Patty Pick for 2/18/16 is "The Last Anniversary" by Liane Moriarty

Sophie seemed to have it all, a good job, a handsome boyfriend and a zest for life. 
After she dumped Thomas on the night he was going to propose, her life suddenly 
took a 180 degree turn around. Suddenly she is an older woman in a dead-end job 
while she watches her biological clock tick away.
Then Aunt Connie, Thomas' aunt that Sophie has only met a few times, dies and 
leaves Sophie her house on Scribbly Gum Island. Sophie is welcomed by most of the 
family and taken in as one of their own. The family operates the Munro House with 
it's tale of disappearing parents and a baby left behind. Connie and her sister, Rose, 
adopted Baby Enigma and have raised her as their own. 
Now with Scribbly Gum Island her home, Sophie is seeing more of the family members that live there. She is drawn to Callum, but he is married to Grace and has a brand new baby. While Sophie is intimidated by Graces' beauty, she senses that there is something going on behind the scenes. There is something behind all the closed doors in this family. They all seem to harbor their secrets. 
As Sophie settles into life on the island, she will discover a few secrets of her own and 
her life will change directions a few times. As usual, Liane Moriarty delivers us another well-written, engrossing novel about family life - some conventional and some not so much. You can count this one as a good read!

Wishing Pat Conroy all the best!

This is my fortune from lunch! Not a truer statement ever written, 

especially if reading a Pat Conroy book. Wishing him victory over cancer! 

Patty Pick for 2/11/16 is "A Tale for the Time Being" by Ruth Ozeki

This book by Ruth Ozeki reads between a middle-aged author of Japanese descent who lives on an island on the Alaska-side of Canada named Ruth and Nao, a Japanese teenager who was raised in Sunnyvale, California but is living in Tokyo when she wrote the journal. The journal with a packet of other mementos washed up on Ruth's island and she is captivated by the young girl's life in her own words. The juxapostion of these two main characters is engaging and will keep you involved in the story line. 

As Ruth reads the diary, she tries to find out the time origin of the items included in the package. There is a packet of letters, a watch and the journal, all neatly wrapped up in a Hello Kitty lunchbox. During this same time, she is struggling with writers block in her own life. The elements are harsh on the island and Ruth and her husband, Oliver, face periods of no electricity and the fear that nature can attack at any time. She turns to her neighbors to help her determine how long the packet has been floating in the ocean currents. 

As we read Jao's dairy with Ruth, the harsh realities of her life in Tokyo are slowly revealed. She is being horribly bullied by her Japanese schoolmates and even by the teachers in her new school. At the same time, her father is dealing with depression over the loss of his job in the US and the reality of relying on others to help provide a suitable household for his family. Jao watches her father spiral down at the same time that she 
is experiencing excruciating pain at the expense of her classmates. She handles it 
all with quiet humor but she becomes determined to kill herself and stop the misery. 

Ruth feels responsible for Jao's life after reading the diary and searches to find a way 
to connect with the family and make sure that everyone is okay. In Jao's time, her 
great-grandmother who is a buddist nun comes to Tokyo and takes things into her 
own hands. 

As we read these two struggling lives playing out at the same time, you will be 
cheering for them both to overcome their circumstances and live a better life. 
Reading this book gave me insights into Japanese life and the devastation of the 
tsunami that hit Japan in 2011. More importantly, it gave me a small window into 
the world of Ruth and Jao.  

Patty Pick for 2/4/16 is "The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry" by Gabrielle Zevin

Recently I pulled this book out of the huge stack on my desk and started to read. 
I had heard many things about it but you know how it is, there are so many good 
books out there to read! I am so glad that I didn't wait another day - it was wonderful!

Mr. A.J. Fikry is sad, he has unexpectedly lost the love of his life, his wife, to 
a strange accident. He has withdrawn from the daily life of his bookstore - the only 
bookstore on Alice Island. As his life continues to go downhill, he receives his annual
visit from the Knightley Press rep, but this time it is someone new. Amelia shows up 
tries to talk him into buying her new set of books. To say the least, it does not go well. 

With the help of Amelia, his sister-in-law, the Chief of Police and other Island natives, 
AJ starts to change his life around. The appearance of a baby girl who is left in his 
store, changes everything. He finds the love he has been missing all along. This story 
was terrific and don't miss this book! You will love it!

Patty Pick for 1/21/16 is "A Man called Ove" by Fredrik Backman!

Loved, Loved, Loved this book! I wasn't sure at first if I was going to like this book as much as the reviews suggested. It just kept pulling me in - page by page and word-by-word. The storyline of Ove and Sonja had me right from the start. As their story flows out through Ove's words, we see why they fell in love with each other. They make an unlikely pair, but sometimes that makes for a perfect match - just like in real life. 

I am so glad that I finished this book in the car (not driving) and not on the beach as I thought I would. I cried more in the last few chapters than while reading the entire book. I laughed, smiled, cried, and told my husband so many parts of this book, he probably thinks he has read it now himself. The time spent was worth every page. 

I know Ove was a cranky old man, but he really was not that old. As we meet him, he 
is trying to kill himself so he can be reunited with his wife, Sonja. She was one of the few people he has ever loved in his life. He is interrupted at every turn by his new neighbors. The very day they move in, they manage to run over his mailbox with their car. Ove follows the rules and expects everyone else to also, so he works hard to impress that on his neighbors. They seem to have other plans for him though. As Ove is stymied at every opportunity to join Sonja, you will imagine the hilarious scenes in your head. Fredrik Backman has a style of writing that describes the feelings and thoughts of our older generation to a "T"!

This is one of the funniest, and most touching stories that I have read in a long time. We love Ove and he loves us - he just doesn't know it yet. This book has a 4.29 rating on Goodreads, but I gave it a 5.0! Don't miss this one!

#Readathon2016

#Readathon2016 is May 21,2016! 

Let's all celebrate reading by participating in some way! I will definitely be reading! 

Blog Post for "In The Woods" by Tana French

I'm still trying to figure out how a person named French could write a 
novel based in Dublin, Ireland! Tana French is very familiar with the laws of her home country, Ireland, and she gives us a twisting, turning mystery that will keep you guessing which direction it is going to take you to the very end.

Cassie and Rob, two detectives from the Murder Squad, respond to the murder of a young girl in Knocknaree. They have a very close relationship with each other and that factors into the book as you 
go forward. Rob is very familiar with this section of Ireland as 
he grew up in the same area and experienced a life-changing event there in 
his youth. He and his two best friends, Peter & Jaime, disappeared one summer 
night into the woods and only Rob was found. No sign of Peter or Jaime ever turned up. 
This changed Rob's life forever and lead to him attending boarding school and changing his name. He could not remember any of the events that happened that night in the woods. Now twenty years later, another missing girl is found murdered. Rob suddenly starts 
remembering bit and pieces of his night in the woods as he and his best friend try to 
solve the murder.  

As partners, Cassie and Rob try to untangle the mystery, but Rob starts to unravel himself. From strange dreams to unknown memories, bits and pieces of that night show up in his mind and sleep. But are these real memories or someone's imagination to fit the current crime? The site is now an archaeological dig that is racing time to recover the artifacts there before a highway is built over top of the woods and all is destroyed. There 
are so many suspects to choose between but the real killer remains elusive. 

As Rob continues to fall apart at the seams at the seams, he is working closely with the 
elusive Cassida. With Cassie trying to help him, who needs any other murder suspects.  
This book with keep you guessing who is the real killer and what it going on in those 
woods? Is there a serial killer loose that has been laying low for twenty years? Is there 
something evil in the woods that punishes innocent children? You may still be guessing some of these answers after you finish.