Sunday Salon

We definitely had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend together here. My son came home from college last Wednesday evening and just left this morning. And my fater-in-law came for a visit from South Dakota on Thursday and he just left this morning also.

Thursday I must admit that I made the best turkey that I have ever made in my life! I brined the turkey, which I have never done before, and the flavor and moistness was like none I have had before. I will definitely be brining a turkey in the future and would recommend it highly!

After stuffing ourselves with turkey, sweet potatoes, and pie, I ventured out with my kids on Thursday night to Wal-Mart and we bought a wii. Boy is that a fun game and it sure is a workout! So I told my daughter that when we have a disagreement we can take our frustrations out through the wii game!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I am thankful for so many things including:

My family

My church

My home

My job, which so many are without

My bookclub friends

My blog and new blogging friends!

I am also thankful for winning a copy of Testimony from Redlady's Reading Room.

Well I am off to get some laundry done so I am ready for the week ahead. Try to get a little bit more reading in today, even though all my favorite shows are on tonight!

2009 What's In A Name Challenge

Now this sounds like a challenge that I can handle! All you need to do is read one book in each of the 6 categories during the year. The categories are as follows:

1. A book with a "profession" in its title
The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner--Completed 5/10/2009


2. A book with a "time of day" in its title.
The Darkest Evening of the Year by Dean Koontz--Completed 4/20/09


3. A book with a "relative" in its title.
Two Brothers-One North, One South by David H. Jones--Completed 6/16/2009


4. A book with a "body part" in its title.
BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker--Completed 9/15/2009


5. A book with a "building" in its title.
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin--Completed 10/3/2009


6. A book with a "medical condition" in its title.
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger--Completed 12/10/2009


To join in the fun click here.

Teaser Tuesday-Nov. 25

Check out Teaser Tuesdays from Should Be Reading.

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser is from This One is Mine by Maria Semple:

"May I draw your attention to the office building across the steet."

Violet passed his car. It looked like he was taking off his shirt.

pg. 58

Review and Giveaway: Names My Sisters Call Me by Megan Crane

The following is a summary of Names My Sisters Call Me by Megan Crane from Hachette:

Courtney, Norah, and Raine Cassel are as different as three sisters can be. Norah, the oldest, is a type A obsessive who hasn't forgiven Raine, the middle sister, for ruining her wedding day six years ago. Raine is Norah's opposite, a wild child/performance artist/follow-your-bliss hippie chick who ran off to California. The only thing the two have in common is their ability to drive Courtney, their youngest sister, crazy.

When her longtime boyfriend proposes, Courtney decides it's finally time to call a truce and bring the three sisters together. After all, they're grown-ups now, right? But it turns out that family ghosts aren't easily defeated--and neither are first loves. Soon Courtney finds herself reexamining every choice she has made in the past six years--including the man she's about to marry--and the value of reconnecting with the sisters she knows she needs, in spite of everything.

My Review:

When I picked up Names My Sisters Call Me I really was expecting a fun, light read. Well I certainly did get what I expected, and more! One of the big themes in this book was not wanting to let go of first loves, but then finally learning to let go and move on. The family dynamics between the sisters and their mother was also another important aspect of the book and was very realistic.

Courtney has kept a close, yet somewhat strained relationship with her older and bossy sister Norah, but has not kept in touch with Raine since she fled from her family six years earlier. As Courtney is now engaged she is hoping that her sisters will be able to set aside their differences so they can share in the happy event of Courtney's nuptuals together as a family.

As Courtney's sisters reunite in their hometown to celebrate her engagement party, Courtney is tempted by the feelings that she has or had for her first love. Luckily, this part of the novel helped to reveal some underlying family issues in Courtney's life. It helped her to realize why she let her sisters treat her the way they do.

Even though the mother had a small part in the novel, I feel she made a very important statement. Knowing how different each of her daughters were, she showed her love and support for each of them even during the most trying times. One of my favorite parts of the book was when they were having 'Family Dinner', and mom brought out three cakes, a different cake for each daughter because they all had different tastes. For me, this was a way of embracing their differences instead of trying to fix or change them.

Everything did come together nicely at the end of the book, but not too nicely that it seemed unrealistic. The three sisters obviously still had some relationship issues to work out. Personally, this book really tugged at my heart, since I grew up without a father myself. I also want to share the line in the book that really impacted me, from pg 290, "I never learned how to love something that could love me back."

This was a great book that I would suggest for a book club or for personal reading, especially if you have a sister! I just can't wait to see how the rest of my book club liked it. I will be sure to share some of their comments after we meet to discuss it.

Feel free to check out Megan Crane's website to find out what kind of sister you are.

Giveaway:

Miriam from Hachette is offering to give away one copy of Names My Sisters Call Me by Megan Crane. To enter this giveaway you must be 18 or older and live in the US or Canada.

For one entry leave me a comment below.

For an additional entry, link this contest to your blog.

Please make sure I have a way to contact you if you win.

You have until December 6th to enter and I will draw for a winner on December 7th.

I've Been Tagged for Wyn's Sunday Meme

Jessica from Living Between the Pages tagged me for Wyn’s Sunday Meme. Make sure you check out both blogs. Thank you Jessica for being the first one to tag me!

The meme:
1. What book is on the left hand side of your computer or closest to the left hand side?
2. Are you reviewing it, is it your favourite, or is it there for some other reason and specify.
3. Go to page 38 and write down from the 2nd paragraph, the first 4 sentences.
4. Tag 4 friends and pass them this avatar.

The closest book to the left of my computer at home is Gardens of Water by Alan Drew. It is there because my bookshelf is to the left of my computer and it just happens to be the last book that I put on my shelf because it was just returned to me from friends that had borrowed it. I read this book about a year ago when my entire book club won Advanced Reader's Copies from Random House. This is one of my favorite books and one of the few books that was overwhelmingly enjoyed by almost everyone within my book group. This book deals with many different themes including, first love, family obligations, and differences in cultures and religions. Two very different families are thrown together to deal with their differences after living through a natural disaster. You can see a complete synopsis of Gardens of Water here.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would not hesitate to suggest it to someone for a leisurely read or for a book club discussion.


pg 38

He came to finally and found himself wrapped around the twisted mess of wrought iron. His shirt had caught on the metal, and it was pulled up over his head so that when he opened his eyes he faced the darkness of the material. For a moment he thought he was dead, then the pain at his temple shocked him into consciousness. His legs dangled over the edge of the rooftop.


Now to tag 4 fellow bloggers:

Julie at Julie's Jewels
Bonnie at Redlady's Reading Room
Lisa at Books and Cooks
Betty at Betty's Books

Teaser Tuesday-Nov. 18

Check out Teaser Tuesdays from Should Be Reading.

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

I'm still reading Names My Sisters Call Me from Megan Crane, so here is another teaser from that book:

Their casual, and thus evidently long-term intimacy hung around them like a sepia tent.

I may have been naive, but even I could see the freaking obvious.

pg. 175

Sunday Salon

Well it has certainly been a busy weekend for us here in Northern Wisconsin. And boy has it been cold! It has been lightly snowing off and on all day, which I don't mind if I am in a nice warm house all day!

I actually started my weekend on Thursday night, when I went out for Mexican with some friends and family. We originally planned it for Friday night, but then realized that wouldn't work so we had to move it up. Boy did we have a good time with our margaritas, salsa and chips!

My daughter is a senior in high school this year, and she is in the drama club that is performing 'It's a Wonderful Life' this weekend. So we went to see the play on Friday night, which was their first performance. My daughter thought the play was horrible that night, because they had a few kinks to work out, but I think those little mistakes make it even that more endearing. We had a great time and hats off to the young man that played the role of Old Man Potter...he was just a hoot!

Saturday I spent the afternoon with some friends of mine at a baby shower. The baby was also there so that was a special afternoon. She is just a couple of weeks old but you really do forget how tiny those precious ones are when they are born!

This afternoon I have just been trying to get caught up on some paperwork. How it multiplies I will never understand. One piece of information that excited me this weekend is that I found out that The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne has been made into a movie. I received that book as a Christmas present last year, so now I will definitely have to read it soon!

Well I am off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday with a book in my recliner, before I have to start a busy week all over again.

RYOB Challenge 2009

This sounds like an interesting challenge. You just set a goal of how many of your own books you want to read during 2009. You don't even need to create a list beforehand, which works great for me since I am always changing my mind! And it will help me get through some of those books that I have been wanting to read for so long.

For more information and to sign up for this challenge click here. I am going to sign up to read 20 of my own books.

1. The Probable Future by Alice Hoffman--Completed 1/11/2009
2. Peony in Love--Completed 1/24/2009
3. The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy--Completed 2/7/2009
4. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne--Completed 2/10/2009
5. This Side of Heaven by Karen Kingsbury--Completed 2/18/2009
6. Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas--Completed 2/28/2009
7. Bedlam South by Mark Grisham and David Donaldson--Completed 3/10/2009
8. The View from Mount Joy by Lorna Landvik--Completed 3/23/2009
9. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See--Completed 4/5/2009
10. Keeper of Light and Dust by Natasha Mostert--Completed 4/20/2009
11. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini--Completed 4/30/2009
12. The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner--Completed 5/10/2009
13. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay--Completed 5/17/2009
14. Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons--Completed 5/20/2009
15. Two Brothers-One North, One South by David H. Jones--Completed 6/16/2009
16. Cutting Loose by Nadine Dajani--Completed 6/25/2009
17. Beach Trip by Cathy Holton--Completed 7/10/2009
18. The Circle of Friends Book III...James by L. Diane Wolfe--Completed 8/2/2009
19. Blue Shoes and Happiness by Alexander McCall Smith--Completed 8/8/2009
20. Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas--Completed 8/15/2009

New Author Challenge 2009

This is my first challenge so I thought I would start out with one that I think is attainable for me. In the New Author Challenge you choose the number of new authors that you want to read during the year. Literary Escapism suggests 25 or 50, but I am going for 25. The challenge runs from January 2009 to December 2009.

Check it out and join in if interested!

1. The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy--completed 2/7/2009
2. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne--completed 2/10/2009
3. Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas--Completed 2/28/2009
4. Bedlam South by Mark Grisham and David Donaldson--completed 3/10/2009
5. Keeper of Light and Dust by Natasha Mostert--completed 4/20/2009
6. Code to Zero by Ken Follett--completed 4/22/2009
7. The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner--Completed 5/10/2009
8. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant--Completed 5/1/2009
9. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay--Completed 5/17/2009
10. Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons--Completed 5/26/2009
11. Two Brothers-One North, One South by David H. Jones Completed 6/16/2009
12. So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger--Completed 6/8/2009
13. Cutting Loose by Nadine Dajani--Completed 6/25/2009
14. Lost and Found by Carolyn Parkhurst--Completed 7/8/2009
15. Beach Trip by Cathy Holton--Completed 7/10/2009
16. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer--Completed 7/20/2009
17. The Circle of Friends III...James by L. Diane Wolfe--Completed 8/2/2009
18. The Last Bridge by Teri Coyne--Completed 8/17/2009
19. The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan--Completed 8/30/2009
20. The Light, the Dark, and Ember Between by J.W. Nicklaus--Completed 9/12/2009
21. The BoneMan's Daughters by Ted Dekker-Completed 9/15/2009
22. The Sari Shop Widow by Shobhan Bantwal--Completed 9/21/2009
23. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin--Completed 10/3/2009
24. The Next Thing on my List by Jill Smolinski--Completed 10/4/2009
25. The Financial Lives of the Poets by Jess Walter--Completed 10/7/2009

Teaser Tuesday

Check out Teaser Tuesdays from Should Be Reading.

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser is from Names My Sisters Call Me by Megan Crane:

'He was bearing drinks and looked delighted to discover he was the topic of conversation. He grinned at Lucas as he handed him the beer. "What were you expecting?"'

pg 104

Book Bloggers Christmas Swap 2008

What a neat idea! A secret santa gift exchange with book blogging pals! I love it!

Check out how to get signed up in this gift exchange at Things Mean a Lot.

The Christmas season is upon us so make sure you sign up by November 18th! I have never participated in a secret santa to this extent so I am looking forward to it!

Review: The Victoria Vanishes: A Peculiar Units Crime Mystery by Christopher Fowler

The following is a summary of The Victoria Vanishes by Christopher Fowler from Random House:

It’s a case tailor-made for the Peculiar Crimes Unit. A lonely hearts killer is targeting middle-aged women at some of England’s most well-known pubs—including one torn down eighty years ago. What’s more, Arthur Bryant happened to see one of the victims only moments before her death at the pub that doesn’t exist. Indeed, this case is littered with clues that defy everything the veteran detectives know about the habits of serial killers, the methodology of crime, and the odds of making an arrest. Now, with the public on the verge of panic and their superiors determined to shut the PCU down for good, Detectives Bryant and May must rise to the occasion in defense of two great English traditions—the pub and the Peculiar Crimes Unit.

That’s easier said than done. A lost funeral urn, the eighteenth-century mystic Emanuel Swedenborg, the Knights Templars, the secret history of pubs, and the discovery of an astounding religious relic may be enough to convince one of the pair to take back his resignation letter. But with Bryant consulting a memory specialist and May encountering a brush with mortality, do the Peculiar Crimes Unit’s two living legends have enough life left to stop a murderous conspiracy…and a deadly cupid targeting one of their own.

My Review:

I do not usually read mysteries, but I figured it was time to change my habits a little bit by expanding my reading genre. I received an Advanced Reading Copy of this novel and started reading it right away. I used to read mysteries when I was younger but kind of shyed away from them when I wasn't finding them intellectually challenging. Obviously, I have learned that the substance of the novel depends upon the author that you choose to read, and Christopher Fowler did not let me down.

This book is part of the Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery series and I did not read any of the previous books in this series. I do not think that I missed anything by not reading any of the previous installments.

Bryant and May are the lead detectives of the Peculiar Crimes Unit, which is an odd division of the London police department. The government has actually been trying to abolish the unit for years. Will the government finally accomplish it's task of shutting down this unit when one of the detectives decides that he should retire?

The women of London are being preyed upon in the local pubs and it is up to the Peculiar Crimes Unit to find the perpetrator. This was the mystery part of the novel, which unfolded quite nicely, and not in an obvious way.

Another enjoyable aspect of the book is how he included historical data regarding the London pubs. The governmental conspiracy, historical pubs, the peculiar crimes, bits of comedy here and there, and some of the personal information about the main characters really enhanced this book and gave it a good solid base. I truly enjoyed this mystery and look forward to reading more of these novels in the future!

Teaser Tuesday

Check out Teaser Tuesdays from Should Be Reading at http://shouldbereading.wordpress.com/.

TEASER TUESDAYS asks you to:

Grab your current read.

Let the book fall open to a random page.

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

My teaser is from The Victoria Vanishes:A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler

'A popular Maritime moto was "We anchor in hope", but by depicting sailors the sign-maker has misunderstood the meaning of the pub's name. You see? By decoding the tangled symbols of the past, we get close to the truths that history books miss.'

pg. 114

Open Secrets:A Memoir of Faith and Discovery

The following synopsis is from the Random House website:


In the tradition of Garrison Keillor, Open Secrets captures the friendships, rivalries, and rumors of small-town life by chronicling the lives of the citizens of a small Midwestern community through the eyes of a young minister.

Fresh out of divinity school and bursting with enthusiasm, Richard Lischer found himself assigned to a small conservative church in an economically depressed town in southern Illinois. It’s an awkward marriage at best--a young man with a Ph.D. in theology, full of ideas and ambitions, determined to improve his parish and bring it into the twenty-first century, and a community that is “as tightly sealed as a jar of home-canned pickles.” In Open Secrets, Lischer tells not only his own story but also the story of New Cana and its inhabitants. With charm, openness, and humor, Lischer brings to life the clash of cultures and personalities that marks his pastoral tenure, including his own doubts, as well as those of his parishioners, that a twenty-eight-year-old suburban-raised liberal can deal with the troubled marriages, alcoholism, teen sex, inadequate farm subsidies, and other concerns of the conservative, tightly knit community. But the inhabitants of New Cana--lovable, deeply flawed, imperfect people who stick together--open their arms to him in their own way, and the result is a colorful, poignant comedy of small-town life and all it has to offer.

My Review:

This was a very interesting book to read considering the fact that I belong to a small Christian church in a rural community. It was both bittersweet and comical at times to see the similarities between my church and the church in this memoir, which are obviously similarities in just about any small rural church out there.

The beginning of this book was very difficult for me. He really went into a lot of detail about his education to prepare for his ministry. Much of this information was very specific for a Lutheran education, so if you are not a Lutheran it may very well not hold your interest.

I did appreciate the honest assessment of how he felt when he arrived at the little church in New Cana. After receiving a theological education he had higher aspirations than ministering to the rural church that consisted of a few large families that essentially managed the community. It was evident that he was having a hard time adapting to his new church and pastoral duties. You could see him becoming more confident in his position when he had the opportunity to deliver a couple of sermons at another local church. This also gave his congretation a chance to be a little more appreciative of the gifts that he had to offer.

Our book club consists of ladies that I consider to have a very strong Christian faith. When we first looked at this book we unanimously thought that we would enjoy it. Although we enjoyed many of the little stories within the book, and his truthful assessment of himself, we really did not enjoy this memoir in general. This book was structured in a way that was difficult to read and follow along. A couple of our members our Lutherans, so I at least expected them to like it a bit more, but they did not.

This book does contain good information and I think it would be very valuable for a pastor of a small rural church, but I don't think that it is material worthy for a bookclub discussion. Our book club rates books on a scale from one to five, one being the lowest and five being the highest. This book received an average rating of a two from our club.