Convinced her daughter is alive, but unable to scour the wilderness alone, Prudence teams up with James Bailey, an agent of the crown, who has been sent from London to Boston to secretly cause unrest.
After his partner is murdered, however, James finds himself in need of Prudence’s help as much as she is in need of his, and the two set off into the wild New England landscape looking for clues that will lead Prudence to her daughter. What they confront in the wilderness, and discover about each other, could change their allegiances forever, and alter each of their destinies.
CROW HOLLOW is an epic adventure novel that will keep readers breathless until the last page. As a true thriller novelist, fans of Dan Brown and Stephen King will enjoy Michael Wallace’s razor-sharp storytelling.

Buy the book:

     Amazon

       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books

About the author:

MICHAEL WALLACE was born in California and raised in a small religious community in Utah, eventually heading east to live in Rhode Island and Vermont. In addition to working as a literary agent and innkeeper, he previously worked as a software engineer for a Department of Defense contractor, programming simulators for nuclear submarines. He is the author of more than twenty novels, including the Wall Street Journal bestselling series The Righteous, set in a polygamist enclave in the desert.

Connect with the author:

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Giveaway:

To be entered in the giveaway for a free copy of Crow Hollow leave a comment on this blog post about who (real or fiction) you would like to accompany you (and why!) on journey like the one Prudence and James go on in Crow Hollow.  We will pick a random winner to receive a copy of this book!  Good luck!!!  

Summer Reading Challenge: Worthy by Catherine Ryan Hyde

This summer, members of the Vise Library are participating in a Summer Reading Challenge. We have received copies of several books from publishers for honest reviews. We hope that you enjoy these reviews (and books)!

This week's book is Worth by Catherine Ryan Hyde.

About the book:

They might’ve been a family.

Virginia finally had the chance to explore a relationship with Aaron when he asked her on a date. She had been waiting, hoping that the widower and his young son, Buddy, would welcome her into their lives. But a terrible tragedy strikes on the night of their first kiss, crushing their hopes for a future together.

Nineteen years later, Virginia is engaged, though she has not forgotten Aaron or Buddy. When her dog goes missing and it comes to light that her fiancé set him loose, a distraught Virginia breaks off the engagement and is alone once again. A shy young man has found the missing pet, and although he’s bonded with the animal, he answers his conscience and returns the dog. Before long, Virginia and the young man discover a connection from their pasts that will help them let go of painful memories and change their lives forever.

This book starts off 19 years in the past.  Virginia is interested in Aaron and he is interested in her too.  Aaron has a son named Buddy.  Buddy is sort of a special needs child and he has had a hard time since his mother passed away.  One night something terrible happens to Aaron and Buddy is sent to live with his grandparents.  Virginia and Buddy have no contact after that point.  When Virginia finds out that Buddy has been taken to live with is grandparents, the reader is taken to present day in the story.  Virginia is now engaged to a loser named Lloyd (sorry, Virginia) and he does something terrible.  He is jealous of Virginia's dog, T-Rex, and sets the dog loose during the wintertime in order to be rid of the dog.  A boy named Jody witnesses the dog being dumped and decides to take care of it.  Jody ends up naming the dog Worthy and Worthy is the only thing or person that Jody has.  By divine circumstances Virginia finds out Jody has her dog and finds out what Lloyd has done.  What happens next in the story is Virginia struggling with the decision of getting her dog back from Jody and Jody struggles with if he should let him go.  This story ends up bonding these two characters in more ways than one.  This dog helps them both find where they belong.

Buy the book:

     Amazon

       Barnes and Noble
      Parnassus Books

About the author:

Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of 30 published and forthcoming books, including WORTHY, THE LANGUAGE OF HOOFBEATS, TAKE ME WITH YOU, WHERE WE BELONG, WHEN I FOUND YOU, WALK ME HOME, SECOND HAND HEART, DON'T LET ME GO, and WHEN YOU WERE OLDER. New Kindle editions of her backlist titles FUNERALS FOR HORSES, EARTHQUAKE WEATHER AND OTHER STORIES, ELECTRIC GOD, and WALTER'S PURPLE HEART are now available. Also available is THE LONG, STEEP PATH: EVERYDAY INSPIRATION FROM THE AUTHOR OF PAY IT FORWARD, her first book-length creative nonfiction. 

An avid hiker, traveler, and amateur photographer, she has just released her first book of photos, 365 DAYS OF GRATITUDE: PHOTOS FROM A BEAUTIFUL WORLD.

She is co-author, with publishing industry blogger Anne R. Allen, of HOW TO BE A WRITER IN THE E-AGE: A SELF-HELP GUIDE.

Her best-known novel, PAY IT FORWARD, was adapted into a major motion picture, chosen by the American Library Association for its Best Books for Young Adults list, and translated into more than 23 languages for distribution in over 30 countries. The paperback was released in October 2000 by Pocket Books and quickly became a national bestseller. Simon & Schuster released PAY IT FORWARD: YOUNG READERS' EDITION in August of '14. It is suitable for kids as young as eight. A special Fifteenth Anniversary Edition of the original PAY IT FORWARD was released in December of '14

LOVE IN THE PRESENT TENSE enjoyed bestseller status in the UK, where it broke the top ten, spent five weeks on the bestseller lists, was reviewed on a major TV book club, and shortlisted for a Best Read of the Year award at the British Book Awards. Both BECOMING CHLOE and JUMPSTART THE WORLD were included on the ALA's Rainbow List, and JUMPSTART THE WORLD was a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards. WHERE WE BELONG won two Rainbow Awards in 2013.

More than 50 of her short stories have been published in The Antioch Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train and many other journals, and in the anthologies Santa Barbara Stories and California Shorts and the bestselling anthology Dog is my Co-Pilot. Her stories have been honored in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest and the Tobias Wolff Award and nominated for Best American Short Stories, the O'Henry Award, and the Pushcart Prize. Three have been cited in Best American Short Stories.

She is founder and former president (2000-2009) of the Pay It Forward Foundation, and still serves on its board of directors. As a professional public speaker she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University, met with Americorps members at the White House and shared a dais with Bill Clinton. 

For more information, please visit the author at catherineryanhyde.com

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