Update on My Resolution to Simplify for 2017!

This picture shows exactly what I want my life to by like in 2017. Spend time with my wonderful family and write! So let's see, here is part of what I wrote back in December when I chose Simplify for my one-word resolution: 

"So my one word resolution for 2017 is Simplify.  I want to simplify my life, enjoy the little things, read more, enjoy time with my family more and stop trying to do it all. 
I want to clean out the debris that is cluttering my desk, my store, my closet, and yes, my brain. I want to clean out, so to speak, manage to "spring clean" myself and my surroundings. I am hoping that this does not mean I clean up and then cannot find anything at all as has happened in the past. I plan to simplify what I do and stop trying to do everything and accept some help when I need it. I plan to simplify my writing and go back to what I love - long hand. I know that seems odd since you are reading my blog on a computer of some kind, but when I write a book or story, I need time for my brain and fingers to sync and often with a computer keyboard that syncing just seems hard to do. So back to my pen and paper style, that allows me to think at the same time. Eventually it will make it to the laptop but not until I have the first draft. 
I don't plan to just simplify my writing, I want to simplify my whole life so I can truly enjoy it. I hope I am successful but if not I will not beat myself up. Life can be hard enough without that. So let me hear what your one word resolution or your multi-word
resolutions are for 2017. And if you have any wonderful tips to share with me on ways to simplify my life, by all means please pass those along. I am going to need them!! 
Can't wait to hear from you all."

And how am I actually doing?  That is a very good question. I have made myself stick more to a schedule with my writing. At the same time, I do cut it off some nights to just spend time with my husband. We work together five days a week at our business, but that's not the same as spending time together. I try to make more time for just being with him.
(I wrote this early last week as we were going to be busy celebrating our 31st wedding anniversary! When I think about the length of 31 years, it amazes me! I am the "luckiest girl in the world.")

It's harder to make time for my daughter as she is out of the house and living her own life most of the time. We try to have dinner with her at least once a week so we can all catch up and we talk on the phone. We are so fortunate to have her and lucky that we talk so much to each other and that she also enjoys spending time with us. 

As for my things, my house, the store, the closets.... I am working on them. We are remodeling the store. New paint, carpet, wood floor and exterior signs coming soon. The prep is killing us, but it's good to get rid of some of the debris that's been hanging out for the 27ish years that it's been accumulating. Hope the hard work makes a good difference. As for my house, I am working on it. Slowly, I usually find other things that I would rather be doing, but I feel like I am going in the right direction at least. I really appreciate all the wonderful encouragement I received last week after my spot in the Triangle Reads section of Sunday's News&Observer! A big thank you to Teresa Leonard to asking me to participate. 

How is your resolution or year working out? Do you feel like you are heading in the right direction? Any tips to make life easier for us busy people? Hope to hear from you soon!

Patty Pick for 2/16/17 is "small great things" by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult has written some of the most powerful and memorable books that I have read. "My Sister's Keeper" and "The Pact" to name a few, but I have not missed many. Her new book, "small great things" falls in as another one of my favorites. It leaves you with a good feeling which I like in my endings, but along the way you will wonder what is going to happen to these characters. 

This is definitely an American story with White Supremacists, racism and our American history present in every word. This is also a universal story in the way it handles the delicate effects of race on our society. This is not a knock-you-on-the-head type of story, it will sneak up on you before you know it. You will be invested and reading away to find out what happens to Ruth Jefferson. Don't you like the play on names with this character? She is a labor and delivery nurse with a 20-year history of experience under her belt. She intersects with a couple who gave birth to their baby boy the night before. What she doesn't know if that the baby is sick and that the couple are White supremacists. 

This story take off after this introduction at a breakneck speed toward a collision between them all. We can walk in Ruth's shoes but we will also walk in the father's shoes. We will see how he grew up and how he got to become the person he is today. Turk and Brit are the parents of this sick infant who passed away on Ruth's shift. The way Jodi Picoult brings these characters powerfully to life will put you in their shoes in a way that you don't get to do very often. We also meet the public defender who takes Ruth's case on and realizes she doesn't look at the world the same way Ruth does.

Kennedy McQuarrie is drawn into the desperate situation facing Ruth and her son, Edison. She realizes that this case will have a long range effect of her life and her career. But she doesn't realize that it will be in ways she did not foresee. Jodi Picoult has a unique and special way of presenting a story without preaching, just presenting one character's perspective and the other. You get to live in each character's mind as the book advances and it is eye-opening. This book receives 5 stars in my book.  

Patty Pick for Groundhog Day is "The Opposite of Everyone" by Joshilyn Jackson

"The Opposite of Everyone" by Joshilyn Jackson has it all. Smart female main character, dangerous but good-hearted love interest, crazy mother, and siblings coming out of the woodwork. This book by Joshilyn Jackson has her signature dysfunctional family storyline, but with the twist of smart girl making it in the law field. Because one thing that Paula Vauss is, is very smart. 

Paula Vauss seems to have it all. She is a successful divorce attorney practicing in Atlanta with two of her long-time partners. Even though, she was born into and grew up in strange circumstances, she seems in control of her life. That is, until an unknown sibling shows up in the lobby of her building and her whole facade starts to crumble. 

Paula was born in Alabama and spent most of her younger years traveling from state to state and boyfriend to boyfriend with her mother, Kai. Kai goes with the flow and re-invents herself for each flame until she gets tired of them, and moves on, taking then Kali Jai with her. During one such stop, Paula made a decision that will change both of their lives forever. Paula spends the rest of this part of her life, trying to get back to her mother as close as they used to be with each other. But as you know, you can never go back. 

Paula thinks she has made her decision, changed her life, and moved on. She is about to find out that she is not done with her mother. She never really was. Now she is in a race to find her mother before she can't, and Paula has to come to terms with her own life and what she wants for herself. All of this is going on as she breaks up with her boyfriend, meets her unknown brother, and is in the middle of a nasty divorce case. 

Somehow Joshilyn Jackson manages to pull all these strings together and weave us a very good tale from beginning to end. You will remember Paula's strength and read along during the journey she takes to find her mother. Another fabulous Joshilyn Jackson story that will test your heartstrings. A solid read.

Love this Local Bookstore! Page 158 Books

I know this is for book reviews but it's a new year and there is so much reading time ahead for us all! Mostly I am reading my Book club choice this month, "Nobody's Fool" by Richard Russo. Even though I read it quite a few years ago and saw the adorable movie, I wanted to re-read it again. I try to do that as long as it's been a few years since I've had my eyes on it. Now that Christmas is behind us, there should be lots of time to indulge ourselves in the wonderful world of reading. I hope so at least. It may take another ice storm to give me the time I want, between my family, our store, Signarama/Raleigh, writing and oh, yeah, life. 

Living in Wake Forest, I love to support the local businesses as often as possible. The local restaurants seem to get the larger piece of my spending pie, but downtown is so lovely I try to get there as often as I can. I had been in Page 158 Books a few times but had not had the chance to talk with the owners. At a recent author book talk, I was fortunate enough to hear two wonderful authors discuss their books and many other things with owner, Sue Lucey. Sue does a great job with the interview and asked the questions that I wanted to hear answered, and many I had not thought of but also wanted to know. She had a community TV show at one time before moving here and it shows. She runs the author visits like the pro she is. 

But don't get the wrong idea, this is not a big, cold operation. When you enter the small store, you will get it. There are more books than you can shake a stick it, and Sue and Dave will help you find whatever you are looking for and more. When I went in that night in November for the book talk, I had only planned to buy Pat Conroy's last book, "A Lowcountry Heart: Reflections on a Writing Life." I am supposed to be on restrictions until I read some of my previous purchases. But after listening to the talk, and then talking to both Sue and Dave, I walked out the door with around 6 or 7 books! Don't judge, some of the books were gifts for Christmas and they had awesome suggestions. 

Sue escaped, like me, into reading at a young age and started and joined book clubs her adult life. When she and Dave moved to Wake Forest in 2007, she wanted to start a literary festival. When the Renaissance Center opened, she approached them and came up with Author Interviews once a month. At that time, she worked with Storytellers Bookstore to coordinate some of the events. One day she mentioned to the owner that she would love to own a bookstore one day and two days later the owner emailed Sue with an offer she and Dave couldn't resist - Page 158 Books was born. 

The name was suggested to them by a good friend, Andy Ellis, who owns a marketing firm in Wake Forest. You can visit them at 158 South White Street, Wake Forest! Can you figure out where the name came from? They are open on Monday - Wednesday from 10am - 6pm, on Thursday - Friday from 10am - 7pm and on Saturday from 10am - 6pm. They are closed on Sundays. They continue to use their name to promote the store by having their visiting authors sign their books on Page 158 which usually turns out to hold a turning point in their story Sue told me. And have they hosted some amazing authors, from Diane Chamberlain, to Vivian Howard and Ashley Christiansen. Check out their full calendar on their website or Facebook page. Sue recommended some of her favorite books for this blog, "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck and "The Bright Edge of the World" by Eowyn Ivey. I added that one to my To-Read List!  

Even though they love their location, a larger building across the street has caught their eye. Plans to refurbish it with a soda fountain and large upstairs room for author visits is on their wish list. But for now, they love being at 158 S White St. With bookclubs, adult coloring events, cookbook clubs, and author visits, there is lots to see and do at Page 158 Books. If you don't have time to get in, they can special order just about anything. Check out their amazing online store or call with requests. You can find them on Facebook, @Page158Books or on the web, page158books.com. Whatever you are looking for Sue and Dave can handle it. But more than anything after you meet them, you will know why they are a big success from the warm feeling and love for books and people that you will feel yourself when you walk away. Visit them today!  

Patty Pick for 1/12/17 is Happy New Year of Reading!

Winter is definitely here and that gives me a lot of time 
to write and read!! Finished "The Opposite of Everyone" by 
Joshilyn Jackson. She remains one of my favorite authors. 
This book tells another tale of a strong, but vulnerable woman with her heart in the right place. Joshilyn has written some of my favorite books like, "Between, Georgia" and "A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty" and "Gods in Alabama". 
I also loved her 2013 novel, "Someone Else's Love Story". 
It starts hard and fast with a robbery at the mini-mart and goes from there. You just 
can't go wrong if you like to read. A novel by her, with her quick Southern wit and terrific sense of family will be the ticket, they are not family in always the most typical form either. 

I also have a very special book awaiting my reading time, "Small Great Things" by Jodi Picoult. The first time I read one of her books, "My Sister's Keeper", I was blown away. 
Not your Southern genre per se, but she portrays amazing characters, situations, and endings. She always has a twist that you will not see coming and sometimes it will not come until the last few pages. Talk about page turner! My daughter gave me her latest book for Christmas and it is burning a hole in my reading schedule! I can't wait to get to it. She usually picks current topics and this one is about race relations, something we have all heard so much about lately. Too much - I thought we had come further in our country, but sorry to say that we have not. 

At least this weather gives me lots of time to work on my latest book, "One in a Million" 
about Lisa Shank's amazing recovery from a rare and deadly disease. You will not believe her story!  Hope you all are staying warm and dry and reading! When is Spring coming? 

Patty Pick for My One Word Resolution for 2017 is........

It's that favorite time of year for most of us! Between Thanksgiving and Christmas and 
on into New Years, we are all in festive moods, ready to spend time with our family
and friends. This time of year also bring memories of Holidays past. We seem to turn back to the childhood traditions that we loved when we were growing up. In my family we bake the same cookies, make the same time-tested and delicious recipes for our big meals, and never forget those traditions like movies on Christmas Day. This time of year can also lead us to turn the attention to our inner selves to think back over our year and assess what we did and where we went and the relationships we have. 

I always like to read a book with a Christmas theme and had picked out a good one from what I hear - "A Lowcountry Christmas" by Mary Alice Monroe. I wanted a pick-me-up and this heartwarming story and the author's lovely writing style seemed to fit the ticket perfectly. Unfortunately this year for too many reasons to mention, I failed to even do that. In fact, I seemed to have failed to read much at all. I could blame this on my writing, but I am not sure that is the complete reason. 

Our lives are constantly being challenged with electronic devices. Yes, we can read our 
book on our Kindles, Nooks and whatnot, but that is not what I am talking about. I seem 
to find myself online in some form or fashion and neglecting the very thing that I champion and work hard to be a part of - being an author. I write books, I am part of a book club, I usually read a couple of books a month. I blog for heavens sake about books! The point being that what is so mesmerizing that I am not reading as much -that darned internet. I am spending so much time trying to learn my craft, learn how to connect with my readers and other writers and yes, just having fun, that I am not writing or reading nearly enough.  

So my one word resolution for 2017 is Simplify.  I want to simplify my life, enjoy the
little things, read more, enjoy time with my family more and stop trying to do it all. 
I want to clean out the debris that is cluttering my desk, my store, my closet, and yes, 
my brain. I want to clean out, so to speak, manage to "spring clean" myself and my 
surroundings. I am hoping that this does not mean I clean up and then cannot find anything at all as has happened in the past. I plan to simplify what I do and stop trying to do everything and accept some help when I need it. I plan to simplify my writing and go back to what I love - long hand. I know that seems odd since you are reading my blog on a computer of some kind, but when I write a book or story, I need time for my brain and 
fingers to sync and often with a computer keyboard that syncing just seems hard to do. So back to my pen and paper style, that allows me to think at the same time. Eventually it will make it to the laptop but not until I have the first draft. 

I don't plan to just simplify my writing, I want to simplify my whole life so I can truly enjoy it. I hope I am successful but if not I will not beat myself up. Life can be hard enough without that. So let me hear what your one word resolution or your multi-word
resolutions are for 2017. And if you have any wonderful tips to share with me on ways to simplify my life, by all means please pass those along. I am going to need them!! 
Can't wait to hear from you all.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, 
Patty 

Best Books of 2016

Here we go, another list of Best Books of 2016 and I am so far behind in reading them! 
These books are pulled from multiple internet sources and my own personal 
"To Read" lists. I am going to include some of the best books that I have read this 
year too in a separate list. Please read my reviews for more information on these books. The fact is there seem to be more books out there that I want to read and less and less time to do so! 

I know you are all eagerly awaiting my own book, The Distance Between Us, to come out and hopefully 2017 will be the year. Keep your fingers crossed! There is also a fiction book in the works and a non-fiction book that I am writing with Lisa Satterfield Shank. She is a walking, talking miracle! If you liked Brain on Fire:My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan, you are going to want to read this book! Our tentative title is One in A Million. 
Now on with the lists: 

2016 Books Not to Miss: 
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanthi
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
small great things by Jodi Picoult
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout
Lily and the Octopus by Steven Rowley
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
Redemption Road by John Hart 
The Whistler by John Grisham 

Best Book Choices of what I've Read this Year: 
Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty
Before I Go To Sleep by SJ Watson
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
The Gates Manor Band by Jan Hemby
Just Mercy:A Story of Justice & Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
Pretending to Dance by Diane Chamberlain
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki 

I know there are others that need to be on this lists but browsing for your own 
books is always part of the fun! Happy Reading and here's to a wonderful 2017 
of books. Happy Holidays to all!