Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hope that everyone has a Happy and Full Thanksgiving Day filled with family 
and love. There are not too many days in our lives that we can concentrate 
on those we love without work and life getting in the way, so enjoy today. 
Don't shop, don't work, (unless you have to), just enjoy! Whether it's you 
or you and your special loved one, or you and twenty family members  - just 
enjoy the day! They go away all too quickly. SO HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! 

Blog Takes Back Seat to Life

Patty Picks is working on a list of my favorite books from this year. There have been 

many good new ones and old ones. I will try to have get this put together by the 

first of December and post it then. 

On a personal note, our family is getting a close look at the devastating effects of 

Alzheimer's right now. My time has been well spent with that member of our family instead of my blog. Please take the time to hug your loved ones today!

Be back next Thursday with a review of The Vacationers by Emma Straub!

Patty Pick for 11/6/14 is Still Alice by Lisa Genova

After reading about half of this book I thought for sure I had Alzheimer's disease. There were many similiarities between the main character, Alice Howland, and my current frantic life. Still Alice by Lisa Genova is not an easy book to read but it should be a neccessity. With a large part of the population being touched by dementia or 
Alzheimer's in their life personally or via a loved one, everyone should research this issue.
There are many health problems to research today, but finding the key to this disease should be a priority.  Especially considering the sheer number of people that will be effected in the their lives. 

Alice Howland is a successful Harvard professor with a great husband and wonderful life. One day while she was out taking her normal daily run, she could not remember how to get home. Where was that memory? It was lost to her for some reason. As the disease progresses for Alice, we experience the effects on her and her family. Through their daily struggles the devastating details of this disease are revealed. Alzheimer's robs a person of who they are and all that they know. Read this book and then hug your loved ones. Then live fully and richly every single day!

Patty Pick for 10/30/14 is The Good Girl by Mary Kubica

The Good Girl started exactly the way I expected it to, after reading the 

cover. It was scary and interesting at the same time. Everything revolves around 

the abduction of Mia. Mia, the daughter of Eve and Judge Dennett, has been 

taken by Colin Thatcher. Colin is a small time thug who is conflicted from 

the start over being involved in the kidnapping. The characters reveal what 

happened before and after in no apparent order, but it is actually leading you to an unexpected ending.

Mia has amnesia and does not remember what happened during her abduction.

Detective Gabe Hoffman is trying to follow the leads and find Mia while at the same time

falling for Mia's mother, Eve. As Gabe chases down evidence and works toward the 

conclusion, you know there is more to come. The novel is leading you on a chase to the end and as each detail is uncovered you are more confused. You will have the ending figured out in your head but it will surprise the heck out of you. What did you think happened?

Patty Pick for 10/23/14 is Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

There are not too many people on the planet who have not heard of 

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. When this book came out in hardcover, my 

book club fought over it at our annual Christmas dinner. Every year we bring 

a wrapped book and do a book exchange. We can "steal" a book from 

each other when it's our turn or keep the book we unwrapped. It's a lot of 

fun to do this at the end of a good meal. We share the books with each other 

during the year and often they end up being a pick for someone's month. 

Gone Girl was a hard fought battle and everyone wanted to read it first, for 

good reason. This in one twisted psychological thriller! Just when you 

think you have figured out what is going on, you are turned in another 

direction and totally lost again. This one had me fooled up to the end and 

then I was not ready for it to be over. 

Nick & Amy Dunne are getting ready to celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary

when she disappears. They seem to be the perfect couple. As the police investigate and Amy's diary is revealed, a different picture of their marriage emerges. Nick swears his innocence and his twin sister, Margo, is trying to solve this with him, but Nick 

seems to be digging a deeper hole for his guilt with each step. This will confuse 

and intrigue you but definitely keep you glued to every page until the end!

Patty Pick for 10/16/14 is "Little Mercies" by Heather Gudenkauf

"Little Mercies" by Heather Gudenkauf starts off with the chaos in the day of a normal family. Ellen and Adam have three children and busy lives. They are running separate ways to get their days started. On her way to work, Ellen receives a disturbing call from one of the children she oversees as a social worker with the DHS. She rushes to their house with the police to try to get the children out of the dangerous situation. 
As  she works with the police to diffuse the situation, a distubance grows behind her in the neighborhood. As the sound of breaking glass reaches her ears, it dawns on Ellen that they are breaking into her car to rescue her infant daughter from the inferno it now is.
How did she forget that Avery is in there?
That starts this story of a terrible accident and the journey through the maze of social work and child abuse and leads us back to the original story of a family in crisis. 

While Ellen and Adams's lives are falling apart, Jenny stumbles into the life of Ellen's mother, Maudene. Maudene knows that Jenny is in trouble and can not stop herself from trying to help. Jenny, like many 10 year olds, wants her family back together. Her father is in jail and her mother has been missing for years. Jennny thinks her grandmother is close by and is determined to find her. 

As this family tradegy unfolds, you can see that there for the grace of God go all of us. We all make mistakes in our lives that we wish we could take back. Where will the mistakes that Jenny and Ellen make lead them? You will want to read this book n one sitting to find out. I enjoyed other Heather Gudenkauf books and this is another good one!

Patty Pick for 10/9/14 is The Time Between by Karen White

 

"The Time Between" by Karen White is set in Charleston and Edisto Island, SC. With Charleston being one of my favorite cities and Karen White being one of my favorite writers, there was no doubt I would read this book. In fact, I have been trying to get to it for a while now. There never seems to be enough time to get my reading in. Of course, writing a novel at the same time does 
make it difficult. But I digress....

"The Time Between" tells the story of two sets of sisters. The main characters, Eve and Eleanor, have both changed due to events they created and happenings that they could not control. Eve is now in a wheelchair and Eleanor feels responsible. She has lost herself in the guilt of her sister's injury and Eve has let her. When Eve becomes pregnant, things start to change. Eleanor is offered an extra position helping the elderly aunt of her boss and Eve begins to see the true Ellie come back to life. They both struggle to understand 
the changes and work through their feelings. 

Eleanor's boss, Finn Beaufain, recruits Eleanor to be a part-time companion to his 
elderly aunt Helena. They have recently lost Helena's sister Bernadett under mysterious circumstances that neither one seem to want to talk about. Helena is suffering and can 
be pretty hard on Ellie. Ellie is the name that Finn's daughter, Gigi, gives to Eleanor and it fits. Gigi is wise beyond her years and together they work to bring some life back to Helena's days. Finn seems to be willing to offer more to Eleanor that she is ready for. 

As the mystery around Bernadett's death is revealed, Helena also reveals the secrets she has carried her whole life. As Helena comes to terms with her decisions, so must Ellie with hers. So much happens in the last third of the book, that you may need to re-read parts to keep up! This is a touching and searching story of what one sister will do for another and the paths their lives take after those actions.