Hello Friends -
I am not regularly posting on the Reading in White Bear Lake blog due to time constraints. I am active on Instagram and Facebook. Please feel free to follow me there!!
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Jen
A tiny girl is abandoned on a ship headed for Australia in 1913. She arrives completely alone with nothing but a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a single book; a beautiful volume of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster and his wife and raised as their own. On her twenty-first birthday, they tell her the truth, and with her sense of self shattered and very little to go on, "Nell" sets out to trace her real identity. Her quest leads her to Blackhurst Manor on the Cornish coast and the secrets of the doomed Mountrachet family. But it is not until her granddaughter, Cassandra, takes up the search after Nell's death that all the pieces of the puzzle are assembled. A spellbinding tale of mystery and self-discovery, The Forgotten Garden will take hold of your imagination and never let go.
Title: Forgotten Garden
Author: Kate Morton
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Pan; Unabridged edition (2008)
Length: 648 pages
GIVEAWAY: I have one “previously read” copy of The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton to giveaway. To enter, please head over to Our Reading in WBL facebook page. Please comment on the giveaway post with your favorite thriller/suspense book to be entered into the giveaway! We’ll announce a winner on October 16th.
Good luck.
GIVEAWAY: USA only, please. - Please note this is a previously read edition!!
Happy Reading!
*Note – if you would like to keep up with book reviews on Reading in White Bear Lake, please take a moment to like us on facebook!
Hello Friends -
Beautiful weather in Minnesota and tomorrow the MN State Fair starts. It is always bitter sweet as that means school is starting very soon. Soccer Season has already started, and Tommy made the varsity team. Life is good….my family is good! I am meeting my reading goals, but slacking on writing reviews!
Currently Reading:
What are you reading??? What is your best summer read???
How to do you keep track of new books coming out?? I thought I would share some books that caught my eye so far this summer. I know I have already gotten on the waitlist for a few at the library. The books are still on order and I am not even the first person to request the book.
I always have a TBR list that is ever growing, but I hate to forget about a book I heard of. Maybe I will have a better chance with my TBR list when I retire - 15+ years from now!
Here are some new releases or upcoming release that have caught my eye. I hope you find something that interests you as well!
GIVEAWAY: I will be holding a give away of 1 previously read copy of Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris on Reading in White Bear Lake in September!! Sign up to receive updates so you don’t miss your chance!
Happy Reading!
*Note – if you would like to keep up with book reviews on Reading in White Bear Lake, please take a moment to like us on facebook!
Title: Baby Teeth
Author: Zoje Stage (Website) (Twitter) (GoodReads)
Genre: Suspense, Thriller
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press (July 17, 2018)
Length: 320
Source: Author/Publisher
About the Book: (Goodreads.com)
Sweetness can be deceptive.
Meet Hanna.
She’s the sweet-but-silent angel in the adoring eyes of her Daddy. He’s the only person who understands her, and all Hanna wants is to live happily ever after with him. But Mommy stands in her way, and she’ll try any trick she can think of to get rid of her. Ideally for good.
Meet Suzette.
She loves her daughter, really, but after years of expulsions and strained home schooling, her precarious health and sanity are weakening day by day. As Hanna’s tricks become increasingly sophisticated, and Suzette's husband remains blind to the failing family dynamics, Suzette starts to fear that there’s something seriously wrong, and that maybe home isn’t the best place for their baby girl after all.
GIVEAWAY: I have three copies of Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage to giveaway. To enter, please head over to Our Reading in WBL facebook page. Please comment on the giveaway post with the latest book you read that you enjoyed and why to be entered into the giveaway! We’ll announce a winner on June 30th . Good luck.
GIVEAWAY: USA only, please.
Click TO ENTER on facebook page!
Happy Reading!
*Note – if you would like to keep up with book reviews on Reading in White Bear Lake, please take a moment to like us on facebook!
Hello Friends -
Finally, it is warming up in Minnesota, which has me wanting to make more time to read. I love walking and listening to audio books. I have joined a book club again. This one meets every other month, which works well for me. Most of the books selected for this year, I already had on shelf waiting to be read. I decided to cancel my audible subscription and have been having good luck with downloading audiobooks from the library.
I recently started the Cork O’Connor Mystery Series audiobooks. Cork is a former cop living in the Minnesota's northern lake country. I have listened to the first two books in the series. As many know, my family loves the Duluth and North Shore area of MN. So of course I will enjoy books set in that area as well. William Kent Krueger does a very nice job weaving in the Anishinaabe culture into the stories.
Currently Reading:
What are you reading???
To help with you with your May reading, I thought I would share some books that have caught my eye. These books will be available in May. If you like, maybe even get on the waitlist at the library for these upcoming titles. As a book blogger, I am able to request, read and provide feedback on upcoming titles. I love being able to do this, but some months my ambitions are larger than what time allows. I still have a full time job which interferes regularly with my reading/blogging schedule. So I decided to share with you some upcoming releases that have caught my eye. I would hate for you to miss an upcoming title due to my lack of time!!
Here are some books which will be available in bookstores in May 2018, that caught my eye!
GIVEAWAY: We will be holding a give away of 3 copies of Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage on Reading in White Bear Lake in May!! Sign up to receive updates so you don’t miss your chance!
Happy Reading!
*Note – if you would like to keep up with book reviews on Reading in White Bear Lake, please take a moment to like us on facebook!
Title:The Nearness to You
Author: Amanda Eyre Ward (Facebook) (Website) (Twitter) (Instagram) (Goodreads)
Genre: Literary
Publisher: HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books (January 31, 2017)
Length: 7 hours and 45 minutes
Source: Audiobook Jukebox‘s reviewer program
About the Book: (From Goodreads)
In this profound and lyrical novel, acclaimed author Amanda Eyre Ward explores the deeper meanings of motherhood—from the first blissful hello to the heart-wrenching prospect of saying goodbye.
Brilliant heart surgeon Suzette Kendall is stunned when Hyland, her husband of fifteen years, admits his yearning for a child. From the beginning, they’d decided that having children was not an option, as Suzette feared passing along the genes that landed her mother in a mental institution. But Hyland proposes a different idea: a baby via surrogate.
Suzette agrees, and what follows is a whirlwind of candidate selections, hospital visits, and Suzette’s doubts over whether she’s made the right decision. A young woman named Dorothy Muscarello is chosen as the one who will help make this family complete. For Dorrie, surrogacy (and the money that comes with it) are her opportunity to leave behind a troubled past and create a future for herself—one full of possibility. But this situation also forces all three of them—Dorrie, Suzette, and Hyland—to face a devastating uncertainty that will reverberate in the years to come.
Beautifully shifting between perspectives, The Nearness of You deftly explores the connections we form, the families we create, and the love we hold most dear.
My Review: 3/ liked it – The initial story line of The Nearness of You starts with Suzette a heart surgeon. She is very career orientated and does not want to have any children. She is afraid her upbringing has not prepared her to be a good mother. Suzette is also concerned that her mother’s mental health problems will be passed on. Hyland is an architect and changes his mind. He now wants to have a baby, even though he agreed to this arrangement previously.
Suzette and Hyland do decide to start a family through surrogacy. This is where 21 year old Dorrie, looking to escape her current life, comes into the story. Dorrie agrees to be Suzette and Hyland’s surrogate. She plans to use the money from being a surrogate to escape her life with her mother and attend college. Nearness to You by Amanda Eyre Ward is told in alternating view points. The view points of Dorrie, Suzette and Hyland are very well conveyed in regards to their feelings about having a baby, their fears and concerns about surrogacy.
Dorrie decides to keep the baby. She has to live a life of fear and makes many poor decisions to keep her baby. Later, the baby, is raised by Suzette and Hyland. She is named Eloise, after Hylands sister. Eloise struggles with feelings of not belonging as a teen and seeks answers. She goes down a scary path, which leads her to some surprising information. The pace of the story is good and keeps you engage. There are twists and turns to keep you interested. The ending leaves far too many loose ends, felt rushed and did not give me closure with the characters and their stories. It felt like the author just stop writing before the end. The journey to the end was wonderful, the ending just fell flat for me.
Nearness to You is a emotional read dealing with surrogacy, the bond of motherhood and difficult childhood experiences and how those experiences affect us.
My Rating Scale: 1 – didn’t like it; 2 – it was ok; 3 – liked it; 4 – really liked it; 5 – it was amazing
Happy Reading!
**Disclosure – The Nearness to You by Amanda Eyre Ward was received from The Audiobook Jukebox reviewer program in exchange for a fair review. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links.
Loving this warm weather! I can’t believe it is August already. Summers in Minnesota go by so quickly. We have been pretty busy in July. Hubby and boys have been going to all the MN United Games (soccer). They certainly are getting good use of their season tickets. The remodel of the basement room is done. Just waiting for the carpet to arrive and be installed. Than we will be working on moving our youngest son to that room. Next week they will be here to install new kitchen flooring. I read a few books in June, but as you can see, I haven’t been writing many reviews.
This week, I am sort of on vacation. I am only working a few hours a day from home, while I am home caring for my father in law. I hope to get some reading and reviewing done as well as just organizing in the house. I also need to start walking again each evening, which will have me listening to more audiobooks. Never enough hours in the day!
Currently Reading:
Home Sweet Home by April Smith (set in South Dakota)
In the Country We Love: My Family Divided by Diane Guerrero (very timely, deals with immigration)
To help with your August reading, I thought I would share some books that have caught my eye. These books will be available in August. If you like, maybe even get on the waitlist at the library for these upcoming titles. As a book blogger, I am able to request, read and provide feedback on upcoming titles. I love being able to do this, but some months my ambitions are larger than what time allows. I still have a full time job which interferes regularly with my reading/blogging schedule. So I decided to share with you some upcoming releases that have caught my eye. I would hate for you to miss an upcoming title due to my lack of time!!
Here are some books which will be available in bookstores in August 2017, that caught my eye!
Happy Reading!
*Note – if you would like to keep up with book reviews on Reading in White Bear Lake, please take a moment to like us on facebook!
Email: jmcoyan@gmail.com
To learn more about me or my review policy please visit my "About Me". Thanks for visiting!
