Thursday, March 27, 2014

Patty's Pick for 3/27/14 is "Goodbye for Now" by Laurie Frankel

Goodbye For Now Book Cover
Laurie Frankel has written a book that you are guaranteed to think about and discuss with your book club or friends. This is a very well-written book first and Laurie will pull you right into to this complicated love story. If you are like me, you like to pull for the underdog, and both of the main characters are kind of underdogs. Meredith and Sam work together but do not know each other until Sam invents a special program to find your perfect match. Love follows and we are hooked.
When Meredith's grandmother passes away, Sam wants to help Meredith any way he can. Her grieving is tearing him apart. He invents a software program that can use a dead person's social footprint and help the relative connect with them via a computer. This is unbelievable to some people but Meredith embraces it and together they embark on bringing it to the public. This could be coming to a computer near you. Who would not want to talk one more time to a loved one that has passed away? 
As Sam, Meredith, and my favorite character, Dash, bring this story to us, we meet some amazing people, and we are getting to know their dead relatives. This book will entertain you, inspire you and touch you. You will for sure be talking about it to someone. Will this technology be right around the corner? Don't miss the twists and turns that are coming when you turn these pages because I am not telling you a lot of the story!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Patty Pick for 3/20/13 is "The Supreme Macaroni Company" by Adriana Trigiani



Adriani Trigiani has written some good books. If you have a chance 
to read them, read her Big Stone Gap series set in the Virginia mountains. 
The characters in these well-written books kept me reading until I finished the last one.  I loved them all. 

A few years ago, my Book Club read another one of her books, "Very Valentine" published in 2009 about the last unmarried sister in a big Italian family. I went on to read the sequel, "Brava, Valentine" and liked it as well. When I saw that Adriani Trigiani had written a third book in the series I was excited to read it. The second one ended with start of a romance between Italian tanner, Gianluca, and Valentine, a third generation shoemaker. I wanted to find out what happened between them. I enjoyed Valentine's spirit and vulnerability and the crazy and touching family interactions.

This book surprised me. I loved the story of Valentine & Gianluca's engagement and what happened after they were married. Watching them try to blend families from Italy and America while feeling their way through a new marriage was a nice addition to the single Valentine storyline. Blending their old families and new families was a challenge at times. Valentine was trying to learn to be a wife and at the same time build a business. Gianluca was happy but missing his home, Italy. As they worked through their first days as a married couple,  through fighting and loving, you see their story take shape. Let's just say there are some surprises and some laughs, but read to the end because you won't believe it!

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Patty Pick for 3/13/14 is "Sycamore Row" by John Grisham



John Grisham has always been one of my favorite authors. While "The Firm" brought  John Grisham to the notice of the world, his first book will always be his best to me. "A Time to Kill" was so well-written and the storyline was gripping. But the people, like Jake Brigance, felt like a friends in my hometown. Grisham has gone on to write many other best sellers, but that one was my favorite. I just happened to find it after reading "The Firm" and I could not put it down until I read the last page. I wanted to go to Clanton, Mississippi and knock some sense in a few heads. When I heard that John Grisham was writing a sequel I was so excited to find out more from the characters I loved in "A Time to Kill"!

"Sycamore Row" starts off with a suicide and you are off on a fast ride. Jake Brigrance is the perfect small town lawyer. He is ethical but not above finding a way to win a case. He is married to a smart wife and they have the perfect little girl. They all most lost each other when the KKK burned down their house during the trial in "A Time to Kill". That trial is probably why Seth Hubbard chose him to be the one to defend his will. The one Seth wrote before he hung himself. That starts us on a new road down the highway of Jake's life, or I should say a dirt road. 

Seth Hubbard was a very wealthy man by anyone's standards but he is dying of cancer. He is also white and leaves 90% of his estate to his black housekeeper. In small town Mississippi that is unheard of. Everyone assumes the obvious and the fun begins between Jake who is defending the estate and all the other family members and their lawyers. 

Of course, there are surprises and courtroom drama and a lot of southern charm. A John Grisham novel would not be complete without all of the above. But overall this is one good story. As the story gets more twisted,  it's anyone's guess as to the outcome. Don't miss this book. It's not really a sequel, its just another great story by someone who knows Jake inside and out.








Thursday, March 6, 2014

The Patty Pick for 3/6/14 is "Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan


"Loving Frank" by Nancy Horan is a book that will change your view 
of famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright. He always seemed a distant, 
historical figure to me that gave us wonderful architecture to treasure. 
After you read this book, you will think of him as a person and you will know 
the woman who made a huge difference in his life. 
This book is a love story above all. Mameh Borthwick Cheney is someone 
I had never heard of, but you will know her intimately after reading this book. 
Nancy Horan wove facts and research into a love story of these two real people that you don't want to miss. 
Mameh Cheney and her husband hired Frank Lloyd Wright to design a 
new home for them and their family. This started Memeh and Frank 
on a long relationship that concludes after much adventure and history. 
Their affair happened during a time in history that such things were not 
tolerated by society in most places in the world but they found a way to 
make it work. The story will keep you interested during the entire book and 
you will never think about Frank Lloyd Wright the same way again.