Wednesday, October 24, 2018

Patty's Pick for 10/25/18 is "The Marriage Lie" by Kimberly Belle

Iris and Will have been married for 7 years and are thinking about starting a family. In fact, they are starting now, right before he leaves for a business flight. He is a highly sought-after programmer and she is a school psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia. Their life looks  perfect. Will unexpectedly turns up on a flight that crashes in a cornfield on the same day he was supposed to fly the opposite direction to Orlando. It’s a flight that no one survives, a flight he was not supposed to even be on, Iris is confused and frozen in grief. 

As her family rallies around her to pick up the pieces, Iris discovers that she has another problem! Her husband is dead and he is not who she thought he was. There are so many lies that she and her brother spend days traveling to other states to find out who he actually is, but they are left with a lot of unanswered questions. Then his boss tells Iris that Will have stolen 4.5 million dollars from his company and they will be coming after her to recover it. Who can she turn to for help? A lawyer who also lost his family on the same plane seems to be her only choice. She met him at the memorial service where she also met a friend of Will’s that she didn’t know he even had. A friend named Corban who wants to help her too. That are so many secrets she can not imagine Will kept from her.  

Corban seems nice and vows to protect and help Iris, as this was his last promise to Will. With strange text messages and even stranger letters turning up to confuse her, who does Iris trust? What is the truth about Will’s past? You have to read to the very last sentence to find out what happens, and you will want to read this one as quickly as possible. I have been wanting to read one of Kimberly Belle’s books for a while now and I'm so glad that I started with this one. “The Marriage Lie” is a solid 5 stars, a keep-you-up-at-night, don’t-stop-reading-yet, kind of book! 

Sunday, September 30, 2018

Hurricane Hardship

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I wrote this during Hurricane Florence and after it had hit our state, that time was such a rollercoaster of emotions. I watched hours and hours of footage of Hurricane Florence and it's effects on the coastline and inland areas of North Carolina - my home. North Carolina is not just my home now, but my birthplace. My ancestors have been here for many years and my husband and I have long roots in this state. I grew up in the Piedmont, in the town of Mebane. It used to be a small town with one stoplight that would turn to blinking after midnight. Now it is crowded with large communities, many businesses and so many people, it is hard to drive around. 

My emotions were all over the place last weekend. First the hurricane was predicted to hit another state and then it was heading to North Carolina. All along I told myself that hurricanes never go where they are predicted to go. As the hours counted down to landfall, Florence was heading directly toward our condo, then not, then who knows? This pull on one's emotions, during one of life's stressful and horrific events, effects us all to some degree. I waffled between terror over the imminent destruction of my second home, my slice of heaven, and guilt over the people that would lose their only home if it hit somewhere else.

I watched hours and hours of footage of Hurricane Florence and it's effects on the coastline and inland areas of North Carolina - my home. North Carolina is not just my home now, but my birthplace. My ancestors have been here for many years and my husband and I have long roots in this state. Our business is in Raleigh. Then after all the agony, it hit somewhere else. But during the event, you don't really know what is happening unless your house happens to be right where a reporter chooses to be. No reporters were allowed on the barrier islands and we are still cut off from them today due to lack of power, water and sewer. But no complaining from me, we are the lucky ones. According to the authorities that run Ocean Isle, we are fine and very lucky to have missed the bulk of the hurricane. There are many people working very hard to help, rescue, recover and repair. We owe them the largest debt of gratitude possible. We are very fortunate in Raleigh and have been spared the worst  part of the terrible winds and rains in our area.

Our business is in Raleigh. We missed a bullet here, but Florence did not spare our southeastern counties or South Carolina. We watched as Florence grew and grew and finally hit somewhere else, Wrightsville Beach and Wilmington. During the hurricane, we had no idea what was really happening to our beach and property. You hope a reporter will choose to be close by so someone can tell you or show you, but not Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel, that seems to be the death knell. No reporters were allowed on the barrier islands and we were cut off from them for days due to lack of power, water and sewer. But no complaining from me, we are the lucky ones. After a survey from the authorities of our island, we were fine and very lucky to have missed the bulk of the hurricane. Helpers flooded into that side of the state to repair and fix. We owe them the largest debt of gratitude possible.  

But our dear friends in Wilmington were not so lucky. We were just in Wilmington recently for the beautiful wedding of two friends. To watch the young couple say their vows and rejoice with their parents are memories that we will carry with us a lifetime. There is nothing like a wedding to renew your own sense of joy and love. It brought back memories of my own small wedding - the love and happiness of the moment and relaxation that flowed through my body when the deed was completed. I remember that day like yesterday even though it was over 32 years ago. Now that both of my parents are no longer alive and my husband's father have passed, I cherish the memories of them being part of that day. My husband's mother is still with us at the amazing age of 92. She is suffering the late stages of Alzheimer's disease and she seems to know us, but she does not have the memories that this once, razor-sharp woman could recall at a second's notice. 

We were all in Wilmington celebrating together one weekend and sadly watching the destruction the next. I finally had to stop watching, it was too sad to know the number of people that were effected. We made it down to check on our place, and it was fine except for a little leak that can be fixed. There is so much heartache and loss that a little paint cannot fix in other places. It was so sad to hear about all the loss of life. But when you see some of the flooding and devastation, you know that many people and animals were saved by amazing, first responders and neighbors. The amount of help that flowed into the area with the flood waters after the hurricane finally exited, was so heartwarming. 

I think the emotions of the hurricane have worn me out - the loss of life and property, the amazing stories of rescue, the kindness of strangers, and the feeling of unity with our neighbors and the nation. All of these many parts of the hurricane's aftermath made me proud to be part of this state and nation. I hope that we all continue to keep the feelings of kindness and pride in our fellow man and woman as we slowly get back to our daily lives. Put down the computers, the telephones, cut off the news and TV, hug your kids, and be present. And please give generously to the unfortunate people who lost so much and the hard-working police, fire fighters, power crews and volunteers, because next time it could be you or me.

Thursday, September 6, 2018

The Promise Between Us by Barbara Claypole White

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Barbara Claypole White tells her readers that she usually has a theme of mental illness in her stories. Her writing speaks in an authentic voice. The characters present as people you know or someone you can relate to. They are real families having some kind of trauma that will tear them apart and possibly put them back together again.

Two of the main characters in The Promise Between us are Katie and Callum and they were both in serious trouble with their mental health when they married. Introducing a child into this marriage only made matters worse. They are not dealing with their problems and they will not go away on their own. 
Katie’s OCD forced her to make a decision that I and most mothers can not fathom - leaving your own child. But to Katie’s credit, she choose that route to save Maisie from her own mother. Katie’s form of mental illness constantly made her brain suggest she was hurting Maisie and the line between reality and illness became more blurred. 

Callum could not deal with the fact that Katie needed any mental health care. He blamed her for  deserting himself and Maisie when they needed her. He forced her to make choices that Katie made in a state impossible for Katie to be rational. Callum leaned on his best friend, Jake, to help him. Jake and Callum raised Maisie together.

Fast forward nine years into the future where Maisie and Katie meet again. The artist Katie is helping with a school program at a local museum that Maisie is also part of. Katie recognizes the signs of OCD in her own daughter. The story continues to unfold with the character’s revealing parts of the past that effects where they are in the present. Callum has remarried and his new wife, Lilah, has a child on the way. 

All of these characters come together and the secrets they are holding onto are revealed. There is a lot going on in this book but Barbara Claypole White weaves their stories around and under each other as we work toward the ending. There is so much amazing information about OCD and Metal sculpture that the details are vivid and bring the characters to life. This is a good one that will wring your heart out and teach you not to assume you know what someone else is going through. We all walk our own path. A solid 4 stars and worth every minute you read it. An honest look at mental health, but this is more than a book about mental health, it tells the true stories of many people dealing with their lives and problems. You will want to invest some time in this book. 

Thursday, August 9, 2018

Patty Pick for 8/9/18 is "The Couple Next Door" by Shari Lapena


The Couple Next Door is a fast read which will pull you in as it quickly twists and turns throughout the rest of the story. Anne and Marco, our young, married couple, have a new baby to love. Marco is the classic smart, hard-working boy who excelled and won the rich girl. He now has his own successful company and is trying to give Anne the life style she is used to. Anne grew up as the only daughter of wealthy parents. After the birth of their six-month-old daughter, Cora, Anne has struggled with postpartum depression.
Their childless neighbors have invited them over for a small dinner party but the babysitter has bailed out. The couple next door do not like children and want an adult only get-together. Anne and Marco decide to leave the baby home alone and take turns checking on her every thirty minutes. 
As you can tell, something is going to happen - the baby disappears! The rest of this mystery involves the actions of each of the characters after the kidnapping and their interaction with Police Detective Rasbach. He is trying desperately to untangle this web 
in time to save Cora. Every character has a secret to reveal to you during the story and it will surprise you along the path. No one needs to tell you that this is a read you will not want to start and then put down. It will go quickly and keep you guessing until close to the end. 
What happened to Cora? Are Anne and Marco as happy as they seem? Does the wealth of Anne’s parents play a role in the kidnapping? Are their neighbors hiding anything?
I rated this book a 4.5 stars. Make sure you have time to finish it before you pick it up because you will not want to stop!

Friday, June 15, 2018

Father's Day 2018 - What my Dad Gave me...

As we head into Fathers Day, even though I miss my Dad as much or more than I ever had, I know I’ll always have my memories with him. He had a wonderful life, at least I think so. I loved my childhood. It was not the most lavish life and there were struggles, but my Dad always stood by me with calm strength and common sense. I only saw him mad one time and that didn't last long. Whenever we got threatened with a spanking, it was not a threat fro my Dad. My mom was the one who doled out the corporal punishment. She never said, "Wait until your father gets home...." We would have know that was an idle threat, as he was all softness and love.

When I applied to college and had to find a way to pay for it, he was the one that went with me to the endless rounds of financial aid meetings. He helped me fill out the forms as best he could. He rode
with me if I needed a companion for a trip to Greenville to turn a form in. Both of my parents encouraged me to pursue my dream of college, but Dad really wanted me to get there. There was no doubt that he was pulling for me to find a way to make it work and we did. He always encouraged me to follow my dreams. I wished I had done that earlier with my writing, but maybe I just needed a little more life experience to sweeten my words. There must be the perfect novel in my head somewhere. My Dad never gave up on me or life, even when life gave him lemons and there were some big ones later in his life. He lost Mom and the ability to walk. Sure some days he probably wanted to pack it in and call it a day, but when he saw us walk in the door, he held us in a wide-open encircling cloud of love.

They (those often quoted people we don't know) say that you marry someone like your father. And while I don't believe that is always true for everyone, I do believe that I am one of the lucky ones. My hubby is a great Dad, he is the rock in our constantly shifting family ocean. I turn to him for help in decisions and he can usually decipher the direction to the right answer.  He's a great Dad to our daughter and is the quiet one behind the scenes helping to make things happen for her. He is always looking out for the best things for her and me. Yes, I am one lucky girl.

So as I miss my Dad on Father's Day and all year through, I know he gave me an immeasurable gift
of kindness and strength. He taught me to think before I act and to consider what the other person has been through. He gave me love. I know that my own hubby and I have spoiled our daughter with love. I hope we have also given her the knowledge that she can do anything like my father gave me.
When she needs us, I will try to remember the way my Dad taught me. Thank you, Dad.

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Patty Pick for 5/31/18 is "Dreams of Falling" by Karen White

This is a picture of the night we opened the box to pass out our bound manuscripts of Karen White's new book, "Dreams of Falling"! My book club was excited to be able to read a new book before it was introduced to the public and we were going to Skype with the author, Karen White, during one of our future book club meetings! It just don't get any better than that! I have loved Karen White's writing since being introduced to her by the lovely ladies at Pelican's Bookstore in Ocean Isle Beach. One weekend I found myself in there trolling for new books and they recommended Karen White's "On Folly Beach." That was it, I was hooked and have been reading her books since. 

My book club read the book and we discussed how we loved the strong women characters in "Dreams of Falling" over a glass of water or wine. The book opens with Ivy falling through the old, rotten floorboards at Carrowmore plantation. But why was she there and what was she looking for? Ivy is trapped between her earthly body and what and who is waiting for her is she crosses over to the hereafter. Thus we go back to the beginning and meet the three friends, Margaret, CeeCee, & Bitty. They have set their paths together with wishes written on ribbons and placed in the old oak tree on Carrowmore's property.  Their lives change drastically after a graduation trip to Myrtle Beach, and we go along for the ride as their futures unfold in different ways than each one had planned or imagined. Their choices effect the daughters who come after. This book had wonderful themes of friendship, love, believing in yourself, and forgiveness. The friends were carrying around a secret that no one wanted to share as they were afraid it would hurt the others.

Ivy is Margaret's daughter, who CeeCee raises as her own after Margaret dies tragically in a fire at Carrowmore. Their mother-daughter relationship is complex, just like in real life and Karen captures it well. The effect of the events of that night push forward into the future of the friends, with Ivy and even effects Larkin, Ivy's daughter. Larkin ran away to New York City to work after college and has avoided coming home to Georgetown, South Carolina and face her old friends and neighbors. Working through some of the reasons she ate too much has made her healthier but she has not faced all of the reasons. I loved her free spirit and self-confidence during her high school years. The fearlessness she showed is what helped her find two life-long friends in Bennett and Mabry. She came home to see her Mom, Ivy, but during her visit works through some of her own issues that she had hidden away from herself in New York.

As the story travels between the past and the present, secrets are revealed. The past and present intertwine to bring our story to an end. I cried, I laughed, and I wished that I could have met them all, but I did in this book. Karen White has a special way of making the characters come alive for me as I read. Enjoy this new book to be published June 5th. And if you get a chance to meet Karen White, you will love her. No one is nicer or writes a better book! A solid 4.5 Star!!



Sunday, May 20, 2018

Patty Pick for 5/17/18 is “The Secret to Southern Charm” by Kristy Woodson Harvey



Kristy Woodson Harvey has another terrific book you don't want to miss called “The Secret to Southern Charm” in her Peachtree Bluff series! The family of women, Ansley, the mother and her daughters, Caroline, Sloane & Emerson have been through some tough times in their lives but, they have grown into strong adult women. They have a strong bond and use their individual strengths to help each other out and make unerring good choices to be there for each other when needed. 

The three daughters are now gathered for the summer at their mother’s house in the quaint town of Peachtree Bluff, Georgia. They have learned that Sloane’s husband, who is serving in the Army, is missing in action. They rally around her and her boys to help in any way possible, like warm up one of the 62 casseroles the neighbors brought over. The other sisters, Caroline & Emerson have their own problems to deal with and you will want to immerse yourself in their lives, too. Better yet, let’s just move there!


This family and the town of Peachtree Bluff will wiggle its way into your heart and you will find yourself invested into the day-to-day challenges each person faces. The story weaves around the lives of each daughter and Ansley and the choices they must face during the life of the novel. I laughed with their humor, I cried with their pain and loss, and I wanted to live for just a little while in Peachtree Bluff in this house with these women. 
Open the first page and experience the raw pain of an army wife not knowing if her husband will come home. This is a true American novel with strong Southern themes that I can relate to, and the family truths are relatable to us all. Don’t miss this lovely novel and by all means, sugar, read them both! 5 Stars and big hug!

Friday, May 4, 2018

Patty Pick for 5/3/18 is "Are You Sleeping?" by Kathleen Barber

"Are you sleeping" by Kathleen Barber is definitely a book you don't want to miss! The book centers around two twin sisters whose father's murder will change their every relationship. My book club had a lot of good discussion about this one! The book lays out the story via multiple points of view and from podcast texts. This makes the book very enjoyable to read. 

The book centers around the murder of the twins, Josie & Lanie's, father which took place in their teenage years and changed both of their lives forever. A young neighbor, Warren Cave, was convicted for the crime but everyone involved has a different memory of that night. After the murder, the once inseparable sisters grow apart. The effect of the murder reverberates through their lives. As the book starts, they are no longer best friends, they don't even talk to each other or know where they live.  

Their mother ran off shortly after the murder and joined a cult once the trial was over that convicted Warren Cave. Warren's mother is never convinced that her son committed the crime and has been trying all avenues to get the case reconsidered and her son set free. Thus enter the want-to-be-notorious Poppy Parnell, who will dig into the case on her podcast and stir everything up again for them all.

As Josie is deciding whether to tell her live-in boyfriend about her past, her mother dies and she is forced to return to her hometown to confront the murder, her sister, her lies about herself and her memories of that night. This psychological thriller explores the murder and what each twin remembers from that night. They must come to terms with what happened after the murder and the secrets each sister have from the other and from themselves.  

This book is unique in the format and told in a quick pace that kept me turning the pages with surprises happening frequently. You will be rooting for Josie to find her truth and hope she can figure out a way to tell Caleb about her real self and past. She and Lanie will find the truth and figure out what happened the night her father was murdered. A solid 4 stars!  

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Patty Pick is “No Place I’d Rather Be” by Cathy Lamb


This was such a good book! It had it all - love, mystery, suspense, and family relationships. All the parts of a great read are found within these 402 pages. You will love the quirky characters, or as I refer to them, my sisters by another mother. 

Olivia Martindale ran away and left her home, family and husband in Montana, but she is forced to return. She needs help and she is bringing two little girls, who she desperately wants to adopt, with her. She is struggling to retain guardianship of the girls, whose grandmother left them in her hands to protect them from their jailed, abusive, drug-addicted mother.

Olivia’s family has missed her, her mother, sister and grandmother are excited to have her back. This crazy tribe of strong women work together to figure life out as best they can. I loved the way they used cake and cooking therapy to solve the problem of the moment. They teach us in quiet ways and in loud-in-your-face ways how to handle tough issues like abuse, mental illness and autism. This book will make you cry, laugh, and keep reading until the end. 

With her return home, Olivia also has to face her estranged husband, Jace. She is still in love with him and the very sight of him drives her crazy, but the reason she left will break your heart. While staying in her grandparents cabin, she discovers an ancient cookbook that belongs to her grandmother and reveals amazing and shocking parts of her grandmother's history. Read this book to find out what happens. You will be glad you did
and you will be singing it's praise! A solid 5 stars!

Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Life Changes for Everyone . . .

As we experience life it changes constantly for each of us and in the process we are changed by it. Recently when I attended the visitation to honor a friend's father who had recently passed away, I was thrown back into memories of my own father's visitation and funeral. There were so many memories - watching my father pass away in a hospital room and not being able to do anything about it, the blur of the many faces of friends and family afterwards, my daughter's hand holding mine tight through everything, and my husband holding me up through it all.

When my mom passed away, we all knew she was going to die. Hospice was in and she was sinking into more sickness than her body would be able to recover from. My dad's death however, seemed sudden and unexpected. Looking back I probably knew it was coming sooner than later. I just didn't want to believe it. All though both of my parents are deceased now, I often wish I could call them or buy them one more birthday present or just have one more face-to-face conversation with them. I have a brother and a sister, but sometimes I feel like I am an orphan set adrift in the world. We need our parents and family to feel part of the larger group of our relatives. Thank goodness I have a good family to anchor me down. My husband and daughter have always been there for me and when my writer head dwells too long in the wishes I have for my parents to still be here, my husband and daughter remind me of the wonderful memories that we all shared. The time we spent camping together in an actual tent when I was a kid, the family cookouts and softball games with my aunts, uncles and cousins, or the long Sunday drives in the back seat of that huge Impala with a huge ice cream sundae to eat and a book on my lap, these are some of my favorites. Watching the slide show of my friend's life and times with her parents and their family, brought back some of the times I had forgotten with my own. The clothes, the cars, the TV's, they all looked like the generation in which I grew up.

We share so much as a human race, but sometimes we forget that we have more in common than not. We may grow up in different states, different countries even, but we all are human and we all have a family somewhere of some kind. Your family doesn't have to be blood related to you, just share your life. The things that make us the same, the love of our parents and extended family, secure us to life and the things that matter to us the most. Too often we are so busy living that we forget to live, to enjoy, to listen, and to love.  If you are still making memories with your parents, then you are truly blessed. My mother-in,-law will be celebrating her 92nd birthday in a week or so. Even though she has Alzheimer's now, she still knows us. She gives us more memories to cherish with each visit, even though we know one day we will not be able to make new ones with her.  What memories of your childhood or parents do you cherish? What would you tell them if you had one more hour, one more day to enjoy their company? What is your favorite memory? Cherish those memories and the ones you get to make every day with the ones you love. This life as we know it is too short, so live every single minute and make lots of memories! Let me hear from you on your favorite ones!

Thursday, March 29, 2018

Easter is My Spring Forward Renewal Day

In the search for one's dreams, there are many paths that you can take. Some people forge right into them from birth. It seems like they start to conquer their hopes and dreams from the minute they
leave the womb. Others stumble around their entire lives and never really find what they are looking for. Hopefully they connect and live a fulfilling life but they may wonder about the “what if they had” concerning other decisions in their lives. Most of us fall in the middle of the pack. We start and stop along the path of life, running in a straight line sometimes, walking backwards at others and striding into the future with confidence when we can.

To sit and really think about the opportunities that our lives present to us is pretty awesome. There are those moments when you are right on point and in stride like when you land your first job - the one you really wanted, but didn't think you would get. Or when you have your children, and the miracle of birth stares at you with innocent eyes and clings to just your finger with their tiny fist. Watching your spouse, friend or child making the steps that lead them to bigger and better things in their lives. These all make us realize that life itself is pretty amazing.

Since I have been following my dream of writing and churning out books and stories and a lot of mess, I realized that there were times I missed an opportunity. A chance to make a dream come closer to reality. There are so many what ifs that sometimes I have let those overwhelm my actual life.
So I am trying to take a deep breath and go on, go on blogging even if I am the only one reading some of them. Go on writing, even if no one has broken my door down to fight over my manuscripts. Go on living, because each day is by itself pretty awesome.

My mind may get overwhelmed with reality at times, but along comes a wake-up call and you remember that life is great. Some days just the act of putting one foot in front of the other is all I can do, but that makes the other days of wonderment, joy, happiness, and overwhelming contentment all that much better. My mother told me you have to go through the down years in your life, because they make the up years, moments, hours, minutes, all that much sweeter. She was a wise woman.

Go on now, why are you sitting there thinking about what you want to do, go do it. Don't wait until the half century point of your life has passed you by, before you get back to one of the things that you love to do. Easter is my Spring Forward Renewal date. The time of year that I think about all the blessings I have in my life and feel Everything is possible. So go on, get started. My pen is waiting on me.


Monday, March 12, 2018

Patty Pick for 03/15/18 is "Redemption Road" by John Hart

John Hart became one of my favorite authors when I read his first book, "The King of Lies". He had my attention and the fact that he is a North Carolina author kept my attention. I couldn't wait to see if his next book lived up to the first, and it did. Now I cannot wait to read his new book, "The Hush" which came out February 27, 2018. 

Recently I read “Redemption Road”. The story is centered around the two main characters, this time a woman and a man. Elizabeth Black, a police officer on the brink of losing her career and maybe her freedom is fighting for both when her ex-partner, Adrian Wall, walks out of prison a free man. They have a very complicated history. Adrian, out of prison after serving a thirteen year sentence, left a  prison ran by a very corrupt warden and his staff. They are not ready to leave Adrian alone to tell tales. 

Elizabeth likes to rescue children at risk. She feels that her parents let her down and she wants to help the ones she can save. She is trying to save Gideon, a local child, whose mother has died when she is pulled into the kidnapping of Channing Shore. Channing, the rich daughter of a powerful local family, was kidnapped and tortured. Elizabeth saves Channing and their relationship develops throughout the story. The characters interweave their stories and leave you, the reader wanting to know more.  

This book is filled with rich, full characters that will draw you in or make you want to run as far as possible from them as you can go. Oh, by the way, there is a serial killer in the town looking for his next young woman victim. The characters will be trying to decipher the answer to what is going on in different ways and their reactions will guide them in their interactions with each other. It will keep you guessing what is coming on the next page and leave you reading as quickly as possible until the last word. If you take away anything from a John Hart novel, it is the thirst for more of his writing and you will remember them for a long time. A resounding 5 Stars! 

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Patty Pick for 2/8/17 is "The Woman in the Window" by AJ Finn

I had heard and read very good press about this book, but as you all know sometimes a book may not live up to it's hype. "The Woman in the Window" will grab you by the heart and proceed to squeeze it with fear until you can't take it any longer. Then it proceeds to pluck those same heartstrings and make you cry.

Anna Fox, renown child psychologist, can not leave her home due to the agoraphobia she now suffers. She is doing therapy, taking medication, talking to her family, anything and everything to help her find the courage to leave. In the meantime, she spends her days watching the neighbors through the windows of her home. She is watching the vacant house across the park when a new family moves in with a teenage son. She did not know she would soon put herself in their cross hairs.

Anna slowly unravels her story to you when she communicates with her tenant living in her basement, shares her wine with the neighbors, participates in her computer community and interacts with the few people she allows into her house. But don't think this is a slow, winding read, because that could not be further from the truth. This "woman in the window" will grab you and twist and turn you until you are not sure who is alive, dead, or guilty. I don't want to give too much away, but there are surprising twists and turns and the finale kept me reading it so I could finish it during the first quarter of the Super Bowl. I could not put it down! You need to meet Anna and live with her a few days or however long it takes you to read this book. Believe me, you will not want to put it down until you are finished! 5++++ Stars! 

Thursday, February 1, 2018

The Girl without a Name by Sandra Block

Zoe Goldman is at it again. She is being drawn into the mystery of one of her patients and doing things she shouldn't to uncover the girl's identity. In "The Girl Without A Name", the patient, Jane Doe, does not know who she is or what she was doing when the police found her. She only remembers chasing a car. The authorities take Jane Doe to the hospital and the search for her identity begins. Zoe is tasked to help Jane Doe solve the mystery of her identity. Zoe, with her  coworker Jason and her new attending boss Dr. Berringer, works as an intern on the psych floor of the Childrens Hospital in Buffalo NY.

Her boyfriend is an Emergency Room Doctor who is ready to take the next step in his career. While Tom and she are working out their future, Zoe's old flame is texting her his doubts about marrying the woman he dumped Zoe for. All of this is distracting her from studying for the exam that will make her a doctor. She flunked it once when she was attacked by a different patient, who turned out to be her sister. The sister who killed her birth mother. With the fact that her step mom has recently succumbed to Alzheimer's disease, poor Zoe has been having a rough time in her life lately.

Jane Doe presents a mystery that captures her interest and Zoe can't help herself from trying to figure out who she is. The staff call her Candy, Jane Doe's gentle personality. 
Then Candy turns into Daneesha. Daneesha is a tough, firebrand who takes no prisoners and refuses to take the meds they prescribe. Neither identity can remember what happened to her or who she is. When for no reason Candy returns to her catatonic state, Zoe realizes time is running out to find out who she is.

I love Zoe Goldman, a complicated but endearing woman who struggles with her own self doubts and anxiety. In the end, she must rely on her instincts with the help of her detective friend to find the answers, but will it be in time to help Candy/Daneesha? 
Loved this one as much as the first in the series and looking forward to the third, "The Secret Room", which was published in April of  2017! A solid 4.5 Stars!!

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash

Earlier this year, I impatiently looked forward to the next novel by Wiley Cash. So you can imagine my excitement to hear that he would be the keynote speaker at the NC Writers Network 2017 Fall Conference. The fact that his next book would be published right before the conference made it even more of a reason not to miss his keynote address. I really enjoyed the conference, learned a lot, and met some amazing writers. I ordered "The Last Ballad" from my local bookstore, Page 158 Books in Wake Forest. We all need to support our local bookstores. They are so valuable and important to our communities. Wiley Cash was kind enough to sign it and I was thrilled to hear his address to the conference, a win-win. 

The novel portrays the life of Ella Mae Wiggins based on true accounts of her life. Ella Mae was a special woman who was ahead of her time. She fought for many rights including the right to be home with her children when they were sick and to make a fair wage in her job at the local mill. She was not a radical communist as some parts of society portrayed her at the time of the Loray Mill strike which took place in Gastonia, North Carolina in 1929. The fact that I, a native North Carolinian, have never heard of this strike and social unrest in the early 1900's seems unbelievable to me. No state likes to advertise their messy history, so these type of events seem to be swept under the table of history and not widely discussed.

Ella Mae was a poor young woman working in Tennessee with her parents when they both died and left her with no one at the age of 16. With a small amount of money in her pocket, she drew the interest of a swindler who took her money and her virginity. After she became pregnant they moved to find work at the textile mills in South Carolina. Struggling with her loss and uneducated she found work in several mills, but was left alone to provide for herself and her children. Living in a shack, working 70 hours a week at her job, she took a chance and went to hear a union organizer. From there she would become one of the most influential people in the struggle to organize the workers, both white and black. She wrote and performed songs, organized her fellow workers and attended rallies. The mill owners and their minions did not like the largely Northern group of union organizers who came down South to stir up trouble and they fought hard to put down the organizer's ideas by using fists, clubs, guns and other ruthless tactics. 

Ella Mae's story, while true, is a fictional account written by the wonderful storyteller, Wiley Cash. His novel, as usual, provide a vivid picture of life in North Carolina when this was taking place. You can feel Ella Mae's pain and we mourn along with her losses. You can't go wrong reading any of Wiley Cash's books. The stories they tell and characters you meet will stay with you long after the last page is turned. A solid 5 stars!  





Thursday, January 11, 2018

Patty Pick for 3/2/17 is "Hillbilly Elegy" by JD Vance

I had read a lot about this book on different forums and it was high on my to-read list. At our annual Book Club dinner in December we do a book exchange, and after much finagling I was able to "steal" away with this book! Yeah! Of course, one of the first things I had to do was look up the word, elegy. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, "elegy" is defined as "a sad poem or song, a poem or song that expresses sorrow for someone who is dead." Not to assume what JD Vance, meant by his title, but he definitely seems to be singing the blues where his hillbilly heritage is concerned. The sad fact that some of them make it out of the poverty-stricken Kentucky area that where they grew up, but they continue to struggle to find their way. The system and society are not set up to help them in many ways. People are not looking for handouts - someone to do it for them, but they are looking for a hand to make the transition plain to them, a pathway to make the hard work they put into this life a little better for the next generation. 

What I thought I would be reading was his childhood and how he made it out of poverty to become a successful something in life - author? He did become a successful Harvard-educated lawyer. What I did not expect is the harsh realities of his childhood and the struggle of his family to maintain and take advantage of the opportunities they worked hard to obtain. What I did not expect was to read some of the very same examples that I have in my own family to some degree. What I did not expect was to relate to the reality of the effects of your family life has on future generations. What I did get was a wonderful dose of Southern family life in the rawest possible form. I did read harsh situations that he and his family found themselves in, many after "making" it out of one of the poorest areas in the South. What I did find was some of my own family's stories woven into his book. If you are from the South, you will get this easily.

The South is a unique place in this world and I would not trade being born and growing up
here for anything in this world. I thought my family was always middle-class until I went
to high school and then saw some of my friend's homes and how they lived. I did not know
all the society niceties that I wished I had been taught, and my family sometimes struggled. I did watch my sister turn from a smart, kind person into someone who lost her way. Was it in her genes? I don't know, but I do know that we are all influenced by our family - our wonderful, loving, dysfunctional family. And we all have one - that took 
years for me to figure out. We all have the crazy uncle who throws snakes out of the yard 
and across the road to rid the yard of the huge creature. We also have memories to cherish, like those warm, bright Sunday afternoons at our grandma's house, making homemade ice cream with the aunts, uncles and cousins.  

I loved my childhood. I had two of the most wonderful parents ever to walk on this earth. Sure we could have used more money and I wanted more "things" at some years in my steps on adulthood, but I was loved and well taken care of. JD Vance had to fend for himself and deal with a no-nonsense, gun-toting grandma and a drug addict mother, but he made it. He also had some wonderful people around him, his sister for one. They became a tight team that just kept each other together when they needed to.

Success is what you decide it is and sometimes it is hard to comes to term with your own
family. But you only get one and you better cherish those moments while you have them.
Maybe JD didn't have a lot of money but the story of his life to this point is inspiring and
sad at the same time. There are people out there who still struggle to find their way.
It took me years to have any self-confidence and all most 40 years to start writing again. Be proud of yourself and embrace the kooky and calm members of your family - you only
get one family. They can all teach you something  and they are all irreplaceable in this world.

Don't walk to the bookstore or your on-line portal, RUN for this book. A big, huge READ!!

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Best Books I Read in 2017 & Books I Can't Wait to Read in 2018!

The following are some of the best books I read in 2017. They are from different genres and authors. They are by no means a complete list. The books that I have on my list for 2018 are also a small faction of the ones I want to read. But what I want to read and actually have time to read are always two different things. Here's wishing you all the best reading year in 2018 and let me know which ones you read and how you like them. 
Happy New Year! And be Present in your life. 

2017
The Blackbird Season by Kate Moretti
The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
If the Creek Don't Rise by Leah Weiss
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda
Redemption Road by John Hart
The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff
Little Black Lies by Sandra Block
The Choices We Make by Karma Brown
Flight Patterns by Karen White
When We Were Sisters by Emilie Richards
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance
Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult

2018
The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn
The Optimist's Guide to Letting Go by Amy E Reichert
Daughters of the Night Sky by Aimie K Runyan
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
The Glass Forest by Cynthia Swanson
No Place I'd Rather Be by Cathy Lamb
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Still Me by Jojo Moyes
Sunburn by Laura Lippman
All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

My One Word Resolution for 2018 is Present!

To be Present in my life may seem like a no-brainer for a resolution, but I know from
a lot of personal experience that we often let everything get in the way of our enjoyment of our life. So while I will probably struggle sometimes to let myself enjoy everything, I am going to try my best to really be present in the moment and live every minute of my life to the fullest in 2018. My life is pretty awesome, so why I let things that I cannot control ruin it for me, is beyond my comprehension anyway. 

Worry is my middle name. I can let it ruin parts and too often the whole day. I can think, analyze, dissect, and thoroughly pull apart certain aspects of my day and life while  totally overthinking the situation. This will lead me to worry about the things that I have no control over and miss pieces of my life that are wonderful and memorable. I know that's such a trite thing to say - Be Present in the Moments of Your life! David Thoreau had it right, 

Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influence of the earth.
Henry David Thoreau

And even though I will probably struggle with this resolution, I am determined to try. And to try something with your whole being, is really all you can do in life. Be present, try your best,  and oft times we reach the prize we were aiming for. My goals are to relish the ride, finish my manuscript, publish a short story, love my family and by all means - enjoy the Present! And while I didn't meet my goals for this year, that's okay. Look at what I did accomplish this year and going forward I will enjoy every minute of my life and my time with those that I love.  


What is your resolution? Do you make a resolution/goal for the next year? Look forward to hearing from some of you and to hearing your goals and/or resolutions. Happy New Year!
Let's make 2018 a wonderful year with lots of family, love, being present and books!